If it’s worth saying, it’s worth saying boldly.
Yes, as much as we love fine-tip pens, there’s something delightful and even empowering about a good broad-tip pen. No worrying about fitting words responsibly and efficiently into tiny lines—bold pens are all about making a statement loud and clear. Delectably smooth and easy to read at a glance, bold pens are great for signatures, outlines, and flashcards. They’re also an invaluable tool for people with low vision, and to complement that use we’ve included some additional resources.
Let’s take a look at some of our all-time favorite bold point pens!
The Fude Ball was originally invented as an envelope-addressing pen. Ohto’s goal was to create a pen that was as smooth and expressive as a brush pen and as easy to use as a ballpoint. The result was a spectacular success, not only as an address-writing pen but as a perfect pen for anyone who loves bold, clear writing.
- Top Choice
- Bold Pen Considerations
- Bold Pen Recommendations
- The Best Bold Gel Pen
- The Best Bold Permanent & Archival Pen
- The Best Bold Ballpoint Pen
- The Best Bold Fountain Pen
- The Best Bold Erasable Pen
- The Best Bold Glitter Gel Pen
- The Best Marker to Use as a Bold Pen
- Resources for Writers with Low Vision
- Test Results
- How We Approach Research and Testing
- Final Thoughts
Tip Width
“Broad” happens to be a broad category. Tip size variation among our broad pens ranges from 1.0 to 2.0 mm. Writers with smaller handwriting or a preference for narrow-rule notebooks should look at our 1.0 mm picks first. If you write at a larger scale or need a high-visibility pen, go for a broader tip.
Showthrough
Showthrough and bleedthrough can render the back of a page illegible. This is especially unpleasant for writers with low vision. We’ve tested our selections and found all had minimal showthrough and no bleedthrough.
Dry Time and Smudging
Broader tips deposit more ink on a page, which can increase the time it takes for writing to dry, but many of our recommended pens dry quickly and resist smudging. We’ve listed dry times in our Test Results section, as well as results for smudging under highlighters.
Pigmentation
The darker the ink, the bolder the pen. The ink pigmentation and opacity in all of our choices make vivid and legible lines. Liquid inks, like those in rollerballs, markers, and fountain pens, tend to be darker than the oil-based inks in ballpoints.
The Signo Broad white gel pen is a particular favorite of artists. It features thick, opaque white ink that’s great for highlights and shows up excellently on toned, black, and colored paper. Opaque gold and silver versions are also available.
The Sport comes in a range of plastic and metal body types, and its distinctive style is just as cool today as it was when the pen was first released in 1935. Its long cap and short body allow the pen to be conveniently compact when closed yet comfortably full-sized with the cap posted on the back of the pen.
Replacement nibs are readily available and easy to install, so even if none of the pens that come with double broad nibs appeal to you, you can always swap a double broad nib into any of the dozens of compatible Kaweco fountain pens.
For a premium gold-nib fountain pen with an extra-bold point, we recommend the Custom 912 with either a Coarse or Music nib. The coarse nib is essentially a Japanese triple broad—equivalent to a European double broad. The music nib is an italic nib with a distinctive three-tined, double-slit design. Two ink slits mean a wetter, more consistent ink flow to keep up with all the ink the nib is putting down.
If you want a bold, wet writer with a bit of italic flair, go for the music nib. If you want a fountain pen that writes like an amazingly smooth marker with infinite color possibilities, go for the coarse nib.
One important thing to keep in mind with FriXion pens is that because the ink is erased by heat, leaving your writing in a hot car or under direct sunlight can cause your words to disappear. If this happens, you can usually get them back by putting your paper or notebook in a freezer for an hour or so.
The Metallic Gelly Rolls feature extremely fine bits of pearlescent glitter that shine like precious metal.
The Gold Shadow and Silver Shadow pens create solid gold or silver lines with halos of colored ink around them.
The Stardust pens feature brightly sparkling glitter that makes your words twinkle like stars when they catch the light.
The Moonlight pens feature fluorescent ink that looks ordinary by day but glows brightly under a blacklight.
The Souffle pens feature a raised, three-dimensional ink that hardens as it dries, leaving words you can touch as well as see. They can write on a variety of surfaces and are especially great for writing on glossy photos.
A bold pen can boost the legibility of your notes, but if that’s not enough, we have a few additional tips to suggest.
We checked our selections for showthrough, dry time, and smearing under highlighter on Rhodia paper. We've omitted our fountain pen pick from these results, as results will vary depending on the ink you choose.
Pen | Tip Size | Writing Sample | Showthrough | Highlighter | Dry Time |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ohto Fude Ball | 1.5 mm | 20 sec | |||
Pentel EnerGel RTX Gel Pen | 1.0 mm | 30 sec | |||
Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen | 1.0 mm | 30 sec | |||
Zebra F-301 Bold Stainless Steel Ballpoint Pen | 1.6 mm | 30 sec | |||
Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pen | 1.0 mm | 10 sec | |||
Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pen | 1.0 mm | 30 sec | |||
Stabilo Pen 68 Marker | 1.0 mm | 10 sec |
Our writers draw on their personal expertise, consult our in-house subject matter experts, and do extensive research to make our guides as accurate and comprehensive as possible. We then test every finding that makes it through the research stage. Only the techniques and tools whose performance we personally confirm make it into our guides as recommendations.
Bold pens offer a fun and useful alternative to fine-tip pens, and there are plenty of choices for everyone to find the one that suits them best. For even more bold writing options, be sure to check out our guide to the best felt tip markers.
Do you have a favorite broad-tip pen? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below!
Recommendations | |
---|---|
Top Choice | Ohto Fude Ball Rollerball Pen - 1.5 mm |
The Best Bold Gel Pen | Pentel EnerGel RTX Gel Pen - 1.0 mm |
The Best Bold Permanent & Archival Pen | Uni-ball Signo Broad UM-153 Gel Pen |
The Best Bold Ballpoint Pen | Zebra F-301 Bold Ballpoint Pen - 1.6 mm |
The Best Bold Fountain Pen | Kaweco Sport Double Broad Fountain Pen |
The Best Bold Erasable Pen | Pilot FriXion Erasable Gel Pen - 1.0 mm |
The Best Bold Glitter Gel Pen | Sakura Gelly Roll Gel Pen - 1.0 mm |
The Best Marker to Use as a Bold Pen | Stabilo Pen 68 - 1.0 mm |