Wacom are the industry leader in graphics tablets, and with good reason. All of their products are extremely high-quality, and the Intuos Pro line is no exception.
This tablet came with the actual tablet itself and USB power cord, the pen, a pen holder with spare nibs stored inside, and a set of colored rings that screw into the pen (so you can customize the pen). I am going to review the major components of this individually, followed by my overall thoughts at the end.
THE TABLET
The tablet is really top-notch. It feels great, has a nice heft (not heavy, just solid), and looks professional. It's mostly made out of metal. It's extremely high-quality, and without a lot of the kinks that cheaper tablets or even older Wacoms have. I have the Medium, and it has a huge drawing area.
Unfortunately, the drawing surface has a tendency to scratch really easily. It comes with a medium texture sheet, which I later replaced with a smooth one, and the standard plastic pen nibs easily scratch both. I don't carry it around, but I imagine if I stored it in a backpack or briefcase that it would also scratch up pretty fast. You can buy replacement texture sheets online, and this tablet comes with a card with three tiny samples of each texture--smooth, medium, and rough--but these samples are so small it's basically impossible to get a feel for what drawing on the different textures is like.
The tablet has a set of hotkeys on the side, which you can flip to be on the left or the right side of the drawing area in the driver software. I really like that feature, as I'm a lefty and keep my keyboard to the right of the tablet already. You can reprogram each of the hotkeys, but it does get a little complicated--the driver software isn't too intuitive, but it seems like it can give you a lot of control once you figure it out. I only changed the Command-Z hotkey to a Command-Option-Z hotkey for Photoshop, and that wasn't too difficult.
The other physical feature is a touch ring, which is, well, kind of dumb. It's not very responsive, and only seems to do what it's supposed to some of the time. In Photoshop it's set up to zoom in and out by default, and I almost never use it because I can just pinch on my Macbook trackpad and get a reliable result instead of a jumpy, terrible one. You can also cycle through it to use different settings, like the canvas rotate in Photoshop, but it's still pretty jumpy and awkward. Maybe I am doing something wrong, but now I pretty much never use it and sometimes find myself hitting it by accident and getting frustrated.
You can use the tablet either tethered to your computer or wirelessly. I have never used it wirelessly outside of testing it out when I first bought it. There's just a little bit of a lag that I found distracting, and since I use it with a laptop I have to set them both on the table anyways. Wireless might be useful if you have a different setup with something like a PC connected to a television, but for me it wasn't worth the lag. Latency is much better when plugged in, and you don't have to worry about battery life.
Installing the tablet on my Macbook was simple, although it does require you to sign up for a Wacom account to use the driver software. After installation, it's pretty easy to jump right in to using the tablet. As I mentioned before, the driver software is not very intuitive, and fiddling with the settings isn't super easy aside from a few simple ones like pressure sensitivity.
Finally, the tablet also functions as a touch input device for your computer--essentially a big trackpad. You can turn this function on or off in the software, which is nice if you're like me and you brace your hand on the drawing surface. It's not super great as a giant trackpad, and I prefer to just use my Macbook's which is more reliable.
THE PEN
Some people may not know this, but Wacom has a patent on powerless pen technology. Technically, the surface of the tablet acts as a magnet that reacts to a coil within the pen itself. It's complicated stuff, but basically you never have to worry about charging the pen like you do with ones from other companies (including the Apple Pencil and the Microsoft Surface Pen). To me this is the greatest benefit to getting a Wacom tablet over the cheaper alternatives--it's just one less thing to worry about, and it allows Wacom more freedom in the design of the pen itself.
As a result, the stylus is lighter in weight and can taper comfortably. It's made of a durable-feeling plastic and the lower half of the pen has a rubberized coating for your hand. There are two mappable buttons on the side along with the pen nib and eraser, both of which react to the tablet.
It works wonderfully. Responses are quick and accurate. It's easy to click on even the smallest of buttons in Photoshop, much more so than the average stylus on a phone or tablet. The pressure sensitivity is great, and it's able to detect extremely minute shifts in pressure and tilt. Pressure sensitivity is customizable in the included software, and it can take a little while to find your sweet spot, but the pen is always super responsive.
Lastly, there are a few different types of pen nibs you can purchase to really customize your drawing experience. It comes with a plastic nib already in it, but there are more hidden in the pen stand. The plastic ones are nice if a bit scratchy, and feel a bit like drawing with a sharp HB pencil. They do wear down pretty quickly, especially if you tend to hold the pen in a certain angle most of the time. I prefer the felt nibs, which are smoother but wear out even faster. Mine came with a couple nibs of both types, so it's easy to experiment. There's also a mythical third "flex nib" out there somewhere, but I could never find conclusively that it works with this pen. And unfortunately, nibs are specific to certain product lines.
THE STAND
The pen holder is a small dome with a thick metal base that unscrews to reveal storage for spare pen nibs. It's nice and heavy, which is great if it lives on your desk, not so great if you want to travel around with it. The stand has both a hole for you to insert the pen upright and a divot for you to rest the pen horizontally across it.
There's a small rubber ring on the bottom that keeps it from slipping around your desk, which is a nice touch. In my opinion, it's a much better design than some of the older pen stands I've seen others use from Wacom.
The only issue I have with the stand is that it's very hard to open and close the bottom. You have to rotate it just right, but there's not really a good place to grip it so it can be a bit challenging. I usually take the whole stand between my palms and rotate my whole hands in opposite directions, which works consistently for opening it but is a little less reliable for closing it. To close it you have to line it up the right way, which is a pain.
OVERALL THOUGHTS AND CONCLUSIONS
This is a great product, and I believe it's truly the best graphics tablet you can buy today (not counting display tablets like the Cintiq). Wacom really knows their stuff, which is why they're such a trusted brand and have been for decades. It's a great-quality piece of tech with very little downside in terms of quality, and I think it easily outperforms the alternatives in terms of design and features. It's just a joy to use.
But now we come to the biggest issue I have with this tablet, and with Wacom products as a whole: price.
This thing is just way too expensive.
At $350, it's more than half the price of an iPad Pro and roughly half the price of a new Microsoft Surface Pro, both of which are great products for creating art but which also do way, way more. They not only have actual displays on them, eliminating the need to learn to draw without looking at your hand, but they also function as whole computers that do more than just run artist programs.
But this is a product mostly for professional use, so you may not be looking for an iPad or touchscreen computer. That said, there are so many cheap alternatives that may not meet Wacom's standard of quality but that will get the job done now. Huion is everywhere right now, and while I haven't gotten to test any of their tablets (though I'd love to) the consensus seems to be that they're getting better all the time. Wacom will have some stiff competition in the artist space in the next few years.
On top of that, pen nibs, texture sheets, and carrying cases are all a good deal more than they should cost. The pen nibs are probably the most egregious crime, because they seem to wear out with roughly 10-15 hours of drawing time. You'd need a million of them if you're a drawing addict. A worn-down nib will scratch the texture sheet of the tablet, particularly the smooth sheet. I bought the smooth texture sheet thinking it would wear down the nibs more slowly, but instead it just means the surface of the sheet will wear out more quickly.
Wacom makes great stuff, but their price models kill me. The Intuos Pro line is expensive, but not outrageous; something like a Cintiq is insane when compared to the alternatives. Wacom gets away with it because their stuff is admittedly really good and because they have the patent on the most advanced version of this technology. There's just a massive barrier to entrance and constant recurring costs. I'd love a Cintiq, but I could never justify the price to myself when I could get a whole computer for the same amount. As a professional I can see the utility, but as a hobbyist it doesn't make much sense.
All that said, I still would really recommend this product. It's the best of the best, and a joy to use. I'm extremely happy with my purchase overall. If you're serious about your art or design work, this is the graphics tablet to get.
| Standing screen display size | 132 |
|---|---|
| Number of USB 2.0 Ports | 1 |
| Average Battery Life (in hours) | 1 seconds |
