Ultimate Affordable Graphics Tablets List Updated December 2018 Thanks for stopping by, I hope this list assists you in your research! If you’re looking for a little more graphic displays please check out the Page! This is a living website, meaning it is a constant work in progress.
Find great deals on eBay for graphic tablet mac. Shop with confidence.
Mainly because manufacturers can pull a particular model from the market while potentially replacing it with a newer model. This happens with technology. Anything you purchase today will most likely be out of date within days or months, sometimes sooner. Thus, you will find me updating the site from time to time, removing obsolete graphics tablets and replacing them with newer versions. This is unlike many graphics tablet lists you’ll find on the web that focus on a particular favorite set of graphics tablets in a particular year or period. This list focuses on affordable graphics tablets overall.
The tablets on this page range from around $30 – $300. Although keep in mind, manufacturers and sellers can change their prices at any given time. Prices can also change when a graphics tablet becomes obsolete. In other words, the manufacturer no longer makes or supports the tablet.
For instance, The Wacom model graphics tablets were once well under $100, but now they are sold by Wacom and other sellers for well over $100. Overall you will find the following on this page:. As said, a list of Graphics Tablets generally sold under for around $30 – $300 around the web. A short summary about pros and cons along with a quick pro and con comparison table. A notice when I have personally used a tablet and reviewed it elsewhere on the site. One word of caution for those coming from Wacom use. My advice is to let other brands succeed and fail on their own.
While I know it is impossible to not compare, I have watched many of these brands come on the market then evolve to provide new features rivaling features Wacom has spearheaded, but through different technologies. Yet, I’m not saying reduce your standards. Just be aware that with alternatives there is the usual installation headache as well as the usual and occasional driver software issue. I will try my best to list these as they occur. Ultimate List of Affordable Graphics Tablets Updated December 2018 List Navigation. Huion Name: Manufacturer: Huion General Customer Rating: Active Area: 8.7 inches x 5.4 inches Pen Pressure Levels: 8192 Response Rate: 233 rps Resolution: 5080 LPI Stylus/Pen: Battery Free Technology: Electromagnetic Resonance Connector: Micro USB Express Keys: 8 Customizable Express Keys O/S Compatibility: Windows: 10/8.1/8/7 and Mac OS: 10.11 or above Installation: I had no trouble with it The Huion Inspiroy H950P is an updated tablet produced by Huion. It has been updated to support tilt recognition.
I had the privilege to use the H950P and review it. It has is amazingly responsive with 8192 pen pressure levels. This makes for a seamless workflow with smooth lines due to the pressure levels and smooth, yet not too smooth a surface of the graphics tablet. The tablet is medium size, but not one of the largest on the market. The installation was painless, but if you want to learn more you can read my full review. I listed a 4.5 rating, but you will find other listings such as,.
Known driver issues. It is best to go to and download the latest drivers after uninstalling if you have installed and rebooted. Disconnect your tablet, reinstall the new drivers, reboot, then connect your tablet unless the driver installation tells you to connect the tablet prior to a reboot.
Name: New Version: Manufacturer: Huion General Customer Rating: Pen Pressure Levels: 2048 Response Rate: 200 rps Resolution: 4000 LPI Stylus/Pen: Batteries Required O/S Compatibility: Windows 8/Windows 7/Vista/XP/Mac OS 10.4 and potentially Linux PROS. The Huion LCD logo on the left side can be a little distracting.
Driver installation can be difficult as well as a having a difficult learning curve when it comes to customizing some features. Touch buttons are overly sensitive to the slightest touch and can interfere with workflow sometimes. Name: Manufacturer: Huion General Customer Rating: Pen Pressure Levels: 2048 Response Rate: 230 rps Resolution: 5080 LPI Stylus/Pen: Rechargeable Pen O/S Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7/XP and Mac 10.8.0 or above PROS. Some have had installation issues due to driver problems.
Some have noticed wear and tear on the tablet after nominal use. This model is about two years old, but it was getting reviews as of September 2015 Monoprice Name: Manufacturer: Monoprice General Customer Rating: Pen Pressure Levels: 2048 Response Rate: 200 rps Resolution: 5080 LPI ( although it says 4000 LPI) Stylus/Pen: Battery Operated Pen (AAA) O/S Compatibility: Windows XP and later, Mac OS X (10.4.x and later) although customers have said it works with operating systems up to Windows 8/10 and Mac OS x 10.7.5. Battery needed for stylus/pen. Cursor sticking to the internal edges of the monitor screen while attempting to use software.
Some people have had some major problems installing it on various OS platforms ranging from Windows to Mac OS’s. This is also coupled with some other technical issues. You can find recent Turcom drivers as of 2014 and as of 2015. However, some users have suggested using since Turcom and Huion develop Turcom tablets in some type of partnership. Name: Manufacturer: Turcom General Customer Rating: Pen Pressure Levels: 2048 Response Rate: 200 rps Resolution: 4000 LPI Stylus/Pen: 1 AAA battery O/S Compatibility: according to Turcom it is compatible only with Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7 although they have up to Windows 10.
Use with Operating Systems beyond Windows 7 at your own risk. One user claims to have used it with Windows 8. Small work area. According to Turcom, it is only compatiable with Windows 2000/XP/Vista and 7. Again, although one user claims to have used it with Windows 8.
A few have said it is buggy on Windows 8. Driver issues, some claim software is not included in purchase as far back as early 2015.
While most do not seem to indicate this and install from software shipped with the system. One user suggest installing these. Others have suggested trying the driver. Ugee Name: Manufacturer: Ugee General Customer Rating: Pen Pressure Levels: 2048 Response Rate: 230 rps Resolution: 5080 LPI Stylus/Pen: AAA Battery Operated O/S Compatibility: Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10, Mac OS 10.8.5 and above Note: The one linked has a 3.5 rating, but as usual with some of these products there are multiple listings, another is with a 4 rating. Some have expressed severe problems with the driver installation. It is best to go to to download the most recent drivers.
Wacom Name: Manufacturer: Wacom General Customer Rating: Active Area: 6.0 x 3.7 inches Pen Pressure Levels: 4096 Levels Response Rate/Tracking Speed: 133 PPS Resolution: 2540 LPI Stylus/Pen: Battery-Free Technology: Patented Electromagnetic Resonance Method Connector: USB or Wireless Express Keys: 4 Orientation: Left and Right Handed Support O/S Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7 and Mac OS: 10.11 or above Installation: Problems for Some The support is one of the models that replaced the Wacom Bamboo and Wacom Intuos Small Series. It has wireless connectivity as already mentioned and while this is generally a pro, there have been complaints regarding the reliability of the wireless connectivity. Nevertheless, this small graphics tablet is a favorite of many. It comes with 4 customizable express keys, a battery-free stylus, and its size attributes to its portability.
The tablet also comes with free software of choice depending on the version you get. Also, be aware you must have built-in Bluetooth technology in your computer system such as a network card or within your monitor, etc. Check out the pros and cons and decide for yourself. Pen nibs wear down quickly. Rough surface texture to draw on.
Drive installation issues. Wireless issues. Complaints Bluetooth didn’t work adequately. Name: Manufacturer: Wacom General Customer Rating: Active Area: 6.0 x 3.7 Inches Pen Pressure Levels: 4096 Levels Response Rate/Tracking Speed: 133 PPS Resolution: 2540 LPI Stylus/Pen: Battery-Free Technology: Patented Electromagnetic Resonance Method Connector: USB or Micro-USB Express Keys: 4 Orientation: Left and Right Handed Support O/S Compatibility: Windows 10/8/7 and Mac OS: 10.11 or above Installation: Problems for Some The is a newer version of the Wacom Intuos Small Series which replaced the Wacom Bamboo series. The CTL4100 Small is the smaller version of the Medium and Larger current Wacom Intuos Pro graphics tablets. This means it comes with fewer features but has great pressure sensitivity and responsiveness.
Since it is a Wacom device it is usually a favorite of professionals, but the graphics tablet is not without its issues. Installation can be a pain and some have complained about software issues despite the manufacturer’s well-known name in the market. Check out the pros and cons and decide for yourself. Hi Roy- I want to start drawing webcomics but I desperately need assistance. You mentioned that some of these tablets come with comic software. Once you hook a graphics tablet up to your computer, are you automatically able to start drawing right there on the spot or do you need software to draw digitally?
If I needed to draw panel boxes (for my comics) on a blank white space on the computer, would I need a software program like GIMP, Photoshop, Corel, etc. How would that work? I want to draw pages of material but the only art related thing I even have on my computer is Paint. I apologize if this is an ignorant question again- I’m totally inexperienced when it comes to anything “tech”-y and have no idea where to start! Hello Anna, Your question is not ignorant. I apologize for my delayed response.
You could hook a graphics tablet up and draw through Microsoft Paint, but there are open source options to Photoshop like GIMP, Paint.Net, etc. The only issue is you have to be careful as some of the off-brand (non-Wacom) tablets may not work well with the open source versions unless you are computer savvy enough to tinker with everything to get it to work. I tend to use a combination of Photoshop and Illustrator when I make comics. I’ve heard some people use InDesign. As far as Illustrator alternatives you have InkScape, SVG-Edit and a few others:. If you’ve never done this before then my process may help a bit.
Sometimes I draw on paper, scan the pencil artwork onto the computer, or inked artwork and then bring it into my graphics editing software. Of course, this would require you to have a scanner but yes, having a graphics tablet such as a Wacom would require you to have some type of graphics editing software like Photoshop, Corel, etc. Hope this makes sense, Roy. Hello Sue, Hopefully this reply reaches you.
If your son is a PC gamer then he most likely has Windows as an Operating System. I build my own PC Systems and frequent various avenues of the computer gaming community and while it’s possible to play games on Mac or Linux, most, if not all games are developed with a Windows O/S in mind. With that said, your budget opens you up to a wide range of drawing/graphics tablets. I’ll list a few to get you started. There is the, as far as the industry top brand goes and all three models fit within your budget. Honestly, if you are going to go for the small, you should probably settle for the medium. However, it really depends on the size you need and the space your son will work in.
As far as alternatives, I have used brands from Turcom, specifically the, but it is not without it’s quirks. However, it is extremely low cost in comparison to Wacom. I have also used Ugee and Xp-Pen, but their graphic display monitors which go outside your budget range. Ultimately since you are purchasing for someone else and would probably prefer something with less of a technical learning curve, I would suggest considering the Wacom products despite their price. If you want something on the lower cost area for Wacom then you’ll have to consider their smaller tablets such as their. Or you can pick anyone of the. Hope this helps, Roy.
Michael, Sorry for the delayed response. Unfortunately I don’t use many drawing apps on devices/tablets unless you mean drawing apps on computers? However, I do recall in response to another question elsewhere I briefly looked over a Photoshop app and Autodesk Sketch app. However, I’ve never used them.
If it’s software on the computer you could try to shell out the $$ for Adobe Creative Cloud or find an older version that is equally expensive or look into open source software like InkSkape, GIMP, etc. Hope this helps, Roy. I’ve been searching around for graphics tablets, and it looks like most of them have a lot of the same bells and whistles. I don’t need anything fancy, I just want something that I can rest assured will work well for a good time and has a decent size active area (maybe at least 8 or 10 inches width). Pressure sensitivity and all that isn’t really important to me, and I’d like to stay around $50 or less.
I’m also a lefty, which I suppose plays into some of them. It’s looking to me like Ugee, Turcom, and Monoprice are the ones for me to be looking at, but there are still so many different ones! Do you have any suggestions from those? Sam, Thanks for commenting. Sorry for the late reply.
I have used all three. I had no problems with Turcom and I’m currently using Ugee’s graphic display monitor and I have no problems with it. This is not to say there aren’t issues one may have to work around using them nor were there minor issues I had to work around.
They just weren’t gigantic ones which caused me headaches and such. Speaking for myself, most of the time it had or usually has to do with the driver and making sure its working properly before using the tablet or graphic display monitor to do artwork. Still, I would recommend Turcom or Ugee.
Based on customer review rating alone and if you are definitely in need of a wireless graphics tablet then I would say either the Huion WH1409 or the XP-Pen Star 05. The latter is the cheapest of the two. The Huion 1060 Plus isn’t really wireless from what I can see. It just has a microSD card for extra storage. Same with the Ugee M708. Other than that, I would investigate what software she will use it with.
Do you guys have Photoshop? If so then you don’t have much to worry about, but if you’re using something else you may need to check to see if the tablet runs well with those programs. Of the two brands you have mentioned, I have used products from XP.
So I would personally lean that way based on my experience with a graphic display monitor I used for review purposes. I didn’t have any problems with it, however, I only used it for about a month to review before installing another tablet to review. However, Huion’s H610 has been around for a while longer than the XP-Pens and you may find more user experience reviews around that can give you an idea of what you’re getting. I guess, again, I would probably lean towards the XP-Pen Star 03 based on experience with the brand.
Hello, firstly, I love your comparison of tablets, it’s well organized and looks like you put a lot of work into it. I’ve been looking to buy a tablet for a few years now, but like a lot of other things, haven’t been able to get one until now. I’ve recently moved out into my first apartment and can order stuff online now (I had rather overprotective parents), however money is scarce and I’ll probably be digging a little into my grocery budget. I used to animate in Macromedia Flash 8, and I currently plan on animating in Pencil2d and anything other than flash. I have some bad opinions on adobe. I’m also interested in drawing in some open source software like Krita and Gimp.
I run debian linux and windows. I understand what would happen if the resolution is too low, you would either run out of room on the active area, or jump pixels from the sensitivity being too high, It’s similar to a cheap mouse with low dpi, however I’ve never used a tablet before so I’m unsure what is too low of a resolution. Wired or rechargeable would be best, as batteries are expensive, and I don’t care too much about small tablets, It can be small if it saves money. I would prefer one with an eraser on the stylus, but could overlook it if it saves a decent amount of money. My questions are, what would be the absolute cheapest tablet you think would still be usable, and after that, what tablet do you think would have the best quality per dollar spent. For the cheapest I was hoping to achieve a price somewhere near 40 canadian dollars, and for the average feel free to pick what you think is the best for the money.
40 cad is about 30 usd. Thank you in advanced for reading this comment, and sorry for its length. I don’t mean to be picky, however I figure it’s better than me being super unspecific and you having to choose something with nothing to go on. Jacob, First, thanks for stopping by my site and leaving a comment and I apologize for the late reply. Second, based on your requirements of which I see operating system compatibility and cost as the major needs, I’m reluctant to make an absolute recommendation.
Overlooking some of the affordable tablets I have listed, I think Huion and Turcom will fit your price requirement, but my concern is whether they will fit your technical needs. Especially if you plan to use the tablet on the Linux side. To be fair, all tablets, including Wacom, come with their technical issues so it would depend on how comfortable you are with troubleshooting and how much of a headache you want to deal with setting it up.
This may seem like a vague response to your question, but in cheapness, Huion and Turcom seem to fall into that spectrum. In quality, of course the one that fits that requirement is Wacom, but it’s going to cost you in the price. Hope that helps, Roy. Stewart, Sorry to hear this. It’s good information to know. If you can, keep us updated.
My guess from the experience I do have working with technologies is Sierra is a fresh O/S Software and Huion has to update their installation/driver software to be compatible. However, a quick google search has led me to pros and cons on Sierra as well. Just remember nothing is perfect, this may sound like a cop-out, but it’s also a reality. Especially with technology. For one individual a piece of technology will seem flawless while another will have all kinds of difficulties. My hope is that Huion will seek to upgrade their drivers to produce a better compatibility for upcoming O/S software or help you out with your issues in the future.
HI Roy I’m trying to choose a table for my 13 year old son for Christmas, I literally came across these drawing tablets by accident and know nothing about them. Your article is interesting however I’m still confused what is best/most practical for him.
He loves drawing so can you recommend something that would be good for him. My budget is around £60 – something that will last him for a while that he can take when travelling and isn’t complicated to use/set up but is the best on the market at this price. I am looking for a tablet! I would like to use it for animation, so I am looking for something that could take thousands of fairly simple drawings. Also, if possible, one that plugs INTO the computer would be nice, but not necessary (bluetooth and that other stuff is a little complicated). I have ZERO experience with drawing tablets, so something simple would be good. If this tablet came with a stylus/pen, that would be FANTASTIC, but once again, not necessary, and I could buy it separately.
Size isn’t too important, but I don’t want something too tiny. Furthermore, I am not looking for something too high-end, so ones on the cheaper end would suffice. It would have to be compatible with OS X Yosemite, but it would be good for it to be compatible with other computer brands.
I do not care if the pen needs a battery. I am sorry if you cannot find a tablet that meets this criteria (I know I sound really picky), but still, thank you for your time. Hello, Thanks for your comment and first, I apologize if this comes off as telling you somethins you already know, but I am responding to some of the things you said. It is not my intention to be offensive. Many of the tablets listed here may meet your criteria. As far as whether it works with Mac OS X Yosemite, you may have to reach out to manufacturers to find that out after you’ve narrowed one down. Nearly all graphic tablets come with stylus/pens.
However, tablets won’t take your sequence of illustrations and put them onto the computer to animate. You will need a specific scanner for that if you don’t have one and you are drawing your animated sequences traditionally and scanning them onto the computer to digitally put line art and/or color to them with your tablet. Considering you may be simply cutting out the traditional portion of your method and simply doing everything digitally I would recommend these two, however I have not used them:.
They are small but generally $100 less than most Cintiq alternative tablets and not too high-end, but allow you to draw on the screen. If that is not a big issue for you, I would probably suggest anything from maybe Huion, Ugee or Wacom, with the latter probably falling more into criteria since it would relatively give you less headaches setting it up on a Mac. However, the downside is usually the only affordable Wacoms are usually the smaller ones as seen above. The Intous series and larger ones start to get a little pricey. For instance, a runs about $200 (as of ) and a runs about $400 (as of ). However, considering Wacom has been on the market and you don’t have experience with graphic drawing tablets, it would give you less headaches. Otherwise, I would suggest pillaging through reviews and making your decision based on user experiences to determine your best option within the recommended drawing tablets here.
Otherwise, I could make a final recommendation and what’s easy for me to set up, or where I would have more patience, would not be acceptable for you. I would prefer not to put you in that situation so I make general recommendations based off what you listed. Hope this helps, Roy. Mike, you can look into open source like, (be careful with where you download this at), and (for 3D) to name a few. Of all of them I have used FireAlpaca, InkScape, GIMP (on Linux, although they have it for Mac and Windows now) and Blender.
However, unfortunately in relation to expenses, if he does want to get into game design he will have to eventually learn whatever tools favored in the industry at the time. Eventually, but it would be good to just familiarize himself with general concepts, digital art, traditional art, etc. The downside here is some tablets can get funny with open source software.
Stuff like Blender is well received in the community so people tend to make things work with it. Tablets can also come with their own software like, etc. Lighter versions of the Adobe Photoshop and other software, but the downside is they may not function or have all of the tools as the full versions. Some come with their own graphic art software. There’s also, it’s been a while since I used it, but I recall it being relatively similar to Photoshop.
It also looks like they’ve made some decent updates to the software. Again, just to name a few off the top of my head. Hope that helps, Roy. Erin, Hello, thanks for stopping. In relation to your question it depends on what size you may want. If you don’t mind a small tablet, I would go for one of the Wacom Intous versions for under $100.
![]()
However, while I haven’t used any of the smaller Ugee tablets, I have used their graphic monitor, the Ugee 2150. It worked well so it gives them some credibility so you could look at any one of those. It also depends on what type of software you may want to utilize as well and how tech savvy you are when it comes to wrestling with any quirks the device may have with software, etc. To be hones, Wacom isn’t even immune to problems in that area.
Are you using Flash, Anime Studio, or something else for animation? Corel for painting? Or are you sticking with all Adobe products? Some tablets won’t act right with things like Alpaca and Paint Tool Sai, etc.
I can say Wacom generally works with everything, but again, nothing is immune to technical problems. Let me know if this helps or if you have more information to add to give a narrower idea of what you may want to choose. Marty, Sometimes the active area information is hard to track down. Don’t ask me why some manufacturers don’t list this so I try to maintain a consistent list of specifications for each tablet.
If I put active area up for one, but can’t find it for another tablet, people will wonder why it’s missing for the latter. So I opted not to list it. Generally speaking if a tablet offers a larger size active area I will list that in one of the advantages of the tablet. However, if a tablet is already small, I will list that in the disadvantages. But tablet size is more so a personal preference so I list it mostly for informative purposes.
As to manuals, yes, those usually come from the manufacturer. All manuals aren’t equal, some are helpful and some are entirely worthless. It’s really hit or miss. As far as rechargeable battery in the pens, I would speculate this is possible if the battery fits. Rest assured tho, most battery charged pens do not drain the batteries fast unless there’s some type of problem or the design of the battery chargeable pen is bad and it does that right out of the box.
Again, this seems to be a rare issue and an issue where it is a problem on arrival rather than a design issue in manufacturing. I’ll say this also. Choosing a tablet is a lot like choosing anything else. Weigh the pros and cons. The big name in the tablet industry, Wacom, still develops tablets in which some people find issues with them. Hope this helps, Roy. Hello Jason, I apologize for the delayed reply.
I would suggest you look into the Ugee M708: for an off-brand tablet. If you can spare a few extra dollars past $70, I would suggest, considering you are in Lebanon, looking into the Wacom’s Small Intuos line, but they are very small:. Lastly, I would suggest looking into a refurbished or old Wacom version with the downside being you won’t have technical support from the company since these versions are no longer provided by Wacom:. XP-Pen and Parblo, although I have yet to update this page with those brands, get good reviews but I did not suggest those since they are newer brands on the market and I’m not sure where you would order from in regards to Amazon. I mean like Amazon UK, etc. So I’m not certain if those companies will provide shipment to you through Amazon service. My advice would be to take a little bit of time and make sure whatever tablet you order that the company will provide you support where you are.
Hopefully this helps and sorry if it doesn’t answer as much as you hoped, but thanks for asking, Leroy. Trackbacks/Pingbacks. The 5 best affordable graphics tablet list, Best drawing tablets for those on a budget and Are you looking for the best. in the market for an affordable graphics tablet, be sure to check out this article on some of the. You can pick them up for a reasonable price, I use the Ugee M708 which is both responsive and.
might be cheaper since it is almost Christmas. If you’ve been meaning to get a tablet, take a look. If you’re looking for a graphics tablet, feel free to stop by Best Graphics Tablets in the next few.
Comments are closed.
|
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |