Drawing tablet brands

Introduction

There are many tablet brands. And picking the brand of the tablet is one of the most important decisions you will need to make.

Tier 1: Wacom

Wacom continues to make the highest quality and most reliable tablets. In general, Wacom has tghe best drawing experience. Their products are the most expensive. I consider Wacom to be the "safe choice". More here: my notes on Wacom

Tier 2: Huion, XP-Pen, and Xencelabs

Huion and XP-pen since about 2021 have been releasing decent devices and size 2023/2024 a couple very good ones that compete strongly with Wacom. In many ways they deliver 90% of what a typical person needs for about half the cost. They do trail Wacom in reliability and in customer support however. If you carefully research a tablet from these brands, you can find one that works for you. More here: My notes on Huion and XP-pen

Xencelabs (founded 2019) is a new brand focused only on professional tablets and have a very strong focus on customer support. more here: my notes on Xencelabs

Tier 3: Smaller brands

After Wacom, Huion, XP-Pen, there are many other brands that focus on budget or consumer tablets. All these brands the same technology as the Tier 2 brands. In fact they are even owned by the same companies. But have smaller portfolios, less responsive customer support, and smaller communities.

Tier 4: Everyone else

Avoid

Customer support

No brand's products are consistently perfect.

All brands will eventually ship a product that has defective units or that will have sporadic problems with their drivers, etc. So, at some point you will need help.

This is why you MUST choose a brand that:

  • Supports its customers well

  • Has enough other people using their tablets, so that you can get help from the community.

Online communities

Communities are where a people can learn and get help with drawing tablets. Depending on the brand there are different options. More here: Drawing tablet communities

Discussions

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