Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Review: Is this your Dial of Destiny?

Huion dials up an unusual art tablet

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Type of tablet

Graphics tablet–no screen.

Digitizer: EMR

Pen: Battery-free PW517 pen

Nibs: 5 regular nibs and 5 felt nibs in penholder, plus nib in pen

Pen weight: 14 grams (.5 oz)]

Compatible with Windows 7 and above, MacOS 10.12 and above, Android 6.0 and above, Linux (ubuntu)

Connect via USB-C or Bluetooth

Bluetooth range: 5 to 10 meters depending on environment

10.5 x 6.5″ active area

Dimensions: 14″ x 8″ x .03″ (356.6 x 207 x 8mm)

Weight: 1.5 lbs

Pen ilt +/-60 degrees

Report rate: 300PPS

Battery capacity: 1300mAh

8192 levels of pressure sensitivity

Special feature: two dials that control shortcuts

Includes felt nibs

Purchase option of dual or single dial

Symmetrical design good for left- or right-handed. You can put the side with the dials and buttons on the right or left.

UNPACKING THE DIAL 2

The Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 came in a handsome white box with a photo on it, inside a protective outer cardboard box). The company kindly sent me a unit to test and write this Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 review. I have never tried the Dial 1.

The tablet is sturdy with a textured surface. The pen feels solid and rests comfortably on my hand.

The company says the battery lasts about 20 hours, but I have not tested this. If the tablet is connected via the USB-C then it’s obtaining power from your computer/phone, so then you don’t need to worry, as long as your computer/phone is charged.

Installing and setting up the driver

inspiroy-dial-2-2023-driver

You can adjust the active area in this part of the driver

Installing the Inspiroy Dial 2 driver on the Mac seemed to go smoothly, but had some hiccups,

as it was still showing as disconnected. The instructions did not fix this but after contacting Huion support, who were easy to reach via email, I was able to get it working easily. It just required restarting the Bluetooth and going into Settings on the Mac.

Bluetooth is very handy since the current M2 Macs have taken away the USB port. Plus, it’s great to have one less cord. However, the USB-C comes in the package, so you don’t need to have Bluetooth.

Testing art programs on the Dial 2

Once getting  going, I began to test some art programs. It’s easy to program shortcuts. I tried my go-tos– Photoshop, Krita, Inkscape, Gimp, and Clip Studio Paint.

I got the best results in Photoshop and Clip Studio, where all the shortcuts work. With the others, I had some issues with the scrolling and pan/zoom though all the other commands I tried worked. With Clip Studio I did experience some lag with Bluetooth, as in, if I pressed down and lifted the pen, sometimes the paint area would keep going. When connected with the USB-When connected with the USB-C, I did not get any lag at all.

With the dials, you click (it’s a satisfying click) on the large button then turn the dial to adjust to the function’s value. You can use the default premade functions for all programs, or program to each art application.

To get granular control, you can set keystrokes to any command you want, as well as increase the quantity by setting one key to Quick Menu. An on-screen menu will pop up allowing you to program 6 more commands. You can do this with each of the 6 small analogue keys, adding 36 extra commands.

inspiroydial2buttons

Controls for the Dial 2

The dials each let you program one command, and Quick Menu is not on the list. Turning the dial lets you scroll through the program’s values–for instance, cycle through a brush menu, or zoom in or out. You get haptic feedback, so you know when you’re turning the dial.

You can set custom shortcuts for each art program, both for the buttons and dials, and in the pen. The pen also has QuickMode, expanding the customization options. As the pen has two buttons, you get a total of 12 programmable settings per app if you use QuickMenu, and two if you don’t.

I did get a short “tablet disconnected” message while switching programs, but it only lasted a few seconds.

The driver also lets you set the pressure sensitivity and see a live preview.

On Windows

In Windows, the tablet worked well, though I could not always get scrolling and pan/zoom with the dial. Krita worked the best on those. In PS, I could get brush size and zoom with the dial. If you’re having trouble programming in separate art programs, Huion has this helpful post.

Drawing on the Inspiroy Dial 2

huion inspiroy 2 sample art

A hasty peach done in Clip Studio Paint using Bluetooth

The generous size makes it easy to draw and the surface is really comfortable to draw on. It’s not beaded but has a grip. It naturally isn’t completely silent while drawing.  It’s got a nice feeling, and the tablet doesn’t rattle. The pressure works very well without skips or blobs.

So is this Huion tablet your Dial of Destiny? Perhaps. If you want something simpler and don’t feel you need the bells and whistles, there are optionsHuion Inspiroy H1060P review. In short, the Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 is great for drawing, photo editing gaming. Though I had a few hiccups in the beginning, they were minor. With all the buttons and dials, it may seem a little intimidating for beginners, but it’s really quite straightforward. The Bluetooth and the 8196 levels of pressure make this a competitor to the Intuos Pro Medium, and suitable for a student or professional illustrator or designer.

See the Inspiroy Dial 2 on Amazon

end of Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 review

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