My Wacom Bamboo CTL470 capture’s port broke, and I wanted to invest in another drawing tablet. This is my review of the XP-Pen Deco 03!
Wacom is the industry standard, but I think the competition is getting better, which bodes well for us artists! I did a bit of research and decided that this tablet seemed like a great deal, considering its prices and features.

My old Wacom Bamboo Capture was well loved, but did get laggy at the very end. It was also a bit small. This tablet is bigger and better, and I am quite enjoying it so far.



The XP-Pen Deco 03 Is what I would call an indirect graphics drawing tablet or digital drawing pad . That is a tablet that is attached to a computer monitor where you draw on the surface of the tablet and the the image appears on the monitor.

It was quickly delivered and I opened the packaging to find the tablet and accessories contained in a sturdy flip top box. On inspection I found that the box was quite substantial and really secure unlike like some other tablet packaging I have experienced in the past.

Common Features Of Drawing Tablet’s Explained

Are you completely new to the world of digital art?

To find the right tablet for your needs, it is important to understand the different features.

Below you will find a quick definition of the standard features on a digital drawing pad.

Pen / Stylus

A stylus pen is a pen shaped device that is used when drawing on your tablet. A digital pen for drawing often includes function keys, nibs, and erasers.

Active Area

The active drawing area is the area on the tablet that you can draw on.

Resolution

Tablet resolution, measured in LPI (Lines Per Inch), tells you how many digital lines fit into one inch of the tablet’s physical screen. The higher the LPI, the greater detail and sharpness of your image.

Pen Pressure

Pen pressure is how sensitive a pen is to the pressure applied to the active area. It allows you to draw subtle variations in lightness or darkness.

Nibs & Erasers

Nibs are the part of a digital pen that touch the surface of your art tablet. You have the main type of nib, which tells the tablet you are drawing a mark, and an eraser nib, which informs your tablet to erase whatever you are touching.

Pen Response Time

Pen response time, also known as latency, is the time it takes between moving your pen on the surface of Tablet , and when the stroke is updated to the tip position on the surface of Tablet .
Express Keys

Express keys, also called Hotkeys, are built in buttons that allow you to set up short cuts for common key commands. Often these are customizable, however, sometimes they are not. Be sure to check.

XP-Pen Deco 03 Digital Drawing Tablet – What do You Get in the Box?



The first thing that struck me was how stylish and sleek this tablet was. It certainly looked the business as I was unwrapping it.

It had a nice feel, fairly light and felt strong enough to take the usual knocks and bangs when being moved about…so far so good.

I was pleasantly surprised at the contents in the box:



XP-Pen Deco 03 Digital Drawing Tablet
Passive Pen Stylus
Pen Stand
8 spare Graphics Pen Stylus Nibs
USB-C to USB Cable Approximately 1.5 meters in length
Comprehensive Manual
Anti Fouling Graphics Tablet Glove

The Deco 03 has a classy matt black finish. the matt black really does look cool!It is ultra thin at a mere 8mm. How do they pack everything into such a small space ?

I know that everyone is trying to make some electrical items such as laptops and smartphones as thin as possible but for me that often means ‘flimsy’. Not so with this tablet as it is obviously well bonded and not a hint of flexing. I think if I dropped this on a solid floor it wouldn’t hurt it – but I wasn’t going to try that out!

Drawing Surface Texture



The feel of how the pen moves over the surface of a tablet is important to many artists. Some tablets feel silky smooth when drawing, others feel more like the texture of paper. It all comes down to personal choice.

Specs & Overview
Pen: passive and wireless (doesn’t require batteries)
Active Area: 10” x 5.62”
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Express Keys: 6 customizable one and this nice circular dial
Report Rate: 266 rps
Pressure Sensitivity: 8192
Interface Support: Type C (nice! Plugs into Type C on tablet, but full-sized USB on the computer side)
Compatibility: Windows 7/8/10 & Mac OS 10.8 and above Both wired + wireless interface.

Full specifications + compatibility information

Overview

+ Clean, thin, and sleek design.
+ Passive pen is accurate, responsive, and a good size and weight.
+ The dial is a great feature

The surface seems like it’s a bit easy to scratch, but not really much more than the old Wacom bamboo.
Using Mac OS drivers, does not have pressure sensitivity in Autodesk Sketchbook. It does for Krita, PS, and a lot of others.
Overall, great bang for your buck! $99 USD on average. This link to offical XP-Pen Store : https://www.storexppen.com/buy/56.html , if you are interested in purchasing it.

Form & Function

The tablet is thin and light, which I really like. The corners are rounded, but the edges where your arm rests probably could be smoother. The whole thing is large enough that it’s not that much of an issue for me, but I could see that as a place to improve.

Configuration



This is from a Mac perspective, so if you have windows, it may be different. From what I’ve read, the installation process seems pretty smooth.

On Mac, installing drivers is really easy. On their site, they list compatible programs, so I recommend looking at the specs + compatibility link that’s listed in the beginning of this review to see if this tablet will work for you. A lot of popular programs are fully and officially supported, like SAI, Photoshop, and Clip Studio Paint.

I use Krita, and the lines are a tiny bit shaky, but not that noticeably so, and Krita comes with stabilizers, so I don’t have a real problem. The software also just reached a major new version, which may also play a factor.

Configuration is easy, through “Pen Tablet Settings.” It’s pretty straight forwards. I did configure my pressure curve to be a bit shifted to the left so that I don’t have to press as hard as default. This way, I can presserve the pen tips.

The pen



The pen comes with a handy holder that contains spare nibs, as well as a place for the pen to stand on your desk. There’s felt on the bottom of it, and the whole assembly is a nice touch.

For the drawing instrument itself, it’s quite well made. It isn’t too light, but lighter than my old wacom pen, has a nice grip that is comfy to hold, and has 2 configurable buttons that are easy to press. The nibs are long, so I think they will last a while. If there are any issues, I will let you guys know in a future update.

It’s a responsive pen, and I like drawing with it just as much as I did my Wacom Bamboo.

The tablet



I am a huge fan of the dial (and the express keys). That’s a unique feature to this tablet, and is a great tool. I have it currently set to brush size, but you have options! It’s easy and smooth to turn, and you have clickiness that allows you to feel and control it without looking. You can also press down on the button on the middle of the dial, as yet another express key.

The surface of the tablet itself is nice because the drawing texture is nice. It’s not too glidy or glassy, but also not so rough that it’s annoying to use. It scratches a little when you draw on it, but that’s what happened to the old bamboo as well. The DECO 03 may be a tad softer, but I will need more time to fully evaluate the long time durability of this tablet.



I am guessing this tablet will last a long time, though. The choice of USB Type C rocks, because you’re less likely to jam it in the wrong way and break it, compared to the fragile micro USB. I also like that you can use it wireless, though it’s less smooth when using it that way.

Intuos Pro Vs Bamboo - A Review



When I decided I wanted to upgrade my tablet, my biggest concern was: Is it worth it to go from Bamboo to DECO 03 ? Is it a significant improvement, or should I save money for a Cintiq or xp-pen artist instead?

I did a lot of research and couldn’t find anything of much help, so I went ahead and tried the DECO 03 to see for myself, and now I’m going to share what I found in this review while comparing it to the cheaper alternative Bamboo line for those who are wondering, like I was, which one should they buy, or whether or not they should get rid of their Bamboo. I hope you’ll find this helpful!

Here they are: Bamboo Connect CTL470 (2.5+ years old) on top, Intuos Pro (4+ months old) on the bottom. They are both “small” sized but they look radically different, right?

The DECO 03 Digital Art Pad has the bigger drawing area than the Bamboo, which giving you more room for arm movement, which is a big plus; it makes drawing easier and a lot more comfortable.

DECO 03 has 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity versus the 1024 levels of the Bamboo line. Now, it’s not like it makes a world of difference, especially in the looks of the final product (a painting) BUT I can tell/feel the difference.

Drawing surface texture: The Bamboo’s texture is good but DECO 03 is smoother, I prefer it!

The DECO 03 has buttons in it which you can configure as you wish with pretty much any of your software’s shortcuts, it’s pretty awesome! It’s not a huge advantage for me because I’m used with using the keyboard for shortcuts, but some people love them. It also has that wheel which you can use to zoom in and out, change layers, change brush size and rotate (you can switch between these commands by pressing the button in the middle).

The DECO 03 has a wireless adapter. I thought I wouldn’t care for it so much but oh man was I wrong! I love not having even more cables on my desk! The charge lasts for a wonderful amount of time, I have no complains! However, the bigger the tablet size, the less the charge will last.

The DECO 03 feels more bulky and durable than the Wacom Bamboo , and people on the intwerwebs seem to find it durable too (mine is new so I don’t know. I had my Bamboo for 2.5+ years, beaten it up a lot, carried it with me all over, dropped it and it’s pen, and it still works perfectly and the drawing surface is worn out but fine and has no scratches)
The XP-Pen DECO 03 driver lets you customize pen pressure in a more effective way – which you should do! It also allows you to configure it differently for general use and for drawing-software use! For instance you can keep the touch on only for general use, etc.

The DECO 03 doesn’t has a touch feature (most Intuos and some Bamboo have that Features ) and it works beautifully, it doesn’t get confused by your hand on the tablet while drawing or anything .

Both the Bamboo and DECO 03 doesn’t have a Pen tilt sensitivity , the Intuos’ Grip pen has a tilt angle of up to 60 degrees (which can be very useful when using certain brushes, if you’re into them).
The Bamboo has that thing to keep your pen in which I actually like a lot, but the XP-Pen’ pen stand is just beautiful, especially because it also serves as pen nibs storage.

Some people said that the DECO 03 surface scratches easily (in like a week or two of use). They said the same thing about the Bamboo – didn’t happen to any of my tablets. All you have to do to avoid this is change the pen pressure levels, make it more sensitive, so that you don’t need to put much pressure on the pen. Another thing you can do to further protect the surface is to put a paper on top of it, it actually feels pretty cool!

Twice so far has the DECO 03 tablet gone crazy. One time it went back to the default settings and I had to re-configure it. The second time it was simply out of control entirely, acting up really bad. I re-installed the driver then, uninstalled the old tablet’s driver, and thus far it’s been behaving itself wonderfully (issues-free for about 2 months). The good news is that every XP-Pen tablet allows you to make a backup of your tablet’s settings so all you have to do is and load it if you have any problems!

Drawing Experience and Samples

This is A design contest entry I created



Overall, this thing is great to work with!

I love the texture, since it balances perfectly between roughness and smoothness. The pressure sensitivity is awesome for this price point, as it’s on par with Wacom’s Intuos Pro line of tablets.

These types of tablets are also really helpful in graphic design work. I also hope to start dabbling in vector illustration.

Drawing art work I created by xp-pen deco 03 digital art pad.



Final Words

In the end, I decided the XP-Pen DECO 03 Graphics Drawing Tablet was a worthy upgrade and kept it.

However, I am convinced that one can achieve the same level and complexity of artwork in both tablets. Considering the XP-Pen tablets are usually less than half the price of an Intuos, if you have a budget or if you’d rather save some money, go with the DECO 03 , it’s going to serve you well.the DECO 03 is a really, really good tablet and I don’t regret getting it for one second!

Now if you can spare the extra moneys (or if you’re getting it for Christmas lol) then I do recommend the XP-Pen Artists line, XP-Pen Artist line tablet is a monitor tablet by which you can draw directly on the screen .

I hope this review helps! I recommend purchasing this product. It’s been a great replacement, and I really think it’s a quality product. XP-PEN seems to show passion for their products, and their customer service is pretty responsive as well!

Thanks for reading! If this post helped, please consider sharing it with your friends!

Anyone working on an image in Adobe Photoshop or on a drawing in Corel Painter realizes how nice it would be to just pick up a pen and "draw" rather than trying to use a mouse. This is why graphic artists have long turned to XP-Pen pen tablets for editing digital photography and digital art.

For photographers and graphic artists who haven’t already embraced the idea of a pen tablet or tablet PC, the appeal of the XP-Pen G640S is that it is a full-featured "graphics tablet." Tablet PCs offer a great deal of flexibility and a range of practical applications; leading to their popularity with artists and other creative professionals.

So recently I’ve purchased the XP-Pen G640S USB Pen Tablet. I’ve bought this nice piece of gear with the intention of being able to expand the way I use the cursor to select things on my computer. For some people, that may mean being able to draw more naturally, write digitally instead of using the keyboard, for playing OSU professionally; and/or acting as a mouse replacement for the ergonomic benefit, preventing/letting carpal tunnel to heal.

I also imagined that a graphics tablet would help me in video or photo editing. Video or photo editing can require an immense amount of time and concentration, and using a mouse in such a rigid fashion can lead to complications like strain, RSI, carpal tunnel, among other things. Whereas using a tool like a pen tablet feels more natural to use in the hand without putting strain on your wrist. And for this reason, there are many people who use a graphics tablet like the XP-Pen G640S as a total replacement to the common mouse.

The point at which I realized the true value of the tablet is simply when I started seeing how much faster I can edit faces with the pen tool. Because the tablet has a relative positioning attitude (so your tablet is mapped to your screen, and a specific point on the tablet will always be the same point on the screen) you tend to be able to move to exact locations on XP-Pen tablet surface image and edit out blemishes much faster than with a mouse. Also, changes made with a Photoshop tool that requires a natural flow along the lines of your object (like a face) is just so much easier to do well with a pen or stylus than with a mouse. I would not be over-exaggerating to say that it has cut editing time in half.

I absolutely love my XP-Pen G640S , and I’m ashamed that I didn’t place a review for this superior product before now. I was helping a coworker select a XP-Pen tablet for her desk this morning when I decided to write this review for the Wacom tablet. Bottom line for the Star G640S: convenient size, excellent pressure sensitivity, durable construction, excellent value for the price. I would consider this a must-have for any serious digital illustrator or designer.it’s price is $49.99 .you can get more information from https://www.xp-pen.com/goods/show/id/371.html .



What are the Specs for the XP-Pen G640S Pen Tablet?
The size is of the G640S tablet is 259mm wide by 160mm inch height . But the active area on the tablet is 6 x 3.75 inch .the Star G640S is small and light enough to pick up off the desk and work with right on your lap. With a thickness of just 9mm, it’s thinner than just about any device on your desk.
I mean the tablet works very smoothly, but the small area is a tad bit hard to use. If you plan to heavily use a drawing tablet, I would suggest looking at the XP-Pen DEC0 01 tablet if it fits your budget, as the increased drawing space is more ergonomic and comfortable to use.

The G640S tablet has a reporting rate of 266RPS, and in my experience moving the cursor from one end to other on the monitor was as smooth like with any other standard mouse. The G640S pen come with 8192 levels of pressure, which is more than enough for showing the density of a drawing stroke. Just make sure that you check the “Support TabletPC” checkbox on the XP-Pen Driver if the pressure sensitivity isn’t working with your Adobe Photoshop CC software.

The included grip pen is XP-Pen’s standard two-button unit.the new Intuos pens are much more comfortable to hold that the old plastic pens because of the rubber coated grip. I personally found the pen to be perfectly weighted and balanced. The contoured grip area is thick enough to promote good pen holding habits and reduce fatigue.

The tip on the pen seem much more "springy" and responsive. Pen tips are removable/replaceable, and XP-Pen supplies several different tips (also called nibs).

The resolution of the pen tablet is 8192 LPI, or Line per Inch.
The new Intuos features a USB connection that permits hot-swappable, on-the-go design. the G640S also have 6 Express keys that you can assign any keyboard shortcut that you’d like.

The XP-Pen G640S is compatible with many major graphics applications including Corel Painter, CorelDraw, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fireworks, Macromedia Flash, Comic Studio, GIMP, SAI, Infinite Stratos, 3D MAX, Autodesk MAYA, Pixologic ZBrush, USB interface. Note that you can perfectly use the G640S as a mouse.

The G640S pen tablet also supports Window’s Vista/7/8/10 and Mac OS 10.8.0+


What are the Pros of the XP-Pen G640S Pen Tablet?

Highly Portability

I find that the G640S tablet can be pretty useful. It’s extremely portable due to its extremely small notepad-like dimensions and extremely light weight; you’ll hardly notice a difference if you add the XP-Pen drawing tablet to your hand bag or backpack.

Customization & Programmable Keys

I mentioned before that there are 6 programmable keys to the side of the G640S tablet. These are great, because when you are in the middle of drawing something out, you can quickly perform a command inside the graphics program that you choose to use. There are also an additional 2 programmable buttons on the pen itself; you can either designate them as left & right mouse buttons or anything else if you wish. it is easy use by both right-handed and left-handed artists.

Along with programmable keys, there are many features that you can customize for the G640S drawing tablet. That includes the levels of pressure for the pen’s tip, the active area of the tablet, which monitor to select if you have multiple displays, and more. You also have the option of matching the active area size to match your display ratio.

The significance of G640S’s new ExpressKeys is that they greatly speed up workflow in graphics and other applications. The innovative ExpressKeys provide quick access to commonly used modifiers, mouse clicks, keystrokes, and other time-saving operations used by photo editors, graphic designers, and digital artists.



Pressure levels

The pressure sensitivity of the XP-Pen G640S is pretty amazing for such a cheap price. With the correct settings enabled, I found that I could smoothly ramp up the gradient of darkness & lightness depending on how hard or soft I pressed my pen against the tablet- given that the XP-Pen drawing tablet’s software is properly configured. The tablet’s surface was smooth enough to feel like I was using pen and paper, albeit with a tad bit more scratchy feedback than an actual graphite pencil on paper.

The pressure sensitivity is amazing and allows me the complete control over the virtual medium that I am handling (airbrush, pencil, ink, paint, etc). Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash are all designed to work with the pressure sensitive pens, and the level of control is amazing. Photoshop’s new custom brush palette, combined with the Wacom tablet, permit me to create custom brushes to simulate the appearance of color pencil, pastels, and chalk in such a realistic manner that it’s difficult to discern what is real and what is digital.



Highly Responsive

With resolution and data rates (5,080 lpi, 200 pps) on par with XP-Pen’s other higher-end tablets, performance was predictably smooth and precise. The G640S tracks quickly, without any noticeable lag even when rapidly moving the pen back and forth. The G640S has 1024 levels of pressure sensitivity and pressure-sensitive functions in both Photoshop and Corel Painter performed exactly as expected. I particularly enjoyed the ability to use pressure sensitivity when applying Nik Color Efex filters to images in Photoshop.

Again, I would like to add that new tools requires a bit of time to become accustom to.


What are the Cons of the XP-Pen G640S Pen Tablet?

There are a few downsides or features that could have been improved upon the XP-Pen G640S drawing tablet.

Drawing Room

First of all, I feel that the drawing area is a tad bit too small. Sure, the tablet is exceptionally usable and smooth to the pen movements. But I feel that due to the small drawing area, it takes me longer to to accurately draw what I want with precision. Maybe with enough time I would get used to the small drawing space, but if I had the budget I would go for the spacious XP-Pen DECO 02 tablet, just for ease of use.

Wired

Maybe this is just nitpicking, but I really don’t want to add anymore wires to my desk. My keyboard has a wire. My mouse has a wire. My webcam has a wire. My desk lap has a wire. My microphone has a wire… I could go on. It’s no surprise people like going wireless. So ignore this nitpick if you don’t mind adding an extra wire to your desk. Or alternatively, you could look into a wireless solution, like the XP-Pen Wireless DECO 03 Drawing-Pad.

Requires Software Installation

The XP-Pen G640S tablet requires software installation. You can install the software by download it from their website. it opens a window with a list of drivers; you simply have to choose which tablet you have out of that list. Then the software installation begins. Again, this is nitpicking. But for people who have virtually zero computer skill, they’ll need someone a little more computer adept to help them given that this tablet isn’t plug & play (actually, many drawing tablets aren’t, because the custom software allows for better customization- like assigning which button on the tablet & pen does what).



Operating the XP-Pen G640S Graphics Tablet as a Mouse Replacement

So there are some people out there who choose to use a drawing tablet like the XP-Pen G640S as an alternative to a mouse. The primary reason would be for better ergonomics. The way that many people hold the standard mouse is not safe for long term usage. Even I find that if I keep using a regular computer mouse for an extended period of time, I start to feel cramps and strains in my wrist- all warning signs of RSI (Repetitive Strain Injury).

Whereas with graphic drawing tablets like the G640S, they require you to hold the “mouse” in the pen hand position. This greatly reduces the amount of strain that the wrist experiences, because the rotational angle of the hand is in a more natural position.

You’ll need to use the XP-Pen tablet drivers in order to configure the buttons on the pen and the express buttons on the tablet. A good configuration is to make the pen’s first button a right mouse button, and the pen’s second button as the middle mouse wheel button- which allows you to use the pen’s second button for auto-scrolling. Note that you’ll need to tap the pen twice on the tablet in order to perform a double-click.

The tablet also gives you 6 express buttons that you can are easily configurable to perform any hotkey combination like Ctrl, Alt, Shift, plus any letter, number, PF key, etc.

A good configuration option for those 6 express buttons are to save with Ctrl+S, to close an application with Alt+F4, and Home (no hotkey needed, predefined) or other functions.



Experience In Use

Most artists who use a pen tablet for awhile will tell you it’s impossible to go back to a mouse after using pen-based control. I am something of an oddity among the photographers and graphic designers I know in that I "like" pen tablets but I’ve never really "needed" pen tablets. That is, I never needed a pen tablet until I started using the G640S

I’m not sure what it is about using the G640S with my studio desktop that makes it like a match made in heaven, but I honestly have a hard time even entertaining the idea of not using this tablet on a daily basis. The setup on my Windows 10-based desktop was a breeze. Photoshop CS6 instantly responds to the pen, mouse, and ExpressKey inputs as if they’ve always been there. The 259 x 160mm footprint is perfect for my desk and the battery-free wireless pen mean that I don’t have to worry about cords and I don’t have to worry about charging/replacing batteries.this tablet have the 6x3.75 drawing surface, which I find to be an adequate size for me to accomplish all of my design-work and illustrations. It also is a convenient size to fit into my bag .

I spend about 10 hours a day working in Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash, and other design related programs including 3D Studio Max. I’ve been using a XP-Pen G640S tablet for about four months now, and I love it. It would be impossible for me to create the designs and illustrations that I do without my XP-Pen G640S . As an artist and designer, I used traditional mediums for years, and then spent another couple of years trying to figure out how to use a mouse in a way that would permit me to create quality images and designs on the computer quickly and in a way that resembled traditional methods.



Design for OSU

The biggest selling point of tablets for osu! is this absolute tracking. Every other parameter such as pressure levels, tilt sensitivity, barrel rotation, etc. will have no effect on your osu! gameplay. These features are for digital art, where the tablet can sense things such as the pressure you’re applying to make a darker pencil mark, for example. The only specification which may affect your osu! gameplay is LPI (lines per inch).

This is essentially the "resolution" of the tablet surface, or how little you have to move for the tablet to detect it. If a tablet has 100 LPI, then you have to move at least 1/100th of an inch for it to register movement. However, even the lowest LPI should be far higher than any monitor that you’re likely to play on, so higher numbers have a mostly unnoticeable effect on gameplay.

In short, tablets are an optional device to let you play the game in a different way. They were originally intended for digital art, but happen to work very well when playing osu!. Most specifications will make no difference in osu!.
For osu!, you’ll probably be looking at getting one of the "small" sized tablets because it’s a common strategy to reduce play area so that you don’t have to move your arm when you play. However, it’s personal preference as to whether or not you want a larger tablet area, and it’s especially worth considering the "large" size if you are also into digital art; drawing is much more comfortable on a larger tablet.



I’m no master of the game Osu! since I only sit at around rank 100 000, only between the 5 digit and 6 digit ranks. However, I do think that I understand what is most important when it comes to shopping for an Osu! tablet after having tried Osu! on a bunch of these tablets

For context, I play Osu! with either mouse + keyboard or tablet + keyboard, depending on my mood. I map my active area to around 2.7×1.5 inches and use the hover “style” rather than dragging.
From what I’ve experienced, I feel that accuracy, cursor delay, active area configurability, and hover distance are the most important aspects of an Osu! tablet.
XP-Pen Star G640S OSU Tablet :
Accuracy: Really good.
Pen Type: Plastic stick pen. Battery-free pen (no-battery/no-recharge).
Hover Distance: ~10-11mm

Without tablet drivers installed
Cursor Delay: Good. No delay.
Active Area Configurability: Unavailable without drivers.

With tablet drivers installed
Cursor Delay: Good. No noticeable cursor delay unlike XP-Pen and XP-Pen.
Active Area Configurability: Available in drivers.

So far, this is the only Osu! tablet that I’ve run into which doesn’t have noticeable built-in cursor delay in the drivers. This is my recommendation for anyone who wants to get an Osu! tablet which they can draw on as well. It’s the exact same size as the XP-Pen Star G640S, except it’s good for both drawing and Osu! gameplay because it doesn’t have any noticeable built-in cursor delay whether you install the drivers or not.

The biggest con is the relatively small hover distance, so it might not be the best choice for you if you tend to hover too high a lot. I had no problems with the hover distance though, but that’s just me.

The reason why I recommend the XP-Pen Star G430S at the top of this post is because it uses the exact same drivers as the G640, therefore there should be no noticeable built-in cursor delay on the G430S either. However, the G430S is only recommended if you just intend to play Osu! on it because it’s slightly too small for comfortable drawing.



So should I buy the XP-Pen G640S Pen Tablet?

Yea, I could definitely recommend the XP-Pen G640S Signature Pad as a high quality entry level tablet. You may find it perfect as a mouse replacement, but the tiny active area leaves a lot to be desired. The strokes made by the XP-Pen G640S are very smooth, and the pressure levels allow for smooth gradient transitions from light to dark. But if you are well in the budget for it, I would also recommend the XP-Pen DECO 02 tablet over the G640S just for it’s bigger active drawing area.

The new Star G640S 2018 are a good entry-level graphics tablets for those willing to get into digital art. The small model with no Bluetooth is particularly good if you want to have an affordable XP-Pen tablet, its price is a bit close in price to the alternatives (although it’s smaller in size).

While the Star G640S are entry-level tablets, I dare say professionals could use them, as long as they don’t need some of the features exclusive to the higher-end Wacom Intuos pro, like the large size, tilt sensitivity.

Hello friends, followers and watchers! This is not artwork, I know, but my latest purchase made me will to change the usual content I drop here, and indeed do a proper review of the thing. I was thinking about writing reviews on art supplies for some time, but heck, never went down into writing one. I mean, not until now, anyway! So, to cut it to the bone and the core of the matter – XP-Pen Artist 12HD Graphics Tablet Monitor. Is it worth it? Is it better or worse than Wacom Cintiq Pen display ? And if so, to what degree?

Feeling of Chinese Luxury : My biggest fear I had when I decided to give this XP-Pen Pen display a try was the quality of the components. It’s not that all Chinese products are automatically crappy, but when you offer a product that is significantly cheaper than its main competitor (that is also a dominant force in the market in question) and promise same’ish features, you kind of start to expect them to cut some corners. And the quality of the materials is one of the easiest places to spare some expenses…

That fear was pretty much banished when I opened the package. fashion white box looked professional from the start, but after opening it, I was utterly delighted. Everything packed perfectly, all the components are there and they were as high quality as you could hope for. tablet itself is small and not heavy, but it feels just /right/ - plastics don’t feel cheap at all, are smooth and polished. The entire tablet doesn’t creak or give way to pressure, giving a feel of stolid solidity. Every other component is a delight too. Pen is light as a feather and comes in a quite luxurious case with all extra bits (Like spare nibs and a metal ring holder for nibs replacement). One thick, 3-in-1 cable is quite a pleasant thing and will surely save some cable clutter while connecting this pen display.



XP-Pen Artist 12HD IPS graphics tablet monitor has 11.6 inch full HD screen intuitive display, 1920 x 1080 high resolution, fashion designed ultra-thin body, HDMI and USB, adjustable holder, customizable up to 6 express keys, a touch bar, 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, weigh 1.2kg.With 6 customizable express keys and 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity, you can perform each stroke with accuracy while preserving intensity and increasing work efficiency.

For $229, the XP-Pen Artist 12HD tablet is a pretty good tablet for artists who are looking for a cheaper and portable tablet monitor.you can check this product on XP-Pen official site https://www.xp-pen.com/goods/show/id/380.html .

What makes XP-Pen devices special is that its cheaper than Wacom without sacrificing on portability and features.The size of the XP-Pen Artist 12HD is actually pretty great! It’s not too large and weighs around 1.5Kgs, making it possible for you to carry around the tablet wherever you go.

In fact, this is a list of everything that you get inside the box:

XP-Pen Artist 12HD Tablet Monitor , 3-in-1 Cable(HDMI, Power, and USB Cables Included),Pen Holder (New Digital Pen P06, 8 Pen Nibs, Removal Tool Included),Power Adapter,Quick Start Guide(Mac and Windows),Microfiber Cleaning Cloth,Artist Glove .

The key dimensions of the tablet are as follows:

Technical Specifications
Screen size:- 11.6-inch.
Screen resolution:- 1920 X 1080
Screen contrast ratio:- 700:1
Panel type:- IPS
Aspect ratio:-16:9
Screen viewing angles:- 178°
Pressure Sensitivity:- 8192 levels
Has a passive pen doesn’t require charging.
Has 6 customizable hot keys and 1 touch bar you could configure to your heart contents
Upgrade from the Artist10S.
Comes with a 3 in 1 cable.
Can be used with both right-handed & left-handed people.
Screen Color Gamut:- 72% NTSC color
Colors:- 16.7 M
Resolution: 5080 LPI
Report Rate: 266 RPS
Product Dimension:- 364.11×218.87×11.5 mm
Active Area:- 256×144 mm
Windows compatibility:- Compatible with Windows 7, Windows 8 & Windows 10.
Mac compatibility:- Compatible with Mac OS / Mac OS X 10.8 and above.


The Tablet

The tablet is great for painting because it supports 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity. So, it’ll be easier to draw on the screen with utmost precision. Further, the touch bar is upgraded from 8 levels to 24 levels and there are 14 user-defined shortcuts / express keys to make your experience smooth and easy.The screen resolution of 1920 X 1080 is high enough for drawing.

What makes the XP-Pen Artist 12HD tablet so great is that its the complete package. So, you don’t have to hunt for a compatible pen or a stylus to complete your portable graphics tablet setup. Everything is covered by the company, which includes a two-level adjustable stand and a digital pen with 8 additional nibs.

I have had the opportunity to try several products of XP-Pen and this presents one of his best designs both aesthetic and functional, The body is almost completely plastic, mixing several finishes and shades with a striking result on the verge of being too much, but still a rather sober result. if you´re planning on painting outside home much or travelling a lot with the tablet.



The Glass Screen

The quality of the screen is definitely an improvement over other XP-Pen products, anti-glare, full HD, better viewing angles etc. But the problem comes when comparing it with the competition. Even more, after the last update of Wacom on the whole line of its professional products, raising the level of the screens to 4k and 99% RGB (which comes with a big price of course).

Colors may not be Artist 12HD’s strongest point, especially with the 72% color gamut, which is around, this is considered normal color gamut, and unless you work in an environment where colors are super important, you won’t have to worry much about this.
However it is possible to create stunning concept art even on a smaller screen. The exquisite frosting surface treatment technology brings me an unprecedented writing experience. just like the original feeling of paper writing.

When you make a mark on the screen it loads fast. The response time is incredible for this model and it’s much better than other XP-Pen devices.You can draw from any angle and still keep a strong view of the screen. There’s no major glare but there is a thin coating that makes the surface super smooth. Opinions vary on screen textures but I think this smooth screen works great. XP-Pen ships this unit with an optional screen protector .

The drawing experience is surprisingly accurate even with the smaller screen. You’ll find no jitters in the work and the outer corners are still just as sensitive as the center LCD area. Every mark you make will instantly translate onto the screen with no lag time.



The 3-by-1 cable

This runs on DC power so it does need to be positioned near an outlet. But if it’s on your computer desk then it can likely plug into the same outlet or power strip. The tablet is connected via an Hdmi, included in the 3x1 cable along with a usb and power supply. This last one has in itself a very curious fact, and is that the connector to the current is interchangeable according to the country where you live.

The sides and back are quite clean, we only have on the left side the 3-by-1 cable entry, the power button .The 3 x 1 cable keeps the work area fairly clean and it looks durable.

Since Artist 12 Graphics Drawing Tablet Monitor is compatible with HDMI there won’t be much of issues connecting it to any modern computer, including any computer with a display port that can be converted to HDMI, like USB-C, Displayport & mini Displayport. The only time this may be an issue is in case you only have VGA port in your computer. I honestly don’t know if workaround solutions would work if you’re in such situation.

Bear in mind that XP-Pen Artist 12HD doesn’t come with a stand. I don’t think that’s a deal breaker for many artists, you can buy XP-Pen’s stand, buy a 3rd party stand, or make your own.



The Stylus

The P06 stylus also comes with a new design. Much more showy than its predecessor, although it does not contribute anything new,A detail that if I found a little annoying in the process of adaptation, is that the buttons are so deep inside the body that sometimes it is difficult to find them, Especially at night. Having said that, it works perfectly .

Since the pen is battery-free you’ll never need to charge it. But if you’ve never used a battery free pen before then it can take some adjusting. One other nice feature is the pen button which replicates a right click on your mouse. But the button is sturdy so you won’t find yourself pushing it by accident. The P06 battery-free stylus featuring digital eraser.



The driver

Speaking of the drivers, incredible improvement of the latest products I tried. Not at all 100% of course, there are still many things to polish, but they rarely fail and the configuration is quite simple.You can download the driver from XP-Pen official site or contact their customer service.

XP-Pen drivers installed within a minute, without any issue and the tablet connected after the installation not only worked perfectly from the start, but also had a surprisingly good Hotkeys already assigned in Photoshop – my main painting software. All in all, it wasn’t any hassle to connect the tablet to my PC – both from the hardware perspective thanks to the 3-in-1 cable and from the software perspective, as the drivers worked flawlessly.



Customizable Press Keys and the touch bar

Since this is a smaller unit you’ll only get six express keys. But this sacrifice might be worthwhile if you need a portable tablet.

Having 6 hot keys , as well as a touch bar for zooming in & out the canvas (you can customize it to do other things if you like). this allow me to increase my work efficiency. Tablet reacts to tapping well and the customizable hotkeys are really nice – tactile, responsive and easily reprogrammed to serve your purposes.

One of the aspects that most motivated me when I saw the photos of this tablet for the first time, was the touch bar. While I’m working, I use quite a lot the touch ring on my INTUOS to change the size of the brushes without stopping and I just love it because makes me go really fast. I tried it and I was very disappointed.



Good Quality, Excellent Price
I wasn’t expecting the same quality of input and features as Wacom Cintiq offers. Simply because I still believe that Wacom Cintiq is significantly more expensive due to the final quality… And mostly because I have constant opportunity to check Cintiq at my workplace. It’s smooth, it’s responsive, it’s polished. But Artist is not really far behind! Pressure control is pretty much the same as Wacom tablets, it feels very smooth and gives proper feedback.

To be honest, I don’t feel any drastic downsides to XP-Pen tablet when comparing it to Cintiq. Screen is bright and clear, pen works flawlessly, feedback is great and constant… Where are the flaws in this tablet, considering how much cheaper it is?



Worthy purchase?
I think it is. I don’t bash Wacom guys… I use their products for years and still work on Intuos Pro at work. And there are pretty much no issues with it. It’s top quality stuff. But I also believe that their brand power is getting a little out of hand, and they charge a shit-ton of cash just because they can as a company that is placed and praised as an absolute sovereign of this market. And it surely was – About 10 years ago I had a Wacom Graphire tablet and a Pentagram XXL. I literally threw the Pentagram into the trash, where it belonged – Wacom had no competition in the past and so it builds an image of The Only Company for you, when you need a graphic tablet.
But the times changed, and more and more companies rise to test the mettle of the old king. If you want a screen graphic tablet with really satisfactory performance but don’t want to splurge… XP-Pen Artist12 is a product I can fully recommend. For more than half the price-tag you get a device that is so similar, you hardly will feel a difference in most scenarios.



Conclusion

For the price and what it delivers, it is a very good option to start with this type of interactive Monitor Display Tablet XP-Pen Artist 12HD .
If you hold the tablet or work in your lap this won’t be an issue. And the stand it fantastic so there’s no reason not to use it! This is one of the best tablets you can get for this size .

If you want a portable display tablet then the Artist 12HD is your best choice. It’s lightweight, sturdy, and built to the best specifications you can get from XP-Pen’s display tablet lineup.

As you can see, this is practically everything that you need to start digital painting on the go. The pen is great and straight lines and curves are very easy to draw on the screen. The pressure sensitivity works well and the overall experience is good. You can definitely work on the go with this tablet. The stand is sturdy and holds the tablet at two different angles, adapting to your needs.