Best Drawing Tablet in 2022

Wacom continuously sets the industry standard for the best graphic tablets. Whether you are a beginner, or an experienced graphics designer proficient with drawing tools or even most drawing tablets, you won’t make a mistake with Wacom tablets.

Wacom Intuos Pro comes in three sizes and takes all the perks of the Wacom Intuos and kicks them up a notch. The Pro version has similar hardware to Wacom Intuos but offers 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is twice as much as the regular version, providing smoother transitions between opacity levels. 

That kind of sensitivity also helps with realistic handwriting, and you can easily see the fine-tuned precision the best Wacom tablet brings to the table.

Another upgrade from the Wacom Intuos is the Touch Ring. This Pro feature lets you smoothly toggle between four options you choose to set: scrolling, rotating the canvas, zooming in and out, changing brush size, or forming an active layer. 

Next to the Touch Ring, you can find customizable buttons as well. Medium and large models have eight, while the small tablet has six buttons that you can use as additional shortcuts. 

However, you’re not tied to the radial menu for manipulating your canvas: The Intuos Pro computer drawing pad’s multitouch feature can help easily position your drawing. A switch on the tablet side enables or disables this option, depending on your preference.

You can connect the Wacom Intuos Pro to your computer with a USB-C cable or via Bluetooth. While the cable ensures a high-speed connection, no input lag stops you from using Bluetooth, and no wires will get in your way.

Wacom Pro Pen 2 is a designated stylus for this digital drawing pad. It’s an EMR (electromagnetic resonance) stylus that doesn’t require charging. It has a rubber grip and sits comfortably in your hand. There are two switches on its side to which you can assign certain functions, too. 

The pen holder allows you to easily remove and change the pen nib. The holder doubles as storage for extra nibs, too. The staple Wacom pen eraser is another fun feature, while the pen and tablet support tilt detection and work flawlessly for wireless and USB connections.

The screen size of the Wacom Intuos Pro will easily accommodate any user. The largest version is recommended as the best drawing tablet for artists, but if you’re more of a recreational user, the smaller versions might work too:

• Small – 6.3” x 3.9”
• Medium – 8.7” x 5.8”
• Large – 12.1” x 8.4”

The work area size corresponds to paper formats – the A6, A5, and A4. The Wacom Intuos Pro also has a “Paper” capacity for digitizing work you drew on paper, which is excellent as an in-between step to get used to drawing with a screenless tablet. The supported resolution of all Wacom Intuos Pro models is 5080 LPI.

Without a doubt, the Wacom Intuos Pro is the best drawing tablet for PC users. While on the pricier side, it’s a one-time investment for a device you probably won’t have to replace in a very long time – the thousands of graphics designers and other professional artists who use it say as much.

Last-gen tablets for drawing, like the Apple iPad Pro, are like heaven for artists creating digital art. With the iPad Pro, you get all the functionality of the best tablet computer on the market and the apps directly developed for iOS for the best drawing experience.

However, Apple iPad Pro requires optional Apple Pencil to turn this tablet into the best tablet for drawing. While Apple Pencil doesn’t disclose its pressure sensitivity, it provides incredible results. 

It’s best to use the second generation of the Apple Pencil since it has changed compared to the previous model. Third-party pens have input lag compared to the Apple Pencil, so we wouldn’t recommend using those. Unlike EMR pens, the Apple Pencil does need charging, but you can easily do it as it sticks to the iPad and charges wirelessly. 

The pen and screen do not have the same traction as pen and paper. If this is something you care about,  we recommend using your drawing tablet with screen protection on, one that has a matte surface to imitate the texture of the paper.

The most significant advantage of the iPad as a drawing tablet is its optimized mobile platform for producing high-quality imagery. The Liquid Retina display looks fantastic, and as expected from Apple, everything runs without a hitch on both display sizes (11” and 12.9”).

A whole range of apps from the Adobe Creative Cloud is available for iOS, and Adobe Fresco works like a charm to deliver the realistic painting experience it promises. Of course, the ultimate drawing app for the iPad is Apple’s own Procreate. 

The best drawing tablet with a screen blends technology and traditional painting methods using live brushes. They act like real watercolors or oils on canvas, and painting feels like something from a science-fiction film. Many other apps are available, like Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Sketchbook, Inspire, etc.

We wholeheartedly recommend Apple iPad Pro and an Apple Pencil to anyone looking for mobility and a highly optimized experience. It allows drawing directly on the screen and offers a great range of dedicated apps. Other good drawing tablets come nowhere near the iPad’s breadth of functionality, and its price reflects that, too.

XP-Pen’s Artist 15.6 Pro is an exciting product for those on a budget. This drawing table is meant for artists, hobbyists, and beginners who need a top-performing yet cheap drawing tablet with a screen.

The working area of 13.55” x 7.62” is on the large side compared to most standard devices. The full HD screen has a wide visual angle of 178 degrees and a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The anti-glare matte drawing surface offers excellent traction reminiscent of paper.

Like the Wacom Intuos Pro, XP-Pen’s Artist 15.6 Pro has a multifunctional radial menu button with eight customizable keys next to the working area. The power button is on the side of the tablet, right next to the brightness-adjusting keys. This affordable tablet is excellent for those looking for the best screen drawing tablet with a stylus.

XP-Pen’s Artist 15.6 Pro has excellent pressure sensitivity and can detect 8,192 different levels of pressure sensitivity. The battery-free stylus accommodates 60 degrees of tilt and a resolution of 5080 LPI. You’ll also get a pen case with spare nibs, and you can use the cap as a pen holder.

Such a trove of included accessories isn’t the standard for drawing tablets with screens, but XP-Pen stepped up its game. The three-in-one USB cable connects the tablet to your computer and comes with power converters for different outlet types for traveling artists. 

The device is quite portable and thin (from 11mm to 12.6mm), so you can easily take it on the road. Another thing to appreciate is that the tablet includes a stand and a drawing glove. Once you buy it, you’re fully set to start drawing.

For prospective artists looking for the best cheap drawing tablet with a screen, this is a more affordable tablet than the iPad Pro.

If you think a laptop-tablet hybrid sounds ideal, the Microsoft Surface Book 3 is bound to impress you. Microsoft has packed some pretty powerful hardware into this device, and even though it’s far from the best affordable drawing tablet on the market, the Surface Book 3 has plenty to offer for its price tag.

The Surface Book 3 comes in two sizes, with a 13.5” or 15” display, providing a work area for drawing on par with any larger dedicated drawing tablet model. The top-performance models have i7 10th-gen Intel processors, up to 2 TB of SSD storage, 32 GB of RAM, and NVIDIA’s GTX 1650 Ti series graphics. 

These are premium components for gaming laptops, but if you need something more affordable, less pricey versions of Surface Book 3 are available too. Still, don’t expect this device to act as a cheap drawing tablet, as this is a multifunctional device that is accordingly priced. 

To use it for artistry, you need the Surface Slim Pen, purchased separately. The tablet’s pressure sensitivity is 4,096, which works fine, although it might not impress all digital artists. 

The rubberized pen tip creates friction when pulled across the display’s glossy surface for better control, and the button on the pen’s other end can be used as an eraser. Using the Surface Book 3 as a drawing tablet with a pen feels natural, as the pen tip is close enough to the screen without a thick protective glass surface in between.

With a full-fledged computer as your drawing platform, you have an excellent selection of software at your disposal. 

Still, the sensitivity being what it is, drawing straight lines in programs like Adobe Photoshop can turn out shaky, while faster strokes are much smoother. This doesn’t occur in all drawing programs - Adobe Fresco, for example,  gives seamless results.

As an all-in-one solution for working on a Windows platform, the Surface Book 3 is the best portable drawing tablet, especially if you don’t mind the high price point. It will handle image and video editing, gaming, drawing, and other tasks like any other powerful laptop.

For folks that want to test out if graphics tablets are for them, the Huion Inspiroy H640P offers excellent performance and won’t break anyone’s bank, making it the best drawing tablet for beginners. 

The sleek and light design is the first thing that pops out when you see Huion’s tablet. It weighs just 277 g, and it’s only 8 mm thick. You can see the 6.3” x 3.9” work area is marked out by the dots in the corners and has six programmable keys next to it. 

The tablet’s surface is textured enough to provide traction with the pen. It also has four rubberized feet, so it won’t slip from under your hands while you draw.

Most impressively, the Huion Inspiroy H640P has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity that other drawing tablets for beginners don’t have. It matches the best devices on the market, and the pen resolution is exceptional at 5,080 LPI, allowing for precise and detailed drawing. 

The Huion Inspiroy also detects the pen 10 mm above its surface – one of the best reading heights. The pen is an EMR model, so you won’t have to charge it. The two buttons on its side are the right and middle mouse buttons, and the ergonomic design includes a sturdy rubber grip. 

The pen performs admirably, making the Huion Inspiroy the best starter drawing tablet on the market. Spare drawing nibs are stored in the stylus holder, and there’s a small slot for easy pen nib removal on its bottom.

Huion’s drivers are available on the manufacturer’s page so that you can customize and calibrate your device. We especially liked that you can adjust the pressure curve to your taste. 

The tablet is easily connected to your computer or phone with a micro USB cable and requires no additional power source. On the downside, there are no multitouch or tilt functions, but this shouldn’t bother beginners.

All in all, the Huion Inspiroy H640P provides fantastic value as the best beginner drawing tablet. We would heartily recommend it to anyone who wants to try digital drawing; its high-level performance and compact design make it a perfect dedicated drawing tablet.