Xencelabs Graphic Tablet review: a great midrange tablet for artists

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As some of you may already know, I talked more about my favorite way to draw digitally with an iPad and Apple Pencil. However, there are times when this is not possible.

Even for photo editing, I’m not the biggest fan of Photoshop on the iPad, so I gravitate towards desktop Photoshop. When designing in Illustrator, I prefer the desktop version as it has more tools for my workflow.

Sure, there is Sidecar, but it doesn’t work well with Adobe products at the moment.

So my setup still has room for a good old graphics tablet, and I was excited to see one from Xencelabs.

If you’re into digital art, you already know that many professionals tend to rely on Wacom tablets. This tablet, the Xencelabs Medium graphics tablet, can most easily be compared to the Wacom Intuos Medium, which at $200 is considered part of the entry-level lineup.

However, it feels like it’s somewhere between the Intuos Medium and the Intuos Pro Medium, a high-end device with a retail price of $300 to $380.

The Xencelabs Medium graphics tablet measures a total of 12.61″ x 9.16″ with an active drawing area of ​​10.33″ x 5.8″. This gives it a slightly larger active area than the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet.

The active area resolution is 16:9, making it easy to draw on even if you already have a 16:9 monitor.

I also like the design of the tablet. The thickness is about 8mm, so it is convenient to carry.

The bottom has a gently beveled edge that acts as a natural wrist rest.

I’m not sure how good or bad the tablet is, but I like the little backlit LED corners that mark the edges of the tablet’s active area.

At the top of your tablet are three shortcut buttons that you can map to perform functions you want to use on a regular basis.

For example, for illustrator, I prefer to set it to Command + Z rather than worrying about reaching for the keyboard if I want to undo something.

The tablet works either tethered over USB or with the included wireless dongle. Both options are great, but tethering lets you charge your tablet at the same time, making it perfect for long drawing and editing sessions.

The included USB cable has USB-C on the tablet side and USB-A on the side that plugs into the machine. If you have a Mac, you can use the included USB-A to USB-C adapter or swap the cord for a USB-C to USB-C cord you already own.

I appreciated that the Xencelabs tablet comes with two battery-free pens (a fat and a thin pen) and 10 replacement nibs. There are 6 standard nibs and 4 felt tip nibs, and if you burn out all the nibs, Xencelabs sells replacement packs on their Amazon store page. The pen, nib and nib remover are in a protective case.

Finally, Xencelabs includes a drawing glove and tablet sleeve, which I thought was great. The sleeve is padded and includes a pocket to carry a USB cable, helping protect your graphics tablet during transport.

Drawing gloves are standard drawing gloves that help reduce friction while drawing.

Setting up the tablet is easy. You should visit his website at Xencelabs to get drivers available for both Mac and PC and install them on your device of choice.

After installing the driver, you can use it out of the box or access the Xencelabs app on your computer to customize shortcut buttons and pen pressure.

Set one button to act as an undo trigger, and the other two buttons as hotkeys to increase or decrease pen size in Photoshop. The Xencelabs app also allows you to set shortcuts per program. This is useful.

The Xencelabs Tablet has 8,192 levels of pen pressure, double that of the medium Wacom Intuos and the same as the Intuos Medium Pro. It allows for an incredible range of pressure, allowing you to get buttery smooth strokes while drawing.

A program like Photoshop that allows you to customize the level of software-assisted stroke smoothing makes for a very enjoyable drawing experience.

When I tried using a tablet, I found it to be very similar in drawing comfort to the Intuos Pro series, and was highly rated.

I especially enjoy the fact that I can use two different pens, but I find myself leaning towards using the thicker 3-button pen. I’ve found this to be more comfortable to use in longer creative sessions.

This graphics tablet has some features that I would have liked to have seen.

The biggest missed opportunity is increasing the number of shortcut buttons. The tablet itself has three on top, one less than the standard Intuos Medium.

Xencelabs sells a supplemental shortcut tool called Quick Keys, but it costs $100. This is an additional cost worth noting.

Another thing that bothers me is that there is no pen stand. Any artist who works with a tablet knows how annoying it can be when your pen rolls off your desk or rolls behind your keyboard while you work.

I could put the pen back in the case while I wasn’t using it, but that wasn’t a short-term solution. is much more suitable.

Finally, nib replacement tools are pretty cheap. The first time I used it, it crumpled in shape before I changed the nib.

This is a minor issue, but something to be aware of. We recommend finding another tool to remove the nibs.

I found some of these issues annoying, but that doesn’t stop me from saying this is a good tablet.

I like my Xencelabs tablets. Its size is perfect for most artists, and the pen is great and nearly identical to the Intuos Pro. It lacks a few things I loved about the Intuos Pro line—the extra shortcut keys—but it’s a great tablet in its own right.

If you want to save a little money, Xencelabs are a great alternative to expensive tablets like the Intuos Pro.

• 8,192 levels of pen pressure
• Includes 2 pens
• Curved palm/wrist rest area
• Full range of accessories such as tablet sleeves, drawing gloves, and pen cases

• Only 3 shortcut buttons
• no pen holder
• The nib remover looks cheap

The Xencelabs Medium Graphic Tablet is available from Amazon for $279.99. There is currently a $42 discount at checkout.

If you prefer a smaller tablet, the Xencelabs Small Tablet retails for $199.99, and there’s a $60 coupon right now on the listing page.