Category Archives: Intuos alternative

Intuos alternatives are lower-cost tablets similar to the Wacom Intuos or Wacom Bamboo line. They don’t have as full a feature set, but can be effective tools. The EMR drivers give them good pressure sensitivity, usually 2,048 levels. Companies include Huion, Ugee, Monoprice, XP-Pen, Artisul, and more.

ugee s640 review

Ugee S640 review: small but powerful graphics tablet

Ugee S640 graphics tablet review: small but packs a punch

ugee s640 review

Ugee S640 review

The Ugee S640 graphics tablet is by Hanvon Ugee. Ugee began in China 1998, as did Hanvon, and the two companies merged in 2017. The company also includes XPPen. Hanvon Ugee holds 91 patents.

Disclosure: Ugee sent me an S640 tablet to test and review.

The S640 is a wired graphics tablet with no screen. If you’re looking for something similar to the Wacom Intuos small, the Ugee S640 is one to consider. The features are close to being on par with the pricy Intuos.

The Ugee S640 lets you customize the pen to your own shortcuts. It has as many pressure levels as the most advanced tablets, which is 8192. The Ugee site has free downloadable drivers for Windows, Mac, and Android,  so you could use with either with a computer or a mobile device. Drivers for Linux, Debian, and more are also on the site.

Besides being able to fully customize the pen buttons, you can customize 10 buttons to shortcut commands. You can customize on a per-app basis.

ugees640driver

See the Ugee S640 on the Ugee site

See the Ugee S640 on Amazon

See more of our Ugee reviews

Type of tablet:

Graphics tablet (no screen)
-Must be connected via an included cord to computer or Android device
-Works with Windows 7/8/10, Mac (10.10 or higher), Linux, Android 6.0 and above
-Pen, not pen and touch (can’t use finger touch on it, only the stylus)

Type of digitzer: EMR
Pressure levels: 8,192
Customizable shortcut keys: 10
Highly customizable pen buttons
Tilt +-60 degrees
Tablet can be rotated using driver to 0, 90, 180, 270 degrees
Battery-free, lightweight stylus pen
Size : 215.3 x 162.53 x 12.06 mm
Active area 6.3″ x 4″

Pen weight: 11g

Resolution 5080 LPI

Report rate: up to 220 RPS
Accuracy ±0.4mm
Reading Height: up to 10 mm

What’s in the Box

Tablet
Pen
10 extra nibs
pen clipper
USB cable (L-shaped_)
USB to Micro USB adapter
USB to USB-C adapter
Quick guide
Warranty card

The Ugee shipped in a brown cardboard with cute line graphics. The items inside are sealed in plastic bags. It was packed carefully and everything needed is in there. You can download the latest drivers off the Ugee site; no disk is included.

The L-shaped connector is a nice feature as it makes it harder to stress the cord, and the tablet has a place you can attach a lanyard if you want to add a lock or some kind of accessory. The pen does not have a built-in opening to attach a lanyard.

Ugee S640 drawing tablet with pen

Ugee S640 drawing tablet with included pen

The tablet is rectangular and in a landscape format, not square like the small Wacom Intuos. The Ugee has a heft to it; it’s not flimsy or lightweight. The included mini-USB fit snugly. You connect the USB to your computer and the mini USB to the tablet.

The tablet has ten physical programmable buttons on top. They’re a generous size. They make an audible click. They’re not hard to press, but have a bit of firmness, which might stop you from pressing them by accident.

The surface is pretty smooth but has some matte finish. There’s a soft pen loop attached to the upper right of the device.

The active area is bounded by small rectangles.

It did pick up some fingerprints, so I suggest keeping hands off it or wearing a glove to keep the oils from your hands off it. I have no evidence that these oils cause any harm, but I think if they build it up it could cause slickness.

Anti-slip strips

The bottom has two long, narrow rubber strips to stop sliding. Most tablets have four rubber squares, so this is more generous with the amount of rubber. The strips go along the full length of the part that fits on the table; the footprint goes beyond that with the sides curving upward. The corners are rounded.

ugee review back of tablet

Back of the Ugee has two anti-slip rubber strips.

There’s no wireless option. The co. also has released a version of this, the S640W, that has a wireless option, as well as a similar, larger tablet, the S1060 and S1060W (the W is for Wireless).

Pen Loop

The fabric pen loop is sturdy and the pen fits well (in some tablets, the loop is too tight-fitting). It would be nice if the pen loop were not on the same side as the mini-USB port, because it makes it so you can’t lay the pen flat across the tablet when the tablet is connected. But you still can put it into the loop.

I’m guessing the pen loop is on top and not on the side because if it were on the side, the pen then be longer than the tablet, making it a little harder to carry around. It also would look a little weird on the bottom but that could be a better solution.

If you want a pen loop on the side, you can simply buy some portable pen loops that have sticky backs and adhere one to the back of the tablet. I use these pen loops when needed, though I’m going to use the built-in loop on the S640.

Portability

The S640 is easy to carry and would fit into a backpack or even a purse.

For lefties

It’s fine for left- and right-handed use, as you can map the tablet to the orientation you want.

Pen

The batteryless, cordless pen is made of plastic and is light at 11g.

ugee emr stylus for s640

The Ugee pen is batteryless and cordless.

The Ugee has a small, bright white indicator light that lights up when you connect it to the computer and when the pen is in contact with the surface.

You can customize the pen button as you wish, which is not the case with all affordable  tablets.

Art Programs

I did basic pressure tests on Mac on Photoshop, Illustrator, Inkscape, and Clip  Studio Paint. The Ugee pressure worked well on all of these. I was really impressed with how it got pressure on Inkscape. I did have some issues with Gimp on Mac, which is buggy anyway, so I don’t think it had to do with the tablet.

In Illustrator on Mac, at first I could not get the pressure option to show up in the options panel for the pens that get pressure. After trying a few things, I learned I had to download the Wacom drivers off the Wacom site, and voila, the pressure option showed up and it worked fine. In Illustrator for Windows, the pressure options work out of the box, as Windows may already have some built-in drivers that enable it.

Drawing on the Ugee

In Windows, I tested Illustrator, Krita, Adobe Sketchbook, Paint Tool Sai, Photoshop, and Inkscape, and had no issues, all worked great.

The drawing experience is smooth and solid, with no jitter. While we do recommend a larger tablet, such as medium size, for professional illustration and fine art, a small one is fine for small drawings, photo editing, graphics, OSU, and more. Or you may just want to replace your mouse and mouse pad with something that does a bit more. Customizing your buttons and pen can really speed up your workflow, and a pen offers easier control than a mouse when you’re doing things like lassoing.

https://youtu.be/gxeF97pnuOg

If you want a larger, similar tablet, Ugee also offer the S1060 model.

Driver

The driver installed really easily on Windows and Mac, to my relief. In the olden days I was often struggling with installation, but this was a breeze. I was careful to delete old tablet drivers I had installed before installing this one, and of course I had to allow the driver in the Mac System preferences Security and Privacy/Accessibility panel.

The driver lets you customize the pen and the ten Express Keys, both to presets and your own customization. You can customize the pen buttons however you like. You can also add software programs to set the customizations to each program if you like. So, it’s pretty similar to the Intuos.

You also have control over tilt.

S640 vs. Wacom Intuos

-S640 pen is lighter
-no wireless option for S640
-art software is not included with the Ugee
-Ugee is landscape format

-has similar customization options to Wacom, including per-app
-more affordable

Pros:
-driver easy to install
-highly customizable
-good build quality

Cons:
-no wireless option with the S640, though you can get the S640W for that
-pen loop too close to charging port

The Verdict

In short, I’m really happy with the Ugee S640 in the small tablet category. The driver installs smoothly, there’s tons of customization options, the table works with a wide variety of art programs (there are more listed on the Ugee page), it’s got a solid build, and it’s portable. You can use it for art, design, photo editing, OSU, and more. If you’re looking for a small graphics tablet that’s affordable, versatile, and has a smooth-installing driver, you should consider this one.

See the Ugee S640 on Amazon

See the Ugee S640 on the Ugee site

end of Ugee S640 review

turcomreview

Turcom TS-6610 graphics tablet review

Turcom TS-6610 tablet review, with art-program testing

turcomreview
Turcom TS-6610

Turcom makes audio equipment, security cameras, LED lights, and drawing tablets, including one pen-display tablet (as of 7/16).

Summary: The tablet is built well, and the pressure curve is great, but the driver can be difficult.

I tested it with various art programs on both Mac and Windows, and reported the results below.

Type of tablet
Graphics tablet (no screen), attaches to computer
What’s in the Box

Tablet
USB cord
Pen
Nib holder
5 nibs (one in pen and 4 extra; nibs are all the same)
AAA battery (Pardeer brand) for pen
disk with driver
Quickstart guide

Features

2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity
Size: 12.5 inches x 16 inches x 2 inches
Weight: 2.15 pounds
Active area: 10 inches by 6.25 inches
Report rate (RPS) 220
Plastic build
8 Hot Keys
16 customizable “functional cells,” on-screen softkeys
Pen included, takes AAA battery (included)
Resolution: 4000 LPI (Lines per Inch)
Driver available from included disk or from Turcom site
Pen takes AAA battery (included); no eraser tip
Pen weight with battery: 26g (battery alone is 11g)

 

turcomts6610tablet

Turcom TS-6610 tablet box

Portability

It’s pretty easy to take with you at a little over 2 pounds.

For Lefties

The driver has a feature that will adjust for lefties once they turn the tablet so the buttons are on the right.

Turcom was kind enough to send me this tablet. I tested art programs and installed the driver on different computers and operating systems. Overall the drivers worked best on Mac, then Windows 10 on laptop/desktop, then Windows tablet. The tablet and other items came safely packed in styrofoam . The quickstart guide doesn’t look professionally designed, but it has the basic information needed. There’s no larger guide on the TurcomUSA site (compare to Huion, which sends a more complete set of information in a booklet).

The Turcom TS-6610 tablet has a solid build quality, with eight customizable Hot Keys, including a two-button ring with a zoom in/out default function, and 16 softkeys you can program in the advanced driver settings. It looks a lot like the Huion H610Pro, but I weighed the two and the Huion weighs slightly more. The Turcom’s beaded surface is rougher than the H610 Pro’s, which is also beaded, but smoother. There are no Touch features.

turcomgraphicstablet

See the Turcom TS-6610 on Amazon

Some reviews say  it’s the same tablet as the Huion H610 (non-Pro), which has an AAA battery-powered pen. The specs and appearance seem to match. The driver for the Turcom is made by Huion. The download is on the Turcom site. I also tried the Huion H610/H610 Pro driver from the Huion site and it worked.

Turcom pen

turcom ts 6610

Penrest, nibolder, nibs. These parts attach.

turcompen

Turcom pen on penrest

The pen is chunky, about 1/2″ at the thickest part, with the grip part being a little thinner. It’s pretty heavy with the battery in it–this is an AAA battery, not a smaller AAAA. The pen has no eraser at the end. The gray grip is hard, but has a more graspable texture than the rest of the pen, which is smoother.

The buttons are placed so that you have to be a little careful to not press them by accident, but you can get used to it and avoid accidental presses. The build is plastic and seems quite durable. The weight of the pen doesn’t result in too-heavy lines. The penn makes a scratchy noise when drawing on the beaded surface.

Drawing on the Turcom tablet

Palm rejection and hover work fine. The beaded surface provides a rough area that’s pleasant to draw on despite the noise, and the surface may cause nibs may wear down quickly–luckily, they’ve provided extras. There’s a row of numbers across the top that visually correspond to the softkeys.

Setting the pressure curve in the middle produced the best results for me. The most sensitive setting still provided good variation.

The pressure curve works great. It’s responsive and snappy and goes from a very thin line to thick. Setting it at lower sensitivity still gives a good variation. Both lower and middle sensitivity feel comfortable to draw, and I’m not a hard presser. It’s quite comparable to Wacom, and some may even prefer the Huion. It doesn’t cause any blobs or sudden changes. I didn’t have a jitter problem.

The tablet shows the numbers 1-16, so you can access these softkeys while drawing.

TIP: Keep other tablets and other items with electrical components at least a few feet a way, as interference from them can cause odd hover issues.

Installing the Turcom/Huion driver

Both the 6610 driver from the Turcom site and the Huion H610/H610 Pro driver from the Huion site work on the tablet. Both drivers are made by Huion. It’s best to use the site ones because they are kept up up to date. The Huion H610 driver seemed a bit better than the 6610 driver, in that the 6610 would open up a page of what seemed to be developer’s notes. But otherwise they are similar.

Turcom/Huion driver on Windows 10

When it works well, the driver installs quickly and easily. It can be a breeze or a hurricane, depending what’s on your computer.

huiondriversettings

Driver settings

 

turcomdriveradvanced

Advanced driver settings

Troubleshooting the Turcom/Huion driver. If you’re having problems, these are things to look into: Install the drivers as Administrator. Delete all Wacom drivers and any other graphics tablet drivers. Even if they are not showing up in Control Panel they could still be there, visible in RegEdit (please ask someone for help if you are not comfortable going into your system and deleting files; deleting the wrong files can cause problems with your computer). Delete the Wacom Feel/Wintab driver if you have that (it can be redownloaded here). Delete all previous versions of this driver. Shut off all antivirus, including the default Windows Defender. Once all that’s done (and that is not the totality of possible considerations, but the main things I encountered after trying it on several different Windows 10 computers), you should be able to open the settings. Huion has a support thread on Deviant Art as well as offering other ways to contact them, including Skype.

Using a penabled Tablet PC will not interfere with the driver.
Turcom/Huion driver on Mac (El Capitan)
On the Mac, the driver installed beautifully, but I have less stuff on the Mac. The Mac driver doesn’t have the Pen Pressure Test panel, but that’s no big deal. 

I could not get Tablet Mapping to work.

Wacom drivers vs. Huion drivers

Wacom drivers are more robust with more ways to customize, since the Radial Menu with its submenus offers 64 different programmable shortcuts to the Turcom’s 24 (not counting pen buttons for either). Wacom has a more complex pen-pressure options, the ability in the Pro tablets to customize per application, and screen mapping as well as tablet mapping. They generally are easier to install (some will disagree). Some Wacom tablets have touch. Wacom offers tilt sensitivity, and in the Pro versions (Intuos Pro and Cintiq) also rotaton sensitivity. Wacom’s has a mouse mode and the Huion driver does not.

See more info on choosing a Wacom graphics tablet.

Not everyone needs to use a lot of customization (or any; they are totally optional), and the Huion drivers do nearly the same amount of things as Wacom’s.

Wacom’s tablets come with some art software bundled and some offer Touch.

Art programs in Windows 10
I got pressure in Photoshop and Sketchbook, though it took a restart whereas GIMP and Krita worked right away. The tablet worked in Inkscape, but I couldn’t get pressure in Inkscape’s Calligraphy tool with the pressure box checked. It works in Illustrator without pressure. Huion says they are working on pressure for Illustrator.

The product info lists CorelDraw and Painter, Autodesk Sketchbook, MAYA, ZBrush, Infinite Stratos, Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash, ComicStudio, and SAI as working with the 6610.

Art Programs on Mac
Same results as Windows but less fussing to get pressure in Photoshop and Sketchbook.

As with other graphics tablets, this one also works well as a rather large mouse substitute for opening programs, editing documents in Word, etc.

Customer support. Huion seems to have a bigger online presence than Turcom, and since the drivers are Huion’s, asking Huion or perusing Huion threads where they have responded can be helpful in troubleshooting. Huion is good about answering, and can be reached via email, Skype, or phone. The company also a support thread on Deviant Art here.

Turcom TS-6610 vs. Huion H610 Pro

The Huion H610 Pro specs are higher–it has a higher resolution (5080) and report rate. The H610Pro’s pen attaches by a cord, avoiding taking a battery, thus the pen is lighter. Other than that, the pen size is similar to the Turcom pen. The Turcom tablet is a little heavier and its surface somewhat smoother (all models may not be exactly the same). The Turcom’s resolution is like the Intuos, and the Huion 610 Pro’s is like the Intuos Pro.

User reviews

Most users are happy with this tablet, praising its affordability, size, and capabilities. Many see it as a good alternative to Wacom. Some had problems with the drivers and some reported hover issues, but overall, comment are positive.

Pros

Quite a few customization options
Good size drawing surface
Extra nibs and pen battery included
2,048 levels of pressure
Good value
Draws well
High resolution (less high than H610 Pro)

 

Cons:

Drivers can be fussy
Pen is heavy and takes a battery
Mapping not working (on mine anyway)
No additional instructions online

The Verdict

The Turcom TS-6610 graphics tablet is a viable starter alternative to a Wacom graphics tablet; you may want to upgrade after a while. The drawing experience is really good, with a large surface and good pressure sensitivity.  If you have a decent understanding of your computer and file systems, then potential driver issues should be manageable. If that kind of thing is overwhelming to you, you may be better off going with Wacom.

Free software such as Gimp and Krita actually worked better off the bat for me with this tablet than did Photoshop CC,  which took a restart to get pressure working. Using this with free software can get you going in digital art without a major investment.

The Huion H610/H610 Pro driver on the Huion site is a bit better than the Turcom driver on the Turcom site, so you might want to use the 610 one.

What the Turcom TS-6610 graphics tablet can do, it does well, and offers a lot of value. Good for students, beginners, or those on a budget.

See more reviews and info of the Turcom TS-6610 graphics tablet on Amazon

See our review of the Huion H610 Pro

See our review of the Monoprice graphics tablet

See our review of the Intuos Pro

See our review of the Intuos Pen and Touch Small

end of Turcom TS-6610 drawing tablet review

 

 

 

 

 

 

Monoprice Tablet review, 10 x 6.25″ : A budget tablet pick


Monoprice Tablet Review: 10 x 6.25″ Graphic Drawing Tablet

by Tablets for Artists

monoprice tablet review

 

TYPE OF TABLET

The Monoprice Tablet is a graphics tablet. It attaches to a computer via USB 2.0. You draw on the tablet and see your art on the computer screen. This review is of the 10 x 6.25″ model.

 

OVERVIEW

The Monoprice tablet offers many features a Wacom does but is much more affordable, making it good for beginners and students ,and artists on a budget. Its stylus requires a single AAA battery (included).

Monoprice graphics tablets do not have a touch function, nor do they have the capacity to sense tilt and rotation like the high-end Wacom tablets do. While these features can be useful, not every artist uses them, and only some Wacom pens and tablets have these features.

The Monoprice tablet has the same high, 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity as the newer Wacoms and other premium tablets.

The Monoprice isn’t shoddy, but, unsurprisingly, it’s not as solidly built as the most high-end graphics tablets. Still, with normal use, it won’t fall apart on you.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX

Tablet

Wireless pen, AAA battery for pen, pen holder, 4 replacement nibs, pen clip tip-removal tool

Mini USB cable (4.9ft/1.5m)

Drivers and software CD

User’s manual

FOR LEFTIES

There are 6 buttons go along the left. The latest set of Windows drivers (v 9.0 driver) allows you to flip the tablet to move them to the right.

Note: The newest set of drivers for Windows (v. 9.0, linked below) features the ability to flip the tablet so that the Express Keys are on the right side.

 

DRIVERS DOWNLOAD PAGE

You may download the drivers as well as user Manuals from this page on the Monopricesite.

The drivers are for Windows XP and later, and Mac 10.4 and later.

The tablet is Linux-capable but doesn’t offer Linux drivers.

FEATURES

2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity
drawing area of 10 x 6.25 with a widescreen aspect ration of 16:10
6 programmable express keys on the left
16 preset hotkeys along the top
4000 LPI resolution
200 RPS report rate (determines how often information is sent to the tablet)

Note: the Amazon listing for this mistakenly calls it the 8 x 5″ model, but the specs other than the size are accurate for the 10 x 6.25.”

PORTABILITY

It weighs 2.5 lbs, fairly portable.

STYLUS

The stylus is a little flimsy and it’s worth it to buy the better one. Users trying to insert a new battery often had trouble getting the battery lead to make contact with the battery. The AAA battery that comes with the pen is not always fresh, so you may need to replace it right away.

TIPS: When inserting a new the battery, be careful that the battery and contact area in the pen barrel are matching correctly, and do not bend the metal strip inside the pen. To open the pen that comes with the tablet, pull the pen apart.

As a replacement pen, many users recommended buying this Monoprice pen, which is very affordable.

 

monoprice stylusIt’s lighter weight and thinner than the one that comes with the tablet. This pen unscrews. The build is sturdier and the battery replacement is less hairy, though the innards are still not as sturdy as they should be. A fairly comment complaint problems when screwing or unscrewing the two pieces to put in or take out a battery. Also, the buttons are a bit hard to find.

Both pens have programmable buttons. Neither has an eraser tip. To erase, use your art program’s eraser tool.

The nibs for these pens may wear down quickly, depending how hard you press. The plastic sheet over the tablet protects the nibs some, but you may prefer lifting the sheet when drawing, exposing the tablet’s textured surface, which wears down the nibs faster. You can purchase inexpensive Monoprice replacement nibs that will fit both. They come 10 to a pack.

 

TABLET

The surface has a slightly bumpy texture which gives you a nice bite while drawing, but as mentioned above, it can wear down nibs. It also comes with an attached plastic sheet over it to make tracing art easier. Tracing drawings is one way to get your drawings into your computer. Other ways are using a scanner or digital camera, or, of course, drawing freehand right onto the tablet.

When using the Monoprice tablet, you have to tap the pen on the tablet to wake it. If the pen is set to a brush tool, you will have to hit “undo” or use the eraser in your art program to get rid of the mark the pen has made on the tablet when waking it up.

The tablet attaches to the computer via USB 2.0. When attached, it’s on; there is no on/off switch for the tablet.

SOFTWARE

You can use just about any art software that’s on your computer with this. You won’t necessarily be able to use it on every other program as a mouse.

The Monoprice uses some UC-Logic components. The drivers can be found on the UC Logic site. They are also included on a CD in the package. Installing them from the UC Logic Web site instead of the CD will ensure that you have the latest drivers.

TIPS: If your your tablet’s light turns on, but doesn’t recognize your pen, check the pen battery placement. If the battery is OK but the tablet still doesn’t recognize your pen, try a replacement nib.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

There is both a live chat option and a place to post messages on Monoprice.com site. Customer support is responsive and offers replacements when people cannot get the tablet or pen to work. I did a chat with them to ask some questions, and found them to be helpful and polite.

USER REVIEWS AND RATINGS

Many digital artists, from hobbyists to professionals, loved this tablet. More than one Monoprice tablet review stated that the Monoprice was as good as any of the more expensive graphics tablets, including the Wacom Intuos. Some found the accuracy to exceed the Cintiq. This Monoprice has 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity, which is the maximum currently available, though authorities over at Microsoft say that the number of levels past 256 is not perceptible.

The Monoprice tablet received many 5-star reviews. But there was a fair amount of problems mentioned by Amazon reviewers, resulting in over 10% of the reviewers rating it one star, mostly out of frustration with the drivers. This could be from conflicts with previously installed drivers or services that are running. Also, the instructions are not written in clear English.

Some wrote in their Monoprice tablet review that even after working with customer support, they were still unable to get the device to work. This was not the norm, and if you get it on Amazon you can take advantage of their good return policy. (Not that you want to go through a frustrating experience, but you have probably an 80% of higher chance of having a good or great experience with this tablet).

Some like the larger size, but others find it makes scrolling difficult, as you have to move your arm while drawing.

PROS

very affordable
accurate with fine lines
performance compares with and sometimes exceeds more expensive tablets

CONS

Stylus sometimes has problems with battery compartment
Drivers can be difficult to install
The button icons won’t necessarily correspond to how you program them, which can cause confusion.
The decals that act as labels next to the buttons are not removable.

THE VERDICT

The highlight of the Monoprice tablet is the most important thing: its performance. Some digital artists feel it’s better than any other tablet. The tablet is sensitive and responsive, and you can get very fine line control even when zoomed out. Adjusting settings in each art program, when possible, can make a difference. Each artist is different and will have different preferences. Some professional artists would want the tilt and rotation features offered by the higher-end Wacom models, but those features aren’t important to everyone. And, you might just want an extra tablet that’s less expensive to travel with, so if it gets lost with your luggage it’s not such a big hit to your wallet.

Considering the price, the Monoprice really can’t be beat. If you’re just getting into digital art, this is a great starter tablet. It’s also a great backup or extra tablet.

Monoprice also makes a tablet monitor, where you draw on the screen, that has been well-received.

ACCESSORIES

Monoprice pen

Huion pen (will work with Monoprice 8×6, 4×3, 10×6.25)

huion-pen

10-pack of replacement nibs

OTHER SIZES

Monoprice makes their tablets in quite a few sizes. If you want a larger tablet, try the 12×9.

Monoprice offers good tablets for the money. They don’t have all the bells and whistles, but they are valuable digital art tools.

monoprice-drawing-tablet

The Monoprice 12×9″ tablet gives you lots of space.

 

end of Monoprice Tablet review

For more on budget tablets, read our Huion tablet review.

See our article about choosing the best Wacom Intuos tablet.

drawing-tablet-for-pc-huion

Huion H610 Pro Review – 6 x 10″ workspace

Huion H610 Pro Review: lightweight, heavy on features

by Tablets for Artists


huion610prohandsonreview

 


Huion H610 Pro Graphics Drawing Pen Tablet

 

The Huion H610 Pro Review: the H610 Pro is a graphics tablet made by a Chinese animation company. It has a generous 6 x 10″ active drawing area and features that rival the Intuos Pro while being cheaper than even the lower-cost Wacom Intuos series. But what about the quality?

NOTE: Here’s a detailed H610Pro v2 review. This newer version is much improved with tilt sensitivity and a pen that doesn’t need charging. See the H610 Pro v2 on Amazon

(note: if you’re looking for the OSU model, the H420, scroll to the bottom of this article).

 

TYPE OF TABLET

It’s a graphics tablet that connects to a computer via USB. It is not a screen that you draw on–if you want that, please consider a tablet PC or tablet monitor such as Cintiq or Yiynova. For more on tablet types, please see this post.

 

FEATURES

The H610 has 8 Express Keys down the its side, and 16 hot cells on the tablet screen. Its workspace is 10 x  6.25 inches. It’s only about a quarter-inch thick. It works with Mac, PC, and Linux/Ubuntu. You can use wireless mice and keyboards with this tablet. The resolution is 5080 lines per inch. The battery-free, rechargeable pen has 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity.

 

PORTABILITY

It’s lightweight and easy enough to carry.

 

WHAT’S INCLUDED

It comes with 4 replacement nibs and one inside the pen, for a total of 5. The nibs are all the same. Also included are two USB cables, one for the tablet and one for the pen, as well as a pen, pen charger, pen rest, and paper user manual. Their site, huion-tablet.com, has all the up-to-date driver.

FOR LEFTIES

This tablet now has a left-handed driver, so you can choose to draw in left-handed mode.

 

TABLET

The surface is mappable; you can decide how much of the tablet you want the pen to work on. The surface has a grip to it that eases drawing. It is hard plastic, not rubbery like the Wacom Bamboo. It feels not quite as slippery as glass, more like thick, smooth paper.

The surface of  this tablet is hard plastic, less prone to scratching than Wacom Intuos, partly because the pen nibs are rounded. If you are getting scratches it may depend how you are holding the pen, some people “sharpen” nibs as they draw. It also of course depends how much pressure you apply.

 

STYLUS

huionh610propen

The stylus is lighter and thus easier to handle than previous version. The company says the rechargeable pen lasts 800 hours after every 2-hour charge, though some say it lasts for far less time. The pen rest is not a pen holder per se, just something to balance the pen on.

The pen’s buttons let you right click, left click, or double right or left click, as with a mouse. They don’t let you add further commands.

When drawing with the Huion pen, the pressure curve is slightly harder than it is in Wacom. It does not create a “blob” as easily (unless your Huion driver is acting buggy). You can adjust pen sensitivity until you find a comfortable place; the default around the middle is good. Setting it high makes it too stiff. The 610Pro does not feature pen tilt or rotation recognition.

drawing-tablet-for-pc-with-pen

CONTROLS

The 16 programmable hotcells on the tablet allow you do macros, things like Photoshop operations like “tone/color adjust.” They are easy to program, though they only work with one software application. You would have to reprogram them if, say, you switch over from Photoshop to Illustrator.

The hotcells are right on the tablet surface along the top, and have the same texture, so if you are using the entire tablet rather than mapping part of it, remember the keys are there or you may end up drawing on them. The express keys on the left of the work area can zoom, scroll, erase, undo or whatever you want, but they don’t allow as many operations as the Intuos does.

The surface is mappable, so you can just pick part of the tablet to draw on. An LED indicator light lights up in the pen when you are drawing, though this is annoying to some and may only happen with some computer systems. If you find it annoying you might want to put opaque tape over the light!

 

SOFTWARE

You can use this tablet with any software your PC uses, such as Photoshop, Word, Toon Boom etc. At this date, the driver does not provide pressure sensitivity in Adobe Illustrator or Inkscape, though you can use the tablet with those without pressure. Huron says they are working on this.

The resolution, 5080, is the same as the Wacom Intuos Pro. The driver lacks some features of Wacom’s, such as screen mapping, radial menu, and the ability to customize by program that’s available in the Cintiq and Intuos Pro.

HUION H610 Pro driver TIP:

Before installing the drivers, you should disable any other Wacom drivers and mouse drivers, then the Huion, then restart. Turn off Internet and don’t turn it on again until after the tablet is connected and working, or else the computer’s plug and play driver may automatically be installed. Plug the tablet into the USB port of your computer only after you boot up the computer.

huionpenpressure

You can the pressure sensitivity using the driver.

You should install as Administrator. Shut off any antivirus programs. If you’re reinstalling, delete the old drivers. More discussion of the drivers at this post about the Turcom TS-6610 tablet, which can use this same driver.

 

PROS

Can recognize multiple monitors and you can choose which ones to use.

Value

Thin (just about 1/4″ thick)

Sleek design

Large work area (make sure you have enough desk space)

Lightweight pen

 

CONS

Edges get jitter, just as Wacom digitizers do.

Delicate USB ports (also a common complaint regarding Wacom products)

Makes a bit of noise when drawing on the tablet due to the hard plastic surface

Buggy drivers

Have to press hard at times

No wireless option in this model

 

CONSUMER REVIEWS AND RATINGS

Most customers were pleasantly surprised by the quality and the many features this tablet offers. Many  really liked the way the pen felt, though a few did not. The worst thing about the Huion is that the drivers are a bit fussy and sometimes buggy.

More than one Huion H610 Pro review complained about these oversensitivity and the pen making marks even when not touching the surface, such as when hovering half an inch over it. I have not experienced these problems myself. You should keep other electronic devices, even if they are not turned on, at least a few feet away, as they can cause interference.

It’s advisable to get the Amazon service plan. You should deinstall all other tablet drivers before installing this one. If you can get pressure sensitivity in one program but not in another, such as Photoshop CC, check to see if you have the Wintab (Wacom Feel) driver installed. If you do, delete it. You can use this graphics tablet with a tablet PC.

 

CUSTOMER SERVICE

Helpful and responsive, and they stick with you til the problem is resolved. They sometimes ask for videos of problems you report.

 

THE VERDICT

If you are patient and have some computer savvy, this could be a great art tool. But with quite a few reports of buggy drivers, many users end up being frustrated and spending time talking to customer support. So, when coming to a conclusion while writing this Huion H610 Pro review, we cannot give a 100% recommendation–the tablet is for those who have some patience and ability to troubleshoot. Remembering to remove other drivers on the system beforehand would save trouble.

Other than that, the quality of the product is solid. A couple of reviewers state it is superior to Monoprice. A tablet is something you may use for years, so, if you want top of the line, then going with Wacom is recommended. But,as long as you have a bit of tech know-how, this is  a strong choice that has the features of the Wacom Intuos Pro line, except for tilt and rotation sensitivity.

If you’re looking for a professional-quality drawing tablet  that’s a great value, the Huion 610 Pro is worthy of consideration.

Looking for a tablet for OSU?

If you’re into playing the rhythm game OSU, Huion makes a tablet for it. See the Huion H420 on Amazon.

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES:

Huion’s soft carrying case will protect your tablet.

Manga Studio 5 is truly versatile, affordable drawing software.

See our review of the Monoprice graphics tablet.

See our article about choosing a Wacom graphics tablet.

Read about the Turcom tablet, similar to the Huion H610 non-Pro.

Read more about top-rated graphics tablets.

 

end of Huion H610 Pro Review