REVISION – Almost everyone knows what an iPad is. It has become ubiquitous in our technology-centric lives. what almost everyone does No What I do know is that there are tablets that artists use that aren’t iPads at all. In fact, these tablets need to be cabling to a computer just to work. A company called XP-Pen makes just such a tablet: the Artist Pro 16 graphics display. So why would anyone choose this tablet that requires a computer via a wireless iPad? Good question.
What is?
The XP-Pen Artist Pro 16 is a graphics display tablet that allows you to draw on the screen using the XP-Pen stylus (pen) instead of a mouse. Think of it like a monitor you can draw on. The Artist Pro 16 measures 15.5 inches (diagonal). It features software shortcut keys and comes with the necessary cables, a stylus pen with extra drawing tips, and a fingerless drawing glove.
It is extremely slim, inexpensive, lightweight, and easy to place on a desk or lap. It connects to a Windows or Mac PC, allowing you to use whatever software those computers run.
What is in the box
- Artist Pro 16 Tablet
- Stylus with case
- Extra pencil tips
- Cleaning Cloth
- fingerless glove
- cord 3 in one
specs
- Dimensions: 17.5 x 10 x 0.3 inches
- Viewing area: 13.5 x 7.5 inches
- Screen resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Contrast: 1000:1
- Lamination: Yes
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Design and features
So if a graphics display allows you to “draw” on a monitor, how is that better than an iPad? It is not. The iPad is different from a graphic display to a great extent. the ipad it is a computer, period. The Artist Pro 16 is not. The iPad uses iOS. Artist Pro 16 doesn’t care what software you use, as long as your computer can use it. If your monitor can see it, the Artist Pro 16 can see it and you can draw with it.
A tablet like the Artist Pro 16 (and others like it) does an important job. If you use drawing or painting applications, like Photoshop, for example, you can take the stylus and use it as a mouse. And everyone knows how uncomfortable it is to draw with the mouse. In fact, my daily driver tablet is an XP-Pen Artist Pro 24. I love that tablet, despite its quirks, which is why the Artist Pro 16 is so frustrating.
Let’s talk about what’s good, or great, about the Artist Pro 16. You can’t beat the price. Just under $450, the build quality is matched by the quality of the screen and the aluminum casing. Its 1920 x 1080 resolution is wonderful. I’ve reviewed larger tablets at this same resolution and you can see individual pixels, not a great experience. But this same The resolution on a 16-inch tablet is perfect because the pixels are much, much smaller. Add to that Adobe’s 99% color accuracy and, well, you can’t beat it.
The screen is laminated, which means there is no parallax, which means that where the tip of the stylus touches the screen is exactly where you see the corresponding dot in the app you’re using. You’d be surprised how weird it is when you can see a gap between those two points.
The screen has a matte plastic film protector that can be scratched if you are not careful. Also, the matte finish can dull colors a bit. Without it, though, you can get severe glare (think iPad), so it’s a worthwhile trade-off. XP-Pen included a free anti-scratch cleaning cloth.
On one side of the Artist Pro 16, there are 8 keys that can perform custom shortcuts, such as keyboard combinations that you can use in various applications. Also, there is a built-in scroll wheel that can zoom in and out or perform other tricks that you set in the XP-Pen app preferences. These keys can be a real time saver, except I disable everybody from them. Having used Photoshop since version 2 or 3, I use my keyboard for all the shortcuts. I haven’t found any tablet hotkeys that I liked, on any tablet, regardless of price. However, many artists love shortcut keys, which is why most of the best tablets have them. Oh good.
Then there is the X3 Elite Plus stylus (ballpoint pen). XP-Pen has developed this new stylus from scratch and it is a winner. XP-pen’s other styli (styli?) are fine, but the X3 Elite has a new chipset that XP-Pen says will last twice as long as their other pens. They also say that this new chip converts an analog signal to a digital signal with reduced interference and more precise pen strokes. XP-Pen states: “This change increases the sensitivity of the initial activation force by 10 times, so your artwork can be produced with a feather-light stroke.” I’m sure these are good things, but since I’ve never had any issues with the accuracy of your previous pen, I can’t tell the difference.
XP-Pen says that they got rid of any spring mechanism in the tip. Again, if they hadn’t mentioned it, I never would have noticed.
It also has a functional eraser on the other end, the first for XP-Pen. Please note that the eraser will only work with compatible apps.
The Stylus is comfortable to hold and use. It has two shortcut buttons on the barrel. I like these because they can mimic a keystroke allowing popups or other tricks. These buttons are a bit more difficult to press to activate than the other XP-Pens. That’s a good thing because the buttons on other XP-Pens are too touch sensitive, leading to unwanted actions.
The Stylus comes packaged in a nice case that contains six extra replacement tips, more than you’ll ever need. The stylus has 8193 levels of pressure sensitivity (how do they count this?), which means that any line you draw on the screen can be any thickness depending on your drawing pressure. Once again, the software you use has to be compatible. Most drawing and photography apps are. Please note that this new stylus will not work with other XP-Pen tablets, such as my Artist Pro 24.
Now the not so good things.
The Artist Pro 16 graphics display has good weight distribution that allows it to sit easily on a desk or on your lap, but I don’t mind. What Artist Pro 16 needs, but doesn’t No to have—is a position. Other XP-Pen tablets have kickstands, so why not this one? If you want to use it as a monitor, you need to prop it up or lean it against something. You can’t appreciate how important a stand is until you don’t have one. My Artist Pro 24 has a built-in adjustable stand and is great. It’s like the XP-Pen can’t decide if the Artist Pro16 is a real graphics display or a wannabe iPad, and that’s frustrating. Note that you can purchase a generic XP-Pen stand, but this should not be necessary.
Then there are the laces. Yuck! The Artist Pro 16 has a thick, unwieldy cable that splits into three separate cables: USB A power, HDMI, and USB A. The USB A power cable is ridiculously short, although the XP-Pen includes a shorter USB extension cable. length . Since I use a 16-inch MacBook Pro, I wish the HDMI was USB-C. I had to look for an HDMI to USB-C dongle (it’s already a hell of dongles on my desk).
I am left handed and the cable points up and out of the tablet, on the left side. the power cable plugs in next to the shortcut keys, so my hand constantly rests on the keys. Okay, I turned them off, but if you use the keys, you might go crazy. While the tablet screen image can be flipped so that the keys (and power cord) are on the right, the cord is now in the lower right corner pointing down away from your desk and getting in the way of your chair and his body.
I think Artist Pro 16 is more suitable for laptop owners who need a dedicated graphics display that they can quickly plug in and get to work. For that use, XP-Pen has hit the nail on the head, especially if you plan on using the tablet as a drawing pad. But for more desktop-bound artists/designers like me, there are better XP-Pen alternatives.
What I like
- big screen
- That pencil!
- Good weight and ease of use.
- Express keys (if you want them)
what would change
- Includes a stand
- Reposition the cable so that it is not awkward.
- Not great for left handed artists.
final thoughts
If you’re a mobile digital artist and problems like the ones I’ve described don’t bother you, then you’ll love this tablet. The color is perfect, the pen is fantastic, and the construction is as good as it gets. But the cable setup ruins it for me – I’m left-handed. If XP-Pen can rethink the cable and include a stand, the Artist Pro 16 could become the tablet to beat for digital artists on a budget.
Price: $449.99 US (often on sale)
Where to buy: XP-Pen Store and Amazon
Font: This product sample was provided by XP-Pen.
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