In this drawing tablet review we’re diving into one of XPPen’s budget entry-level pen displays: the Artist 12 2nd Gen. If you are a beginner looking to make your start with digital drawing and painting, then this may be a good option for you. It’s light and compact, ideal for someone that needs a portable device. Even more so if you intend to pair it with a compatible Android phone. At US$200, it’s an impressive drawing tablet. But is the Artist 12 2nd Gen enough to produce high-quality work?
**Note: This Artist 12 2nd gen tablet was purchased by me to review it for DrawYourWeapon.com, and the views expressed are my own. XPPen did not request this review or offer any payment for doing it.
Pros:
- Compact and portable
- Improved pen technology
- Low price tag
- Android compatibility
Cons:
- Display is a bit small
- Very limited range of Android-compatible devices
- USB-C cable sold separately
- No stand included
Box contents
In the box you will find:
- 1x Artist 12 (2nd gen) tablet
- 1x drawing glove
- 1x battery-free stylus (X3 Elite)
- 10x spare pen nibs
- 1x nib remover
- 1x cleaning cloth
- 3-in-1 connector cable
- 1x USB-A extender cable (male to female)
- Warranty policy and quick start guide
The cable in the box is the 3-in-1 cable with HDMI and two USB-A’s on the one end. If you want to run a single USB-C cable, you’ll have to purchase that separately. There’s also an extender cable included if you want to run the power USB over to a plug point. You might want to get yourself a USB hub if your computer is short on ports.
Specs
The 2nd gen Artist 12 has some key improvements over the first. The display is better with a wider color gamut and contrast ratio. It also has a laminated display which means that the distance between the pen tip and the cursor is much less.
It may look like a regular tablet but the Artist 12 2nd Gen pen display is not a standalone device. That means that it must be plugged into a computer or compatible Android device to work. It’s also does not have a touch screen, so you can’t use your fingers to zoom or pan around the canvas.
| Artist 12 2nd Gen | Artist 12 (old version) | Artist 12 Pro | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Device size | 34.6 x 20.9 x 1.2 cm | 36.9 x 21.9 x 1.15 cm | 35.1 x 22.5 x 1.3 cm | ||
| Active area | 26.3 x 14.8 cm (11.9″) | 26.3 x 14.8 cm (11.6″) | 25.6 x 14.4 cm | ||
| Laminated display | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| Color | 94% Adobe RGB 90% NTSC 127% sRGB | 72% NTSC | 72% NTSC 100% sRGB | ||
| Display Res | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | 1920 x 1080 | ||
| Intitial activation | 3 grams | 8-20 grams | 12 grams | ||
| Express Keys | 8 | 6 + touch bar | 8 + wheel | ||
| Multitouch | No | No | No | ||
The tablet
The Artist 12 2nd gen has 8 customizable express keys along one side. Six of them have braille-like bumps on them to give a slight feel at your fingertips for which button is under them. The Artist 10 2nd gen has only 6 express keys, while the Artist 16 has 10 keys.
On the opposite end, along the side, you’ll find the power and brightness buttons, as well as your USB-C ports. There’s a plug over the one port that would be used with a single USB-C cable instead of the included 3-in-1 cable.
You can use the tablet to duplicate your display or to extend it. You could even use it as your only primary display if you needed to.
There’s no stand included with the tablet. It is a necessary item to have and you can purchase one from their website. For this review of the Artist 12 2nd gen, I’m using Mthe OFT laptop riser to angle the tablet up a bit.
EDIT: While the MOFT laptop riser is a nice option for how light it is and how it simply folds down to the back of the tablet, I wanted something to elevate it as well. I purchased this desktop tablet stand from SSKY on Shopee and it seems to do the job rell. It manages the weight,and allows me to rotate the tablet 360 degrees.
The stand weighs around 1.5kg while the Artist 12 2nd gen weighs just under 900grams.
The X3 stylus
One of the major marketing points for many of XPPen’s recent tablet releases is their X3 pen chip technology. There are some bold claims and fancy imagery to illustrate the improvements. One of those improvements is the amount force needed to register pressure (ie. initial activation force). Now ,as little as 3 grams of force is all that’s needed for your lines to appear.
The stylus is noticeably more sensitive than that of the older Deco Pro we reviewed and much closer to the drawing experience of Wacom’s grip pen.
The pen has two customizable buttons along the side. They’re well placed and require a proper press, so you shouldn’t have any issues aaccidentallyactivating them. It’s quite light, weighing in at only 11.5 grams, but still comfortable to use for long periods. It’s not their best-looking stylus, but this is a budget tablet after all.
Driver
You’ll find the driver for your device over on the XPPen website for download. After installing it, look for a new application on your system called PenTablet. This is where you’ll be able to adjust your display settings and customize your shortcut buttons.
The user interface of the PenTablet application has stepped up it’s fairly straightforward to navigate. It’s divided into three main sections: working area, pen settings, and shortcut keys.
Work area
Under the Work area tab, you’ll adjust things like calibration, display area, primary monitor ,etc. You can also tweak brightness, contrast ,and color temperature here.
Most times when I plugged the tablet, I had a pen-cursor aalignmentissue. To solve it though, I simply went over to the Pen Display tab and clicked Full area.
Pen settings
Pen settings can be customized per app that you use. At the top of the settings window, click the plus symbol to the right of the Application bar and search for the app .exe to create a new profile for it.
Shortcut keys
The express keys along the side of the Artist 12 tablet are customizable to suit your workflow. You can also have different profiles of keyboard shortcuts for the different apps you work in. So you can have one set assigned for painting in Krita while having another for sculpting in Blender.
The buttons can also be set to modifier keys, mouse clicks, and even running applications. There’s the option for switching between monitors as well.
It’s a bit strange that they designed the UI with only 4 of the express keys visible for customization at first. It’s a small thing but it would be easy to fit in the rest upfront.
If your XPPen driver is not saving your settings…
It’s important that, after you have made any changes to your tablet driver settings, be sure to hit the OK button on the bottom left of the interface (the button blending with the logo there). It’s not immediately clear in UI that you need to do this and it’s easy to close the window not realizeing that it didn’t save any of your new shortcut settings.
Drawing test
The line quality with this new X3 Elite stylus seems really good. In Krita, there was some slight wobble when doing slow diagonal lines without any smoothing active. While drawing at a regular speed though, the lines look neat. Holding up to the claims, the amout of force needed for ink to flow is incredibly low. Holding the back of the pen and lightly dragging it across the screen was enough for a line to appear.
I’ve used Krita in the above image. It’s a great bit of software for drawing, painting, and even animation. Plus, it’s 100% free over on their website. If you want to support the developers, consider purchasing it over on Steam.
Using the Artist 12 2nd Gen with Android phones?
Many new pen display tablets from XPPen are compatible with Android phones, but the range of compatible devices is really limited. Your phone needs to have USB-C 3.1 DP 1.2 so it can push out video signal. Most phones run USB 2.0 so you need to check this before purchasing. If you are unsure what type of USB port you have on your device, head over to GSMArena and type in your phone model.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to test out the functionality of the Artist 12 2nd gen on Android for this review.
Buy it?
Overall, the Artist 12 2nd Gen performs well. It would be good option if you are a beginner on a very limited budget looking to get your first display tablet. If are looking for some added screen space for drawing with your phone then this could work too.
The sweet spot for drawing tablet sizes though is between 13 and 16″ without compromising on portability. So if you are are able to gather a few extra dollars, it may be worth going one size up for a more comfortable drawing experience.
So…
Yes, if on a tight budget, have limited desk space, or specifically want to pair with your Android phone.
No, if you have a little more cash for a larger display.
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