A year ago I began the search for a display tablet after my little wacom finally called it quits. Broke as an art student comes, finding the most reasonably priced tablet that suited my wants and needs came as a bit of a challenge. Then I found this tablet, and gave it a go after reading some of the reviews below.
Now a year later I'm choosing to write a review myself. As I mentioned, I'm an art student, but nowhere near a professional. Making the transition from a tablet that acted solely as a peripheral, to one with an actual screen improved my work production significantly. It is leagues better to look at the surface your hand is at rather than your monitor. If you have a beginner or intermediate looking to make the transition from a non-display tablet to a display tablet, I can't recommend this one enough.
There are some bumps and hitches to getting started. In my case it was somewhat difficult to get the tablet to display at all, but that was an issue with my Mac settings. Before getting concerned that the tablet doesn't work, be sure to check your display settings while the tablet is on and plugged in. Getting the driver to recognize was a little finicky (I had to remove my previous drivers from the wacom tablet), but after a reboot or two, everything was in order, and I was able to calibrate the tablet just fine.
Going through a list of things to note, here are the biggest pros and cons:
Pros:
The display does not see a noticeable decrease in quality from monitor to tablet screen (I use it on a retina display mac). You may have to adjust the settings on the tablet itself to get your color adjustment just right, but otherwise, everything looks crisp and accurate. Seriously, can't tell the difference.
The stand is a huge perk to this tablet. So much nicer than awkwardly holding a tiny peripheral tablet in your hand or having it flat on the desk. No more wrist fatigue! Adjustable for just about any angle you want.
Battery life of the pen: Outstanding. In an entire year, I've had to charge it maybe 3 or 4 times. That little thing will go forever.
Customer Support. I never had to use it, but they were right there ready to help with anything I could have possibly needed, emailing tips for frequent problems, and being quite friendly as far as letting me know that they'd be willing to help with anything. I don't think I've encountered anybody else wanting to make sure your product works and you get on the right foot as much as they do.
Used both Photoshop Elements and Clip Studio Paint Pro with this tablet. Minimal issue once the tablet is set up.
Cons:
Mentioned before, you may have to adjust the color on the tablet itself to get your colors as accurate as possible. This isn't the easiest thing to do. You use the buttons on the side of the tablet to open the menu, select things, and move between settings, and none of it feels that intuitive. You'll learn it in time (I've done a lot of messing around with the backlight, gotta love those all-nighters), but the first few times are going to feel frustrating.
The tablet comes with a screen protector, but like everyone else has said who has also written a review, it just isn't worth it. A year of heavy use for both personal and school work hasn't left a single scratch on it. If you're the type of person who likes the texture of paper, getting used to the slick glass might be a struggle initially. I personally love the feeling, so that was a non-issue here.
The one thing I that I am not in love with (but tolerate) is how the cable that connects to the computer, tablet, and power is. Maybe it would work out better for a lefty, but the structure of it doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The part of the cord that goes to the outlet has plenty of reach to get to the connection it needs to hook into, and then the part of the cord that goes to the tablet is large too. But then you get to the part where you have your HDMI cable and the USB and it's incredibly short by the time you tug it around the tablet with the power cord. Personally? It's just a little annoying. I wouldn't say it's enough to make or break a sale of this item, but it's worth mentioning.
A warning to Mac users, potentially, as I haven't seen anybody else in the reviews encounter this issue. Sometime between buying this tablet and writing this review, I updated my OS. I currently run on Mojave, but before that on High Sierra. Over the last year, I've had approx. 4 crashes when plugging in the tablet, none of which occurred when my OS was High Sierra. I do not know what this issue is, but it exists, and you should be aware of it if you have a Mac running Mojave. If anything will sway you away from this product, it will be this, because frankly it's the only fault that is particularly detrimental in my experience.
TLDR; It's a great tablet that comes with a few hitches. You want to go from a peripheral tablet to a display one? This is an amazing place to start for your dollar. Get over the initial issues, and you'll have it for a year before you know it.
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