The drawbacks of being left-handed are rarely more apparent than when you’re in grade school. If you’re part of the club, then you know our personal vendetta against spiral-bound notebooks and binders. But as an adult, most lefty problems usually stem from occasionally smudging otherwise clean, legible handwriting, often on a card or important document, causing us to wonder if there were pens that perform better for left-handed people.
Like most workplaces, NBC Select doesn’t have many lefties, but as the two southpaws on the team, we were willing to dive into the topic a bit more. We set out to find out what actually makes a great, left-handed-friendly pen and how many we’d have to test to find out. We collected a mix of product samples from beloved pen brands and tested 24 pens over the course of two weeks, including options from Sharpie, Paper Mate, Bic, Pilot and Pentel. We also tried out pens from brands outside of the office supply industry who also happen to sell promising pens, like Muji and Prismacolor.
Below, we walk through the process that we used in our testing, including the criteria used to judge each pen, how we scored them, what paper we tested the pens on and more. In the end, we ended up with a great lineup of some of the best pens for left-handed people. Keep reading to get our top nine results, ranked, plus one honorable mention.
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The best pens for left-handed people
These are our top-recommended pens of all the options we tested. The pens we tested that didn’t score high were not included in the list below.
Something to note: Reporter Harry Rabinowitz writes with his pinky laid against the paper and the pen between his pointer and thumb. His hand goes over what he has just written immediately, so smudging is a big factor for him. Editor Cory Fernandez, on the other hand, is an overwriter/hook writer (meaning his wrist hooks and he writes above the line). The bottom of his hand goes across the ink as he gets further into the page so he doesn’t get as much smudging, but grip comfort is paramount.
Bonus (if you need a large grip)
I found this pen to be the most comfortable of all the pens we tested. This is largely due to the wide grip and circumference. While some people prefer a more slender pen, I didn’t mind how large the pen was and it allowed me to write without my thumb hurting. It writes smoothly and I didn’t have to put a ton of pressure on it to write and I enjoyed writing with it on a notepad because of how it glided. With that said, the ink isn’t as saturated as many of the options as we tested. — Cory Fernandez, commerce editor
9.
This is a great pen for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it dries very fast and barely smudges. It’s also best for people who enjoy a pen with a thin point as opposed to a super-saturated option. It writes very smoothly and I didn’t have to apply a lot of pressure on it to write well and that goes for all the paper types we tested on. Also, I love its simple style and though it doesn’t have a grip, I didn’t find it uncomfortable to write with. — Fernandez
8.
This gel pen became the bar we measured other pens against — if another pen was better, was it truly good enough to justify the price compared to the very affordable Paper Mate InkJoy? While the ergonomics weren’t amazing, I was truly impressed with how little smudging it left considering it’s $1.20. We tested much pricier pens that couldn’t pass that test, making the InkJoy even more impressive. — Harry Rabinowitz, reporter
7.
This fineliner pen is technically meant for drawing and illustration, but it makes an amazing left-handed pen. I favored the .03 millimeter version — it left no visible smudging on the page or my hands, with balanced lines on every kind of paper. It’s a great pen, just not as great as another, similarly priced fineliner pen we ranked higher (more on that later). — Rabinowitz
6.
I used one of these pens in high school, and using it again felt like reuniting with an old friend — fun, but you’ve both changed a bit. It’s a very smooth-writing rollerball, with clear, legible lines that don’t smudge and dry very quickly. What kept it out of the top five is comfort: it lacks a grip, actually getting smaller as you move down the pen. That and attaching the pen cap to the back makes the whole experience of writing with it feel ever so slightly unbalanced. But the results, clean lines and dry ink are all positives. — Rabinowitz
5.
It’s safe to say that this option surprised both Rabinowitz and I in the best way. I don’t think either of us had high expectations because of how inexpensive it is. But the Amazon Basics pen has a comfortable grip that made it easy to write with, the ink was saturated and it wrote smoothly on all the paper types we tested on. Plus, I love how affordable an entire pack is, making it a great option for people who have to buy a lot of pens for staff, for example. - Fernandez
4.
This gel roller stood out because of its solid, comfortable and ergonomic design that fit in my hand comfortably and never felt small, slippery or awkward. And, of course, it wrote clearly, without smudging or leaving ink on my fingers. The lines are a little thinner than the Zebra Pen Sarasa and Sharpie S-Gel, but I actually find that more legible as a result. It isn’t the smoothest pen on the page (the Prismacolor is), but I like the slight vibration you get through the pen — it adds a level of touch tactility to each stroke. — Rabinowitz
3.
Interestingly, this pen was given to Rabinowitz and I by NBC Select senior editor Shalwah Evans, who also helped oversee the testing of all of our pens. She uses a pen every day and had a pack of this pick before we began testing; it ended up scoring very well. Right off the bat, we both were impressed by how smoothly the pen was on every type of paper, but I found it worked best on a notepad and notebook. It has a comfortable grip that has an optimal placement and the ink was saturated and easy to read. — Fernandez
2.
This was my absolute favorite of all the pens we tested and Rabinowitz and I both loved how it performed on all tests. It has the best of everything — the ink was super saturated and easy to read on all the test papers we had, it dried very fast and it didn’t smudge at all. I loved how smoothly it wrote on a notepad and notebook and I was actually excited to write with it outside of testing. I would use this for everyday writing and would buy this for my home office or desk at work. It has a grip in the middle that’s comfortable to hold and while some of the others we tested were top heavy because of where the cap sits when you’re writing, this pen remained lightweight. — Fernandez
1.
This pen actually blew my mind — there was no smudging on the page or on my hand, no matter how fast, slow, large or small I wrote. That alone is worth celebrating, but this Prismacolor pen is also amazing to use because it is lightweight and glides across the page, leaving clear and solid lines regardless of how lightly or heavily you press down. It’s technically an illustration pen, and on the pricey side, but I will promptly be switching my journaling pen to the 0.3mm Prismacolor. — Rabinowitz
What surprised me the most about this pen was how smoothly it glided against all the paper types we used for testing. I tend to put a lot of pressure on pens when I write to be sure my writing is legible, but with this one I didn’t have to do that. It also dried the fastest of all the pens we tested which is why it scored so high. For me, it nearly tied for the no. 1 spot with the Zebra Pen Sarasa, but I also love that in addition to everyday writing, this pen is a great option for art or sketching. — Fernandez
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How we tested left-handed pens
Everyone has different preferences when it comes to pens — after all, we all have different hands and different writing styles. Still, left-handed writers have a few universal struggles: ink smudging as your hand moves across your own writing, making your words less legible and leaving ink marks on your hand; putting too much pressure on the page if you’re a hook-writing leftie.
When we selected pens to test out, we made sure we were testing ballpoint, gel roller, fineliner and fountain types that used black ink. We also chose a variety of point thicknesses, and made sure our selections covered high and low price points. We tested two dozen pens with the goal of finding comfortable options with virtually no smudging. Here’s how we tested each pen:
- We wrote the following sentence on different paper types: “I am left-handed and I am testing this pen. I will be ranking it on a scale from one to 10 — sorry zero, just those numbers — to see how well it performs.” The goal was to get as many letters in the English alphabet into the phrase as possible.
- We wrote the test sentence on notebook paper as well as birthday card stock since those are the two types of paper most people would still likely write on in our very digital world.
- We wrote slow, fast, large and small.
- We spent extended time testing standout, high-quality pens.
How we ranked the best left-handed pens
After testing, we answered five questions about each pen, scoring them between zero and 10, zero being the worst, 10 being the best. Here are the questions we answered and what we considered as we ranked:
- How did the pen feel against the paper?
- Did the pen smudge at all?
- Does the ink dry quickly?
- Does the pen feel comfortable in your natural grip position?
- Would you choose this for daily use?
Then we added the data to get an initial ranking based on top scores. We then adjusted placement of a few pens based on the qualitative feedback, price point and product availability.
Why trust NBC Select?
Harry Rabinowitz is a reporter at NBC Select who covers technology, fitness and the outdoors. He’s written stories on fitness trackers, walking shoes and camping for beginners. He writes and plays tennis with his left hand, but is right-foot dominant in soccer and snowboarding.
Cory Fernandez is a commerce editor at NBC Select where he covers home, kitchen, cleaning and lifestyle products and appliances. He also covers deals and sales events at Home Depot, Lowe’s, Wayfair and more. He’s written about travel-friendly carbon monoxide detectors, how to clean hardwood floors and coffee makers. He writes and holds silverware with his left hand, though he uses his right for other tasks, like throwing a ball.
Rabinowitz and Fernandez selected, tested and ranked the best left-handed pens from dozens of candidates.
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