Drawing tablets have been on the rave for a while due to their immense creative potential. The choice of a tablet to invest in for your drawing needs can be difficult. We provide some of the best picks for drawing tablets considering several factors including price, size, pressure levels, and more. It is goodbye to a pen and paper for your drawing needs. The drawing tablet is a new way that helps to develop your artistic creativity.
Unlike traditional tablets, some drawing tablets lack a screen. They are essentially a virtual canvas that sends pressure from the pad to the connected display which powers it. These five drawing tablets are the top choices to consider before you begin your artistic voyage.
Wacom Intuos Pro PTH860
Wacom is one of the industry leaders and this seems to be the best pick for the 2022 lineup of drawing tablets. Its specs include dimensions (L x W x H) of 13.14″ x 8.54″ x .31″ with an active area of 8.7 x 5.8 inches. It is compatible with Mac OS 10.12/ Windows 7 or higher versions. It is almost without lag and delivers 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity in the pen accessory included. The pen is battery-free and the Wacom Intuos Pro is the top pick for professional artists.
The Intuos Pro PTH860 offers endless possibilities for creativity and it has fully-customizable ExpressKeys for greater functionality. The tablet has a lightweight design and it can be used on your lap or on a desk. There are different size options available for the Intuos Pro priced at $380. The $380 price tag for the gadget is not cast in stone as it could retail as low as $300, which is as cheap as it can get for drawing tablets. In summary, the Wacom Intuos Pro is a low-price, high-quality product with industry-leading amount of pressure sensitivity levels. Its seeming drawback is that it needs an external screen and the stylus’ nubs are not durable.
XP-PEN Artist Pro
The XP-PEN Artist Pro comes as the best drawing tablet based on the internal display. It has dimensions of 15.37 x 9.84 x 0.51 inches with an active area of 11.57 x 6.51 inches. It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.10/ Windows 7 operating systems and later versions. It has several customization options and 8,192 pressure sensitivity levels. The artist will find the XP-PEN Artist Pro quite easy to access and it comes with 60 degrees of tilt
The drawing tablet has a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080p and does not need an external display to function. You can thus use the tablet virtually anywhere and anytime. The drawing tablet is priced under $300 which is great given its features. It offers incredible quality and precision. Its built-in display is the major advantage of the tablet, together with its high-pressure sensitivity level. It however lacks 4K resolution and can be a bit heavy.
Microsoft Surface Pro 8
The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 has an active area of 13 inches with its dimensions as 11.3 x 8.2 x 0.37 inches. It is preloaded with Windows 11 operating system and is a two-in-one device combining tablet and laptop features. It has 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels and has an attachable keyboard and is preloaded with Windows 11. The Surface Pro 8 is portable and can be used in a variety of places seamlessly. It comes with lots of apps that will fire the creative juices of the artist at different skill levels.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is equipped with the Intel Evo Platform Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM. It has a decent performance among the leading drawing tablets for a variety of usage options. Indeed the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is more than just a drawing tablet with its powerful processor, it lacks important accessories like a stylus and keyboard. It could be pretty expensive if you want to use the tablet as a drawing device.
One by Wacom
The Wacom One tablet has an active area of 8.5 x 5.3 inches with dimensions 10.9 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches. It is compatible with Mac OS X 10.10/ Windows 7 and higher versions. It is also compatible with the latest ChromeOS and has just 2,048 pressure sensitivity levels. The One by Wacom is priced at $80 and it will help the artist showcase his creative abilities online. It can be used by artists of differing experience levels and comes with the Wacom 2K pen for enhanced drawing versatility. The compact design and weight of the One by Wacom mean it can be carried about easily. However, its size also limits the ability to draw big-scale pictures, and it lacks a USB port.
HUION Inspiroy H430P
The Huion Inpiroy H430P is an entry-level drawing tablet well-suited for beginners. It has an active area of 4.8 x 3 inches and dimensions 7.36 x 5.51 x 0.31 inches. It has 4,096 pressure sensitivity levels and is compatible with Mac OS X 10.12/ Windows 7/ Android 6.0 and higher versions. The tablet is also compatible with Linux.
The HUION Inspiroy is a great choice for beginners. Its small size and impressive pen mean users can enjoy high-quality work at a pretty affordable price. There are four express keys in the tablet at the top of the active area for quick tools deployment. The PW201 pen of the device makes up for the lower pressure sensitivity of the device. The HUION Inspiroy comes at a ridiculously low price of $35. It however lacks a tilt function and needs an external screen to function.
The array of choices available for the ultimate drawing tablet has been set out in this article. The decision on which of the models to settle on depends on you and what your drawing expectations are. Issues like size, express keys, pressure levels, and even the stylus could determine the choice.
