Are you torn between the three major drawing tablet brands: XP-Pen, Huion, and Wacom?
This article is here to compare the three brands, show their strengths and their weaknesses, and help you make a decision on which to pick.
I will be using midrange models from all three brands, as similar in price as possible, to make this comparison.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. At no cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through a link on this page and make a purchase.
XP-PEN: The Artist 22 (2nd Generation)
From XP-PEN we have the Artist 22. It is one of their better midrange models, and it’s a good example of what XP-PEN has to offer in terms of quality.
The Artist 22 has a 21.5-inch display, delivering a beautiful 1080p image for the artist to see their work. It has an incredibly fast response time with the pen of 8ms, and is compatible with both MacOS and Windows.
It also supports a variety of software, like Photoshop, Illustrator, Blender, CDR, Gimp, and more. With the USB-C connector, you can hook it up to any computer and get your work done.
XP-PEN has a strong contender out of the gate with the Artist 22. It rings in at about $470 without the 1-year extended warranty and $570 with it on their official store.
The large display size, the clearness of the picture, and the mid-range price, even if on the higher end, are all big wins for XP-PEN.
But the other models in this article are a bit cheaper, and that difference may matter for the entry-level artist or hobbyist who’s on a tight budget.
Check out the Artist 22 on the official store of XP-Pen.
Huion: Kamvas 16 2021
Next up is Huion’s Kamvas 16 2021. It boasts a 15.6-inch display that comes in full HD, of course.
The Kamvas 16 2021 is packaged with a variety of useful accessories, like pen nibs, a glove, a cleaning cloth, and more. These are all very industry-standard for these kinds of devices.
The stand is optional, and purchasing it increases the base price from $399 to $420 on their official store. The warranties are fairly expensive on the Kamvas 16 2021, with a half-year warranty costing $80 and a full year coming in at $150.
While having the option of a half-year might be enticing to some customers, the full year is far more expensive than XP-PEN’s warranty.
Similar to the other models on this list, the Kamvas 16 2021 has many of the other common, standard features at this price point in this industry: like 120% sRGB Gamut, 16.7 million color display, and a 178-degree viewing angle.
One unique aspect of the Kamvas 16 2021 is that it has two modes–pen display and pen tablet.
Pen tablets are useful for not only saving power but also letting the user use a bigger computer screen display that might be better for the kind of work that they want to do at that moment.
Check out the Kamvas 16 on Huions official store.
Wacom: Wacom One
It has the smallest screen of all of the three but still costs almost as much as the other two. It comes with many of the standard accessories that the other two do, like replacement pen nibs and a quick start guide for the device.
It’s lighter, smaller, and technically the cheapest, but there are also a few downsides when it comes to technical specifications about the Wacom One.
It has a far slower response time compared to the other models at 26 ms, and it has half of the pressure levels in its pen (4082 compared to 8192).
While it still delivers in full HD, one could argue that it may be better to buy the Kamvas for the larger display and better response time, or the 21.5-inch display from the XP-PEN Artist 22.
Some buyers, however, may appreciate the smallest, cheapest, lightest version of these drawing tablets possible, and if that’s what someone wants, the Wacom One has that locked down.
Check out the Wacom One on Amazon.
Conclusions
Whether it’s console wars and comparing Xboxes and Playstations or something as simple as preferring Lenovo over HP for laptops, it is easy to be torn between two or more brands that you like.
When comparing the three brands, it’s obvious that they have more similarities than differences. Their specifications tend to be almost identical in some cases.
The trick is always looking for the few unique aspects of each brand that help differentiate them from one another.
In this case of these three midrange models, XP-PEN has the largest screen but is also the most expensive.
Huion has a unique feature that the other two don’t have with the mode switching, but has a more expensive warranty.
Wacom is the smallest and the cheapest, but the margins are so slim that the technical gaps might not be a good deal for some people.
With everything considered, XP-PEN is the best deal out of the three. It doesn’t sacrifice any power, and while it’s the most expensive, for how much extra screen space you get is a great deal.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. At no cost to you, I may receive a commission if you buy through a link on this page. Read more here.
