I used to be skeptical concerning the new Wacom One 13 Touch. I’ve been a completely wi-fi digital artist for years now. My iPad Pro and I are inseparable. It’s my sketchbook, my skilled productiveness workity-work machine, and my favorite art tool. How might a tethered show pill even start to match to my beloved iPad Pro?

Well, after a while with Wacom’s new drawing pill, I discovered myself utilizing any excuse to place the stylus to display screen.

Fun With a Stylus

Right out of the field, you’re just one cable away from utilizing the Wacom One Touch. The setup course of couldn’t be simpler. It’s a shining instance of the convenience USB-C brings to show setup. No wrestling with HDMI cables—simply plug one finish into the pill and the opposite into your graphics card or laptop computer. Even with out the Wacom drivers, it really works as a primary contact show.

When you first drag the stylus throughout the display screen, it’s instantly clear that this can be a exact and responsive drawing show. The stylus glides effortlessly over the 1,080p, matte, textured display screen, abandoning clean, exact brushstrokes. To say it’s a pleasure to attract on is an understatement. For any device, the higher it feels to make use of, the extra probably you’re to make use of it. I discovered myself inventing further causes to make use of the Wacom One only for the enjoyment of it. I even used it to handwrite notes throughout a piece assembly and to annotate this assessment draft with corrections and modifications.

The stylus’ nib is detachable and replaceable, not solely to account for put on and tear but in addition as a result of Wacom makes a number of totally different sorts of nibs to customise your drawing expertise. (The ones that got here within the field had been good for me.) If you’re acquainted with the Apple Pencil, you understand how it generally feels somewhat … sticky. There’s none of that right here. Against the display screen, the Wacom nibs present a tactile drawing expertise that’s like utilizing a tender graphite pencil on a semi-textured sketchbook web page. Smooth however with the tiniest little bit of satisfying scritch.

The different factor I like about this stylus is that it’s utterly battery-free. You don’t should cost it. The Wacom One 13 Touch makes use of electromagnetic resonance (EMR) to detect the place, stress, and angle of the stylus. No batteries means it’s additionally a light-weight little factor. There’s no heft like there may be within the Apple Pencil or different powered styli, which implies your arms and wrists gained’t get as fatigued when utilizing the Wacom One for lengthy durations.

Wacom additionally has added touchscreen capabilities on this pill (in the event you couldn’t inform from the identify), and it’s a pleasant choice, particularly in the event you like to maneuver your mouse and keyboard out of the way in which when you’re utilizing the Wacom One. Tapping via the interface on Windows and macOS feels responsive and is much more intuitive than reconfiguring your desk since you forgot to shut a window or two. If you don’t look after touchscreens, it can save you some money with the Wacom One 12, which nixes this characteristic and is barely smaller for a cheaper price.

Cutting the Right Corners

My largest criticism with the Wacom One 13 Touch is that it’s not wi-fi. I wished so badly to select this factor up and carry it with me to the sofa and curl up for some chill sketching time. Instead, I discovered myself leashed to my desk, trapped by the tyranny of that USB-C cable. But to hit the Wacom One’s $500 value (inexpensive in comparison with the remainder of its lineup), there are concessions with regards to pro-grade options.

It’s very gentle, and the again plate is totally plastic. That’s not essentially a nasty factor. I discovered the load to be a constructive, because it made it straightforward to shift the machine round on my desk as I labored. But examine the construct high quality to an iPad Air, and there’s a reasonably large gulf. Same while you examine it to the higher-end Wacom Cintiq tablets. There aren’t any of the additional enter choices you’ll discover on higher-end fashions. No knobs, distant controls, or ultra-sturdy stands to confidently lean on.

Wacom reduce all the correct corners right here. The Wacom One 13 Touch isn’t a multi-thousand-dollar skilled illustration pill. It’s $500, and at that value it’s what you may name “entry level.” To be clear, I hate that label and apply it solely as a result of it’s an approachable value, not as a result of knowledgeable artist couldn’t produce pro-grade work on this factor. You undoubtedly might. This is a pill you may use for years with out operating into any skilled roadblocks, and for $500 that’s form of unimaginable.