Pilot Metropolitan Review: The Sub-$25 Pen That Punches Up

Pilot Metropolitan Review: The Sub-$25 Pen That Punches Up

The Pilot Metropolitan is the pen we hand to the friend who says fountain pens seem fussy and expensive. It costs around $20, it is made of metal, and it writes better than pens at three times its price. If the Lamy Safari is the default first pen, the Metropolitan is the default rebuttal — the answer to everyone who bounced off the Safari's grip or wanted something that feels like an object rather than a tool.

We weigh a starter pen on four axes: out-of-box writing, flow consistency, how the grip suits different hands, and how cheaply you can keep it inked. The Metropolitan is the rare sub-$25 pen that does not obviously lose on any of them.

A metal body at a plastic price

Pick a Metropolitan up and the first thing you notice is the weight. The body is brass under a lacquer finish, giving it a cool, substantial heft that reads as far more expensive than it is. The shape is a clean cigar with a single accent band — plain black, or one of the subtle animal-print bands (python, tiger, leopard) rendered tastefully enough to pass in a meeting. The section is smooth and round, with no molded grip forcing your fingers anywhere. Writers who found the Safari's triangle uncomfortable land here and exhale.

The clip is firm, the cap posts securely on the tail, and the whole thing balances well whether you write posted or unposted. For a pen that competes with disposable gel pens on price, the Metropolitan feels conspicuously like hardware.

The nib is the headline

Pilot's steel nib is the reason this pen has been recommended for a decade. It is smooth in a way that cheap nibs rarely are, it starts reliably after a pause, and it keeps a consistent line without the skipping that plagues bargain pens. This is the "nib above its price" everyone means when they recommend it.

One thing beginners must internalize: Pilot uses Japanese sizing, which runs finer than Western. A Pilot Fine writes closer to a Western extra-fine, and a Pilot Medium lands near a Western fine. That is not a flaw — it is a feature if you write small, take notes on cheap paper, or want a precise line — but it means you should not order the Fine expecting the wet, broad stroke a Lamy Fine gives. If you are unsure which width fits your hand, our Japanese vs Western nib sizes guide and the nib finder will steer you. Most people are happiest with the Medium for everyday writing.

Filling and feeding

The Metropolitan ships with a Pilot cartridge and, on current versions, a squeeze converter you can use with bottled ink straight away. When that wears out, the click-style Pilot CON-40 converter drops in and holds a bit more. (Skip the larger CON-70 — it does not fit this pen's slim body.) Once you are on bottled ink, the Metropolitan costs almost nothing to run: a single bottle of Diamine ink will outlast the pen, and swapping colors is half the fun. New to the ritual? Our how to fill a fountain pen walkthrough covers cartridge, converter, and squeeze in order.

Paper pairing

A Pilot Medium is drier and finer than a Western medium, which means the Metropolitan behaves better than most pens on mediocre paper — it will survive a legal pad or a decent notebook without much feathering. Give it proper fountain-pen paper like a Rhodia dot pad, though, and the fine Japanese line turns crisp and clean, ideal for small handwriting and dense notes.

Posted, unposted, and the animal-print question

The Metropolitan balances well both ways. Unposted it is short but usable, thanks to the metal weight sitting forward in the hand; posted, the cap adds length and a pleasant back-heaviness some writers prefer. Try both — the pen is comfortable either way, which is not something you can say about every starter.

The only cosmetic decision is the accent band. The plain finishes read as understated business pens; the animal-print bands (python, tiger, leopard) sound garish on paper but are rendered in subtle tone-on-tone metal that reads as texture, not costume, from arm's length. None of it changes how the pen writes, but it is why the Metropolitan photographs so well and gifts so easily — it looks like a considered object rather than a beginner's compromise.

It is worth saying plainly why this pen endures where trendier starters come and go: Pilot did not cut the nib to hit the price. The savings live in the body — lacquered brass instead of precious resin, a fixed nib instead of a swappable one — while the part that touches paper is the same reliable steel unit Pilot fits to pens costing more. You buy the writing, and the metal body comes along as a bonus.

Where it falls short

• Nibs do not swap like a Safari's. The Metropolitan is not built for casual nib changes, so choose your width at purchase.
• Limited nib range. You get Fine and Medium; there is no factory stub or broad, so calligraphers should look elsewhere.
• The section can be slippery for people with damp hands, since it is smooth metal with no grip texture.

Verdict

At around $20, the Pilot Metropolitan is the easiest fountain pen to recommend without caveats. It is the pen that converts skeptics, the smooth-barreled answer to the Safari's grip, and a nib good enough that people keep it in rotation long after they own fancier pens. Buy the Medium, add a bottle of ink, and check the Metropolitan's current price on Amazon. If $20 is more than you want to risk, the Pilot Kakuno puts nearly the same nib in a cheaper plastic body — we settle the choice in Metropolitan vs Kakuno. And if you are still weighing it against the German icon, read Safari vs Metropolitan or see the whole field in our best beginner fountain pens roundup and the /best hub.