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Get closer to your design work with a hands-on graphics
tablet. Find out what you need and what you can do with it by reading
our expert guide
Whether you’re sketching freehand, drawing a precise mask
around a photograph or controlling curves in Illustrator, drawing with a
mouse can feel like painting with a brick. A pen is a more natural
tool, which is why graphics tablets combine a virtual pen with a virtual
drawing area. The best tablet products are expensive, though, so it’s
easy to put off buying them. They can also take up significant desk
space and aren’t generally very portable. But is the high price worth
it, if the speed and quality of your work improves? The budget Bamboo range is affordable but physically small: the largest Fun M model has an A4 drawing area To
find out, market leader Wacom is a good place to start. At the budget
end is its Bamboo range of products. While the tablets are affordable –
prices start at around £50 – they’re also physically small. The largest
Fun M model has an A5 drawing area. The other models are even smaller,
which makes them difficult to use for professional design. On the
positive side, they can work as a multitouch controller and they can be
made to work wirelessly, which is a big benefit for casual sketching.
Many designers find that a drawing area between A5 and A4 is the most
comfortable. Larger areas are tiring, but smaller areas lack precision
and increase movement errors. If you’re looking for tablets in this
range, you’ll want to explore the Intuos4 series. The pen technology is
more sophisticated than the Bamboo range, with support for pressure and
tilt sensitivity.
The Intuos4 tablets also include
programmable switches and touch-sliders for software control, and an
Absolute mode that matches the pen position to absolute monitor
position. The Relative mode acts more like a mouse, where pen movements
will affect the current cursor point, no matter where it is.
The most interesting Intuos4 models are the £350-priced 4L, which is
approximately A4-sized but corded, and the £275 Wireless, which is
approximately A5 and cordless. Larger and smaller models are available,
but they’re aimed at more specialised applications.
At the
very high end of the current Wacom flagship is the Cintiq range. Unlike
the Intuos4 range, the Cintiqs include a built-in monitor, so you can
draw on the surface and your edits appear instantly under the pen.
There’s also an impressive selection of extra pen options, including a
fine virtual airbrush.
The mighty £2000 Cintiq 24HD has a
resolution of 1920x1200 – big enough to display 1080p video content.
There’s a good selection of programmable buttons, touch sliders and
rotary controls, for fast control of settings and options in your
favourite software. A stylish industrial stand tilts to almost any
angle. Simply clip the Inkling’s USB-connected receiver onto your paper and you’re ready to go It’s
an appealing package but bear in mind that it can take a while to get
comfortable with the Cintiqs. If they are too vertical, your arm soon
gets tired. If they are horizontal, you can’t see the display properly.
And with a weight of 10kg, you won’t be moving a 24HD around the office.
Even the smaller and cheaper 12-inch Cintiq – which you can find for
£775 or so – weighs in at 2kg. It’s almost practical for casual
sketching, but like all the Cintiq models, it needs external power and
video cabling, which isn’t nearly as neat as a wireless solution.
What about alternatives to Wacom? At the budget end, there are
options from manufacturers such as Manhattan and Trust, priced in the
£50-£70 range. You get a larger tablet area for your money than with a
similarly priced Bamboo tablet, and some products even support pen
pressure functionality. But driver support can be hit and miss, and the
overall experience won’t be as smooth.
The other
alternative is an iPad, or other tablet computer, paired with an app
such as Remote Mouse, which converts finger movements into remote mouse
and keyboard events. You won’t get pressure sensitivity or tilt support.
But if you already have an iPad, £1.49 is a cheap way to get physical
with your work without breaking into a sweat about the expense.
Alternatively, you can spend £21 on Wacom’s own Bamboo Stylus, which
adds Wacom pen features to the iPad, creating a graphics tablet that is
both small enough and light enough to use almost anywhere. Add Remote
Mouse to the combination and you can edit graphics on a large monitor
from your iPad, while using your favourite Mac or PC software.
This used to be a page titled, 5 Best
Affordable Graphics Tablets, but I’ve chosen to expand the purpose of
this page to the Best Affordable Graphics Tablets on the market. Why?
Well for a variety of reasons. When I first started this website, to be
honest, my main goal was to make some extra income and honestly that’s
still one of my goals, but now I definitely see the benefit in offering
the best valued information I possibly can in order to better assist my
fellow artists, hobbyists, students, etc. Generally I will provide
links to Affordable Graphics Tablets on Amazon and list them on this page according to prices on Amazon.
I do receive a commission, but it’s no extra charge to you. You can, of
course, go elsewhere to purchase these tablets, but Amazon provides
trusted online service to millions of customers every year, including
myself. For this reason I stand by them.
So why spend time at TheBestGraphicsTablets’ Affordable Graphic Tablets page now?
You may be a student looking for an
affordable Wacom alternative and you’re tired of some of the Wacom bias
out there in the graphic tablet review world.
You may be a parent looking for an affordable but fairly reliable tablet for your creative child.
Or you may be a hobbyist looking to do some digital illustration, webcomics, etc with a limited budget.
What you will find on this page
A list of Graphic Tablets generally sold under or just over $100.00
or $150.00 around the web at the time I updated this page. This list
will give a quick pro vs con breakdown, a picture of the tablet and a
link to where you can buy or do more investigating. In the future this
list may include links to hands on personal reviews I will do.
A “Best” Affordable Tablets of the year list at the top. Based on
my tracking statistics, these are the most tablets purchased over the
year. Over time these will have complimentary personal video reviews I
put up.
A compilation and summation of reviews around the web as well as my
personal reviews on some of the tablets. To be honest, my goal is to
review every tablet on this list personally. However, I don’t want to
put this page on hold while I work on gaining access to each of these
graphic tablets so some will be reviews done through my research of
these graphics tablets before I have the chance to use them myself. I
will be objective, I will be honest, I will give all the positive and
negative feedback I see and give you links to further investigate.
Top 3 Most Popular Best Affordable Tablets of the Year
Huion H610 Pro Graphics Drawing Pen Tablet:
Despite being the fourth most popular Graphics Tablet according to my
stats, the Huion H610 is the Amazon #1 Best Seller in Drawing
Tablets/Tables & Boards. Other than the Tucom TS6580b, it’s one of
the more affordable and popular Wacom alternatives on the market. Please
see a more detailed review summation here.
Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small Tablet (CTH 480):
The Wacom Intous Pen & Touch Small tablet has a variety of
selections. A version that ships with Manga and Anime Studio software, a
version without touch technology and a version with touch technology. Please see a more personal partial-hybrid review here.
Turcom Pen Sketch High Resolution Drawing Tablet Model TS-6580 (White) TS-6580B (Black):
The Turcom Pen Sketch TS-6580 comes in black and white. The black
TS-6580b has been one of the more popular purchases through my articles
here. Again, while not an Amazon Best Seller, there were a high number
of purchases between the months of September and October. One word of
caution: For some reason the sellers on Amazon have decided to list the
TS-6580 as a Touch Tablet. IT IS NOT A TOUCH TABLET! However, it is still a good affordable tablet.Hands on, personal review available, click here!
Honorable Mentions:
Wacom Bamboo Capture Pen and Touch Tablet (CTH470):
The Wacom Bamboo Capture Pen and Touch was one of the most popular
tablets customers purchase over at Amazon. While the CTH470 may not be
an Amazon Best Seller, I have tracked the amount of numbers purchased
between 2013-2014. For this reason I listed it as the most popular of
the Five Best Affordable Tablets of those years. Please be aware,
as of May 2015, I’ve noticed Wacom no longer provides the CTH470 or
other versions of this model of the Bamboo tablets on Amazon. Nor are
they still available on Wacom’s official site. For the time being, this
tablet seems to have been fully usurped by the Bamboo Wireless
and/or the Wacom Intous Pen and Touch Small. I plan to do a full update
of this page soon, but in the meantime see below for tablet #3, Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small.
Also be aware, the old link provided for the Bamboo Capture Pen and
Touch Tablet has used tablets under $100, but the new tablets sold by
third party sellers can reach the $200 range. Hopefully as time passes
these prices will balance out. Otherwise, please see a more detailed
review summation for the Capture Pen and Touch (CTH470) here.
Monoprice 10X6.25 Inch Graphic Drawing Tablet :
The MP1060 or simply the Monoprice 10 X 6.25 Drawing Tablet was fifth
on the most popular affordable tablets list from 2013-2014 and during
the early months of 2015. However, since then the purchase statistics
have dropped significantly and it’s popularity has dwindled in favor of
the three tablets listed above. Nevertheless, the Monoprice 10 x 6.25
has been known as the a popular affordable alternative to Wacom Tablets.
Please see a more detailed review summation here.
Ultimate List of Affordable Graphics Tablets Under $100.00/$150.00 as of 2014
The following list is a compilation and
quick pro vs con summation of various reviews and tablets found mostly
over at Amazon. The following list is not meant to be an exhaustive or
fully complete list. It’s not meant to complete mini reviews of each
tablet listed, but the list is designed to give you a quick comparative
look at various low priced tablets on the market. Low priced, again
being under $100 or no more than $150.00. Also, the list does not and
will not include the five most popular tablets you see above.
and list them on this page according to prices on 
:
Despite being the fourth most popular Graphics Tablet according to my
stats, the Huion H610 is the Amazon #1 Best Seller in Drawing
Tablets/Tables & Boards. Other than the Tucom TS6580b, it’s one of
the more affordable and popular Wacom alternatives on the market. Please
see a more detailed review summation
(CTH 480):
The Wacom Intous Pen & Touch Small tablet has a variety of
selections. A version that ships with Manga and Anime Studio software, a
version without touch technology and a version with touch technology. Please see a more personal partial-hybrid review 
:
The Turcom Pen Sketch TS-6580 comes in black and white. The black
TS-6580b has been one of the more popular purchases through my articles
here. Again, while not an Amazon Best Seller, there were a high number
of purchases between the months of September and October. One word of
caution: For some reason the sellers on Amazon have decided to list the
TS-6580 as a Touch Tablet. IT IS NOT A TOUCH TABLET! However, it is still a good affordable tablet. Hands on, personal review available, 
:
The Wacom Bamboo Capture Pen and Touch was one of the most popular
tablets customers purchase over at Amazon. While the CTH470 may not be
an Amazon Best Seller, I have tracked the amount of numbers purchased
between 2013-2014. For this reason I listed it as the most popular of
the Five Best Affordable Tablets of those years. Please be aware,
as of May 2015, I’ve noticed Wacom no longer provides the CTH470 or
other versions of this model of the Bamboo tablets on Amazon. Nor are
they still available on Wacom’s official site. For the time being, this
tablet seems to have been fully usurped by the 
:
The MP1060 or simply the Monoprice 10 X 6.25 Drawing Tablet was fifth
on the most popular affordable tablets list from 2013-2014 and during
the early months of 2015. However, since then the purchase statistics
have dropped significantly and it’s popularity has dwindled in favor of
the three tablets listed above. Nevertheless, the Monoprice 10 x 6.25
has been known as the a popular affordable alternative to Wacom Tablets.
Please see a more detailed review summation 
