About Pilot
Pilot Corporation was founded in Tokyo in 1918 by Ryosuke Namiki and Masao Wada, originally as the Namiki Manufacturing Company. Namiki had patented a non-clogging drafting pen nib nearly a decade earlier, and the company took the name Pilot after the seafaring navigators who guide ships through difficult waters. More than a century later it is Japan's largest pen manufacturer, with subsidiaries and distribution across the Americas, Europe, and Asia and manufacturing in Japan, France, and the United States.
The company's catalog spans nearly every writing category we test: the G2 gel ink line, the Metropolitan, Kakuno, and Varsity fountain pens, the Acroball hybrid-ink ballpoints, and the heat-erasable FriXion line. That breadth is why Pilot pens turn up across our ballpoint, gel, and fountain pen testing rather than in a single category.
Brand website: pilotpen.us
What Pilot makes
Pilot's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
G2 Gel Pens
Pilot's flagship refillable gel line, sold in multiple tip sizes and colors — featured on DeskRated
Metropolitan Fountain Pens
Brass-bodied entry fountain pen with a converter-compatible steel nib — featured on DeskRated
Varsity Fountain Pens
Pre-filled disposable fountain pens sold in multi-color packs — featured on DeskRated
Kakuno Fountain Pens
Beginner fountain pen with a triangular grip section for new writers — featured on DeskRated
Acroball Ballpoint Pens
Hybrid AcroInk ballpoints designed to write with gel-pen smoothness — featured on DeskRated
FriXion Erasable Pens
Heat-sensitive erasable ink line, a broader Pilot technology outside our current picks
Why we recognized Pilot
The DeskRated Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Pilot earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, used at a real desk, and judged on merit.
Pilot products we rated highly
Pilot G2 Premium Retractable Gel Pens, Fine Point (0.7mm), Black Ink, 12-Pack
In our testing this is the gel pen every other pick gets measured against, with a transparent ink-window barrel and a refill system that keeps long-term cost down. It also carries the deepest review base of any pen in our gel pen testing, over 55,000 ratings at a sustained 4.8-star average.
Read the 7 Best Gel Pens of 2026 guide →
PILOT Metropolitan Collection Fountain Pen, Black Barrel, Classic Design, Fine Nib, Black Ink
The brass body gives this entry fountain pen a weight and feel we found well above its price, and the factory fine nib wrote smoothly with no break-in period. It accepts Pilot's CON-40 converter, so it opens up bottled ink options beyond the included cartridges.
Read the 7 Best Fountain Pens of 2026 guide →
PILOT Pen 90029 Precise Varsity Pre-Filled Fountain Pens, Medium Point Stainless Steel Nib, Assorted Color Inks, 7-Pack
A pre-filled, no-setup fountain pen that lets a first-time buyer try the format with zero maintenance, in seven ink colors per pack. It carries the highest review count of any fountain pen pack we found on Amazon, over 10,000 ratings at a 4.6-star average.
Read the 7 Best Fountain Pens of 2026 guide →
PILOT Kakuno Fountain Pen, Clear Barrel, Medium Nib
The triangular grip section is built to guide correct pen hold, which is why we see it recommended for young or new writers, and the clear barrel shows ink level at a glance. Its light weight also makes it a comfortable option for writers managing hand fatigue.
Read the 7 Best Fountain Pens of 2026 guide →
Pilot Acroball PureWhite Retractable Ballpoint Pens, 0.7mm Fine Point, Black, 5-Pack
Pilot's proprietary AcroInk hybrid formula gave this ballpoint a smooth, slightly drier line that held up well in our testing, including for left-handed writers. The PureWhite barrel with a contoured rubberized grip also reads cleaner and more minimal than most retractable ballpoints we tested.
Read the 7 Best Ballpoint Pens of 2026 guide →What earned Pilot the recognition
- Five separate Pilot pens earned a place across our ballpoint, fountain pen, and gel pen testing, more placements than any other pen brand in those three roundups.
- The Pilot G2 carries the deepest review base of any pen we've tested, over 55,000 Amazon ratings at a sustained 4.8-star average.
- The Metropolitan's brass body and factory-tuned steel nib let it write, in our testing, on par with fountain pens costing significantly more.
- The Kakuno and Varsity lines gave first-time fountain pen users a low-barrier entry point, with the Varsity alone carrying more than 10,000 verified Amazon reviews.
- Founded in Tokyo in 1918, Pilot has grown into Japan's largest pen manufacturer, with a product range spanning gel, ballpoint, fountain, and erasable ink technology.