2023 may already be in full swing but that does not mean it is too late to start working on those New Year’s resolutions or to make some upgrades to your work and hobbies.
Nowhere is this more true than in the field of art and design, with those talented individuals always improving their craft. One easy way to chase that improvement is with a brand new drawing tablet from XPPen, a beloved brand in the space of digital drawing tools which now offers South Africans a huge array of tools to tinker with.
There’s an XPPen product for just about everyone no matter your artistic focus, level of skill or budget, so today let’s look at a trio of tablets from the company that you should consider.
XPPen Deco MW
The Deco MW is another in the prestigious line of XPPen Deco drawing tablets that has something for every artist.
The Deco MW is slim and portable while still retaining a large drawing area and a generous array of shortcut keys which can be customised by the user to suit their workflow. All of that is wrapped up in your choice of colour with several bright options available.
Also worth highlighting is the X3 smart chip inside of the stylus, which brings you a bevy of features you may not expect in such an unassuming stylus. With activation force as low as three grams, stability by way of better construction, unparalleled precision and more, this stylus will redefine what can be expected from digital drawing.
While XPPen makes their Deco MWs to suit everyone, it has a feature that really makes it stand out here in South Africa. That feature is a large 1 000 mAh battery for continual use when the power is out. XPPen states that this battery will give you up to ten hours of use on a single charge, so you should be able to keep going even during the higher loadshedding stages.
This feature doesn’t just come in handy for South Africans, however, as the big battery is also great for those who hate cables and would prefer to use their XPPen Deco MW wirelessly with the super stable Bluetooth 5.0 connection instead. This flexibility also makes this drawing tablet suited for those who want to up their drawing game on portable devices which aren’t notebooks.
The Deco MW, much like many XPPen products, works across Windows, macOS, Android and more. Between device coverage and loadshedding stamina, you never need to put the drawing stylus down.
XPPen Artist Pro 16
With an included 15.4 inch screen, the XPPen Artist Pro 16 brings the display right under your drawing stylus.
XPPen has engineered the screen with supreme colour accuracy, offering 99 percent of Adobe RGB, 94 percent of NTSC and 133 percent of sRGB. Anti-glare film and full lamination are built in for a better drawing feel and protection on your investment.
Flanking the screen is another array of buttons, but this time featuring a dial. How you use the dial is up to you too, so customise away.
The XPPen Artist Pro 16 is also completely lightweight with all its powerful hardware inside of a body that is just nine millimetres tall.
XPPen Artist Pro 12
Looking for the tablet drawing experience, with screen, and on the go? The XPPen Artist Pro 12 offers just that with a smaller screen scaled down to 11.6 inches.
This is still a lot of screen real estate without eating into your precious bag and / or desk space, which is usually at a premium for the traveling artist or designer. The huge viewing angle of 178 degrees also helps when you need to contort yourself into a cramped plane chair or shared working space while under a tight deadline.
Flip the device around to find more help for this endeavour in the form of a portable stand. Set your Pro 12 to the height that is comfortable for you, and make use of the multi-function pen holder to house the stylus.
This little feature may seem inconsequential, but keeping all your hardware in one place is a must when working on the go, especially for those of us who know the pain of losing that expensive drawing stylus at an inopportune time.
