10 Best Drawing Tablets in 2024 (Ultimate Guide)

Times are gone when artists expressed their creativity on a piece of paper. But with the inauguration of tablets, a new drawing platform introduced. You don’t need a variety of colors or brushes and draw the whole painting where you start in case of an accident. Besides the great advantages, getting hands-on the best drawing tablet is also very crucial for a smooth and pleasant experience.

You may have the question that why not to use all-purpose tablets like Samsung tab or iPad? Well, you can use them by installing any drawing application. On the other hand, a dedicated drawing tablet is designed specifically for artists so; they give a better realistic experience. In our opinion, for artists who wish to get benefit from digital drawings a dedicated pad should be the priority.

With the rapid rise in technology, there are a variety of tablets available making the purchasing decision overwhelming. The tabs are prepared with multiple features such as precise graphics, control, connectivity, flexibility and comes with different price ranges. Moreover, the decision may vary depending on the entry, mid and professional users like it is not encouraged to invest in an expensive one if you are an entry-level user.

So in this guide, we help you to decide on one of the best drawing tablets for you. Here we list out both with and without the display screen graphic tablets.

Best Drawing Tablets with Screen – Pen display tablets

Wacom Cintiq Pro 13 FHD

Wacom Cintiq 13HD is a very famous pad when we talk about an excellent drawing tablet with a screen. It comes in different variants where you can hand-on either 13” or 16” screen it depends on your preference and budget. Its different variant ranges from $800 to $1500. The tab is convenient for every user whether right handed or left handed. Here note that although it’s a pen display tablet but you must connect it to a PC because it does not has a built-in computer.

The Wacom Cintiq pro comes with foldable legs which are pop-out to 20 degrees. Additionally, you can buy a separate stand that can be adjusted to multiple positions hence allow the user to work more comfortably. You can also detach the stand whenever you want to. Wacom Cintiq is competent to offer 16.7 million display colors for precise graphics. You will see a remarkable display because of the IPS full HD 1080p screen. It has 11.6 x 6.5 inches active operational area for drawing. One of the very cool features is the display toggle that allows working with multiple displays.

Wacom provides its newly designed Pro pen 2 which is comprised of tilt recognition capability and higher accuracy. Moreover, it has an eraser on the counter side of the nib. Touch pen has 8192 pressure and not to mention Wacom is always outstanding for smooth lining and feels close to paper art. You will get 10 replace nibs (6 standards, 4 felt).

For quick access to the functions, the tab supports multi-touch feature which indeed helps in increasing the workflow. While the pen is battery-free, the tablet requires a continuous power source. A smart 3 in 1 USB cable comes with the Old Model that has various options on the other end such as standard USB and HDMI etc. while the newer models include USB-C cable and Wacom link for display and data connections. With just 1.1 kg (2.43 lbs) weight, it’s easy to carry. Overall it is the best recommended drawing tablet for professionals.

Huion KAMVAS GT-191 – Affordable Cintiq Alternative

If you want to do some professional work but found Wacom is an expensive option for you don’t worry because there are many cheap drawing tablets available in the market with high accuracy and precise graphics results. The Huion KAMVAS GT-191 is a great Wacom Cintiq alternative that also supports full HD resolution as well as 16:9 aspect ratio. Furthermore, 72% NTSC color gamut display presents 16.7 million colors which is similar to the Cintiq 13 Pro.

Huion GT 191 has a significant edge over the Cintiq because it provides 17.09 x 9.37 in IPS LCD display which is quite impressive and offers a lot of space to play freely. The tablet is fully compatible with the tested software such as Manga Studio, Photoshop, Clip studio, and any other application. The product is well-packed and protected by a bunch of foam and fiberboard. Though, this drawing tablet with screen does provide onboard visuals but requires a computer connection to use. You get USB, HDMI cables, and power adapter inside the box.

Another thing that makes Huion user friendly is the adjustable stand with the tablet. It supports multi-angles 20°~80° allows suitable viewing angles. In addition, the stand is detachable after untying the four screws. Fortunately, they also include a screwdriver which is kind of cool. There is also a smudge guard glove and screen protector already installed on the screen.

The pen that arrives with GT-191 is Huion PE330 features 8192 pressure levels and really satisfactory while drawing on the tab and does not leave any bubble at the edge of the line. But unlike the Pro Pen 2 that included with Cintiq 13 Pro the Huion stylus is rechargeable. Luckily you will receive two pens out of the box so you can charge one while working with another. Also, you don’t need to worry if the one accidentally damage. The pen holder can accommodate 8 nibs. Overall the 19.5 inches screen size, million color display and high affordability making it one of the best Cintiq alternatives you can buy.

XP-Pen Artist 22E

XP Pen Artist 22E graphic pen display is a perfect choice for those need a large screen with reasonable pricing and all the essential features. With 22’’ large screen tempered glass surface you will never go out of drawing space. It has 1920×1080 FHD IPS display with color accuracy and provides a wide 178° viewing angle. Moreover, it has 220 report rate, so there is no lag when drawing lines rapidly. And just like many of the available tablets for drawing, you can use it as a monitor, not just a tablet.

Unlike the many devices, the Artist 22E does not specify stand angles instead you are free to set it at any angle. Just slide it and lock on the preferred position you feel comfortable. Because of the large size, you may get short on space for the onscreen keyboard; here tablet express keys might help you. It has 16 total express keys on both sides (left and gith) which are enough to assign the crucial functions. Buttons on both sides also make it more useful to both left and right-hand artists.

You will get a lot of stuff out of the box, and fortunately, there is a screen protector – it’s not pre-installed which we don’t like because installing a screen protector on such a big screen is not easy for everyone. Moreover, there is also a glove and all essential charging and connecting cables. For power, you receive a power adapter with cord. The monitor supports HDMI, VGA and DVI ports allowing you to connect to any computer. Furthermore, it is fully compatible with Windows and Mac applications.

The stylus has 2048 pressure levels which are satisfactory in any professional drawing tablet. You will receive 2 pens along with holder and 8 replacement nibs. The pen is chargeable so for continuous working make sure to put one on charging while working with the other. Its built quality is as excellent as the Wacom Cintiq, but it’s not cheap quality and looks good. So in a reasonable budget, this is a good Cintiq Pro 13 substitute with a large screen.

Ugee 1910B

Ugee 1910B is an ergonomically designed affordable drawing tablet that comes with an adjustable stand along with anti-slip rubber cover. So, users can adjust the display for a better viewing angle while sitting or standing. Artists and graphics enthusiasts seeking quality, but a cheap graphics tablet can choose this one for creative and striking designing. It packed with 2 rechargeable pens, 2048 sensitivity pressure levels, 10 extra nibs, 16.7M colors, and 19″ wide TFT screen with 1440×900 resolution. Its display screen has sharp colors, excellent contrast and brightness ratio, and good enough to turn your imaginations into reality.

Ugee 1910b is compatible with Windows, Mac, and a variety of softwares including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe CC, Adobe Illustrator, Autodesk, Sketchbook, Corel Painter, Maya, Pixologic, and 3D Max, etc. So, you can choose any preferred software that feels comfortable and easy to use. The drawing monitor can be integrated with your computer through VGA, DVI, and HDMI port. However, the manufacturer recommends buying HDMI to VGA connector for optimum results. Overall, you get outstanding performance, touch accuracy, and pressure sensitivity and an incredible 800 hours of battery life.

Touch pens P505 comes with a quick button for easy pencil/eraser swapping and fast charging feature. Additional nibs provide different sketching lines and modes to help you craft marvelous illustrations. Compared to other high-end devices, it’s not that good but much better than many in the same price range. While using, we found that there is a minor difference (1mm +/-) where we place the pen nib and line. But such variations exist almost in all drawing tablets. However, you might see an unnoticeable difference in high-end tabs.

So, let’s talk about its dimension and weight. Is it travel-friendly and easy to carry? Ugee weighs 15 pounds or 6.80 kg which is quite substantial. Regarding size, it has 20.9×18.3×7.2 inches dimension so you can take it anywhere easily in your backpack. VGA and USB cable, Pen charging cable, Artist glove, screen protection film, Power adapter, and cord, Barrel holder, Drivers CD, and User manual are other stuff comes in the box. We recommend you must install the screen protector before using as it protects your device display from dust, stains, and scratches.

Huion GT-220 v2

Here is Huion GT-220 v2 a much improved version than the preceding version. It has almost the same screen size (21.5”) like the XP-Pen 22E. The monitor is rich in color efficient to display 16.7 million colors. The tablet monitor support 1080 pixel with a contrast ratio of 1000:1. The GT 220-v2 delivers a very satisfactory experience with its accurate cursor positioning.

Along with the pen display tablets, you will get a variety of cables, stylus, pen holder with 8 extra nibs, stand, screwdriver, and CD, etc. You can easily attach the stand with the help of the screwdriver and screw that comes with the product. Unfortunately, there are no express keys which are helpful for quickly accessing the function. On the other hand, you will find few buttons for maintaining brightness, contrast and system settings.

Huion GT-220v2 stand can be adjusted to any angle with the help of the lock. Once you locked the position, it firmly holds the device and won’t slide even after putting the pressure. The pen featured 8192 pressure levels and has an ergonomic design. The rubber grip on the pen body won’t let your fingers slip through. It’s a rechargeable pen and doesn’t have an eraser on its back instead the buttons on the tablet can be used to shift between the eraser and drawing mode.

A little problem with this tablet is that it has slippery glass screen which might be problematic for many users. You can overcome this by installing a matte screen protector. It works perfectly with Windows,  Mac, and designing applications. It’s kind of heavy and weights around 9kg. And like the most of the tablets, it does not support tilt pressure. The Huion GT-220v2 is a nice choice with affordable pricing while offering high-end features.

Best Pen Tablets – Graphics Tablets Without Display Screen

Wacom Intuos Pro

Wacom is a popular and quality brand in digital graphics tablets. Wacom Intuos Pro is a nice art tablet offering very natural experience with accuracy. There are several variants available of this version, and so the active area varies accordingly like in medium size it is 8.7 x 5.8 in while large size has 12.1 x 8.4 in – very spacious area. Furthermore, all the variants are compact – just 8mm thickness.

The thing that we always like about them that they are fully compatible with Windows and Mac OS. All you need to install the driver and get started to work. It supports both Bluetooth and wired (USB) connectivity displaying the art on your monitor screen. Including the Intuos Pro, Wacom tablets are built with a solid material providing a sleek and premium look to the product.

Their newly designed Pro pen 2 comes along the box has 8192 pressure levels which is pretty awesome to differentiate heavy to light pressures – same pressure levels applied to the eraser. In addition to there is a nice pen holder that contains almost 10 nibs. Another amazing thing is it got an eraser on its backside, so you don’t need to press any button to use the pen as eraser instead just flip the pen and erase whatever you want to.

Intuos Pro also has a multi-touch functionality, and you can assign it 1 to 5 finger gestures. The multi-touch can be turned on/off from a single button. The tablet has 8 different programmable express keys. There is a time-saving scroll on the pad, and by rotating it, you can perform different actions which you assigned to it such as rotation, zoom in/out and brush size, etc. All in all, it’s a great tablet with a high price tag and good for those already have experience on digital drawings. The beginners with small experience can even go for it for enjoying innovating features.

XP-Pen Star06

Another fine piece of digital drawing is XP-Pen star06 without display screen which means you have to connect it to a computer for visual. XP-Pen Star06 costs $20 more than its previous model (XP-Pen Star05), but the newer version is significantly improved. Just take the example of pressure, the previous version only got 2048 pressure level while Star06 comes with 8192 pressure levels. Further Star06 combined with anti-shake technology for smooth linings.

So while working it feels smooth and the pressure level technology is quite intelligent. It clearly understands when drawing the combination of thick and thin lines which make it one of the best drawing tablets – both for beginners and professionals. Moreover, it works compatibly with almost every software like Photoshop, illustrator, and Krita, etc.

XP-Pen provides excellent flexibilities as you can either connect it via USB cable or wireless connection. For wireless, you just need to plug a small included USB receiver into your computer port. Being equipped with wireless capability means a battery powers it. The 1050mAh removable battery renders roughly 14-16 hour until the next recharge.

You get a lot of handful things such as a pen along with holding stand, USB cable, Windows and Mac drivers, USB receiver, and glove. The pen designed in such a way for comfortable gripping. Furthermore, the pen stand has a small hole at the rare side assist you to remove the nib easily. And you will get almost eight replaceable nibs inside the pen stand.

The tablet provides vast drawing capabilities with 10”x6” active area screen which is pretty awesome to draw anything freely. It has 6 six physical short keys. Below the short keys, there is very handy programmable dialer. You can assign the dialer to the number of functions such as brush size, Zoom in/out, etc. In addition, the work area orientation is also changeable making it compatible for the right hand and left-hand users.

Wacom Intuos Draw

Intuos Draw tablet is a great choice for entry-level digital artists and art enthusiasts. This small and compact graphics tablet available in Blue and White colors. Originally you can connect it with computer through USB cable but it also supports wireless facility which is being sold separately. Because of the small size, it has a small active area (6.0 x 3.7 in) but on the other side, this will allow greater movability.

The Intuos draw is not a multi-touch tablet but if you think it’s a must needed feature for you then there are other tablets in Intuos family like Intuos Photo and Intuos Art etc. these will cost almost $20 more but provides a multi-touch facility. Personally for beginners having a multi-touch tablet is not a crucial factor. You can rest your hand on the tablet and it will not affect the drawing.

The tablet has 4 keys and will perform the function upon your setting like undo and zooming etc. The pen support 2048 pressure levels which are considered reliable even for professional users. The Battery-free stylus (pen) has two programmable buttons on it. There is no eraser on the back of the pen instead you can assign this feature to a button for using the pen as an eraser. You will get spare nibs (3 pack) at the backside of the tablet.

Wacom Intuos draw is compatible with Windows and Mac. Your Windows should be 7 or above and in case of Mac 10.8.5 or above for a seamless connection. It works compatibly with Linux and for that, you should have at least 4.4 version. There is also some stuff helpful for beginners like online tutorials and ArtRage Lite drawing software. All in all, it’s a nice and perfect cheapest best drawing tablet that provides all the core essentials as well as great portability.

Huion 1060 Plus

Huion 1060PLUS provide 10″ x 6.25″ plentiful space with a resolution of 5080 LPI. Instead of the standard USB port, there is a micro USB port for connectivity. This micro USB cable comes within the box. Like other tablet manufacturers, this drawing tablet also compatible with Windows and Mac.

The Huion 1060 plus has 12 express keys which are more than most of the tablets available in the market. Plus there are 16 soft keys too. This is really time-saving; you can assign more functions to highly accessible buttons. One thing that we want to mention Huion’s softwares are limited in term of customization while Wacom software is always ahead than any other tablets like backing up settings, updates, and lots of functions to assign to the buttons.

The Huion 1060 plus stylus comes up with 8192 pressure levels which are really great than many. The pen performs quite outstanding by recognizing higher and lighter pressure as well as making notches. It can even pick the strokes made through the paper. You get an 8GB built-in SD card to save your work with this affordable drawing tablet. The company went one step ahead and installed the drivers by default in the device to avoid additionally downloading or installation.

There is also a nice pen holder that contains 4 replacement nibs. A little downside maybe for some users especially while there is battery-free pen out there, the Huion 1060 plus includes a rechargeable pen that comes with Li-ion Battery. So they also include a pen recharging cable. There are chances that you may get a pen need to be recharged for working because the batteries drain out over time. It takes almost 1.5 hours for a full recharge. The tab is compatible with most of the OS and drawing tools such as Windows and Mac as well as Medibank, Alpaca, SAI, Photoshop, ZBrush, Gimp, Krita, and illustrator, etc.

Ugee M708

Ugee M708 is an affordable tablet for beginners, artists, and kids due to cheap pricing which makes it one of the top Wacom alternatives. As we known Wacom is a popular brand but they are expansive. Ugee provides a pretty wide tablet that offers a 10″ x 6″ active drawing area. Like any other best pen tablets you can rotate it to 180 degrees hence making it convenient for left-handers. Along with tablet, there is a stylus & its holder, USB cable, and installation CD out of the box.

The best part of this it got eight express keys helping the users to perform different task rapidly and save time. This help to assign more functions to the keys thus put more things on your fingertips. You can assign the roles like undo, color switching and other settings that may need more frequently.

Pen support 2048 pressure level which is quite efficient to draw the thicker and dark lines when pressing it harder. The pen requires one triple-A battery to work but you have to buy it separately. So don’t forget to order along. There is a substantial base pen holder that comprises with 8 replacement nibs. You can place the pen either vertically or horizontally. The pen looks very similar to Wacom Pro pen 2 like both has an almost same shape of nibs and both have programmable buttons.

Ugee M708 cannot be connected through Wireless; you have to connect using a USB cable (included with the product). You will not face any difficulty in connecting with Windows (XP or above) and Mac (10.8 or above).  Moreover, it works flawlessly with almost all of the graphics applications like Photoshop, Comic Studio, Corel Painter, ZBrush, and illustrator, etc. Overall Ugee worth buying and deliver the money value. So if you are a newbie or a hobbyist designer Ugee M708 is a great option.

How to Choose the Best Drawing Tablet in 2024 [Buyer’s Guide and Things to Consider]

Pressure Sensitivity

Pressure sensitivity is an essential feature of any drawing pad. It makes the digital drawing close to the paper drawings. The pressure level technology enables the tablet to recognize between light and heavy pressure. Mostly mid-level pads got 1024 pressure levels while for more professionalism and realistic work you must consider higher levels than this number. Higher pressure level means your tablet will provide more sensitivity and real pencil using experience.

Stylus

Stylus also called Pen for drawing is another crucial thing. The stylus can be chargeable or a battery-free. Some stylus comes with a non-rechargeable battery. So a battery-free pen believed to be the friendliest because you don’t have to worry about recharging or battery replacement.

Size

While picking up the tablet, its size matters a lot. Of course, the vast area means larger the space to draw. Also, typically larger tablets got more shortcut keys enable the user to work swiftly and easily. On the other hand, small size tablets may give you greater portability, but they may sacrifice on extra draw area and express keys. So if you want to do some serious drawings, then a drawing tablet with an appropriate screen should be your preference.

Resolution

Resolution is another element to consider when buying a graphics tablet. It describes how many lines a user can draw per inch, i.e., lines per inch – LPI. The simple rule is the higher the LPI means higher the resolution.

Shortcut keys – Express keys

For making the digital drawing convenient and efficient, companies feature their tablets with touch or the physical buttons. You can assign various functions to the buttons through its software recommended by the manufacturer. With that said, you can map different functionalities as per your needs such as zoom in/zoom out, or other options.

Conclusion – Which Tablet for Drawing Should I choose?

So these are the top artist’s tablets including with and without screens. And based on our carefully crafted buying guide you can decide on the one which suits you better.

If you are just a beginner or a hobbyist, then you don’t need to invest in pen display tablets. You can start with a pen tablet and gain experience. An artist knows the real value and importance of digital drawing by actually using it. Moreover, tablets with no display screen are highly affordable and a nice way to take the drive.

For professionals, choosing Wacom Cintiq would be a great choice as it has unique features such as 8192 pressure levels, a Full HD display, and an adjustable stand. Plus, multi-touch and express keys can be mapped with frequently used features t save time. Further, if you found Wacom Cintiq expensive for you then don’t worry there are other recommendations on the list.

If you thought we missed anything or need any help please let us know, the GearsDaddy is always happy to help you. The above-listed best drawing tablets are feature rich, provide exceptional flexibility, and artists will surely enjoy while utilizing their art skills.