XP-Pen Artist15.6 15.6" Drawing Graphics Tablet

Digital Art is just a hobby for me so my comments should be read with this in mind. I find the 15/16 inch size to be ideal for me and wanted a battery free/charging free pen (like the Wacom Classic).I was torn between this XP-Pen Artist 15.6 and the recently announced Wacom Cintiq 16 (I currently use an old Wacom Intuos 5 tablet). But the Cintiq doesn't have express buttons and XP-Pen appeared on sale and the price difference sealed the deal.The XP-Pen arrived well packaged and with a (removable) screen protector already installed. I use an early 2011 MacBook Pro and installing the drivers was a simple process (following the manufacturers driver installation instruction). I was able to forego the power adaptor and power the display directly from my MacBook Pro USB. The display is bright and clear and I was able to adjust to match my laptop screen.Calibrating the pen pointer on the screen is straightforward but you need to keep your head still (in the position you would draw) and then touch the 5 points on screen, with the pen (if you move your head around while touching the 5 calibration points, you will end up with the pointer not matching up with the pen nib across all corners of the screen when in use).The pen is similar in style to my Wacom Classic and is comfortable to use but its not perfect - the nib is made of quite a hard material (harder than the Wacom) and can feel a little 'scratchy' on the screen if moving it rapidly in short movements. The pen has two customisable buttons but the click action is quite weak, and I found I pressed them by accident too often. So much so that I have disabled them.There are also 6 express keys on the tablet that can be programmed to suit your requirements. I would really miss these if I had gone the Cintiq 16 route. I use them constantly on my Intuos and they work well on the Artist 15.6Early days, but so far the XP-Pen Artist 15.6 has exceeded my expectations. I use it with Photoshop CC, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, Artrage 5 and Rebelle 3 and it has performed flawlessly.If the pen was a match for my Wacom Classic it would be 5/5 rather than 4.5/5

After having tried a similar product from a Chinese competitor, I was a bit weary of this new generation of Oriental display tablets. It left me feeling the technology hadn't been fully understood or evolved to take on the undisputed market leader (Wacom).When I stumbled across an incredibly good Black Friday offer from XP-pen (Japanese), I decided to throw the dice once more and ordered the Artist 15.6.Things started going very well from that point on: it arrived a day early to start with. The packaging presented well and once un-boxed the tablet felt well designed, well made and well finished. Some reviewers thought it a bit plastic-y, I can't imagine why, unless expectations were set at the gold-inlaid brushed titanium level.Set-up and connecting was a doodle. Driver install ditto. I had a minor issue with the resolution, but thanks to great online support that was quickly resolved (it was a Windows setting, nothing to do with the product).I've used it for a few days now with Clip Studio Paint and Photoshop - no issues. Drawing is easy and natural, surface resistance is right for me and the tablet reacts well to pen pressure. The parallax (the apparent difference of the pointer position from the the tip of the pen due to the thickness of the glass) is well within tolerance for me - I got used to it in about half an hour. Oh, and it comes with a battery-free stylus. It could do with more function keys though - should have gotten the pro perhaps.Overall, great product, great price. Couldn't say whether this is a Wacom killer but it's certainly in the same ballpark.

I've recently bought the XP-PEN Artist 15.6 at its full price as part of a graphics design University project. Having had the Wacom Bamboo tablet for quite some time, I thought it was time to take a step up to a full-featured graphics tablet. After seeing the price of the Wacom graphics tablet range, I was certain I was going to have to find an alternative. After weeks of consideration and research, I can say with certainty that the Artist 15.6 is a fantastic alternative to Wacom tablets. Below are some pro's and cons for the tablet:PROS• Thin at ≈12mm but very strong - great portability, I often take the graphics tablet to and from various locations, but you'll need a big case!• Easy to set up and use - powered through USB so doesn't require a wall connection (at least not when using my Macbook Pro with it)• Great pen pressure (8192 levels!) - my graphics look really slick and even better than my usual handwriting on pen and paper.• Comes with some nice ancillary attachments - well made anti-fouling glove and solid pen holder with extra nibs (although I don't think I'll ever get through all of them!)• Great & bright looking screen - the IPS display was clearly a good choice to implement in the Artist 15.6 - it looks as good as my Macbook Pro retina display so there's no problems between switching looking at both of the screens after a few hours of use.• Passive pen! Doesn't require batteries so no headaches having to remember to keep the pen charged, I just chuck it in with my tablet in the bag after use and away I go.• 6 adjustable buttons on the side - all customisable through the software available either on the CD given or the XP-Pen website, more buttons than I'm going to need for my work but a breath of fresh air coming from my Wacom Bamboo with only 2 buttons.• Super easy to set up the drivers and integration into my software packages (Fusion 360, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Autodesk Sketchbook)• Packaging was excellent - three layers of protection including the carry case, internal box and foam packaging - arrived in perfect condition.CONS• No included stand, but after having used it flat on the desk for a while it doesn't seem to be too much of a problem. I'll look at getting an articulating arm for this as would be more suitable for my workstation and keeping the tablet out of the way.• Pen doesn't feel as solid as some battery-powered alternatives but this a very small trade off considering the gain in functionality of not having to charge it!THE VERDICTAn absolutely fantastic Wacom alternative, especially if this is your first graphics tablet. Would strongly recommend to any one looking to buy a graphics tablet.