If you’re a designer, studying art, or simply starting to take drawing or editing more seriously, you’ll be familiar with Wacom. It’s a benchmark in the digital tablet industry, an indispensable tool for digital art.
Pen tablets have been around long before creative users started experimenting with pens on tablets. In fact, the e-pen technology currently used in tablets is directly derived from their previous, more professional counterparts, pen tablets, among which the Wacom brand has always been a mainstay.
To put it simply, these devices consist of a touch-sensitive pad or panel on which we use a specialized stylus to draw. In its simplest versions, the tablet is simply a receptor for the stylus, while in the more advanced and professional models, the screen itself acts as a receptor, reacting like a professional-grade precision tablet, allowing you to draw on digital media just as you would on paper. Without sacrificing all the digital tools and capabilities, of course.
Without further ado, we leave you with the selection of Wacom tablets.
Wacom Intuos Small
We’ll start with Wacom’s simplest model, which is so affordable that it’s the ideal gift for any digital art enthusiast. It’s a 7-inch tablet, a small surface area but more than enough to start experimenting with the format.
It features 4,096 sensitivity levels, allowing you to adapt strokes and swipes to different pressures at any given time. It includes a Wacom One pen with a precision of 0.25 mm digital tolerance and two configurable buttons for different uses on each platform or work environment. It also comes with replaceable tips and an ergonomic, battery-free design.
It costs around €50 on Amazon and has over 9,100 reviews, as well as a 4.6/5 star rating. It’s perfect for students and anyone looking to explore their creative side or to make some computer tasks easier.
Wacom One by Medium
We’re moving up a notch with this larger tablet, which offers a work surface of 27.7 square centimeters. However, it’s a less sensitive model, with 2048 pressure levels, half the number of the Intuos Small.
Of course, it also includes a digital pencil with a digital tolerance accuracy of 0.25 mm and readability up to 7 mm in height. Its external dimensions are 277 mm x 189 mm, making it a simpler but larger model, ideal for beginners and students who require a larger work area, either for convenience or due to their work circumstances.
Priced at around 60 euros, it has nearly 12,000 reviews on Amazon and a 4.6/5 star rating.
Wacom Intuos Pro S
We continue entering the mid-range of digitizing tablets, arriving at the Intuos Pro S, one of the most competent devices we can find within the range of tablets without a screen.
It offers a 16 x 10 mm work surface with customizable control buttons and keys, a radial menu, a touch ring, Bluetooth connectivity, and an ultra-thin design. The pad offers 4,096 pressure levels, and its extensive configuration capabilities and keys add value for more professional work.
Additionally, the Intuos Pro S includes the Wacom Pro Pen 2, a higher-quality pen with 8192 pressure levels, tilt recognition, and a response so fast it offers virtually no lag in your user experience.
It’s a perfect device for advanced students, hobbyists looking to treat themselves, or professionals on a budget. This same tablet is also available in larger M and L versions. It costs around €150 and has over 660 reviews on Amazon, with a rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Wacom One 12
We’re taking another leap forward and finally entering the high-end range, with our first Wacom model with a built-in display: the One 12. As its name suggests, it’s a device with an 11.6-inch display and Full HD resolution, with a 99% sRGB colour rendering capability, which is especially important in the creative field.
The screen also features an anti-glare coating to prevent reflections, and the tablet includes a battery-free EMR pen. It’s a perfect device for getting started with digital ink, very easy to use, and offers plug & play connectivity. Its active working area measures 257 x 145 mm.
It’s worth mentioning, however, that its performance isn’t superior to that of the Intuos Pro, and it’s not entirely suitable for professional users. It’s recommended for beginners and students with no budget constraints, for which it performs perfectly. It costs around €300 and has more than 1,700 reviews on Amazon, with a score of 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Wacom Cintiq 22 »
We end with the highest-end model in this selection, which, however, isn’t the highest-end model among Wacom products. Still, we chose the 22-inch Cintiq as the top-of-the-range model because it’s the benchmark for less experienced hobbyists or professionals, with truly impeccable performance. Devices above this range have very niche uses that are best reserved for those who already make a living from it.
This is a 22-inch Full HD graphics tablet with a 22 ms response time and a color gamut of 72% NTSC and 96% sRGB. It includes a remote control with 17 configuration options and the Wacom Pro Pen 2, of the highest quality and precision.
This is a great professional performance tool, recommended by 100% of its users on PcComponentes. It costs around €1,000 and has 18 reviews on the store, as well as a 4.9/5 star rating.
The choice of top of the range
Which one do we choose? It’s a bold choice to make a recommendation here: every student or professional knows their needs and requirements much better than we do, and will know which of the models presented best suits them.
If you’re looking to give a gift to someone who’s a digital art enthusiast or just starting out, we can tell you that the Intuos Pro is a very good option, with performance that meets the most demanding needs and a price that, while high, isn’t too steep. It’s our winner for the price.
