If you are a beginner artist considering get your first graphic tablet, I would recommend that you look away from Wacom Intuos or One tablet and consider the alternatives instead, such as Huion Inspiroy H950P.
I bought this tablet for my Graphics Design class in college. We have some Wacom Intuos in the graphics lab, I really enjoyed using it for Illustrator and InDesign assignments, so I wanted one for my own use.
At first, I couldn’t decide which tablet I wanted. By nature I wanted to just jump right in with a wacom Intuos or wacom one tablet.
After much consideration though, I’m actually happy to say I’m glad about my decision with the Huion Inspiroy H950P.
For starters, it’s cheap. At only $42.99 it definitely has the more appealing price on the market.
It comes with a same active area and a responsive battery-free stylus as wacom intuos/one medium version for only half of the price – much affordable.
What’s in the box?
The box includes the tablet, obviously, along with the PW100 pen, the USB wire, a pen holder with nib changer doodah, and 8 Replacement Nibs, Cleaning Cloth, Quick Start Guide, etc.
Nothing out of place, no missing parts, the instructions are blissfully easy to understand for a beginner, and everything worked very quickly following said instructions.
Design & Build Quality
Huion Inspiroy H950P is simple and celan with a sleek and appealing look. Nothing to fancy, but, eye catching enough to certainly make you feel like a winner.
Its compact, slim (0.3-inch thick), lightweight design makes it easy to carry around and use on the go. It’s also fairly hard and doesn’t flex too much when bending and twisting it.
Along with the actual working area, the tablet has 8 buttons along the side, that can be programmed to perform frequently used commands or shortcuts.
The back of the tablet has 4 round rubber feet which keep the tablet in place.
Size of Active Area
As for the tablet itself, it’s complete dimensions measure 12.62 x 7.43 inches. – making it an ideal fit for the desk I work at – while the “Active Area” measures 8.7 x 5.4 inches, allowing for sweeping arm movements without eating up the workspace.
Active area is about 75% of the total area, which is clearly marked by lines on the edges of the working rectangle.
PW100 Battery-free Stylus
The Huion Inspiroy H950P comes with a PW100 pen that is lightweight and comfortable to hold. With no battery inside, there’s no need to worry about charging.
The pen has a soft rubber grip and two customizable buttons that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as undo, erase, or zoom.
With 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, 220PPS Report Rate, and 60-degree tilt support, it delivers precise, smooth strokes with no noticeable lag.
Compatibility & Connectivity
The Huion h950p is compatible with Linux(Ubuntu), Mac OSX 10.12 and above, Windows 7, and above.
It cannot be paired via Bluetooth to an iPad or Android tablet, but you can connect to Android with a USB-C or Micro-USB Adapter.
This tablet uses an L-shaped Micro-USB cable which connects to a USB type-A port on your computer.
Tablet Drivers
The tablet driver is super easy to install. You go to the huion official website and download the latest drivers, and you install them.
Once you’ve installed the driver, the icon shows up in your taskbar, and the driver also creates a shortcut on your desktop.
Just like that, you should restart your computer to allow Windows to properly update the files necessary for the driver to run smoothly.
In the driver, you can configure your tablet expresskeys, pen buttons, pen pressure curve, and work area. There’s also an option to save different profiles.
Like with any other tablet, make sure you’ve uninstalled all other tablet drivers from your computer and restarted before trying to install the Huion driver.
Drawing Experience
This Huion H950p tablet allows me to make some decent drawings on Photoshop cc and Illustrator CC. Using a tablet doesn’t enhance your drawing skills, but it is definitely much better than drawing with a mouse. There’s a learning curve to it, but it’s not impossibly difficult.
The 8.7 x 5.4 inches medium size of active area is perfect for working on smaller desktops or laptops, sufficient for most design and drawing tasks.
The surface of the tablet is just *barely* textured so it’s great to draw on; it doesn’t feel like glass.
Drawing with the pw100 stylus is fairly enjoyable.– I found the lighter and more sensitive pressure sensors allowed for a more flowing sketch stage, and the 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, meant the opacity levels were a lot easier to blend while painting.
The IAF is extremely low and the line just appears naturally without effort. In some case, the pen tilt support is great for more realistic results and a better painting feel.
The Express Keys again allowed me to keep a good flow while painting, so I could easily flit between the eye dropper tool and the brush tool in quick succession.
For me, the biggest advantage of using a tablet is less fatigue on your wrists. When you’re clicking and dragging a lot, such as when you’re doing page layout in InDesign, using a tablet will be much easier on your wrists, and also much more precise.
I can also use it for editing photos, marking up slides, taking notes i onenote and for annotating pdfs. I didn’t buy the tablet for these purposes, but for me it is an useful extra features.
In Concluion
I’d highly recommend this H950p tablet if you’re a beginner / early enthusiast of digital graphics design.
It is a perfect affordable, entry-level drawing tablet to bring physical creativity into a digital environment without breaking the bank.
You don’t necessarily need the best supplies to make the best art. I’m still getting into the heavier drawing/video editing but it’s been good for what I do thus far with my graphic design.
If you are a serious enthusiast looking for a giant tablet, perhaps you’d like to consider Huion Inspiory H1060p (a bigger version of H950p).
