Uni-ball One Metallic Gel Pens First Impressions: Two Trios Tested on Light and Dark Paper

Introduction

Uni-ball’s One line has long been a favorite for clean, everyday gel writing, but the new Metallic series marks a first for the brand: a genuinely new ink finish in the lineup, advertised to work on both light and dark paper. That promise was enough to put the pens through a proper hands-on test across three very different papers.

Two trios are in play here. The first is a limited edition set with metallic blue, green, and pink. The second pairs metallic gold and silver with a matte, non-metallic white in a 0.38 mm tip, which makes it an interesting challenger to established thin white gel pens. Since this is a first-impressions piece rather than a full review, the focus stays on writing feel and how each ink actually looks on the page.

Swatch Test 1: Tomoe River Paper

Starting in a Tomoe River paper planner, the limited edition trio of metallic blue, green, and pink struggled. The fine nib combined with shimmer particles in the ink makes these feel noticeably scratchier than standard Uni-ball One gel pens, and the color reads faded rather than vibrant. The shimmer is extremely subtle, barely visible even in person, with the metallic pink being the only shade where it is faintly detectable.

The gold, silver, and white trio fared better. The metallic gold is the standout, looking genuinely metallic and more vibrant than anything in the colored set. The silver is competent but unremarkable, and the white shows up despite the off-white, cream-leaning tone of this paper. Overall, the second set is clearly the stronger performer on light cream paper.

Swatch Test 2: 160 GSM Dot Grid Journals

On a B5 dot-grid journal with 160 GSM white paper, the writing experience improved noticeably. The heavier, brighter paper lets the colors show more vividly than the cream-toned Tomoe River stock did, and the pens glide more comfortably.

If you are deciding which journal to dedicate these pens to, paper choice genuinely matters. The metallic gold again proves the most impressive shade in the lineup, offering the strongest pigmentation and the most visible shimmer of all the metallic colors tested.

Swatch Test 3: Blackout Paper

The most interesting test came on 150 GSM black dotted paper. Here the metallic sheen finally becomes easy to see, which was difficult on lighter stock, and the pens hold up better than expected overall.

The limited edition pink, green, and blue set remains hard to recommend. While the colors do show up on black paper, they lack vibrancy, and the green and blue look so similar they are nearly interchangeable. On lighter paper they appear washed out. Unless you specifically want these shades, this trio is easy to pass on.

The gold, silver, and white set tells a different story. The gold continues to impress, and the white performs surprisingly well on black paper, which is exactly where an opaque white needs to earn its keep.

White Gel Pen Comparison

The white from the Uni-ball One trio was swatched directly against two established options: the Uni-ball Signo Broad and the Sakura Gelly Roll in a 0.5 mm tip. All three perform nicely on black paper, and despite the thin nibs on the smaller two, neither feels scratchy in use.

There is one behavioral difference worth knowing. The Sakura Gelly Roll applies somewhat milky at first and develops its full color as it dries, so do not be discouraged by that initial pale appearance. The Uni-ball One white looks the same right away as it does once dry, with no wait time.

That said, the Uni-ball One does not replace the Signo Broad. The Signo is brighter and more heavily pigmented, making it ideal for highlighting artwork, hand lettering, or covering mistakes in place of correction tape. The Uni-ball One and the Gelly Roll are better suited to journaling and fine, intricate doodling, where the Signo’s 1.0 mm broad line is simply too thick.

Buying Advice

The short version: skip the limited edition metallic blue, green, and pink trio unless those specific shades are exactly what you want. The gold, silver, and white set is worth picking up, with the gold being the clear highlight and the white serving as a capable thin option for writing on dark paper.

Keep the Signo Broad on your desk for bold highlights and cover-up work, and consider the Gelly Roll if you want a proven fine-tip white with the caveat of a drying period and somewhat inconsistent coverage.

Conclusion

Uni-ball’s first metallic ink release delivers one clear winner and one clear loser. The metallic gold alone justifies trying the gold, silver, and white trio, and the 0.38 mm white adds a useful new option for fine writing on blackout paper. The limited edition colored set, unfortunately, does not live up to the metallic promise on any paper tested.