Comparison of Wacom pen tablets
Overview
Wacom has several separate lines of pen tablets. This document will help you understand the difference and help you make your choice.
One by Wacom -> product page
Intuos -> product page
Wacom One 2013 -> product page
Intuos Pro 2017 -> product page
Intuos Pro 2025 -> product page
If you are interested in a pen tablet (a drawing tablet without a screen) for drawing/sketching/painting and want to go with the "safe choice" then you should pick a Wacom tablet. In particular the Wacom Intuos Pro models identified here (PTH-860, PTH-660, PTH-460) are THE BEST PEN TABLETS EVER MADE.
Here are my detailed notes on the Intuos Pro (PTH-x60) series.
Wacom One 2023 tablets
The Wacom One 2023 pen tablets are intended to be upgrades to the consumer Wacom Intuos tablets. I do not recommend them because their pressure handling is (in my opinion) not acceptable for the Wacom brand. More here: 7P notes: Wacom One 2023
Recommendation summary
Sketching, digital painting, illustration, etc. -
If budget permits,
Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Medium (PTK-670)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Medium (PTH-660)
If you tend do draw with larger gestures then...
Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Large (PTK-670)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Large (PTH-860)
If you want to spend less
One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672)
Wacom Intuos Medium (CTL-6100)
Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Medium (CTL-6100WL)
Photo-editing - i.e. you aren't doing anything that requires "strokes" then the One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) is fine.
Using the tablet as a mouse replacement - i.e. you aren't doing anything that requires "strokes" but instead just clicking on things or dragging them - then the One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) is fine.
Taking notes. I don't recommend pen tablets in general for taking notes. Use an alternative (like an iPad) instead. More here: Taking notes with drawing tablets.
Play Osu! - One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) or One by Wacom SMALL MEDIUM (CTL-672) are the best choices. For more information regarding tablets for osu! and other tablet options consult Kuuube's tablet buying guide.
Exploring drawing tablets - this is if you are not sure if you are going to use a drawing tablet, but just want to dabble without spending a lot.
Start with a One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472) for general usage.
Start with a One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672) if you intend to draw on it.
Want the best and don't care about the cost. Either:
Wacom Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Large (PTK-670)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Large (PTH-860)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2025 Medium (PTK-670)
Wacom Intuos Pro 2017 Medium (PTH-660)
Picking the right size - More information about picking the right size: tablet size.
Pens
Each product line uses different pens. And the pens can only be used within that product line. For example if you try to use the LP190K pen with the PTH-860, the tablet does not even recognize there is a pen there. More here: Wacom pen compatibility
REMEMBER: You cannot MIX AND MATCH these pens. For example, it is not possible to use the amazing Wacom Pro Pen 2 with the One by Wacom, Wacom Oner, or Intuos tablets.
One by Wacom (CTL-472, CTL-672)
Wacom 2K Pen 2K (LP-190K)
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets
(CTC-4110WL, CTC-6110WL)
Wacom One 2023 Pen (CP-923)
Intuos
(CTL-4100, CTL-4100WL, CTL-6100, CTL-6100WL)
Wacom Pen 4K (LP-1100K)
Intuos Pro 2017 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860)
Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E)
Intuos Pro 2025 (PTH-470, PTH-670, PTH-870)
Pro Pen 3 (ACP-500)
Of the pens identified, the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and Pro Pen 3 is the best in terms of design, materials, shape, weight distribution.
Overall drawing experience
All of the tablets except the Wacom One 2023 tablets have a very very good drawing experience. The Intuos Pro series definitely the best of all of them though - largely driven by the amazing pressure handling of the Wacom Pro Pen 2 and Wacom Pro Pen 3.
Pen pressure
Learn more here: Pen pressure
2048 pressure levels is all you need for creative work. All of these pens are enough in that regard. Wacom has strong marketing towards their higher pressure level tablets, but the vast majority of users will not be able to make use of these higher levels in their work.
More than pressure levels, the pressure range has a greater impact on your drawing experience. And this is driven by the quality of the pressure sensor in the pen.
Pens pressure range compared
Wacom Pen 2K
(LP-190K)
2048
<1gf
GOOD
300 to 400 gf
Wacom One 2023 Pen
(CP-923)
4096
<8gf
OK to GOOD
200 to 300gf
Wacom Pen 4K
(LP-1100K)
4096
<1gf
GOOD
400 to 600gf
Wacom Pro Pen 2
(KP-504E)
8192
<1gf
VERY HIGH
700gf to 800gf
Wacom Pro Pen 3
(ACP-500)
8192
<1gf (assumed)
VERY HIGH
600gf to 700gf
Notes:
Data for IAF and max pressure measurements independently made by Kuuube.
Learn more about pen pressure
Learn more about how pen pressure ranges compare across pens
Drawing features
One by Wacom
(CTL-472, CTL-672)
YES
NO
NO
Wacom One pen tablets
(CTC-4100WL, CTC-6110WL)
YES
YES
NO
Intuos
(CTL-4100, CTL-4100WL, CTL-6100, CTL-6100WL)
YES
NO
NO
Intuos Pro 2017 (PTH-460, PTH-660, PTH-860)
YES
YES
Requires Wacom Art Pen (KP-701)
Intuos Pro 2025 (PTH-470, PTH-670, PTH-870)
YES
YES
Requires Wacom Art Pen (KP-701)
Notes on pen tilt
TILT - Not all drawing styles require tilt. And if you do want to control the rotation of your brush many drawing apps let you control the brush rotation based on the direction of the pen movement instead of tilt. Lean more here: Pen tilt
Tablet resolution
Resolution means how many separate points the tablet can distinguish (i.e. resolve) in a given length. This is specified as Lines Per Inch (LPI) though it is also useful to think about it as lines per millimeter (LPMM)
You will not notice the difference between 2048 LPI and 5080 LPI.
One by Wacom -> 2048 LPI = 80.62 LPMM
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets = Unknown
Intuos -> 2540 LPI = 100 LPMM
Intuos Pro 2017 -> 5080 LPI = 200 LPMM
Intuos Pro 2025 -> 5080 LPI = 200 LPMM
Accuracy
Accuracy = tablet & computer know the correct position of the tip of the pen. As far as I have observed, all three tablets are very accurate.
Pointer lag
Pointer lag is the difference between the physical position of the pen and where the operating system pointer is drawn. Pen tablets in general display very little pointer lag. In comparison, all pen displays all show very noticeable lag.
One by Wacom -> very little pointer lag
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets -> very little pointer lag
Intuos -> very little lag (when hovering has a little bit of pointer lag)
Intuos Pro 2017 -> very little pointer lag
Intuos Pro 2025 -> very little pointer lag
Learn more here: Lag
Accuracy / Diagonal wobble
The Intuos Pro models exhibit less wobble than the Intuos of One by Wacom. But all of the tablets are good for diagonal wobble
Position smoothing
Position smoothing makes for better looking strokes but introduces pointer lag. All of these Wacom tablets are great for artists in terms of position smoothing.
Driver position smoothing
Wacom drivers by default add a little bit of position smoothing - which is needed - to make their strokes look better. The smoothing is not much and Wacom pen tablets still feel more responsive than other tablet brands.
Hardware position smoothing
One by Wacom
no hardware smoothing
Wacom One 2023
unknown
Intuos
No hardware smoothing when drawing/dragging.
Some Hardware smoothing on hover.
For artists, drawing is fine and unaffected. The smoothing is only happening when you are not drawing. Artists do not notice this at all in practice.
For osu! players the hardware on hover is a strong reason to avoid this tablet.
Intuos Pro 2017
no hardware smoothing
Intuos Pro 2025
no hardware smoothing
Wireless/Bluetooth
One by Wacom
none of these models support wireless
Wacom One 2023
all models support wireless via Bluetooth
Intuos
Only models with WL in their model number support wireless via Bluetooth
Intuos Pro 2017
all models support wireless via Bluetooth
Intuos Pro 2025
all models support wireless via Bluetooth
Touch support
USB port on tablet
The consumer series use older USB ports than the professional series.
One by Wacom
Micro USB B
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets
USB-C
Intuos
Micro USB B
Intuos Pro 2017
USB-C
Intuos Pro 2025
USB-C
ExpressKeys
One by Wacom
No ExpressKeys
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets
No ExpressKeys
Intuos
4 at the top
Intuos Pro 2017
8 on the left
Intuos Pro 2025
8 on top with 2 additional buttons to swap what those 8 do
Touch support
One by Wacom
No model supports touch
Wacom One 2023 pen tablets
No pen tablet model supports touch. (Not that the Wacom One 2023 13 touch pen display does support touch as the name indicates).
Intuos
No model supports touch
Intuos Pro 2017
All three models support touch
Intuos Pro 2025
NONE odf the models support touch
For these tablets that do support touch, touch can be enabled/disabled with a physical switch on the side of the tablet.
More here:
Tablet design
With the Intuos Pro tablets and pens - everything feels great to me. The texture the weight of the pen, etc.
The One by Wacom, Wacom One 2023, and Intuos models feel a more plasticky/cheaper. Also I just don't enjoy how their pens feel in my hand.
Active Area
The size of the tablet is based on it's active area which is the region on the tablet that is sensitive to the EMR pen. Besides the height and width of this area it is also convenient to discuss them in terms of their diagonal lengths.
Aspect Ratio: Most monitors are 16:9 (1.78) or 16:10 (1.60) If the Aspect Ratio of the tablet does not match the monitor, that means your strokes will be slightly distorted. So, remember to enable the Force Proportions checkbox to have undistorted strokes. More info here: https://youtu.be/9oAvsJk5ESU
One by Wacom SMALL (CTL-472)
5.98" x 3.74"
7.06"
(4:3) 1.44
One by Wacom MEDIUM (CTL-672)
8.5" x 5.31"
10.03"
(4:3) 1.47
Wacom One S (CTC-4110WL)
5.98" x 3.74"
7.06"
(16:10) 1.60
Wacom One M (CTC-611WL)
8.5" x 5.31"
10.03"
(16:10) 1.60
Intuos Wacom Intuos SMALL (CTL-4100 and CTL-4100WL)
5.98" x 3.74"
7.06"
(16:10) 1.60
Wacom Intuos MEDIUM (CTL-6100WL)
8.5" x 5.31"
10.03"
(16:10) 1.60
Intuos Pro 2017 SMALL (PTH-460)
6.30i" x 3.94"
7.43"
(4:3) 1.440
Intuos Pro 2017 MEDIUM (PTH-660)
8.82" x 5.83"
10.57"
(3:2) 1.514
Intuos Pro 2017 LARGE (PTH-860)
12.34" x 8.50"
14.91"
(4:3) 1.44
Intuos Pro 2025 SMALL (PTH-470)
7.4" x4.1"
8.46"
16x9 (1.78)
Intuos Pro 2025 MEDIUM (PTH-670)
10.4" x 5.8"
11.91"
16x9 (1.78)
Intuos Pro 2025 LARGE (PTH-870)
13.7" x 7.7"
15.72"
16x9 (1.78)
Reliability
All of these are very reliable tablets. Their pens are also very reliable. But remember, DO NOT drop your pens. they are much more delicate than the tablets and you can break from a fall.
Drivers
The same Wacom driver works with all three product lines.
Surface texture
The Intuos Pro models a more textured surface, the Intuos and One by Wacom have less texture.
The Intuos Pro 2017 has more texture than the Intuos Pro 2025.
Texture sheets
Wacom sells texture sheets for the the Intuos Pro 2017. Three texture options are provided for both the Medium and Large sizes.
Wacom sells texture sheets for the the Intuos Pro 2025. One texture options are provided for both the Small, Medium and Large sizes.
More here: My detailed notes on the Intuos Pro (PTH-x60) series.
Future versions
Intuos
In August of 2023, The Intuos models seem to be replaced by the One by Wacom GEN2 pen tablets.
One by Wacom
No sign of any updates coming
Intuos Pro
Wacom released new versions in 2025, so we expect it will learn about new Intuos Pros around 2032. We certainly hope they will arrive sooner.
Notes on pen tablet models
Intuos Pro
There are two Intuos Pro generations and unfortunately the have the same name "Intuos Pro". So if you are purchasing an Intuos Pro you really need to pay attention to the model numbers.
The current generation (sometimes referred to as "GEN2")
Intuos Pro Small (PTH-460) -> 2019
Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660) -> 2017
Intuos Pro Large (PTH-860) -> 2017
The older generation (sometimes referred to as "GEN1")
Intuos Pro Large (PTH-851) -> 2013
Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-651) -> 2013
Intuos Pro Small (PTH-451) -> 2013
Notes on older Wacom tablets series
The Wacom Bamboo series has now been renamed to the One by Wacom series
Distinguishing physical features
the One by Wacom has a bright red back
the One by Wacom has a fabric pen holder on the side of the tablet
The Intuos in available in several colors for the back plastic
The Intuos has a fabric pen holder on the top of the tablet
The Intuos Pro is always black both front and back
The Intuos Pro has no fabric pen holder
The Intuos Pro has a circular dial on the left of the tablet.
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