The Best Mechanical Pencils of 2023

A solid, smooth writer on every paper tested, the Rotring 600 has a sturdy, full metal body with a matte finish. Its knurled grip is comfortable and easy to hold, even though the pencil’s diameter is on the smaller side, compared to others we tested for this guide.

The 600’s balance is what makes it the perfect mechanical pencil: it’s easy to use for long periods of time, and its lead doesn’t seem to dull as you write. We also liked that its advanced mechanism is smooth and consistent.

From a design standpoint, the 600 definitely reads more like an engineering tool than an elegant writing instrument.

Unfortunately, the 600’s design doesn’t include a retractable pipe (where the lead comes out of the tip of the pencil). This makes it less than ideal as an everyday carry. Without a pocket protector or a makeshift cap (Bic Crystal pen caps are supposed to be a good fit), this pencil will leave lead marks on your stuff if you forget to retract the lead before stowing it. It’s available in 0.5 and 0.7 mm lead sizes.

The Rotring 800’s pipe can be retracted into its barrel by turning the top of the pencil. This is the heaviest of the pencils tested, with a sturdy metal build. It has a matte finish, and knurled metal grip with great balance and an easy loading mechanism. The 800 is one of the more expensive pencils tested but protecting your stuff from stray pencil marks may make it worth it for an everyday carry.

While the balance on this pencil is great, it did catch on the basic Hilroy notebook paper.

The Pilot Dr. Grip G-Spec Shaker Mechanical Pencil has a chunky rubber grip that makes it a lot more comfortable to use during longer writing sessions. It’s made mostly out of plastic, but it doesn’t feel flimsy while writing. It’s definitely still a weighty pencil thanks to the grip, coming in at 20 g. Its balance is more focused towards the tip but it remains comfortable to write with.

The Dr. Grip’s advance mechanism is smooth and, happily, makes it possible to release the clutch and push the excess lead back in. The eraser under the cap is small but effective. During testing, it performed well on all of the paper stocks in our test group.

That said, it does not give the control that a pencil with a smaller barrel and grip, such as the Rotring 600, can. If you’re looking for a comfortable writing experience, though, this is a good option.

The Uni Kuru Toga pencil has a special rotation mechanism that turns the lead as you write, keeping the pencil’s lead from developing a flat edge. While it writes well, we’re not sure that there was any advantage to this feature. Advancing the Kuru Toga’s lead is smooth but the rotating mechanism means that shorter pieces of lead can get jammed. During testing, we found that this pencil writes well on most paper, albeit, there were some minor issues with snagging.

The Kuru Toga is available in several models with slight variations in the clip and barrel—plastic and metal are both available.

Staedtler makes a broad range of products for drawing and drafting. The 925-25 05 is on the lower end of their range of mechanical pencils. It writes well, has a lovely balance, and a nice knurled grip. The barrel is about the same width as a standard ballpoint pen and the tip allows for a good view of your paper when you’re doing detailed work.

The 925-25 05 ‘S build quality feels nice. It’s a little lighter than some of the other pencils in this guide, but still feels well balanced in the hand. It comes with a wire tucked in with the eraser for clearing any jams (very handy) and is easy to load. The eraser provided does its job cleanly.

Unfortunately, during drop testing, the 925-25 05 landed tip down—the heaviest point on the pencil—bending the pipe where the lead comes out. Until then, it had performed well on all paper, and the mechanism nocks the lead smoothly and consistently.

Although this yellow-colored mechanical pencil looks like a typical pencil, it is far from it. Made of ABS plastic with a metal clip, this lightweight, sturdy, and long-lasting pencil is made to support your notes and sketches. The clip makes it easy to transport and its ergonomic grip is comfortable for all adults. When the ink runs low, you can easily refill the ink cartridge.

The Pentel Twist Erase Click is a great option for anyone who does a lot of erasing as they write. Instead of having to remove the pencil’s plunger, the pencil’s eraser mechanism twists up. It’s got the largest eraser out of the pencils we tested, and it worked well on most of the paper stock we tried.

When erasing on our Strathmore art pad, it had a difficult time cleanly removing the lines. However, as none of the erasers we tested performed well on the Strathmore’s textured surface (a kneadable eraser is a better bet for art paper), it’s difficult to view this as a failing.

On the writing side of things, the Twist Erase’s internal mechanism is smooth and consistent when advancing lead, though we did not find the side click mechanism convenient; it’s not quite in the right spot for me to be able to use it without changing the position of the pencil in my hand.

It does snag if you press hard on thinner paper, but it’s still a solid performer with a large eraser that erases cleanly, making it more of a workhorse than some of the other pencils tested.

The Tombow Mono Graph Shaker pencil works unlike any other mechanical pencil in this guide: shaking the pencil up and down advances its lead so you can keep on writing. It’s a clever idea, but it’s a little too easy to trigger by accident.

On several occasions, we found ourselves with more lead at the end of the Tombow than we needed. However, this is easy to remedy: simply hold open the Tom Bow’s clutch, and the excess lead can be slid back into the pencil’s barrel. The shaking mechanism also locks by sliding the clip up, preventing the mechanism from sliding inside the barrel of the pencil.

The Tombow was an average performer on all the papers we tested it on. The lead that comes in the pencil is smooth and strong. The pencil's barrel is slightly wider than those of the other mechanical pencils in the guide. Unfortunately, its larger circumference is wasted: with no tapering and the barrel’s being made of slick plastic, any potential ergonomic advantage is lost.