Hi everyone, for those of you who don't know me, I am Nyx and I am an artist. A little disclaimer, I am not at all a professional. These are my opinions from my experiences and this is just a quick guide on drawing tablets and finding one that suits your budget and needs as well as my opinions on each. I am starting from the ones I recommend but are not my top choice and will be working my way down to my top choice. Again, these are just my opinions and I will not be talking about cintiqs because while I have used them in the past, I have only used Wacom cintiqs and I am not sure what size/model ect.
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To start us off, we have the One by Wacom drawing tablet. This tablet plugs directly into your laptop or computer and is not a display tablet.
Pros: It is small and compact with a 6 inch x 3.7 inch working space for the small size and an 8.5 inch x 5.3 inch working space for the medium size. So there are size options. It is very light weight at 0.97 lbs for a size small and no listed weight for medium. This makes it very easy for you to carry and take with you. Its pen has two side buttons which work as a clicking function which some brands have been doing away with in newer models. These buttons make it easy to navigate through sites and tabs while having it plugged in without having to fidget with a tap pad or mouse. At only $50 to $100 USD depending on the size, this tablet is a fairly affordable price for most people making it a good choice if you are looking for a tablet that offers some quality and is portable. It also connects via a single cord to your laptop or computer.
Cons: When you first purchase this tablet, you must set it up through a code you will recieve in the package/bundle/box. You will go to the website and follow the instructions which may seem like an easy set up however, it makes trouble shooting frustrating and very difficult. Similarly, the size of this tablet may not match up to your needs as the small working space is not comfortable if you have a larger screen that you are working off of. It is hard to purchase a tablet that matches up to the proper screen size when the options are very small. I have used the medium sized wacom one on my HP laptop and on a larger PC and have had a few issues with "drawing" off screen because it just was not large enough. I had to readjust my hand and circle my hand so that the pen is where I want it before I can start drawing again. This also makes it difficult to zoom out and work on a larger picture. Another difficulty I had with the One by Wacom is that it has pressure-opacity issues from my experience and again, trouble shooting is not easy. I played with this tablet for hours and could not get the pressure opacity to work. I went back into the code and the website and downloaded its information over again until I just stopped out of frustration. It may have just been the tablet itself but it was certainly a struggle. And while this tablet is portable, it can not connect to phones or tablets which may be an issue for those of you who only have a phone to work off of. Despite the pen click function having two buttons on the side of the pen, this comes with a challenge, the buttons on the side take up a substantial amount of the pen which you are likely to click more than once. This is a challenge and can be frustrating over time.
Overall: Overall this is a good tablet for a beginner or someone who is on a budget so, it made the list. Some experienced artists use this tablet without an issue and it is certainly durable so if you have young children, crazy pets, or are accident prone, don't worry, this tablet will survive most of these accidents. But of course, this does not mean you should dump coffee or tea on it and throw it down the stairs onto concrete for the heck of it.
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Next up is the Wacom Bamboo tablet. A now discontinued tablet that you can buy used and in decent condition on ebay. It can connect to your computer or laptop and is a non-display tablet.
Pros: To start off this pros section, the Wacom Bamboo tablet is also small and portable as well as light weight. There are varying sizes from small to large with the small and medium being roughly the same dimensions as those of the One by Wacom. The large option scales up to be about 10.5 inches x 8 inches (roughly - it is hard to find exact dimensions). The tablet has decent pressure opacity responses and while they are not the best they can be, it is still responsive to pressure. What I mean by this is that you can draw a straight line and while you lift the pressure from the screen, you must almost barely be touching the screen for it to pick up that it needs to be thinner and lighter. However, this teaches control and makes it excellent for beginners. It is durable and has a long life span. I have had mine for almost 6 years now and originally purchased it for around $100 (medium size) which was cheap for its quality back in the day. Now the tablet can go anywhere from $30 to $50 and it works very well even when renewed. It also only requires a single cord for it to function properly and it has a pen with "click" functions. This tablet was actually recommended to me by Vizseryn on DA after I messaged her directly - she is who got me into digital art - and she sent me links to where I could purchase this tablet.
Cons: It is discontinued and is hard to find, when you do find it, it is used and/or renewed meaning there could be a little damage to it. Just like any tablet, the Bamboo does wear down over time and after use and it can have connectivity issues with the chord as the USB end connection is a little 'jiggly.' So it can disconnect frequently, especially in older age. The pen has click abilities but the click function is on a single button panel on the side of the pen rather than two separate buttons which some people may not like. I personally do not have an issue with this and it has not caused any problems. It does taper as well so it is not as easy to click the right click section of the button (which is on the top). The set up is a disc based set up and the disc can be damaged and not all devices (mac for example) have a disc tray/space thing.
Overall: I am a little biased towards this tablet. The reason being that it holds a special place in my heart. It is my starting tablet, it is the one I have used and preferred for years. It is durable, it has a very long life span, it is cheap, it offers quality and teaches control, and it is everything that a beginner artist would need and could really ask for. While it does not have a display, the 3 size options is nice for matching one to the needs of your canvas. It is discontinued and hard to find but if i could find it easier, i would purchase it in a heartbeat. but again, you can find them on ebay for cheap. Just be careful if you do purchase it on ebay, they often do not say what size they are selling.
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Next up is the Wacom One display tablet. This tablet can connect to your phone, laptop, or computer.
Pros: This tablet is a display tablet and therefore it has a screen which you can see your art on. It is like a smaller cintiq but is still a substancial size and offers nice viewing space with a 13.3 inch display section and the tablet itself being about 14 inches diagonally. It is relatively light weight and thin making it easy to take on the go. It does have two little "feet" that work as a stand and you will not have to buy one with it. At the price of $400, I would hope that for this simple design you would not have to buy anything else for it BUT it is high quality and offers good color, has an HD display, certainly pressure sensitive making pressure-opacity easy, and is compatable with most devices including phones (android or apple).
Cons: It is $400 which is expensive for a display tablet that has no quick keys and is just a screen with feet and a pen. The pen only has a single button so there is no option for a right click that I could figure out. It has a glass screen which is easy to scratch and dent so you will need a screen protector which you have to buy separately. There is a maze of chords and while you can plug your tablet up to a phone, you will need a secondary power source and a USB adapter that you can connect your phone into and the tablet which does not come with it. Even then, with the phone it does not have a very successful connection no matter how much you invest in adapters and connections. It makes the phone connection function almost pointless. In recent years, Wacom has made its tablets less compatable with other programs outside of photoshop and other design programs within that suite which is something to keep in mind. Similarly, with the set up, it is a code based set up which has its issues as explained above with the One by Wacom.
Overall: I think this is a good tablet but I do think it is way too expensive for what you are getting. I do love Wacom but recently competing brands are offering more for less and Wacom has continued to take the stance that they offer more hence why you pay more which is not true. In fact, some of their pen designs are sent out to other companies to use so the pens and displays and the way some designs work are purchased from Wacom and later improved upon. So if I look at this tablet as a whole and as an individual item, is it good? Yes. Is it worth the money? No. If you can get a good deal on it and find it on sale for about $200 and you really want it, go for it. But that is 50% off the initial price which is not likely to see from Wacom.
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Next on my list is the Huion Kamvas Pro 12 display tablet. This display tablet can connect to your laptop, phone, and computer.
Pros: This tablet can be purchased through Amazon for $230 and has very frequent coupon offers to prime members which can take up to $60 off of your end total depending on the seller's offer at the time. It is very light weight at just under 2lbs. The display is 11.6 inches and the total size of the tablet diagonally is closer to 12 inches. The display is larger than an A4 sheet of paper but is very close to this size (just for reference). This tablet has 4 quick buttons/keys on the side which you can personalize and a touch bar. It is highly compatable with all programs and most devices and has a three in one connecting cable so you have no jungle of cords laying around. It has a 120% sRGB color gamut and presents over 16.7 million colors vividly. It has fully laminated anti-glare glass but has absolutley no problem picking up pen movements and is very accurate with no glitches. It does come with a pen stand and a cleaning cloth for your screen. The pen is light, compact, and one of wacom's designs that was altered by the company so that the press keys on the side are smaller and flat. They do not get in the way when you are drawing, so you will not expect to right click your art into oblivion.
Cons: $230 can be unaffordable for some people but it is one of the cheapest display tablets you can find. While it is compatable with phones, its cord that you plug into a phone has a little plastic piece that is too large to fit into most phone charging ports. This is fixable with some sand paper and patience but it should not have this issue. However, I would like to note that it does not have the same issues as the Wacom one when it comes to phone connectivity. This tablet does not come with a stand. Some packages do, others do not. You have to read over what comes with it carefully if you are wanting a stand. The keys on the side of the tablet are on the left so if you are left handed, I am not sure if you can flip this so you can click the buttons with your right hand and draw with your left. Also, your power button is on this panel and not a different texture than the rest of the buttons but is a different size. This is something some people may have an issue with but it does not bother me personally. It does have a glass screen and you will need a screen protector. These can cost about $16 to $19 through amazon or $19 on the huion site. The downside to getting it through amazon is that you can not get them through prime and you can expect it to take about a month and a half before it will reach you because most of the screen protectors ship from China and must go through customs. If you order them through the Huion store, shipping will cost more than the product. For normal shipping it is $12 and you will see your package within 10 to 15 buisness days and for express shipping it is $25 and you will see your product within 3 to 7 buisness days.
Overall: This tablet is excellent and offers amazing quality for its price. However, this comes with having to miss out on a few things like the stand and you will have to buy some accessories along the way (screen protectors) which can take some time to be delivered meaning you are out of a tablet for a week to a month and a half depending on when you get your accessories if you want to have them before you start using it (which I highly recommend). This tablet beats Wacom in more areas than just one and it really can beat Wacom's quality. If you are looking for a larger tablet that has a similar quality, the Huion Kamvas Pro 13 is the same size as the Wacom One and has all of the features that the Pro 12 has, for $300 roughly.
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End Comments: I have used all of these tablets, some more than others, and these are my thoughts. I personally prefer Huion to Wacom anymore when it comes to display tablets because they are half the price of Wacom and offer more. While I have primarily worked with Wacom, I have come to realize it is just a name/brand that you are paying for in many cases - similar to Apple/Mac. If you have any questions or things you would like to add, please post them below :D
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