When you’re drawing, sketching or editing photos on a computer, a mouse is only going to get you so far. It is a lot easier to draw or retouch photos with a pen tablet than with a mouse.
Drawing Tablets have become an essential tool for digital artists, graphic designers, photographers, and illustrators. It allows you to interact with a graphical program such as Krita or Photoshop.
These tablets are usually equipped with highly sensitive stylus or even a screen. You can draw images and graphics in a breeze.
By using a drawing tablet and art program you can select from all sorts of different tools and settings. Choose from endless brushes including watercolour, calligraphy and even chalk. Then there are the limitless color selections on offer.
With an unique design and powerful features, these devices allow unparalleled precision and flexibility in artwork creation.
What’s the best drawing tablet in 2023? Drawing tablets are so good these days, and while it’s great having so many excellent options to choose from, it also means that finding the perfect one for you can be a challenge.
To make sure you get the most for your investment, we’ve picked out the best of the best.
Some graphic tablets below may be pricey, but they deliver excellent drawing performance and will keep on running well into the foreseeable future.
If you’re looking to spend a little less and still get the best tablet on a budget, you can find something really good for under $100.
The best drawing tablets for digital artists depends on the individual’s preferences, budget and needs. You’ll find something on this list that’ll suit you perfectly.
What is a Drawing Tablet ? 3 Main Types of Graphics Tablets
For those who have never used a drawing tablet, it is a computer input device where you draw with a stylus on a flat surface tablet.
When digital painting with a brush tool, the advantages of using a graphics tablet really become apparent. With a pressure sensitive pen you can control the thickness and opacity of brush strokes in graphic software like photoshop or illustrator.
The amazing pressure sensitivity mean that as you draw, a line can go from thin to thick depending on how hard you press the pen tip—much like a pencil. and they can even change angle as you tilt the pen (much like a calligraphy pen).
Drawing tablets come in three forms: drawing tablet without screen, drawing tablet with screen and standalone drawing tablet.
Non-Screen Drawing Tablet
In and of itself, it does not display anything graphically. Usually, the tablet’s active surface mapped to the display of the monitor. Whatever you draw on the tablet surface shows up on your computer screen.
Notably, Screenless graphics tablets are relatively inexpensive and perfect for beginners. But there is a learning curve of feeling your pen position on the tablet with what you are seeing on your monitor or other display device.
Pen Display Monitor
While display drawing tablets are more expensive, they’re a bit more intuitive because you draw directly on the screen with a stylus.
Unlike standalone drawing tablets, they still need to be hooked up to a computer—because they onle a monitor and have have no cpu, ram， rom and other components.
Standalone Drawing Tablet
There are also plenty of all-in-1 tablets support pen input for artists, that allow you to draw straight on the screen of the tablet.
You’ll not need any additional computer to use the standalone drawing tablet. The device’s compact and lightweight design also makes it easy to carry around and drawing on the go.
Users are likely more familiar with this type: Windows, iOS and Android tablets like microsoft surface pro, apple ipad and samsung galaxy tab. These are the most expensive options!
20 Best graphics drawing tablets in 2023
Are you looking for the best tablets for graphic design or digital art? Whether that be for sketching, photo editing, drawing, writing or online teaching, we’ve got you covered!
Listed below are some of the most popular options available in the market that will get your job done instantly and perfectly.
1. One by Wacom
By compact design, the One by Wacom is supremely portable, and this makes it perfect for anyone regularly shifting between workspaces or travelling.
One by Wacom has a minimalist design. features a smooth surface without any ExpressKeys.
One by Wacom has two sizes, In its small size, the tablet has 6.0 x 3.7 inch active area, and in medium it has 8.3 x 5.7 inch active area.
The Pen has 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity and is reasonably responsive. The stylus doesn’t have a battery and doesn’t require charging because it ses EMR (Electro-Magnetic Resonance) technology.
The nib is harder than most others, so they don’t wear down as quickly. The stylus comes with a small bag with three replacement nibs.
One by Wacom is compatible with Mac, Windows PC, and Chromebook. For Mac users, you’ll need to get an extra USB converter because it’s not the Type-C port.
Compared with other tablets in the market, One by Wacom is pretty good value for money.
Although it’s cheaper than other wacom intuos tablets, it works perfectly fine for daily sketchy or image editing.It’s great value for money. Small investment and big outcome.
2. Wacom Intuos
The design of the Wacom Intuos is compact, portable and sleek. The rounded edges are well finished.
The tablet has a work area of 6.0 x 3.7 inches and 8.5 x 5.3 inches, Which is very portable, so you can bring it with you wherever you go.
The pen offers 4096 pressure levels and is battery-free. The pressure levels work great as well. Sure, these days a lot of graphics tablets already offer 8192 pressure levels, but 4096 is completely fine too.
It features four programmable express keys at the top of the device. There are also two buttons on the pen and can be programmed. This makes it easy to access the tools you need or use the most.
The surface of the tablet has a matt finish on it, which is very pleasant when you rest your palm on it. On the backside, there are four tiny rubber feet, so the tablet won’t slide on a table.
It compatible not just with Mac and Windows, but even with Android and chromebook devices.
It comes with 3 art software trials (Corel Painter Essential, Clip Studio Paint Pro, Corel After Shot) and is a lot of fun.
The Wacom Intuos is an easy entry into pen and tablet-based photo editing and illustration on a budget.
3. Gaomon S620
The Gaomon S620 features a matte black finish with a plastic body, small and compact design.
At the bottom panel of the tablet it has concave dots and rubber pads to keep the tablet secure when drawing.
The tablet comes in just one small size with an active area of 6.5 x 4 inches. This active size is decent for smaller computers and laptops.
The pen has a pressure sensitivity of 8192 levels. The levels of the pen let you control the pressure of the pen’s stroke lines which is useful in design and art programs like Photoshop or Corel Draw.
The stylus is battery free and cordless, and it has excellent response rate for really smooth and fluid lines.
It also offers 4 hotkeys which can help you switch between tools faster.
The S620 is compatible with Windows, Mac, Chromebook and Android devices.
The Gaomon S620 is a cheap and great tablet for beginners who want to start drawing.
4. XP-Pen Deco 01 V2
The XP-Pen Deco 01 V2 tablet’s large active area is 10 x 6.25 inches. but its thickness is only 8mm.
The surface is extremely slick, and the protector film lies flush against the tablet perfectly. It feels firm and sturdy. It is available in 3 colors – Black, Gree & Pink.
The stylus features 8,192 levels of pressure and It even supports 60 degrees of tilt brush effect! you can do soft shades by tilting the stylus, the lines and strokes come out looking natural.
The pen is battery-free and has two customizable buttons and comes with 8 extra nibs.
There are 8 round programmable shortcut buttons on the XP-Pen Deco 01 to increase the work efficiency. They click nicely and are fairly easy to press.
Compatible with Windows, Mac, linux and Chrome OS. You can also connect it to your Android phones or tablets with the OTG connector that is included.
If you’re looking for a versatile drawing tablet, this model is an excellent choice.
5. Huion H610 Pro V2
It comes with a 10 x 6.25 inch working area so you have more space to create and get work done.
It has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, matching Wacom’s maximum levels. Not only that, but the v2 offers tilt/angle sensitivity.
The stylus is embedded with passive EMR technology that enables it to run for long hours without charging.
You get 16 softkeys and 8 external buttons, all customizable. With which, it gets easier for you to customize your settings as per your convenience and requirement.
Huion H610 Pro V2 is compatible with Mac, Windows, Chromebook ( ChromeOS 88 and above)and Android devices (OS 6.0 and above).
The Huion H610 Pro V2 Specifications are decent and comes with some high-end specifications that make the product to be very helpful for your drawing requirements.
6. Wacom Intuos Pro
The Wacom Intuos Pro is a high-end, yet still expensive, graphics tablet. This popular tablet can seriously enhance your workflow.
It comes in three sizes: small (6.3 x 3.9 inches active area), medium (8.7 x 5.8 inches) and large (12.24 x 8.5 inches).
Every piece of it feels like it was perfectly engineered to be handled by someone with a soft and precise touch. Everything is well balanced.
It comes with the famous Wacom Pro Pen 2 battery-free stylus, The pen tip is very thin for precision and features 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt-response, and virtually lag-free tracking.
The pen is extremely comfortable to hold with its latex grip and there is almost no latency when drawing. There are two customizable shortcuts and a digital earse on the pen.
Besides the pen, you can use your fingers for multi-touch input, just like the tablet was a big trackpad.
With the Intuos Pro series, you have 6 to 8 Express Keys. and it offers a scroll wheel between the two sets of Express Keys. All are customizable using the wacom driver.
The Intuos Pro Line cater to professionals artists who are looking to gain efficiency and improve their workflows.
7. XP-Pen Deco Pro
XPPen Deco Pro is available in two models: small and medium. the small version has 9 x 5 inches of the active working area, while the medium variant has a really massive 11 x 6 inches of working area.
The XP-Pen Deco Pro is crafted with a robust aluminium alloy back casing. which gives this tablet a much more durable feel compared to many other screen-less tablets which are made mostly from plastic.
The tablet looks modern and sleek in appearance with matte black and metallic silver color that really complements each other. On the backside, there are two large rubber strips that grip the surface and keep the tablet securely planted on the surface.
The XP-Pen Deco Pro also features a new type of dual function wheel, which has a physical wheel on the outside and a touch wheel in the center, This feature greatly improves comfort and efficiency for a professional level workflow (zoom, rotate, scroll, change brush size, etc).
The Deco Pro stylus has a very distinct design with metal at the back and silicone grips at the front half, you will notice that you will draw quite well and steadily when using the pen.
The stylus comes with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and supports tilt up to ±60°. The tracking of pen movement, tilt and pressure is near-perfect, removing any barriers between what you mean to draw or paint and what turns up on the screen.
Deco Pro SW and MW are delicately integrated with advanced Bluetooth v5.0 chips for reliable wireless connections. The Bluetooth connectivity is a game-changer, making it easier to move around your workspace without being tethered to computer.
The XP-Pen Deco Pro is a great tablet that is an absolute bargain at its price point (especially when compared to Wacom Intuos Pro).
8. Wacom One
Even though Wacom one is not as fancy as other display tablets, it works perfectly fine for beginners in daily work.
The Wacom One tablet is made out of durable plastic that is lightweight, has a sturdy feel and decent build quality to it.
It features a 13.3″ LCD display with a Full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution. Moreover, it covers 92% sRGB color space and has wide 170° viewing angles.
The screen is a matte finish so you do not get to much reflection from it. Also the matte surface has a texture that really nice to draw on.
Pen is battery free which is a plus, It has a nice feel with enough resistance on screen to feel like natural media.
It features 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, which means that all moves you made with this tablet feel natural, fluid, and precise.
The great thing is, The wacom one tablet comes with Bonus software Pack (Affinity Photo, Affinity Designer, Affinity Publisher, Clip Studio Paint and other programs) and is compatible with your mac or windows computer as well as certain Android devices to get you off to a flying start.
No button on the screen unit, And there is only one button on the stylus, which is less than most other of its competitors.
Although the Wacom One’s 13.3-inch screen is relatively small and its stylus more basic than the one found in most Wacom products, But for the price, you can’t complain too much about what’s missing.
9. XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd Gen)
XP-Pen Artist 12 (2nd Generation) is an overall solidly built display that you can feel comfortable about slipping into your laptop bag and taking with you.
It takes advantage of single USB-C cable connectivity for power, increasing the display’s portability as it does not need an additional power source to use.
The 11.9-inch IPS display offers 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution and 94% Adobe RGB color accuracy, ensuring your images on the screen are clear, accurate and vibrant.
For the screen, the XPPen Artist 12 (2nd Gen) is fully laminated, This lends the tablet a more natural feel when in use, as well as helping to close the parallax gap between where the tip of the pen touches and where the cursor is displayed below it.
The screen also has a nice matte finish that reduces glare from any surrounding light sources and provide a rougher texture for drawing.
The X3 Elite stylus is a battery-free and comes with 3 grams of initial activation force, 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt sensitivity.
The stylus having new technology in the form of the X3 smart chip, which is supposed to double the pen’s lifetime and increase its sensitivity.
The Artist 12 (2nd Gen) is available in four colors: black, blue, pink, and green colors. you can express your color preference freely.
The Artist 12 (2nd Gen) allows you to work faster through 8 shortcut keys. The tablet is flexible and fit for both left-handed and right-handed individuals.
The XPPen Artist 12 (2nd Gen) is a reasonably priced and well-designed pen display that is a great starter tablet for beginners and hobbyists. The screen looks smooth, there’s no obvious pixelation, and drawing on it is really smooth.
10. Huion Kamvas 13
The Huion Kamvas 13 tablet comes with a sleek, modern, and minimalist design. It’s lightweight and portable for any artist or photographer.
You have a big screen at the front with 8 shortcut buttons located at the left. On the back, you will find four circular rubber pads the help the tablet to get a firm grip on smooth surfaces.
The screen has a 13.3 inch screen that will guarantee good color reproduction of 120% sRGB, high resolution of full HD 1080p, and 178° wide viewing angles because it is using an IPS-type monitor.
The screen looks sharp and you won’t be able to see individual pixels even when working up close.
The Huion Kamvas 13 uses an EMR battery-free pen that has an 8192 pressure level and tilt control which is very convenient for portability.
The tablet stand is made with metal and hard plastic. Build quality is solid. There are spare nibs within the donut-shaped stand for the pen.
The Huion Kamvas 13 is a well designed and well built budget pen display that has good drawing performance.
11. Wacom Cintiq 16
Wacom Cintiq 16 is moderately priced, and is a good choice for art students and pros on tight budgets.
The LCD display is 15.6-inch diagonally and has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 (full HD). It can display 16.7 million colors covering 96% of sRGB, but only 72% NTSC standards. These specs are all fairly standard features.
The included Wacom Pro Pen 2 is considered the best stylus available. It has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity with tilt capability, which enables you to be as accurate as possible with your work.
Also, the stylus has two programmable buttons and an eraser on the rear end that erases all the marks you make on the drawing tablet
It doesn’t require charging, as it draws power from the Cintiq 16 through EMR technology, which eliminates the need for a battery.
The build quality is solid, and the tablet is easy to set up and use. There are flip out legs on the rear of the Cintiq 16, which allow you to work at a 19-degree angle.
There are no express keys on this model and Wacom doesn’t include the Express Key remote, but it is compatible and can be purchased separately.
The budget-minded tablet cuts the frills and keeps what really matters. The 15.6-inch screen is big enough to comfortably draw on, and the stylus provides accurate and responsive input.
12. Huion Kamvas 16 Pro (2.5k)
The Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5k) is the latest 16″ pen display with a higher pixel density, better resolution, and a new design.
15.8-inch OLED display paired with 2560 x 1440 Pixel resolution is a good combination, The extra sharpness and detail is a noticeable upgraded compared to 1920 x 1080 Pixel.
It boasts 99% Adobe RGB, 100% sRGB and 95% P3 gamut coverage, the color precision and uniformity across the screen to be close to faultless, and when combined with the detail of the 2.5K display, this is a screen that allows you to view your work in glorious detail.
The display is laminated so there’s almost no visible gap between the pen tip and the line beneath.
The matte glass surface all but eliminates glare, provides the coveted ‘paper like’ feel and sound when drawing, and doesn’t have a noticeable impact on image clarity or brightness.
The tablet comes equipped with a battery-free stylus that has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and natural tilt recognition. The high level ensures precise and nuanced control over brush strokes and other elements.
The Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) features eight press keys for your customization. the battery-free digital pen also provides an additional two customizable buttons.
The Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) is a well designed pen display with solid build quality and and fantastic drawing performance. It is designed to deliver top-notch performance for digital artists and designers.
13. XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro
The XP-Pen Artist 15.6 Pro is a great budget screen tablet and is a great choice for beginners.
The 15.6-inch IPS screen is a great size to draw on and big enough to act as a second screen. Its resolution of 1920 x 1080 (FHD) is perfectly suitable for this size, too.
You get a great color gamut of 88% NTSC and 120% sRGB, The colors are accurate, perfect, strong, colorful and vivid.
The screen is fully laminated and comes with a textured mat screen protector. drawing experience is fantastic, almost no parallax, and have no issues with the cursor following along.
The PA2 battery-free stylus has a rubber grip with a plastic top, and has a nice shape with a bulge near the bottom to allow for an easy and comfortable grip on the pen.
It supports up to 60 degrees of tilt function and 8,192 levels of sensitive pressure, making the smooth, whether in drawing lines or coloring.
On the left side of the tablet sits 8 customizable shortcut keys and a red dial wheel to improve the user’s workflow. For example, the red dial wheel can be used to quickly change the brush size.
XP-Pen hooks users up with additional accessories like a plastic tablet stand, a pen case that doubles as a pen holder, matte screen protector, drawing glove, and cleaning cloth from the get-go – something that users on a budget will appreciate.
The XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro is currently the best screen tablet alternative to Wacom Cintiq 16, if your budget is tight. It offers a good-quality screen, with low parallax, useful shortcut keys and tilt recognition.
14. Wacom Cintiq 22
Wacom cintiq 22 offers a large sketching screen at a good price, geared to art students and budding designers. The build quality is solid, and the tablet is easy to set up and use.
The large size of 21.5-inch allows you to make more extensive pen strokes. And there is a anti-glare film on the screen of Cintiq 22 which actually feels great to draw on.
Its screen is HD (1920 x 1080) instead of the Cintiq Pro’s much sharper 4K screen. It’s also not laminated, which is cheaper to manufacture.
Its screen has full HD 1920 x 1080 resolution, 72% NTSC color gamut and 16.7 million colors, not the Cintiq Pro’s much sharper 4K screen. It’s also not laminated, lacks the multi-touch function.
But it comes with the Wacom Pro Pen 2 – the best stylus in the industry. It’s pressure sensitivity and natural tilt recognition etc is incredible and a joy to use.
The Cintiq 22 uses three separate cables to connect to a computer: USB, power, and HDMI. Most Macs do not use HDMI, so you may need to purchase an adapter.
The 21.5-inch screen is big enough to comfortably draw on, and the stylus provides accurate and responsive input. Overall, a great choice for beginner digital artists.
15. Huion Kamvas 22 Plus
Huion Kamvas 22 plus is a big drawing monitor with a sturdy design, neat features, and an easy setup. the drawing performance is fantastic.
This 21.5-inch IPS display has a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 at 102 pixels per inch, This should meet for your drawing and secondary screen needs.
It has good colour accuracy of 100% Adobe RGB and 140% sRGB color gamut, enables your Kamvas 22 Plus to better present the colors applied to your art works.
The display is matte glass and fully laminated, so there’s no gap between the screen and the glass covering it. the slight texture surface feeels like smooth construction paper, which also helps reduce glare.
The Kamvas 22 Plus has an excellent 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, you can adjust pressure curve in the driver. the activation force is nice low.
The battery-free pen offers sensitivity and precision up to a contact angle of 60 degrees in any direction, which assures better accuracy in making manual inputs.
This Kamvas 22 plus tablet feels solid and has a good quality rubber stand that makes adjusting your preferred working angle a real breeze. It supports VESA Mounts.
The Huion Kamvas 22 Plus is a good tool that offers functions as a monitor, a precision editing and retouching tablet, and a multi-tasking device.
16. XP-Pen Artist 24 Pro
XP-Pen’s new Artist 24 Pro is one of the most compelling professional grade large graphics displays on the market.
It offers 23.8 inches of screen space at 2.5K QHD 2560 x 1440 resolution and an excellent color gamut of 90% Adobe RGB for hobby and professional work.
The display panel is IPS, Viewing angles are great. Color shift is minimal when display is viewed from the side. The display comes with a matte screen protector already applied.
Featuring two easy-to-control red dials wheels and 20 customizable shortcuts keys are placed on both sides of the display so whether you’re right or left-handed, it’s easy to use.
The PA2 battery-free stylus has the response rate of 14ms, 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt function which is on par with what you get with top of the line drawing tablets. It’s very precise and smooth, drawing performance is fantastic.
The rubberized grip makes it easy to hold while the side buttons can be customized with mouse clicks or keyboard shortcuts.
The pen case comes with eight replacement nibs along with a nib remover, the cap also can be used as an excellent pen stand.
The display comes with a USB hub built-in so you can connect devices such as your mouse and with its adjustable stand, you can change the angle to make it easier to get work done.
The XPPen Artist 24 Pro device is really great, If you plan to spend hours at the huge screen for photo editing, sketching, painting or 3D sculpting this is a really great option.
17. Huion Kamvas Pro 24
Huion Kamvas Pro 24 boasts a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) display resolution which enables clear and sharp picture presentation on the 23.8” panel. Even the most subtle details can be presented crisply.
The QLED Display combines an anti-glare etched glass with full lamination, this professional-grade graphical tablet provides exceptional drawing accuracy with minimal parallax that mimics a pen and paper experience.
It also supports 1.07 billion colors with high dynamic range, covering 140% of the sRGB gamut, giving you the tools to create rich, vivid images.
in addition, featured with HDR technology, the contrast ratio of 1000:1 that makes black and gray hues darker helps to improve the gradation of the picture.
The PW517 digital pen delivers an accurate and natural drawing experience with 8192 pressure sensitivity levels, a 60° tilt support, and a 300 pps report rate.
The battery-free stylus comes with a smooth rubber grip and two tactile buttons located on the side that act as your mouse right/left click buttons.
It comes with a lightweight donut-shaped pen stand that contains with 5 standard pen tips and 5 felt tip pens to meet the needs of different users.
Huion’s Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) is a big-screen graphics tablet that promises a lot to digital artists at a reasonable price.
18. iPad Pro (2022)
The iPad Pro is light and portable, but can be a fully capable artist’s workstation – perfect for international travel. Painting on it is similar to any other screen tablet, except its small and glossy screen.
The iPad Pro comes in two sizes: 11 inch and the 12.9 inch. The 12.9-inch uses the mini-LED display and the 11-inch is uses the normal LED display. Design is the same.
The 12.9-inch Liquid Retina display offers a resolution of 2048 x 2732 pixels, delivering a pixel density of 264ppi. and 1,600 nits of peak brightness. The display is vibrant, sharp and bright.
The display’s refresh rate of 120Hz ensures excellent responsiveness. It also features True Tone, 115% of DCI-P3 wide color gamut and a mini-LED backlight. The tablet world doesn’t have much to rival it at the moment.
Its compatibility with the Apple Pencil 2 means you get one of the best styluses available right now, drawing with the Apple pencil is great. It feels smooth and responsive. The pressure curve feels good, there are no jitter and breaks.
Unfortunately, If you want to use a stylus, you’ll have to buy it separately. It charges using induction when you magnetically attach it to the side of your iPad Pro; it’s also a convenient way to store it.
Unique drawing Apps like procreate on iPad designed from the ground up for tablets provides a larger working area.
The Pro model builds a 10758 mAh battery into the 12.9-inch model, Battery life is around 10 hours.
Apple’s Powerful M2 Processor, sturdy, high-definition Retina display and the exceptional Apple Pencil all combine to make iPad Pro into powerful drawing tools.
19. Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 ultra
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra has a stunning 14.6-inch screen with 2960 x 1848 pixels resolution, The PPI is 239 PPI, which makes for a better viewing experience and sharper images.
It’s a tremendous display, with the punchy colors and blackest blacks that OLED screens are known for, plus the 120Hz high refresh rate makes every touch and pen input interaction feel very smooth.
It has Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 paired with between 8 and 16GB of RAM — performance has been snappy and responsive for all the tasks like drawing, taking notes.
The S Pen comes with the Tab S8 Ultra and attaches magnetically on the back of the tablet. It also charges up wirelessly since it supports Bluetooth functions and Air Actions.
The S Pen also responds much like a real pen too with 4,096 levels of sensitivity and tech culled from Wacom for exceptional responsiveness on the order of an incredibly low 2.8ms latency when putting virtual pen to virtual paper.
The Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra comes with an 11,200mAh battery which sounds like a lot, but astoundingly, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra only has a battery life of 6.5 hours with High refresh rate enabled, and a more acceptable 8 hours with the Standard refresh rate!
It’s a fantastic experience to draw on such a large 14.6-inch display. There aren’t many products in the market that offers portability and such a large display for drawing.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ has almost all of the features of its Ultra linemate but at a 12.4-inch size that’s better for work and play.
20. Microsoft Surface Pro 9
The Surface Pro 9 is a great Windows 2-in-1 laptop for writing notes, drawing, editing photos, and sketching.
The Surface Pro 9 has a 13-inch display that Microsoft calls the PixelSense Flow screen. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, which is very good for office work.
The resolution is nice and high at 2880 x 1920 pixels and everything looks sharp. It supports 120Hz refresh rate, which makes animations and drawing with the Slim Pen 2 look very smooth.
You can get the Surface Pro 9 with a 12th generation Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processor, or with a Microsoft SQ3 ARM chipset that they developed together with Qualcomm. You can choose between 8GB and 32GB of RAM, as well as between a 128GB up to 1TB SSD.
The CPU and RAM technical specs are strong, Even with intensive multitasking. Everything runs quickly and smoothly.
You can get the Surface Pro 9 with the Slim Pen 2, which you can buy for 130 Dollars or Euros. The pen supports palm rejection, tilt and up to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity. Pen feel is great, espacially with the haptic Feedback enabled.
As in the past, drawing, note-taking, and photo editing windows os-based applications are some of the Surface Pro’s strong suits.
Battery Capacity is 47.7 Wh, Battery life remains at about eight hours of constant work, which should last the working day but not much more.
The Intel-powered Surface Pro 9 can run all of the legacy Windows apps you’d expect. The SQ3 model, on the other hand, can only run newer apps natively.
Drawing Tablet Buyer’s Guide: Key Features & Specs to Look For
There are a lot of factors that impact the quality and functionality of a drawing tables.
Here are a few of the most important:
Compatibility
The operating system is a program that is responsible for the working of any device. You must be familiar with Windows, Mac, and Linux- these are a few popular operating systems that run on most devices, they are built for high-end graphic or animation design software.
When it comes to drawing tablets, the choice is mostly between Mac and Windows. So pay attention to the the drawing tablets’ compatibility with Microsoft and Apple.
With the popularization of e-Learning, new drawing tablet models can work with Chromebooks and Android devices, but still not include the iOS devices.
Active Area
The active area on the drawing tablet is the space where you sketch, draw and edit. The active area should not be confused with screen size.
A bigger active area will enable you to work on larger drawings more easily without the need for zooming and panning.
If you do a lot of drawing on the go you may be better off with a more compact tablet that’s easier to carry around.
The active area should not act as a constraint to your creative freedom, so choose wisely.
Resolution
Lines per inch or LPI index is a variant of resolution that is common in the drawing tablet jargon.
Larger non-screen drawing tablets typically have a greater resolution than smaller ones.
If your work involves designing highly detailed images, a higher LPI index is what you should look for.
Stylus
The stylus is a digital pen. Its purpose is to create a real pen/pencil-like experience for the designer.
There a majorly two kinds of stylus: Rechargeable lithium battery-operated stylus and EMR (Electron magnetic resonance) stylus.
Rechargeable styluses need charging just like your phone or laptop. They are usually slimmer and fit comfortably in your hand.
EMR styluses require no charge, and no batteries to power them. They use electromagnetic frequency that transfers power to the pen wirelessly right from the tablet.
This is a happy medium for people who love wireless accessories and don’t want to keep replacing batteries.
Pressure Sensitivity
Before buying a drawing tablet, do look for this factor because the hardware mostly governs it. The numerical value starts from 1000 and goes to 8000 levels.
The advantage of going with a greater number of pressure levels is that it enables you to make finer distinctions in the thickness of the lines, which is essential when working on high-resolution drawings.
The ideal pen pressure is over 2000, but anything far exceeding that value will be hard to notice. The comfort of the pen in your hand will be up to your preferences, so it’s nice if you can try before you buy but that’s not always possible.
Most devices come with a setting for modulating this parameter. You can set the screen sensitivity to some extent, using this and use the most suited setting for your comfort.
Tilt Detection
Tilt detection is a digital tablet feature that allows the device to perceive the angle of the digital pen over the tablet surface.
That data is used by the device software to react in consequence.
So, the resultant traces tent to look like it would do on physical work, according to each drawing tool used.
Tilt detection is a feature that comes with most of the latest generation of tablets.
Hotkeys
Hotkeys are the shortcuts that you can use to do your work faster, and smoother. They help you save time.
Many tablets come with a built-in scroll bar or scroll wheel to zoom in and out the canvas quickly. This directly affects the completion time of your work.
Wired or Wireless
Some non-screen drawing tablets connect to the computer using Bluetooth or WiFi (2.4GHz), both tech are norms for wireless transmission.
Wired drawing tablets do not give you the freedom of movement that wireless tablets do. However, wireless tablets require a good connection, and sometimes they will most likely work with a bit of a lag.
The choice between a wireless and a wired tablet depends totally on your requirements. If you move around a lot, go for a wireless tablet. If you prefer working on a desk, pick a wired drawing tablet.
Notice that the wireless technology does not have the high bandwidth that is required to transfer display and the pen data and that is why there is no wireless display drawing tablet (like wacom cintiq, xppen artist and huion kamvas) in the market.
If you specifically need a wireless or bluetooth drawing tablet with a screen, then you’re options are limited to either a standalone device like the ipad pro, surface pro and samsung galaxy tab.
Screen Quality
Screen Size: The first thing you’ll need to figure out is what screen size suits your needs. Most drawing tablet monitors range from 10-inch to 24-inch, measured diagonally from corner to corner. large or small size depending on how much space you’ve got on your desk.
Screen Resolution: Screen Resolution is the number of pixels (display units) on the screen. It is represented as A x B where A is the number of pixels in a row and B is the number of pixels in a column.
Each pixel can have a different color. A higher resolution guarantees a more accurate display and a more excellent opportunity to show different colors at the same time.
Pixel Density: PPI is a measure of the number of pixels per inch on a monitor. The higher the PPI, the more pixels there are in each inch of screen real estate, resulting in sharper and more detailed images.
PPI is calculated by dividing the number of pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions by the diagonal screen size of the monitor.
Screen Panel: IPS vs OLED are two giants of display technology that are currently dominating the industry.
IPS (in-plane switching) is a display standard developed for LCD panels. IPS allows for better colors, wider viewing angles, and a much higher picture quality over its competition (TN, VA).
IPS panels are highly recommended for artists due to the wide view angles and high color accuracy, though they are slightly more expensive than TN and VA panel.
OLED (organic light-emitting diodes) displays are a more modern standard, we’re now slowly beginning to see some great OLED drawing monitors.
OLED displays are perfect for anyone seeking a visually engaging and immersive viewing experience due to the near infinite contrast ratio, deepest blacks, and ultra-fast refresh rates.
Color Gamut: The colour gamut reflects the range of colours that a monitor can output and defines its limits of saturation.
It indirectly shows the ability of the screen to reproduce the colors. The wider the gamut (), The more colors your panel can output, the more vibrant and saturated the colors can be.
The most commonly seen color gamut in drawing monitor world are sRGB, Adobe RGB,DCI-P3 and NTSC.
The Adobe RGB is substantially bigger than the DCI-P3 color gamuts, as well as Color Gamut sRGB which are both significantly smaller. Furthermore, 72 percent NTSC is almost equal to 100 percent sRGB in terms of color gamut.
Refresh Rate: A monitor’s refresh rate is how often the image on the screen is updated per second, typically given as a number of Hertz, or Hz.
A refresh rate of 60Hz means that your display can redraw the entire screen 60 times in one second.
High refresh rate monitors update what’s on the screen more often than slower refresh rate monitors.
For starters, a high refresh rate monitor feels smoother and looks more natural. This can be more comfortable on the eyes, too, because there’s less imperceptible flickering.
Brands
Wacom is considered the premiere brand, high quality, and great driver support.
Huion and XP-Pen are relatively new contenders in the drawing tablet scene, but they have both quickly developed a name for themselves regardless.
In fact, they have both risen to the front of the pack side by side, so it’s hard to tell which is actually the better brand.
They are both targeting the exact same audience: those who want professional grade drawing tablets without having to pay the premium that Wacom charges.
Conclusion
A drawing tablet is something you can make great use of whether you’re are an experienced artist or just starting.
We recommend beginners to start out with a non-display tablet as these are generally the most affordable models. And they can still give you a feel for whether or not a drawing tablet is something you’ll stick with long term.
Once you’ve gotten more comfortable with digital drawing it might be a good idea to upgrade to a built-in display tablet.
If you do a lot of traveling you may actually want to start with one of standalone drawing tablets like iPad Pro instead.
The best drawing tablet would be the one which fulfills all your requirements.
You don’t need to waste a lot of time on the many options. Just look at options with a discerning eye, and you’ll find your dream drawing tablet.
