While traveling, versatility is important. I always have both a laptop and standalone tablet with me and being able to connect the two for an extended display setup is exactly the convenience I need. Thanks to EasyCanvas, I have that option with my Android device, and it works well enough for me while on the go with my computer. However, there are still some things missing on the Android version that would really make this completely replace a regular pen display.
The tablet
Below I will be using the 2024 XPPEN Magic Drawing Pad with my Windows 11 laptop. While the Magic Drawing Pad doesn’t have the strongest hardware, it’s a decent size and has a really nice etched glass surface to draw on. It’s great to use for sketching on the go, but when it’s time to get serious, I can connected to my laptop for better hardware and my preferred desktop apps.
I have also tested this with Samsung Galaxy Tab S9FE and the Apple iPad Pro (6th Gen). Both worked flawlessly. The iPad Pro actually gives an even better experience which will be expanded upon further down.
The software – EasyCanvas 2025
EasyCanvas will let you turn your iPad or Android tablet into a wired or wireless display for your computer. It can either mirror or extend your desktop display. In the new version of the app, they’ve update the UI and added support for pen buttons (eg. S Pen) and the double-tap pencil feature of the Apple Pencil 2.
Installation
You will need to install EasyCanvas both on your tablet and on the computer. If you have any similar applications such as SuperDisplay or SpaceDesk, I recommend removing these from both devices first.
First go to the EasynLight website for the PC client of EasyCanvas2025. After downloading, follow the installation steps.
Then on your tablet, look for EasyCanvas 2025 on the Google Play store (or App Store on iPad). Make sure that you select the right version that contains ‘2025’ in the name. Do NOT download the old EasyCanvas or EasyCanvas Sub versions.
You will have 3-day free trial to test out the app and see if it meets your needs. After that, it’s a one-time purchase of around 15 USD. If you already have the older version, this is still a new purchase. Read on for my thoughts on whether it’s worth upgrading.
PC application settings
There’s a limited range of settings in the PC client, but there are some important things you might want to control.
- Refresh rate (up to 120hz)
- Resolution
- Extend or duplicate display
- Autostart
- diagnostics tool
Tablet application settings
The tablet app offers a few more things to customize such as the pressure curve for your pen, the on-screen shortcuts and pen button, and the zoom of your display.
When it comes to the shortcut buttons, you have most of the keyboard buttons to assign. However, Insert, Home, Delete, End, Pg Up, Pg Dn, and the arrow keys are not available. You also can’t assign mouseclicks.
When tapping on the icon next to each shortcut in the customization window, you’ll be to choose a new one for it.
Testing
Cursor tracking
Something I am accustomed to on my devices is cursor tracking where the computer cursor follows the movement of the pen while it hovers above the tablet. This will let you see your brush shape and size while hovering and is great for being able to predict how you brush stroke will appear.
EasyCanvas on Android does NOT support cursor tracking. You will see the small Android cursor, but this is not all that helpful with drawing and painting. This is supported though on iPads that support Pencil Hover.
Pen response
EasyCanvas supports the standard features of the pen that you’re using. This includes the pressure sensitivity and tilt (if the tablet recognizes it). In this case, I’m using both the X3 Pro Pencil that comes with the Magic Drawing Pad and the X3 Pro stylus that came with the Deco Pro Gen 2.
The pressure response was really good. Light strokes appeared well, and shifting from light to heavy and back to light in a single stroke was smooth and accurate.
Pen button
Pen button support is the main new feature of EasyCanvas 2025. On my regular drawing tablets, I use one of the pen buttons for my eyedropper to quickly pick colours from the canvas. BUT the pen button doesn’t work the way that I would like.
When pressing the pen button, the assigned shortcut only triggers on the release of the button. This is pretty counter to what I am used to and would prefer that the action triggers on the press so that I can hold the button down.
Touch input
Touch input works normally and allows you to zoom, pan, undo, and interacted with the UI. You are limited to 1- and 2- finger gestures only.
Another thing I wanted to test was pressing and holding the actual EasyCanvas shortcut buttons to temporarily trigger certain tools like the eraser or the eyedropper. This does not work in the Android version of the app though.
Drawing experience
The drawing experience of using the Magic Drawing Pad with EasyCanvas was quite good. The tablet itself has a great etched glass drawing surface that diffuses light and has a very slight texture to it. I used both Clip Studio Paint and Magma for drawing here.
I definitely missed the cursor shape appearing while my pen hovered over the canvas and it made the experience a bit uncomfortable at first. It was more of a problem with painting rather than sketching with smaller brushes.
Not being able to hold the pen button or on-screen shortcut buttons down led to to use a controller or keyboard most of the time.
Using an Android tab as an extended display for computer has limitations though, specifically the size. While 12-13″ is generally fine, I usually prefer something bigger once I’m more permanently fixed at my desk.
Wireless vs wired use
It’s best to use EasyCanvas via a wired connection for better performance and stability. That said though, I was actually quite impressed by how smooth wireless mode was.
To use the tablet as a wireless display, you will need to be connected to the same WiFi network. For first-time connection, you’ll also need to connect via USB and then unplug it. After that, you should be able to connect without needing the USB connection again.
EasyCanvas on iPad vs Android
You can also use EasyCanvas to turn your iPad into a drawing tablet for your computer and it offers more than on Android.
If you are using the Apple Pencil 2 with an iPad that supports Pencil Hover, then cursor tracking works correctly. EasyCanvas also lets you customize the double-tap Pencil function.
Unlike on Android, the on-screen shortcut buttons can be pressed and held to activate a tool. Then on release, it will switch back to your previous one. I prefer this for something like the eyedropper instead of using the standard long-press with your finger to pick colours from the canvas.
Overall thoughts
EasyCanvas works really well to turn your Magic Drawing Pad (or any Android device) into a drawing tablet with your Windows computer. I found it to be really convenient, however, I don’t feel like this is a significant upgrade on the previous version.
The main new feature is the pen button support which is not practical for me to use for anything except the Undo action. If the action is triggered instead on the press rather than release, it would be more useful.
The lack of cursor tracking is another important thing for me. I am quite accustomed to having this to predict my brush strokes, and not having it feels a bit disorientating.
Both of these features are available on the iPad Pro though, making the experience of the app much better. I hope that the EasyCanvas team can bring these over to the Android version.
Should you buy it
If you have a mobile tablet, whether Android or iPad, an app like this definitely useful. The added versatility makes it a worthwhile purchase for only US$15. BUT if you already have the previous version of EasyCanvas though, I don’t think it’s worth purchasing the new one yet until there are some new features and improvements.
