There’s been a huge surge in the number of drawing tablets with screen available on the market in the past couple of years.
All major brands are showing up with their shiny new tablets – fully packed with features.
This fierce competition has not only brought down the prices of drawing tablets – but has also pressured even the established brands to do better and come up with more competitive drawing devices.
Simply put, there has never been a better time for digital artists to get a new drawing tablet with screen.
As an artist, having multiple choices of display tablets to pick from is always a good thing. But more choices make the buying process a bit more confusing as you have a lot more options to filter through.
And if you are not sure what to look out for and which features to expect at the given price range, this filtering process can be even more daunting.
Being digital artists ourselves, we have followed the industry closely and have reviewed numerous drawing tablets in the past.
To help you find the perfect drawing device we spent some time shortlisting, comparing, and filtering out to finally make the list of most deserving candidates for being the best drawing tablet with screen.
Our list consists of entry-level devices to top-end professional display tablets and everything in between.
So no matter whether you are a beginner, hobbyist, professional or someone looking to upgrade your drawing setup – this article will for sure help you find the perfect display tablet.
Contents (quick links)
- Top recommendations
- Xp Pen Artist 22 – The best drawing tablet with screen
- Apple iPad Pro – Powerful & popular
- Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 – Drawing tablet for Professionals
- Xp Pen Innovator 16 – No compromise, value for money
- Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k – best 16 inch tablet
- Gamon PD 1161 – Smallest and cheapest
- Wacom Cintiq 16 – Affordable Wacom tablet
- Huion Kamvas 13 – for young artist and animators
Top recommendations – Drawing tablets with screen
- 21.6 inch screen
- Great stylus
- Excellent color accuracy
- Great value for money
- Comes with integrated stand
- 11/12.9 Inch
- Excellent Stylus (Apple Pencil)
- Great color accuracy
- Ultra-portable
- Good battery life
- 23.6 Inch 4K display
- Best stylus for drawing
- Windows & Mac support
- Anti-glare Etched glass
- Shortcut buttons (Wacom Expresskey remote)
1. Xp Pen Artist 22 (2nd gen.) – The best drawing tablet with screen
Xp Pen Artist 22 (2nd gen.)
Large screen, good color accuracy, excellent stylus, amazing drawing experience, good build quality – All at a reasonable price, making it the best drawing tablet with screen.
A huge majority of drawing tablets in the market are either catered towards beginners or Professionals.
What if you are an intermediate-level artist or simply a hobbyist, who does not want to be restricted by the limited features offered by a beginner tablet. At the same time, you cannot justify spending thousands of bucks on a so-called Pro-grade drawing tablet.
The Xp Pen Artist 22 is one of the rare few drawing tablets that can be universally recommended to any artist no matter their skill level.
It is fully packed with features and comes with a larger 22-inch screen while still maintaining a reasonable price and superior build quality. All these qualities make the Xp Pen Artist 22 the best drawing tablet with screen.
Surface Texture, scratch resistance, and glare reduction
To protect the screen from getting scratched by the pointed nib of the stylus, the tablet comes with a textured plastic film applied on top.
The textured film provides resistance to the stylus which improves the stylus feel and handling. It also helps with reducing reflection or glares off the screen.
Battery-free stylus
Included with the tablet is an equally capable stylus. The Xp Pen PA6 stylus comes with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity with support for tilt sensitivity and two buttons on the side.
In real-life usage, the Performace of the PA6 stylus is on par with some of the best styluses in the market.
To give you the ultimate adjustability and comfort, the tablet comes with a premounted high-quality custom VESA stand for this tablet.
This is very handy and allows you to quickly change the working angle from nearly flat to almost 90 degrees straight.
Overall, Artist 22 offers everything you can ask for in a drawing tablet. Considering its price, this is an excellent value-for-money tablet.
This is a very popular tablet and has been a choice of thousands of artists, you cannot go wrong with this one.
Check out Xp Pen Artist 22 Full Review
PROs – What we liked
- 22 inch massive display with FullHD resolution
- Excellent color accuracy
- Glare-free matte screen with textured surface
- Xp Pen PA6 – Battery-free stylus
- 2 Programmable buttons on the stylus
- Comes with a Intrgrated VESA tablet stand
- USB-C connectivity
- Comes with a lot of accessories
- Good for digital art, illustration, animation, 3D graphics
- An excellent value for money
CONs – What needs improvement
- No shortcut buttons
- Heavy
Buy Xp Pen Artist 22 on Amazon →
2. Apple iPad Pro – Powerful and popular with amazing drawing capabilities
Apple iPad Pro (11 inch and 12.9 inch)
Most advanced stylus, excellent display, powerful processor, and best in class drawing performance, all in a compact form factor. Available in two sizes.
Apple iPads are increasingly becoming popular in the artist community. In the past few years, we have seen a number of artists use it as their main drawing device.
So what makes the Apple iPad Pro such a great option for artists looking for a display tablet?
One of the main reasons why artists love the iPad Pro so much is the Apple Pencil.
Earlier Wacom’s Pro Pen 2 was considered the holy grail of styluses. But that changed with the arrival of the Apple Pencil.
Apple Pencil is hands-down the most powerful, reliable, and accurate styluses in the market right now.
It has great pen tracking, balanced pressure sensitivity as well as one of the best implementations of tilt recognition.
What is more important than the features is the overall feel of drawing with the stylus.
In a stylus you want the drawing experience to be as natural as drawing with a real pencil. The Apple Pencil delivers that.
Thanks to the Promotion technology (120 Hz screen refresh rate) on the iPad Pro, the Apple Pencil can achieve a response rate of 9ms.
This results in a buttery smooth performance. The strokes drawing by the Apple Pencil literally seem to be coming out of the tip.
It may seem like a small thing but it definitely has a big effect on the overall feel of drawing on the Apple Pencil.
Who should get the iPad Pro?
Although the iPad may be lacking in 3d and animation apps, but when it comes to making digital paintings and illustrations, iPadOS has its own set of drawing apps that are as good as their desktop counterparts.
If you are someone who makes digital art, illustrations, comics, animation, and portability is your priority – you should definitely get the Apple iPad Pro.
PROs – What we liked
- Outstanding performance from Apple Pencil
- 2732 x 2048p high-resolution screen with beautiful colors
- High brightness for comfortable outdoor usage
- Lightweight and Portable
- Good battery life
- The most powerful processor on a compact device
- Excellent iPad OS specific art and illustration applications
CONs – What needs improvement
- Apple Pencil not included (purchase separately)
- OS lacks support for good 3D applications
- Shiny and Reflective screen
- Many traditional windows drawing softwares still not supported
Buy Apple iPad Pro 11 inch on Amazon →
Buy Apple iPad Pro 12.9 inch on Amazon →
3. Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 – Most advanced display tablet for professionals
Wacom Cintiq Pro 24
One of the best drawing tablets in the market that is pretty much a great choice for any kind of digital creative work, no matter whether you work with 2D, 3D, photo, and video related tasks.
Comes with a 4K screen and available in 24 and 32-inch variants.
The larger display combined with a great stylus and a number of useful accessories makes this a drawing device that artist aspire for.
If you are a veteran or hang out in art communities, you probably know the name “Wacom”.
The Wacom may not be that popular amongst giants such as Apple and Microsoft, but when it comes to digital art equipment, it absolutely dominates the market.
This is one of the devices that you would find in the hands of professions and in the offices of Vfx and movie studios.
Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 is for those who are looking for a top-of-the-line, dedicated drawing tablet that is specifically made for artists.
It has a whole set of drawing features that are very thoughtfully designed to make the drawing experience as immersive and convenient as possible.
Display – Size and Resolution
Starting off with its massive 24-inch 4K resolution and color accuracy of 99% Adobe RGB.
The feeling you get from drawing on this massive screen – you can’t get that from an iPad or any smaller device.
You get a large area to move your hands around, plus you can see your whole artwork and work without needing to zoom in.
Stylus – Wacom Pro Pen 2
One of the most important reasons why professional artists love to use Wacom devices is its Stylus.
The Wacom Pro Pen 2 is one of the most regarded styluses. Its performance, how it handles pressure, how it responds to light touches – you don’t get that in other styluses.
The stylus has an ergonomic design with a wider tip at the front which slowly tapers towards the back. It gives you better comfort. The front end of the stylus is made of a rubbery material that provides a better grip, especially on sweaty hands.
Shortcut Button – Wacom Expresskey Remote
There is a shortcut Remote called Wacom Expresskey remote included in the box. It has 17 buttons and a touch ring – all of which are programmable. You can assign them to any shortcut of your choice in any drawing or modeling software.
The shortcut remote works wirelessly and has magnets at the back with sticks to the side bezel of the tablet. Allowing you to place it anywhere you desire.
Tablet Stand – Comfort and Ergonomics
Working on this massive screen is not that easy. The Cintiq Pro comes with built-in foldable legs that give it a nice slope of about 19 degrees which feels very comfortable and inviting to work on.
For greater adjustability, you can get the Wacom Ergo Stand (Amazon) which is sold separately as an addon.
The feeling you get working on a large screen drawing tablet, you can’t get that on smaller screens.
On top of a large drawing tablet, the Cintiq Pro comes with a great stylus and an ecosystem of great accessories such as Wacom Expresskey Remote and different tablet stands.
You simply don’t get this combination anywhere else. And that makes the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 a very well-regarded drawing tablet amongst the artist community.
For many artists, this is their dream drawing tablet. If that is you and you have reached that stage where you feel comfortable investing that kind of money, go ahead and get the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24/32.
PROs – What we liked
- Premium build quality, Sleek design
- Color accurate screen with 4k Resolution
- Superior drawing experience
- Responsive, accurate, and reliable stylus
- Wireless Shortcut Remote
- Textured drawing surface (etched glass)
- Built-in tablet stand (as well as mounting options for external stands)
- Ideal for – Digital art, illustration, animation, photo editing, video editing, 3d modeling, 3d sculpting, Rendering, compositing or any other creative task
CONs – What needs improvement
- Expensive
- Heavy and takes up space
- Needs to be connected to a computer
Buy Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 on Amazon →
4. Xp Pen Innovator 16 – Value for money no compromise drawing tablet with screen
Xp Pen Innovator 16
Great display with excellent color accuracy, shortcut buttons, multiple dials, premium metallic build quality, and one of the best styluses with very stable and reliable performance.
All this at a very justified price makes it a great option for artists looking for a top-tier drawing tablet with no compromises.
It is often said, “quality comes at a price“. Well, Xp Pen does not seem to agree with that.
They have managed to come with a drawing tablet that stands tall on all the benchmarks while still coming at a great price compared to what is available in the market in that segment.
As the name suggests, the Xp Pen Innovator 16 is a 16-inch display tablet that comes with one of the best displays in this segment.
The 16-inch tablet has a FullHD resolution which is sufficient enough for a 16-inch device. Where it really shines is its color accuracy.
Its screen has a color coverage of 125% sRGB which produces very accurate colors.
Probably the best thing about this drawing device is its shortcut options.
The Innovator 16 comes with a total of 8 programmable buttons located on the left-hand side of the tablet.
Along with the buttons you also get a rotating and a digital dial that help you with things like changing the size of the brush and eraser as well as pan, zoom, and rotate the artboard.
There buttons and dials are very handy when drawing, especially the dials that make the whole drawing experience fun and enjoyable.
Xp Pen PA5 Stylus
With Innovator 16 you get the Xp Pen PA 5 stylus. This is a battery-free stylus and comes with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity as well as 60 degrees of tilt sensitivity.
This is one of the best styluses that Xp Pen has in their lineup, with improved initial activation force and overall a very balanced behavior.
It responds beautifully to slight changes to pressure, plus it allows you to customize the hardness or softness of the stylus as per your liking.
The build quality of the stylus is also really great. It has a very comfortable shape with great weight distribution.
Build quality
The sturdiness and the Build quality is one of the highlights of Innovator 16.
In spite of its relatively cheaper price, Xp Pen has still managed to give it a high quality all metallic fit and finish.
The tablet feels premium with everything well put together. It measures just 9mm in width and is compact enough to be carried into a backpack alongside your laptop.
So if you are looking for a drawing tablet with a screen that is high quality and has all the bells and whistles that you want, plus comes at a reasonable price – the Xp Pen Innovator 16 is the right option for you.
PROs – What we liked
- 15.6 inch screen
- 1920 x 1080 resolution
- 8192 level of pen pressure with ±60° tilt
- 8 shortcut buttons with a Digital + Physical dial
- Sleek and lightweight
- Comes with a tablet stand
- Lappable – can be used on your lap
- Extremely high standard metallic build quality
CONs – What needs improvement
- No rubber pads on the back – can be unstable on smooth surfaces
- Does not work with Android devices
- Not ideal for an overly bright drawing environment
Buy Xp Pen Innovator 16 on Amazon →
5. Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k (QHD) – Best 16 inch display tablet
Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5K
The most feature-packed 16-inch drawing tablet with an amazing screen, great stylus, and excellent build quality. Easily competes with tablets twice or thrice the price it comes for.
The Huion Kamvas Pro 16 is another great 16-inch drawing tablet that is specifically made for artists who want more than just the basics.
One of the very first things where it stands apart from any other tablet in its size category is its amazing high resolution.
The Kamvas Pro 16 comes with a QHD (2560 x 1440) resolution which produces way sharper images compared to its FullHD counterparts.
This is great for artists as it allows you to work up close with your tablet without having to see a less sharp eye-soaring pixelated image.
It is not just the resolution that got a massive bump. The Huion Kamvas Pro 16 comes with a very high-tech quantum dot screen.
The quantum dot technology not only reduced harmful blue light (which is essential as artists work so close to the monitor), but it also enables the screen to reach an impressive 145% sRGB color coverage and an amazing 1200:1 contrast ratio.
The Huion does not just come with a better screen, they have also worked on the stylus.
Huion has been making drawing tablets for quite a while, so they have a lot of experience in making some really good stylus. Their styluses are counted amongst the best and they are on par with the Wacom stylus.
With this tablet, they have gone even further and came with their Pen Tech 3.0 stylus with improved initial activation force and an overall superior stylus experience.
The stylus is of course battery-free and has 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity along with up to 60 degrees of tilt recognition.
The tablet comes with two types of nibs. A normal nib and a felt nib with a slighter more scratchy feel.Other features include a fully laminated screen with a textured surface. This tablet also comes with a lot of accessories.
Overall, the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k is for power artists and professionals who want more than just the basics. A tablet they can push to the limits. If that is you, Kamvas Pro 2.5k is the right choice for you.
PROs – What we liked
- 2560 x 1440 QHD (2.5k) resolution for better sharpness
- 145% sRGB – the most color-accurate drawing tablet with screen
- 1200:1 contrast (quantum dot technology)
- Reduces harmful blue light
- Uses a high grade etched glass for surface texture (other tablets use a plastic normal film)
- Excellent build quality (metallic back)
- Eight programmable shortcut buttons
- Comes with a battery-free stylus
- 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity with tilt support
- Huion PW517 – counted amongst the best stylus
- Comes with a tablet stand and a lot of other accessories
- Supports – Mac, Windows and Android devices
- Has a pen tablet mode (where the screen turns off and you can use it like a normal screenless graphics tablet)
- The fastest >300 reports per second latency for lag-free drawing
- Very stable and user-friendly drivers
- Mad value for money (comparable to Wacom Cintiq Pro 16)
CONs – What needs improvement
- A bit more expensive than other 16 inch tablets
- Mediocre brightness
- Could have come with a better pen holder
- No dial or touchpad for advance shortcut (as you get in the aforementioned Xp Pen Innovator 16)
Buy Huion Kamvas Pro 16 2.5k on Amazon → Huion Store →
6. Gaomon PD 1161 – Drawing tablet with screen for beginners
Gaomon PD 1161
Compact, portable, and cheap with surprisingly good features. Comes with a beautiful screen, programmable shortcut buttons, and a very capable stylus.
It has been on the market for quite a while. So it is used and loved by thousands of digital artists and highly recommended device for beginners.
Often when we discuss drawing tablets with screens, we mostly focus on big-budget tablets. We often forget how far entry-level tablets have come compared to what was available just a couple of years back.
Beginners’ tablets might not have the fancy stuff but they do come with all the essential features an artist would want in a drawing tablet.
The Gaomon PD 1161 is one of the best examples of a tablet that is purpose-built for newer artists who want to invest in a display tablet.
Contrary to what most people think, a screen is not the most important component of a drawing tablet with screen.
A stylus is way more important and has a massive effect on the overall drawing experience of a tablet.
To keep the price in check, the Gaomon PD 1161 choose to go with the smaller 12-inch screen. But apart from that, it has all the features that you would usually see in larger drawing tablets.
Its stylus is one of the highlights of this tablet. It is so good that you won’t believe that it comes with a tablet that is so cheap.
The stylus is battery-free and comes with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and support for tilt sensitivity.
In real-life usage, the lines drawn by the stylus and smooth and consistent with no liner jitter or inconsistent pressure response issues, which is great.
On the left of the tablet, you will see there are eight programmable shortcut buttons. These can be very handy and can help you quickly change between brush eraser, undo-redo, add new layer, pick color from the canvas, and so on.
Overall, if you are on a tight budget but still want a very capable drawing tablet with screen – that will help you get started with digital art, the Gaomon PD 1161 is a perfect choice.
Thousands of artists have already bought this tablet and they absolutely love it.
PROs – What we liked
- An excellent value for money
- 12 inch full HD screen
- Super sharp picture quality
- Color accuracy of ~99% sRGB
- Comes with a surprisingly good stylus
- Excellent pen tracking and pressure sensing
- Got programmable shortcut buttons
- Compact and portable
- Although made of plastic, still feels strong and well made
- Comes with a very handy pen stand
- Works with all popular software on Mac and Windows
CONs – What needs improvement
- Does not come with a tablet stand
- No laminated screen
- Requires you to have an HDMI port on your laptop (else you need to get an adapter)
Buy Gaomon PD 1161 on Amazon →
7. Wacom Cintiq 16 – Affordable display tablet from Wacom
Wacom Cintiq 16
Uses the same technology as its Cintiq Pro professional lineup of tables. Comes with Pro Pen 2, the best stylus for digital artists. Provides one of the best drawing experiences.
Comes with a factory-calibrated display for accurate colors out of the box. Has handy foldable legs as well as a VESA mount for third-party tablet stands for better ergonomics.
If you are into digital art you already know that Wacom tablets are some of the most sought-after drawing devices on the market.
Wacom is popular for its high-end professional drawing tablets and they are the first choice of professionals, design studios, and movie production companies all around the world.
But since these pro-grade tablets are so expensive, most individual artists cannot justify spending that much money.
To address these issues, Wacom came up with their Cintiq 16 tablet. The Wacom Cintiq 16 has the same underlying pen technology as its pro-range counterparts – but it is smaller in size and way more affordable.
One of the first things you will notice about the Cintiq 16 is its outstanding build quality. Even though the tablet is made of plastic, it feels reassuringly high quality.
The Cintiq 16 has a very clean and minimal design. You have a large screen at the front with no buttons or dials to distract you. Even the Wacom branding is matte black and sort of hidden.
The tablet comes with a 15.6 inch FullHD IPS screen with 96% sRGB color accuracy. Unlike many other cheaper drawing tables, the screens of the Cintiq 16 are factory calibrated and show perfectly colors from the get-go.
As we have mentioned earlier, a stylus is more important than a screen when it comes to drawing tables. Your overall drawing experience heavily depends on how good the stylus is.
You would be happy to know that Wacom Cintiq 16 comes with the exact same stylus “Wacom Pro Pen 2” which comes with their premium tablets.
The Wacom Pro pen 2, as you may be aware, is considered one of the best styluses for digital artists.
One of the things that separate it from other styluses in the market is how well it responds to light touches. Other than that their pressure sensitivity is good, and the tilt recognition is also a step ahead of the competition.
At the back, there is an integrated pop-up stand, which allows you to prop up the tablet at a comfortable drawing angle.
The Cintiq 16 is also VESA mount compatible, which allows you to use third-party VESA stands for more adjustability.
So if you are someone who wants a tried and tested drawing tablet that you cannot really go wrong with, the Wacom Cintiq 16 is the best choice for you.
PROs – What we liked
- Beautiful 16 inch screen
- Full HD resolution with 96% sRGB color accuracy
- Modern minimal design
- Comes with their top of the line stylus for the best possible drawing experience
- Good pressure response and tilt detection
- Very sensitive stylus, responds great to light touches
- Portable – fits most backpacks
- Integrated tabelt stand
- Provides a great drawing experience
- Excellent after-sales and customer support
- Supports other Wacom accessory such as Wacom express key remote
- Highly trusted by professionals
CONs – What needs improvement
- Have fewer features overall, compared to other smaller brands
- Slightly more expensive than other 16 inch tablets
- No shortcut buttons
Buy Wacom Cintiq 16 on Amazon →
8. Huion Kamvas 13 – Art tablet with screen for young artists and animators
Huion Kamvas 13
Entry level display tablet with mid-range features. 13 inch laminated, anti-glare screen with good color accuracy, comes with Huion’s top end stylus, shortcut buttons, and good build quality.
As we already mentioned, drawing tablets with screen have certain advantages that you can’t get in normal screenless graphics tables.
If you are someone who has just started learning digital art, a display tablet can help you speed up your learning and provide you a more interactive drawing experience.
But you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get a drawing tablet. No, not even half of it.
If you ever wondered – “Which is the most pocket-friendly display tablet that still provides an amazing drawing experience” – The Huion Kamvas 13 is the answer.
It is really surprising how many features you get in this entry-level drawing tablet. Starting off with the display.
Huion Kamvas Pro 13 comes with a fully laminated matte screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 and 120% Adobe RGB color gamut.
It produces very accurate colors with deep blacks and sharp details. In fact, since this is a 13-inch screen with a FullHD resolution, the Kamvas 13 produces sharper images than Huion’s 16 and 19-inch models.
On the left you will find 8 customizable shortcut buttons that help you makes quick changes like undo, redo, pan, scroll, and change the brush sizes.
In spite of being an entry-level tablet, Huion hasn’t cheap out on specs. It comes with 3rd generation Huion PW517 styles. This is the same stylus that you get with some of Huion’s top-of-the-line tablet models.
The stylus has 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt recognition.
Also, since it is an EMR based stylus – it does not needs to be charged.
Overall, for the price you are paying – you are getting a solid deal.
This tablet is a great fit for art students and hobbyists who want to upgrade from a normal pen tablet to a display tablet.
It is also a very popular choice to give as a gift to your artistic friend or child.
PROs – What we liked
- Great features at reasonable price
- Compact and portable – can be easily carried around in a backpack
- Laminated anti-glare screen
- 13.3 inches screen (comfortable size)
- 1920 x 1080 Full HD resolution
- Very capable battery-free stylus
- 8192 levels of pressure and tilt support
- Comes with a tablet stand
- The box includes a lit of accessories
- Very user-friendly driver
CONs – What needs improvement
- Does not come with a tablet bag/pouch
- The green power button at the top left can be distracting
Buy Huion Kamvas 13 on Amazon → Huion Store →
Which one of these tablets is the best option for digital art and illustration
Related:
Wacom Cintiq 16 vs Wacom Cintiq 22 comparison
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Xp Pen Artist 15.6 vs Huion Kamvas pro 16
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I’m currently using the XPPen Deco 02, and I’ll definitely use the 24″ XPPen Artist 24 when I get a chance.