Overview

Drawing tablets allow us to intuitively use a digital pen. On this site, I collected all my notes about drawing tablets over the years. If you are looking to buy a tablet, wanting to get help with a problem with your tablet, or just want to understand the technology, then I think you'll find the information you need here.

Popular topics

• - If you are not familiar with drawing tablets, then start here.

• - a comprehensive guide to purchasing a tablet.

• - Recommendations for different budgets and types of tablets

Connect with the community

Consider joining the .

Contact

If you have questions or comments contact me at .

Overview

I have a LOT of drawing tablets. As of June 27, 2025 I have 106 drawing tablets.

Here is my current inventory:

Overview

I love creative tech. I've been using drawing tablets for a long time and wanted share what I learn.

• My YouTube channel:

Overview

Pen tablets are the simplest and least expensive kind of drawing tablet. They are often called: "screenless tablets" or "non-screen tablets".

Key characteristics

Overview

Pen displays are drawing tablets that have an embedded display panel. They are also called: "screen tablets", "display tablets".

Key characteristics

Overview

These are NOT drawing tablets, but because they are very very similar to pen computers in that they are standalone and you can use a pen to draw with them - we can talk about them as an viable alternative to a pen computer.

But the key difference is a pen computer is intended for drawing, whereas a mobile computer with pen support is meant for general purpose use, but also you can use a pen do draw.

• Oct 4, 2022

• Sep 11, 2022

Summary

Once the tablet drivers are installed, All applications are compatible with drawing tablets. Pen-aware apps (such as Krita) can make use of features such as pressure and tilt.

This content has been replaced by:

Overview

These are laptops that have some support for pens to enable drawing. They may or may not have an attached keyboard.

Key characteristics

• Drawing experience is just OK - suitable for whiteboarding, notetaking, light creativity.

• Operating system: Only Windows

Examples

• Microsoft Surface Pro 8

• Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro 360

Cost

Pen computers cost between $1000 to $2000.

Overview

At any point in the market for drawing tablets you'll see tablets designated as “pro”. Often these are paired with non pro versions that are being sold at the same time.

You cannot rely on the Pro designation to mean anything significant.

You cannot rely on the Pro designation to mean “better”.

“Pro” has no standard meaning either across the different drawing tablet brands, or within the models within a drawing tablet brand.

If confronted with a choice between 2 tablets with the same name if one has pro in its name and one doesn't - then do not automatically assume that the pro version is better. Instead take a look at other aspects of the drawing tablets that you're considering.

Example: Huion Kamvas 13

Consider these two tablets from Huion:

• Huion Kanvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333)

• Huion Kamvas Pro 13 (GT-133)

I highly recommend between these two choices that you go with the Huion Kamvas 13 GEN33 and not the Kamvas 13 Pro version. This is because when you look deeply at the tablets you will discover that the Kamvas 13 GEN 3 is superior in some important ways.

Specifically, the Kamvas 13 GEN3 is a much more recent tablet and has a better screen and uses a much pen that has much better pressure handling.

Technology evolution over the years

One of the challenges in picking tablets is retail sites like Amazon list both tablets side by side but these tablets can be made in different years and as a result they belong to different generations of technology. For example over the years the pens have gotten better and so have the displays. So modern pen displays might work much better in some ways than pro tablets from a few years ago.

For example, laminated displays used to be something that only pro tablets had. And now we're starting to see that in non pro tablets.

In addition pen technology has evolved quite a bit for some tablets.

A great example is the Huion PW600L pen. This is a pen that rivals some of the professional pens from Wacom based on my testing. And that same testing reveals that these older pens aren't bad but really are not as good as the PW600L pen is at handling pressure.

Practical tips

• pay attention to when the tablet was released into the market

• pay attention to the included pen - some tablets released very recently might still be pens with older tech

• pay attention to the tablet's model number. Some tablets have very similar names but are veyr different. For example: Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) vs Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331).

Pen tablets

Consumer vs Professional

The first letter to indicates if the tablet is a consumer of professional model. C means consumer. P means professional

• C -> Consumer (example: CTL-472)

• P -> Professional (example: PTH-660)

Active area size

The first digit of the number Indicates the active area size of the tablet

• 4 -> small (example: CTL-472)

• 6 -> medium (example: CTL-6100WL)

• 8 -> large (example: PTH-860)

I don't use these devices myself. Here are some popular ones.

• Onyx Boox Note Air3

• Remarkable 2

• Amazon Kindle Scribe

Overview

Pen computers in form factor are essentially laptops with screens you can draw on. However unless 2-in-1 laptops, pen computers are TRUE drawing tablets. You don't need them to be connected up to a separate computer to work. Because pen computers have a CPU, they are running an operating system and all current pen computers use Microsoft Windows.

The reality of pen computers

Some people love using pen computers, but . Instead, I recommend you choose a mobile computer with pen support.

Origin of term "pen computer"

Wacom uses the term "pen computer" so I've adapted that terminology in my documentation.

Examples

• Wacom Mobile Studio Pro

• Huion Kamvas Studio

Cost

Pen computers cost between $1000 to $3500.

Type of drawing tablet

Any type of drawing tablet works for whiteboarding.

However those drawing tablets with screens (pen displays and standalone devices) do work better in my experience. This is because it just feels more natural to see what your whiteboarding on the screen as you draw.

Applications

• Visio -

• Excalidraw -

• Draw.io -

Overview

Instead of pen computers, I recommend looking at the other kinds of standalone devices: pen-enabled mobile devices or pen-enabled laptops.

• To understand why I don't recommend pen computers: The case against pen computers

ALTERNATIVE #1: pen-enabled mobile devices

• Apple iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil

• Samsung Galaxy Tab S series tablets that use the Samsung S pen

ALTERNATIVE #2: pen-enabled laptops

• Microsoft Surface Pro

• Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro

More here:

ALTERNATIVE #3: Laptops/MiniPCs + pen display

Another alternative is to use a normal drawing tablet that is connected to a small mini-pc or laptop. This will allow you to draw in different locations even though dealing with the additional cabling may be cumbersome.

EXCELLENT

• Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTK-470) []

• Wacom Intuos Pro Small (PTH-460) []

VERY GOOD

• Huion Frego S (L320) [ ] NO TILT

GOOD

• One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) [] NO TILT

• Wacom Intuos Small (CTL-4100) [] NO TILT

• XP-Pen Deco M (IT850) [] [no wireless]

AVOID

• Wacom One S (CTC-4110WL) []

EXCELLENT

• Wacom Cintiq 16 2025 (DTK-168)

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 (DTH-172) []

• Wacom Cintiq Pro 16 (DTH-167) []

VERY GOOD

• Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 (GS1563) []

• XP-Pen Artist Pro 19 GEN2 (MD180UH) []

• XP-Pen Artist Ultra 16

GOOD

• Huion Kamvas Pro 16 V2

• Xencelabs Pen Display 16

DECENT

• Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) (GS1562) []

• Wacom Cintiq 16 (DTK-1660) [] - excellent drawing experience but very dated screen

AVOID

Huion Kamvas Pro 16 Plus 4K (GT1562) [] LOTS OF AG SPARKLE

XP-Pen Artist 16 GEN2 (CD160FH) [] EXCESSIVE DIAGONAL WOBBLE

Videos

Overview

If you already have a pen tablet (a screenless tablet) and are considering getting a pen display (a screen tablet). There are a few considerations you should take into account.

A pen tablet is not necessarily an "upgrade"

Many people mistakenly believe that a pen display is always better than a pen tablet. They often thinking of moving to moving to a pen display as an "upgrade". If that's is your starting point, I ask your to take step back and consider that each has its own merits. And many people PREFER pen tablets to pen displays - even professional artists. More here: .

If it feels "weird" to draw on your pen tablet

One thing that I often hear is that people find that it feels weird or strange to draw on a pen tablet like their hand isn't drawing what they expect it to draw.

Many times what I found is that people have not configured their pen tablet correctly for their monitor's aspect ratio. More here: .

So if your tablet is feeling weird, try matching the aspect ratios and give it a few more days. You might find that after this change you enjoy using your pen tablet much more.

Steps

• Find the dimensions of the device and the active area then

  • The dimensions will be published online

• Cut out a piece of cardboard to the size of the tablet dimensions

• Draw a rectangle to represent the active area

• Then try drawing on it

Example

Things to test

• In the active area, do you find enough space to draw

• How will you place it relative to your keyboard

• Does it fit your desk

Disambiguation: Wacom One vs One by Wacom

See: Wacom One vs One by Wacom

Evolution of Wacom consumer line of pen tablets

This diagram is my summary how their consumer line of tablets is evolving

This is an updated tier list from the original livestream: https://youtube.com/live/CKki6AEzdzA

To see the next year's tier list: 2025 Drawing tablet tier list

The updated tier has a couple of changes I implemented after talking to some tablet enthusiasts:

• Added Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 to A tier

• XP-Pen Deco Pro GEN2 moved from S tier to A tier

• Wacom One M and Wacom One S moved to new F tier

• Some cards in the same tier merged for a brand

Overview

Wacom has existed for over 40 years. In that time they've released many different drawing tablets.

In this document I'll point you to different lists of tablets depending on what you're interested in.

Wacom's official current tablet models

You can see a list of all the tablets Wacom currently sells on their website (). However, this information does not cover the tablets they historically sold.

Kuuube's Wacom tablet mastersheet

Tablet expert Kuuube maintains a which as far as I know lists every Wacom drawing tablet ever made.

Non-standalone drawing tablets

• Pen tablets (also called "screenless tablets") - Don't have a screen and you have to use them with a computer or laptop. More here:

Overview

I don't do 3D work myself, so this document is based on feedback I've been given by others and what I have observed in online forums. Please share any

Wacom

-

Wacom community forums:

To file a support ticket: You can file a support ticket with Wacom at this link:

Overview

Almost certainly you've used a mouse with a computer, and this this document will help you understand how using a drawing tablet with its pen differs from using a mouse.

Introduction

If you want to buy a drawing tablet as a gift, it can be challenging if you yourself have never used one and don't have a background. This guide is to help you make find a good choice.

Top choices

• Wacom MovinkPad 11 () - Best drawing experience. Optimized for getting your sketches captured when the inspiration strikes. Performance is mid.

Overview

You need about 2000 levels of pressure could probably get by with a lot less.

These days it's very fashionable for drawing tablets to advertise that they have 8000 levels of pressure or 16,000 levels of pressure. In my analysis the vast majority of users only need about 2000 levels of pressure and could get by with far less.

Scenario

When I "whiteboarding" i include any scenario where you are drawing something for the sake of communicating visually.

Example:

• Online teaching

Many people use drawing tablets to play osu. More here:

If you are interested in playing osu with a drawing tablet, then do not rely on recommendations from drawing tablet reviewers. They focus on the needs of the creative users. Don't rely on my recommendations for the same reason.

Instead, the definitive resource to consult is .

If you do want a quick answer now, the One by Wacom (CTL-x72) series of tablets are excellent for osu. More here: .

Overview

The undisputed leading brand is Wacom (). They have a variety of products and different price points that should fit everyone's needs. If you don't want to weigh the pros and cons of different brands and want an easy answer then choose Wacom.

My experience: I currently own 39 Wacom tablets (6 pen displays and 33 pen tablets). I have extensively used every tablet in their professional series.

Some basic summaries of their leading series of tablets

Overview

All drawing tablets have multiple components, but the primary component is the EMR sensor - which also called the digitizer.

And despite all the many brands of drawing tablets you see, there are only a couple of manufacturers of digitizers. These are: Wacom, Hanvon Ugee, Huion.

If you are new to Wacom, you should understand this issue because it is a constant source of confusion for people looking to buy a Wacom tablet, get help with a Wacom tablet, or buy a replacement pen for their Wacom tablet.

The problem: Wacom makes two sweveraldifferent devices with confusingly similar names:

"One by Wacom" refers to any of 2 pen tablets

• One by Wacom Small (CTL-472) released in 2018

Overview

Display toggle is a way for you dynamically switch which display your tablet's pen will map to.

For example, if you have two monitors A and B:

• You could map the tablet's active area to cover both displays simultaneously,

Overview

Most people buy drawing tablet to create digital art. I've collected some links below to help them get started on this journey.

The role of drawing tablets

I do recommend you get a drawing tablet for digital art, but remember you don't have to force yourself to use a tablet for everything.

Many people use tablets in addition to other techniques. For example, some people draw on paper and then photograph or scan the drawing to get it into their computer. From there, they just finish up their work with a drawing tablet.

Videos

• Digital art

  • Nadiaxel - 2022/07/04

  • Brad Colbow - 2020/02/24

Social

• Kawaii Sensei () - There's lots of practical tips every day.

• EtheringtonBrothers () - More frequent practical tips. And they publish useful printed guidebooks.

Equipment

EXCELLENT

• Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTK-670) []

• Wacom Intuos Pro Medium (PTH-660) []

VERY GOOD

• Huion Inspiroy Frego M (L610) [ ]

• XP-Pen Deco Pro

  • XP-Pen Deco Pro MW GEN2 (MT0962B) []

GOOD

• One by Wacom Medium (CTL-672) [] [no tilt, no wireless]

• XP-Pen Deco M (IT850) [] [no wireless]

• XP-Pen Deco MW (IT850B) []

OK

• Huion Inspiroy HS611 [] - Little bit of an older Huion tablet with older tech. But it does work fine.

• Huion Inspiroy RTP-700 [] - Seems OK but haven't spent much time with it

• XP-Pen Deco 01 V3 []

AVOID

• Wacom One M (CTC-6110WL) []

Overview

Pen-enabled 2-in-1 laptops aren't really drawing tablets. They're laptops that you can also use for drawing. The drawing experience with these devices is not as good as a dedicated drawing tablet but they may be enough for what you need.

• Operating system: currently all run Windows

• Scenario: General purpose

• Pen tech: varies. MPP, EMR

These devices are really for general purpose use. These are great choices when what you want is a full-featured desktop operating system where you can use things like Microsoft Office, or the full version of Photoshop, etc.

Samsung Galaxy Book 4/5 360

This is a 2-in-1 laptop that folds over. The drawing experience is good - not super great but good.

Pen information:

• Tech: Wacom EMR (specifically UD EMR)

• Comes with this pen: ()

• Pen compatibility: These devices also works with the the Wacom CP-913 pen. And many people choose to use the Wacom CP-913 instead of the S Pen.

Recent models:

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 360

• Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro 360

Microsoft Surface Pro

This is a 2-in-1 laptop that can be used with detachable keyboard. This drawing experience is OK. It's better suited in my opinion for notetaking or whiteboarding rather than drawing.

Pen information

• Tech: MPP (similar to AES)

• Comes with pen: NO. You have to buy The Surface Slim Pen 2 separately.

• (starting at $900)

• (starting at $900)

Overview

The easiest way to understand what it feels like to draw on a drawing tablet is to compare it to drawing with pen and paper.

A pen display works just like pen and paper in the sense that you can exactly see what you're drawing. More specifically your eyes are looking at what you're drawing.

With a pen tablet things are very different - your hand is drawing in one place but you're looking somewhere else to see what's being drawn. So fundamentally using a pen tablet works differently than pen and paper.

Getting strokes right the first time

Because it is more clear what the pen is doing with the pen display many people who use append display say that they “get the stroke right the first time”.

With a pen tablet people often feel like they have to make the stroke multiple times to get it right and have to press undo to erase Any errant strokes.

I would generally agree with this feeling. When I want to get a drawing done faster especially if I have a general sense of what it is I want to draw then I do work faster with the pen display and I find that I have to press undo far less often.

Dealing with your hands

With a pen display, things are natural. You see the pen in the same place the stroke is being drawn - just like when you use pen and paper.

And just like pen-and-paper, your own hand and the pen will block your eyes from seeing the display. The easy solution to this is to reposition your eyes or take advantage of the canvas zoom and rotation features of your drawing app.

With a pen tablet, you are looking at a monitor but drawing somewhere else with your hand. Fundamentally this is no different than using a mouse. So this is kind of a convenience actually since you never have to worry about the positions of your hands. They can be anywhere and they will never block what you see.

Adjustment period

Because a pen display works like pen and paper almost everyone can immediately start using a pen display. It's just kind of obvious how it works. And especially these days with so many people having used devices like iPads. They know how to deal with the screen that they can interact with.

For pen tablets things get a little more complicated. I would say that 80% of people can immediately or at least in a few minutes get comfortable using a pen tablet. Another 10% of people will take anywhere from a couple of days to maybe a couple of weeks to adjust to a pen tablet. And the remaining 10% of people will never be able to adjust to a pen tablet. For them it will never feel natural to use. And they are better off getting a pen display.

Unfortunately without trying a pen tablet it's really difficult to tell if you would fall into the 10% of people who just can't use pen tablets..

Matching aspect ratios

With a pen display, the active are and the screen have the same size. This means the pen will draw exactly where you see it draw.

With a pen tablet, the active area where you raw is separate from the monitor where you see the your strokes. Unless specifically configured in the driver, this will cause your strokes to be distorted. For example if you draw a circle on the tablet it will show up as an oval on the screen. It is easy to fix this problem in the driver. More here: .

To see the previous tier list: 2024 Drawing tablet tier list

Notes

On November 12, 2025, during a livestream as a community we created a new drawing tablet tier list.

Unlike last year

• In addition to pen tablets and pen displays, we also ranked standalone tablets, and pens

• Instead of 1 single tier list, we created one for each category

• Instead of using a pre-built tier maker, we used a vibe coded one built in 3 hours using Google AI Studio.

Livestream

Livestream vs this page

As always, as I learn more and get feedback I update the tier lists shown on this page.

Tiering strategy

• COST does not affect the tier

• TIERING and RECOMMENDATIONS are based on overall DRAWING EXPERIENCE

• Some tablets might be not recommended (for drawing), but they might work well for note-taking, whiteboarding, etc. - tasks that are not about creative drawing/painting.

Tier definitions

Pen tablets

Pen displays

Standalone

Pens

EXCELLENT

• Wacom Movink 13 (DTH-135) []

VERY GOOD

• Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) []

• XP-Pen Artist Pro 14 GEN2 (MD140FH) []

GOOD

• XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN3 (CD121FH) [)]

• XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN2 (CD120FH) []

• XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) []

DECENT

• Huion Kamvas 13 (GS1331) []

• Wacom One 14 (DTC-141) []

• Wacom One 2019 GEN1 (DTC-133) []

AVOID

• Wacom One 12 GEN2 (DTC-121) []

• Wacom One 13 touch GEN2 (DTH-134) []

Videos

Additional resources

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 when selecting a tablet to purchase

Tier 1: Wacom

Wacom was founded in 1983 continues to make the highest quality and most reliable tablets. In general, Wacom has the best drawing experience. Their products are the most expensive. I consider Wacom to be the "safe choice".

• More here:

• Wacom -

Tier 2: Huion, XP-Pen, & 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:

• Huion -

• XP-Pen -

Xencelabs (founded 2019) is a new brand focused only on professional tablets for professionally users. Xencelabs has a very strong focus on customer support.

• More here:

• 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. These brands have smaller portfolios, less responsive customer support, and smaller online communities.

• Artisul -

• Gaomon -

• Ugee -

Tier 4: Everyone else

Avoid.

How to choose the right brand for you

More here:

Overview

13" is a good way to get introduced to pen displays. Though I do think ultimately 16" is a better size longer term.

If I had to pick one

Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) [$260, my notes]

Other good options

SMALL 13"

• Huion Kamvas 13 GEN3 (GS1333) [$260, ] ★★★

• XP-Pen Artist 13 GEN2 (CD130FH) [$300, ]

• XP-Pen Artist 12 GEN3 (CD121FH) [$220, ]

MEDIUM 16"

• Huion Kamvas 16 GEN3 (GS1563) ★★★ [$500, ]

Decent options

• Kamvas 16 V2 (GT-156 V2) [$400, ]

• Wacom One 14 (DTC-141) []

Overview

These are highly-curated recommendations for people who are just beginning to get into drawing tablets.

• All these tablets deliver the basic experiences and a reasonable price

• Some of these tablets are missing so-called "pro" features.

Which kind of drawing tablet

The first thing you need to understand is the type of drawing tablet you want to buy. So, read this document first before you continue: .

My thoughts on your first drawing tablet

• In general I recommend people to spend the least amount of money possible if they are just starting out.

• For that reason I suggest that you get a pen tablet (no screen) unless you are absolutely sure that you MUST have a pen display (has a screen). More here:

• If you really need a standalone, get an iPad or Wacom MovinkPad, or a Samsung Galaxy Tab S tablet. More here:

Applications

See:

Digital Art

If you are interested exploring digital art with your tablet:

Overview

HUION (https://www.huion.com/) and XP-PEN (https://www.xp-pen.com/) are the next big tablet brands. Their recent (2021 and later) models have been pretty good - but still trail Wacom a bit in quality and reliability. In general I think they offer 90% of what you get with a WACOM but at a substantial price reduction.

Their best tablets

In 2023 and 2024 Huion and XP have released models with upgraded tech that are challenging Wacom's professional line.

• Huion Kamvas Pro 19

• Huion Kamvas Pro 27

• XP-Pen Deco Pro GEN2

• XP-Pen Artist Pro GEN2

A lot of their improvements with these tablets are due to their pens handling pressure better: lower IAF and much wider pressure ranges than before.

What HUION and XP-PEN do well:

• Good price vs cost

• Their latest offerings since 2021 are very usable for creative tasks.

• They introduce new models frequently - much more often than Wacom.

How Huion and XP-PEN could do better

• Huion pen displays - especially the high PPI ones tend to show more AG sparkle. more here: .

• Pointer lag:

  • XP-pen pen displays tend to exhibit slightly more pointer lag than Wacom or Huion. More here: .

Switching from Wacom

If you are an existing Wacom user yuou should keep in mind there are somethings that Wacom does where Huion and XP-Pen are still catching up on. In particular some of Wacom's pens (especially the Pro models) have an extremely low IAF (<1gf) . Huion latest pro pens can get to 2gf (per Huion's statements) and 3gf (per XP-Pen's statements). If you are used to a Wacom pen making marks at very tiny pressure you may find these higher IAF values hard to deal with.

Overview

Pen computers are standalone drawing tablets with screens that you can use without being attached to a computer. Essentially they are laptops that work with an EMR pen that are specifically designed for drawing and are made by drawing tablet brands such as Wacom. Examples of pen computers are: Wacom Mobile Studio Pro and Huion Kamvas Studio

Even though some people love using pen computers, I do not in general recommend buying one.

In this document I will evaluate pen computers on several dimensions such as cost, upgradability, etc and show you why I think they are not a great choice.

I suggest you seek alternatives

I think there are better options for you:

Cost

Pen computers are incredibly expensive.

For example the Wacom Mobile Studio 16 (2019) cost $3500 at time of release.

I certainly do not recommend pen computers for people who are just getting started with drawing tablets. I will always recommend that you go with cheaper alternatives. And the reason for this is simple: You may find that the wrong experience doesn't live up to your expectations.

Upgradability

Pen computers typically have very limited upgradability compared to using a normal drawing tablet that requires a PC.

Typically once you buy pen computer you'll be stuck with those specifications in terms of memory processor speed and GPU for the entire lifetime of the device. If you are going to purchase a pen computer please verify how upgradable it is before you make the purchase.

if you use a non-standalone drawing tablet attached to a PC or laptop, you can either upgrade the PC or get a new laptop with significantly upgraded specs.

Customer support

Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Dell sell a lot of laptops and all-in-one systems. These companies have built world-class customer support organizations and support systems to ensure that their customers are getting the help they need when a customer has a question or something goes wrong with these complicated devices.

The truth is that drawing tablet manufacturers aren't as big as these companies. They handle a much smaller volume of products and users and you may find that their customer support may not be as helpful as these larger companies.

Repairs

As with most laptops and all-in-one systems a pen display is typically not intended to be user-serviceable. If something goes wrong it's going to be difficult to fix by yourself. Not only are these computers often not designed to be opened. Even if you are successful in opening the case and fixing whatever problem there is it will most certainly void your warranty.

If you need to have the pen computer repaired by the manufacturer. You are going to find that both the process is difficult and the cost is extraordinarily high.

You cannot take these devices into a local retail store for the tablet manufacturer to take a look at. You'll have to send the pen computer back to the manufacturer and you will have to pay for the cost of shipping. And the repair cost can be as expensive as getting another laptop.

I'm collecting information about the last drivers available for discontinued products. This list is incomplete and may be merged with other docs in the future.

Drawing tablets use absolute positioning

That means the tablet knows the (x,y) location of the pen precisely on the active area of the tablet.

The pen does not even have to touch the tablet. As long as the pen is close - about 10 mm typically - to the active area and within the bounds of the active area, the tablet knows the pen's position. This position detection without touching is typically called "support for hover".

Mice use relative positioning

That means that a mouse does not know its exact position on your desktop. The mouse has no idea what surface it is in contact with. In a general sense a mouse only knows that it is moving in relation to some surface.

The mouse does not now its location. The mouse only knows about changes in position - i.e. either it is moving or it is not moving.

The mouse reports this movement as a change in x position and a change in Y position (dx, dy)

No movement

What happens if you simply keep a pen or a mouse perfectly still and don't move them at all.

Drawing tablet will continuously report the (x,y) position of the pen.

In theory a mouse will report (0,0) indicating no movement. In practice mice don't even report the (0,0) because that data doesn't provide any interesting information to the computer.

Sudden jumps

One of the ways absolute and relative positioning really stand out is what happens when the input device jumps from one location to another

With the drawing tablet if you hold your pen let's say at the bottom left of the tablet - that means the operating system pointer will also be at the bottom left of your display. If you then pull the pen straight up and away from the tablet so that the tablet does not sense the pen's location and then you move the pen to the upper right hand, then suddenly the operating system pointer will suddenly appear at the upper right hand corner of the display

For a mouse if you try the equivalent thing something different will happen. If the pointer is at the bottom left and you suddenly pull the mouse away from the surface and then place it anywhere else, then you'll see that the pointer does not move.

Mouse mode in drawing tablets

Drawing tablets can simulate relative positioning when talking to a computer. This is called mouse mode. More here:

Overview

Mapping is how the tablet driver translated the position of the pen on the EMR sensor (AKA “the digitizer”) to a position on display.

Mapping for pen displays

For pen displays, mapping is relatively straightforward because essentially the digitizer and the display are embedded in the same device.

Mapping for pen tablets

Active area mapping is a surprisingly complex topic, because it has to work in a number of different situations (single monitor, multiple monitors, etc.) AND is highly configurable AND and can even change dynamically at the press of a button.

For pen tablets (screenless tablets) mapping is the most complex, since the digitizer and the display are separate devices.

Dealing with mismatched aspect ratios

Because the tablet's active area and the display may have different aspect ratios, distortion can be introduced unless you enable Force Proportions:

Display Toggle for pen tablets and multiple monitors

When multiple monitors are being used, you can have the tablet switch between mapping to each monitor at the click of a button. See:

Introduction

The aspect ratio of your drawing tablet's active area, can have a big impact on how good it feels to draw on them.

Basics

Any rectangular area has an aspect ratio. Which is the relationship between the width and height. Usually we will express the AR as a ratio like 16:9 or 16x9.

Displays (monitors) tend to have aspect ratios like 16x9 and 16x10. 16x9 is the most common aspect ratio.

Aspect ratio mismatches with pen tablets (IMPORTANT)

If you are using a pen tablet, it mostly likely does not match the aspect ratio of your monitor and you will see some distortion when you draw.

This will make give you a weird and unpleasant feeling while drawing. You can fix this by forcing the aspect ratios to match. More here: .

Pen displays and aspect ratios

The active area of a pen display and their display panel inside the pen display are equivalent. So they always match.

Reference

A survey of aspect ratios of Wacom pen tablets

As of 2023, NONE of Wacom's pen tablets have an exact 16:9 aspect ratio.

The bezel of a drawing tablet is essentially all the area on the surface of the drawing tablet that is not the active area.

For many devices such a phones and TVs, people make a big deal about having the smallest bezels possible. For drawing tablets, it is good to have a wide bezel.

Ergonomic benefits

• Avoids your pen uncomfortably "dropping off" if you are making strokes near the edge of the active area

• Provides a place for you rest your wrist or forearm so that the edge of the tablet is not digging into them.

Drawing benefits

The EMR sensor (digitizer) needs to be a bit wider than the active area so that it is still accurate at the edges. A wider bezel provides that extra space for the digitizer.

Reddit threads

Introduction

The active area of a drawing tablet is the rectangle region of the tablet's surface that detects the EMR pen. Some drawing tablet manufacturers (Wacom & XP-pen) use the term active area while others (Huion) use the term working area.

When we talk about the "size" of the drawing tablet, we are referring to the active area.

Active area of pen tablets

The active area is usually marked in some way on the surface. Sometimes it is marked at its four corners. Some tablets show a grid of of dots.

Active area of pen displays

The active area of a pen display is very easy to detect because it is the exact the same area of the display panel.

Size

Usually when we discuss the size of an active area, we talk about its diagonal length. Drawing tablets vary quite a bit in their active area size. More here: .

Aspect ratio

The relationship between the width and height of the active area is its aspect ratio. More here: .

Overview

The pressure dead zone is an area of a pressure curve that is deliberately designed to ignore a bit of the lower end of the pressure range. The pressure dead zone effectively increases the IAF of the pen.

Visualization

Visually the pressure dead zone can be seen whenever the lower left corner of the pressure curve is displaced to the right

Uses

We often prize having extremely low initial activation force with our EMR pens because it makes them more sensitive to lighter strokes.

But that sensitivity comes at a cost. It can introduce several kinds of problems. And a pressure dead zone can address these problems

examples of problems that pressure dead zone could be applied to:

• drawing while hovering

• strokes having tails

Default dead zones in tablet drivers

When you look at the default pressure curve and a tablet driver for most of the EMR pens you will encounter, you will notice that they almost always do not have a dead zone predefined.

There are a couple of notable exceptions (as of 2025/03/18).

• The default pressure curve for the Wacom pro pen 2 (KP-504E) has a pressure dead zone

• The default pressure curve for the Huion PW600 pens also has a small pressure dead zone.

Testing results

I've tested 4 Wacom pro pen 2 units by using them without the default pressure dead zone. Of the four two did not have any drawing while hover problems. The other two did in fact draw while hovering. It appears that the Wacom pro pen 2 is a bit oversensitive and some units by default do draw on hover. So this explains why Wacom defaults to a small pressure dead zone for these pens. Note that the Wacom pro pen 3 does not have a default pressure dead zone.

For the Huion PW600 series of pens, without the pressure dead zone I did not encounter any drawing while hovering problems.

Recommendation

the pressure dead zone is intended to solve a problem. But not all pens have that problem. I would suggest that when you get a new tablet or a new pen you take a look at the tablet driver and verify whether a pressure dead zone is set by default.

If it is try using the pen without the pressure dead zone. And if you don't notice any problems then leave it that way. Because that will give you a more sensitive pen with a lower initial activation force.

Links

• 2025/03/18

Pressure levels

Conceptually, a drawing tablet takes the pressure range and divides the range up into segments - each segment is a pressure level.

The number of pressure levels NOT decided by the pen. It is ultimately determined by the tablet itself. It can be the case that a tablet decides to have 4K pressure levels with one pen model but 8K pressure levels with another pen model.

How many pressure levels do you need?

These days tablet brands say that they can handle 8K (8192) levels of pressure. Some tablets even claim to support 16K pressure levels.

Don't get caught up in hype about pressure levels.

I claim you only need 2048 levels of pressure (and probably even less than that). As a quick example watch this 35 second video:

Overview

Drawing tablets are heavily used for creating educational content. For example you've probably seen the Khan Academy videos and those are created with a drawing tablet.

For this you want high reliability and durability and you DO NOT need to spend a lot of money buying a fancy tablet. And for those reasons I'll keep the recommendations short:

Below are tablets I would personally recommend separated by device type. These recommendations are centered around using the tablets for drawing. If you are new to drawing tablets, I suggest you read the . If you are want to learn more about how to decide what you need (type, size, specs), read the .

Tier lists

Check out the to see how these tablets and their pens rank against each other.

Overview

Summary: All of these are good pens. I have used each extensively and am happy with them. If I had to choose: the Wacom Pro Pen 2 is the still the best professional drawing tablet pen on the market.

• WINNER Wacom Pro Pen 2 (KP-504E) -

Overview

Xencelabs () positions itself as a direct competitor to Wacom for the professional creative audience

They are a very new brand and have a small product line as of Jan 2024:

If I had to pick one

If I had to pick one item on this list, I would recommend the One by Wacom CTL-672 for sure. It's reliable and has a good drawing experience though it does not have tilt support. The Huion Frego M (L610) is a new tablet (released in 2024) that is also a terrific beginner choice and it does have tilt.

Overview

Besides drawing, pens have varying support for specifically erasing things. Typically this is done either with an eraser on the pen or using the pen buttons to perform the erasing.

Erasers