: Are graphics tablets (drawing tablets) still relevant? So a precursor - I'm not intending to call their relevance into question, rather I am a non-expert looking primarily for an expert's view

@Sims5801359

A Graphics Tablet offers a lot of functionality over a Tablet Computer. I'll only talk of Wacom. There are others such as Huion but I've never tried it to offer an opinion on.


First off a lot of 2-in-1's lose keyboard functionality when in tablet mode. This includes Surface's and Lenovo's. That means you have little to no shortcuts.
Texture. This is a bit of an opinion but generally Wacom's feel much better than Microsoft based pens. iPad Pencil is quite nice but a different feel as well, and not really part of this question since you're asking about touchscreen computers.
Pressure Sensitivity. The ones coming in 2-in-1s are improving but they still have nowhere near the sensitivity of Wacoms. As the 2-in-1's are improving so are Wacom's as well. You can absolutely tell the difference between a 1024 and a 2048. 8192 is what some of the new top end Wacom's offer.
Tilt doesn't function at all on low end Wacom's or Microsoft based tablets. Apple Pencil and Pro Wacom's have this.
Precision. I think this is actually kinda with the texture. On 2-in-1's I found it harder to be precise. Not sure if its because of the glass or what. I don't recall on Lenovo's but on Surface another issue is you can't really see the cursor when you're not hovering over it. With Wacom these issues don't exist.
On the really high end displays by Wacom you also have 96% AdobeRGB coverage.
Nibs. Wacom pro models have many different nibs which comes with it and are also easily changed and replaced. The nib is the point of the stylus.
Buttons. Not only do Surface's and Lenovo's have decreased functionality from lack of keyboard while using the stylus but the stylus itself has less buttons than a Wacom.




Now, is any sort of stylus important? That depends on what you're SO does. But a real graphics tablet is still vastly superior to the 2in1 competition. Will this always be the case? Doubtful. But it is now.



*The Microsoft Surface Studio does let keyboard entry while using the stylus. So do other touch screen desktop units. The rest are still issues.

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@Kimberly620

It depends on the artist and what the artist does. A tablet is very strongly either a:


productivity increaser
or a nice to have feature.


There are workflows where a tablet is a killer feature and there are workflows where its not so important. So to answer the question whether or not its a necessary thing depends on what your artist friend is doing.

Also see:


Should I get a graphics tablet for animation?

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