Uni-ball Signo 207 Review
By
The Uni-ball Signo 207 in four colors. From left to right: Orange, Black, Blue, Red.
I picked up these Uni-ball Signo 207 pens on a recent trip to Staples when I was looking for some new stuff to review. I already tried some of the other Unibball Signo pens like the DX and the Bit from JetPens, which both have much finer points compared to these. Because of the impressive performance of those pens with smaller points, my assumption was that these pens must write as well if not better…plus they are the infamous 207 line which are supposed to thwart any fraudulent individuals who are looking to commit check fraud by lifting what you have written on your checks, or other documents. Normally I like to post how much I paid for an item, but the funny thing with these is that I lost receipt and I cant find an exact match on staples.com. Additionally, what you see here isnt really what you would find in a package anyway. When I bought these Uniball Signo 207 pens, I bought the orange one individually and the black, blue, and red pens came in a package of 4 that also included a purple pen that I gave away to a friend.
Uniball Signo 207 writing sample with all four colors in the Rhodia notebook.
I really enjoy writing with the Uniball Signo 207 pens, so I was excited to do the writing sample, but sad that it was such a short one. I usually carry these pens with me in my laptop bag for work because I don’t want to commit to only having these at home or in my office. It is hard to explain how smoothly these pens write, but its to the point that I cant actually imagine that it was physically possible to have a pen that writes smoother than this, I am assuming that the laws of physics and friction have to come into play at some point. In addition to writing so smoothly, the colors are so bright and solid when you write and you dont see any of the whiteness of the paper coming through where you have just written.
The soft clear/milky colored and very comfortable grip on the Uniball Signo 207 pens is also something that stands out to me. I think that the grip makes the pens very visually appealing, the semi-transparent nature of the grip makes the bottom half of the pen look as if it has been lightly tinted in a much lighter color of the ink inside of the pen which is a nice contrast. It is not often that a grip is both functional AND visually appealing, so it is nice to find that in a pen that I like so much for its writing ability.
Once you get past the great look and writeability (yep, if a certain beer can be said to have “drinkability” then my pen can have “writeability”) of this pen, it is very reassuring to know that it is also a huge deterrent when it comes to check washing and other fraudulent activities that could result in financial loss or identity theft. The pigmented ink in the Uniball Signo 207 embeds itself into the paper fibers, which does not allow for it to be altered or removed through common washing and bleaching techniques. I personally know some people who have said “Oh, big deal my checking account doesn’t have enough to worry about someone trying to steal from me” and they question the need for a pen such as this. The sad truth though is that no matter how little cash you have in a checking account, all it takes is one incident to start a snowball of overdraft fees, late payments, and penalties with your accounts which can take hours and hours of your time to correct and cost you who knows how much in interest rate increases in addition to the fees. Take a few minutes to check out the resources and info that Uni-ball has posted on their site that goes into more details about fraud, identity theft, and how the pigmented ink in this pen can help to prevent it.
But hey…even if you want someone to steal all of your money, you should still get some of these Uniball Signo 207 pens so that you will at least have one thing to be happy about when you are broke. 
© 2009 – 2010, OfficeSupplyGeek. All rights reserved.
I had no idea about the anti-fraud thing. That’s really cool – and I’ll be giving one to my husband for writing checks
Marte – Thats awesome, glad that you found the information in the post to be helpful, can never be too safe, especially not if it means spending an extra $2 on a pen.
That’s true! And since I already have 5 of them, it’s nice to know they’ll be put to good use :p
…I do wonder, though: Why are checks still in use? When I came here from Norway 5 years ago, I was, to put it mildly, VERY surprised. Because back there, only a few, old people who refused to change, used checks, and most stores barely even knew how to handle them.
I can only think of one good reason, and that’d be that I could have them custom designed
Your reviews are always very informative btw, I learn something new from every single one.
Marte – I totally agree with you on checks, not sure why we still use them, they are a pain and not very secure.
Hope I can continue to be informative for you…feedback is always welcome, good or bad.
I don’t know if I got a bad batch of these pens, but I have never understood the cult of the 207. I thought they were patchy and spotty and the colors were faint or fluorescent instead of saturated. Oh well, my coworkers were happy to get my cast-offs!
notaclevername: It seems to me like the ink performance depends on the color. I ordered 5 pens (purple, orange, light blue, pink and green), and only the purple and orange pens had nice, saturated inks. All the others were fluorescent or pale, and spotty to write with as well.
Are there any 207s with smaller tips, say like 0.5mm?
T – Try this link:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=uniball+signo+207+.5mm&x=0&y=0
The Uniball Signo is by far the best pen I’ve ever used- I’m a pen junkie- smooth ink flow, good grip, very comfortable, reasonably priced. I specially like the Micro, maybe because I have very small handwriting. I’ve recommended and given away boxes of this pen and everybody agrees it’s the best. I wish the Micro was easier to get in boxes, so far I’ve only found it online.
yes, there is a Micro version, sold in packages of two, anywhere.
It’s difficult to articulate exactly why it is I love the 207.
It may be that I ordered a box of 207s my first day at my new job at an investment bank and, without evangelizing the product much, converted my entire floor from blue Bic ballpoint ubiquity.
A glorious time, that was.
@Michael E. Gruen – They are a pretty addictive pen. They are simple, comfortable to write with, and have such a bold bright line. I know that feeling though when you get someone hooked on something that you like so much.
Hate to say rip-off but this pen has a blocked ink resevoir that limits the quantity of ink to not-too-dang-much. In fact, these pens are a waste of money. Better choices but if you MUST own one, open the package, unscrew the pen, and look for yourself. You won’t be impressed.
@noyb – I always welcome other opinions, but Im surprised, I think that this pen has a pretty steady and somewhat heavy ink flow.
I bought this pen the other day and it smudges uncontrollably.
I let the writing dry for a ridiculous and considerable amount of time but it still smudges.
And yes, I have tried it on all types of paper that are available to me.
I don’t know if I have a dud, but this is ridiculous.
Does anyone else have this problem?
@Luis – Can I ask what kind of paper you tried it on, and about how long you waited? I can give it a try with similar parameters to see if I get similar results.
@Awesome Blogger
Thanks for responding.
I use this pen on paper I use the most, me being a student, Five Star Lined Paper.
I don’t have the paper or label with me now but it’s by Mead and it’s reinforced.
Wait I found it:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_05057553000P?vName=Computers%20&%20Electronics&cName=OfficeProducts&sName=Paper%20&%20Printable%20Media&psid=FROOGLE01&sid=IDx20070921x00003a.
It’s honestly the best notebook paper I have used for school and it performs amazingly with any other pen I use.
I have honestly let the ink dry for more than 10 seconds.
Thanks for the attention.
@Luis – thanks.
I’m going to work on something tomorrow, and I’ll have it posted Wed. morning.
@Luis – Got a new post up now for you, I hope it is at least somewhat helpful
http://officesupplygeek.com/pen-review/gel-pens/uniball-signo-207-ink-drying-test/
I bought a three pack four months ago from Target. I think they’re great pens but then they started acting weird.
After using this pen for several months, the ink in this pen has started acting strange. With the black one, which I used most often, the ink flowed strong and heavy at first but stopped flowing completely after two months of usage. A month after it stopped working, I picked it up again and it started working but the ink started flowing weaker. The blue and red pens that I used only occasionally were strong at first but had weaker ink flow after several months. If I write really, slow, the ink looks dark like in your pictures, but when I write at a normal speed, the ink starts looking really faded. Do you know what could be wrong with my pens?
@Louis – That is some really strange behavior from these pens. Ive never really had any issues like that, and I’ve been using mine for a while now. Did you consider contacting Uniball directly to see if they could help?
I haven’t considered contacting Uniball, but I guess I’ll do that soon when I have the time.