My favorite vector symbol is a harpoon.

1. in document header

   \usepackage{harpoon}
   \newcommand*{\vect}[1]{\overrightharp{\ensuremath{#1}}}

2. in document body where desired.

   $\vect{x}$

Notes

• The harpoon package defaults to text mode, which will fail when math characters like ell are used in the math mode.
• reference