As an artist, You want to be able to make high-quality digital paintings on the go. You don’t want to be hindered by being tied to your computer or having to lug around a laptop.
Unfortunately! One of the biggest drawbacks of traditional display drawing tablets is they need to be connected to a computer to work. This undoubtedly limits their portability.
A standalone drawing tablet without computer needed is ideal if you need to draw away from home or away from your desk.
Exploring standalone drawing tablets or planning to buy one? Looking for an affordable way to draw digitally while on the go? or want the best one to get the smoothest drawing experience?
Fortunately! if you’re looking for a good standalone drawing tablet that you can take with you on the go there are a number of great options for you – available in varying sizes, features, styluses, and operating systems.
With prices for the best standalone drawing tablets are super expensive only the most dedicated artists and illustrators can justify paying the premium. With that said there are plenty of mid-range models available and a few cheapies.
In this guide, I’m thrilled to guide you through a carefully curated list that caters to the diverse needs of the artistic community.
I will also introduce some important factors to consider when buying a standalone drawing tablet to help you make your decision.
What is a Standalone Drawing Tablet?
There are three different kinds of tablets suitable for creative work: graphic tablets without screen like wacom intuos, pen displays like wacom cintiq, and standalone drawing tablets like Apple ipad.
Both Graphic tablets and pen displays need to be plugged into a computer to work, so if you want a more portable device for your artwork, then standalone drawing tablet is the only choice.
standalone drawing tablet merges display and computer into one device and offers artists the freedom to create and present their creativity without the need for connecting a computer.
These self-contained units are perfect for both beginners and experienced artists and allow them to draw and paint images and sculpt directly on the screen.
In other words, Standalone drawing tablets are general tablets that turn into drawing devices when used with various drawing apps and a stylus pen.
The Benefits of Using a Standalone Drawing Tablet
Standalone drawing tablets, unlike their computer-dependent counterparts, offer a unique and liberating drawing experience.
1. Portability
Screen based drawing tablets like wacom cintiq, huion kamvas and XPPen Artist are quite large, and often have at least 1 or more cables to connect to a computer, making it harder to move around.
The great thing about these all in one standalone drawing tablets is how portable they are. Since they are full blow computers, Compact and lightweight you can draw anywhere without being tethered to your home computer.
2. Versatility
Standalone drawing tablets can function as both a regular computer and a drawing tablet. You can browse the web, watch videos, and also draw or design.
It’s easy to switch between drawing, note-taking, and other productivity apps.
3. Touchscreen Features
Multi-touch gestures like pinch-to-zoom or rotate can enhance the drawing experience.
Although traditional drawing tablets such as Wacom Cintiq Pro also provide touch functions, they are obviously inferior to these tablets.
4. Mess-Free
Standalone drawing tablet has no need for a separate computer, allowing for a clutter-free workspace.
There’s no worry about messy cables or Connection failure.
5. Integrated Software and Optimized Performance
Comes with built-in drawing apps or driver software tailored for the device.
Hardware and software are often optimized for each other, ensuring smooth performance.
You no longer need to go to the official website to download windows or mac drivers and customize settings.
10 Best Standalone Drawing Tablets of 2025 that Doesn’t Need a Computer
If you’re looking for a drawing tablet, you might be overwhelmed by the number of options available in the market.
To help you make a more informed decision, I’ve compiled a list of some of the popular standalone drawing tablets in 2025.
1. iPad Pro 2024
Housing the desktop-level M4 chip, the iPad Pro 2024 is easily the most powerful tablet for drawing and editing images.
Its vivid OLED display is a marvel to behold and the new thin and light design makes it more portable than ever. Not to mention its astonishing battery life.
It is available in two display variants – the 13-inch and the 11-inch Ultra Retina XDR display for enhanced portability. The blacks, overall contrast and the lower power consumption of using dark theme, it is awesome.
iPad Pro supports third-generation Apple Pencil Pro with impressive pressure sensitivity, tilt recognition, accurate tracking, superb palm rejection and minimal latency.
Add this to the ProMotion technology of the Apple screen – where refresh rate is boosted up to 120hz, giving you a faster and smoother response when drawing with Apple Pencil.
In addition, iPadOS is compatible with a whole host of creative apps, especially the well-known dedicated art app- procreate, so you’re much less limited than on other tablets.
As fantastic as the Apple iPad Pro 2024 is, there are some minor drawbacks, mainly the high price tag- more than $1,000. Additionally, Magic Keyboard and Apple pencil need to be purchased separately.
2. iPad Air 2024
iPad Air 2024 is a more budget-friendly option compared to the iPad Pro but still provides excellent performance for drawing.
Although not as powerful as the iPad Pro’s M4 chip, ipad air’s M2 chip can still provide excellent performance for almost all creations include 3D Design.
It comes with a 11-inch or 13-inch Liquid Retina IPS display instead of OLED display on the Pro version. However, The Liquid Retina display still excels at presenting details and color accuracy.
With the support for Apple Pencil Pro, you will have an incredible drawing experience.
One notable aspect is the absence of Apple’s 120HZ ProMotion technology in the screen, so scrolling or drawing on it isn’t quite as smooth as Pro version.
Finally, You will get touch ID rather than Face ID. Some users have expressed that they find the login process slightly slower due to this.
3. Surface Pro 11 (2024)
The Surface Pro 11 (2024) comes with a 13-inch 120Hz screen that is small enough to be portable but still has a sufficiently large screen that doesn’t feel cramped while drawing.
The device has a powerful Snapdragon X Plus (10 core) or Elite (12 core) Processor with Integrated NPU to ensure demanding applications perform smoothly.
With support for Windows 11, it is well-compatible with various professional creative software, such as Adobe Fresco, Photoshop, and Illustrator.
To unlock your creativity, the Surface Pro 11 comes with the paired Surface Slim Pen 2, which offers precise pen strokes and tilt sensing to simulate the feel of a real brush.
Compared to other Windows based standalone drawing tablet, Its slim design, long battery life, and lightweight build provide portability, which makes it suitable for artists on the go.
However, Since the CPU has ARM architecture, you would rely on emulation to run Most X86 art apps. Luckily, Most of the time it’s indistinguishable from native applications.
Additionally, the drawing accuracy of Slim Pen 2 is still behind the Apple Pencil, wacom stylus, and Samsung S Pen – a bit pen jitter. Fear not, unless you are a professional, you may not even notice this.
Finally, The pricing rests a bit on the higher end. And, you’ll have to spend a few hundred extra dollars out of your pocket for the Keyboard and Stylus.
4. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 (11″), S9+ Plus (12.4″), and S9 Ultra (14.6″) are the best Android tablets for drawing in the market.
The S9 Ultra would definitely be the best option as it has the biggest screen, but the base S9 will suffice just fine for your usage, especially you want a portable option.
Its large Dynamic AMOLED display boasts a 2,960 x 1,848 resolution and supports a 120Hz refresh rate. It makes it a great option for providing detailed picture quality and smooth animation effects.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor plus 12GB RAM enables you to run various painting software and applications smoothly.
The included S pen is battery-free, feels precise, responsive, and emulates a very natural writing and drawing experience. It often feels like an extension of your hand.
Moreover, it also supports Samsung DeX, allowing you to easily connect the tablet to an external display for a desktop-level work experience.
Although not as good as ipadOS ecosystem, You can still download and use loads of android drawing apps over the Play Store, including Infinite Painter, CSP, Ibis Paint, Krita, Sketchbook, Concepts, ArtFlow, Medibang, etc.
This S9 Ultra is expensive but it delivers performance and experience that thankfully matches its price tag.
If you prefer the MediaTek SoC rather than Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and needs the anti-reflective coating, then you can get the newer generation Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra.
5. XPPen Magic Drawing Pad
The XPPen Magic Drawing Pad is a good choice for those with limited budgets, especially students, and new digital artists.
The 12.2-inch 2K IPS screen is vibrant with good color accuracy, and bright enough to be comfortably used outdoors.
Its X-Paper display uses AG etching technology, which can simulate the full-color paper drawing experience while reducing unwanted glare and fingerprints.
It runs on Android 12 and has a midrange 8-core MT8771 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, making it suitable for handling most drawing applications.
With 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity, the included X3 Pro Pencil is battery-free, responsive and precise but lacks tilt support. Ignore that, It is still a pleasure to draw and paint on matte screen.
The device is lightweight, has a long battery life, and is easy to use. Just install an android drawing app from play store you can get to drawing.
With an affordable price of $499, The only cons is it may not have strong performance of high-end devices, especially the CPU, which needs an upgrade.
6. Huion Kamvas Studio 16
The Huion Kamvas Studio 16 is similar to the Wacom Mobile Studio Pro 16 (Discontinued) in that it is basically a Windows 11 computer designed for professional creators.
This beast is capable of doing everything a creator may want or need to do. It has 16GB of RAM, I7-1165G7 Quad-core Processor, and 512 GB of SSD storage.
While the price is steep it is still far cheaper than the Wacom. You can currently snag one for 1,699. That is nearly one third the price of the Wacom Pro 16!
Its highlight, the responsive PW550S pen, ensures every stroke is captured accurately, thanks to advanced 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt response and reduced lag.
The 15.8-inch IPS screen, with its 2.5K QHD resolution and 100% Adobe RGB, transforms your creations into vivid visuals, enhanced by an anti-glare, paper-like surface.
Build quality is fantastic. The chassis is mostly made of metal, and the construction feels sturdy and durable. It’s bulky. Coming in at 3.9kg, it’s easily the heaviest drawing tablet in this list.
It does only have about 4 hours of battery life when drawing so you will want to either be close to an outlet or have a backup power bank.
7. Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro
The Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro is a powerful, capable Android tablet with a super-smooth display, powerful performance, Xiaomi Focus Pen, and compares well on price.
It boasts a vivid, crystal clear 12.4-inch , 3K, 144 Hz adaptive IPS LCD display that immerses you in content, which can provides accurate colors and details.
Having a flagship Snapdragon 8 gen 2 processor is really smooth, all the things you do on it will feel snappier. Running multiple apps is not an issue as well.
With the Xiaomi Focus Pen that has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt support, you can easy to create natural-looking drawings.
Overall, The Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro is a tablet that I can recommend easily to non-professional artists who wants to get the most value for their money.
8. OnePlus Pad 2
The OnePlus pad 2 is a perfect choice for artists looking for a quality low-cost alternative to flagship Samsung tablet, one that doesn’t break the bank while still providing a decent drawing experience.
The 12.1-inchIPS display is well suited for drawing, with up to 144Hz frame rate, 98% DCI-P3 wide colour gamut, 900 nits high brightness and 3000 x 2120 resolution.
The interal hardware specifications are also excellent, boasting a super fast Snapdragon 8 gen 3, 12 GB RAM, and 256GB of storage. It can effortlessly handle numerous resource-intensive applications simultaneously.
The OP Stylo 2 (Sold separately) has really high 16,000 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt support, palm rejection, hover feature, and pretty responsive.
With its Snapdragon 8 gen 3 processor, OP Stylo 2, lightweight design, and stunning display, it’s perfect for art enthusiasts on the go.
However, it’s basically just an android 14-based tablet. In other words, it wasn’t built for drawing. There might be some lag and a amount of jitter when drawing.
9. Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE
If you’re looking for an affordable Samsung S pen experience, the midrange Galaxy Tab S9 FE is the way to go.
Sure there are compromises to be made to bring the price down. The Exynos 1380 processor is not as powerful and Having less RAM of 6GB, but it doesn’t really impact performance much, especially for digital art.
It features a 10.9-inch IPS display, while its larger variant, the Galaxy Tab S9 FE+ Plus, boasts a 12.4-inch panel.
The screen is no AMOLED – TFT LCD, but colors are accurate and can punch it out like an AMOLED. An untrained eye may even mistake this for an AMOLED.
Refresh rate is adaptive 90Hz and the animation is certainly more latency compared to the 120HZ of Tab S9. But it is good for scrolling smoothness, whether in apps or in UI.
Although it cost only half of the base flagship S9, the best part is S9FE still comes with the S Pen that you can use to do art with on it.
For the vast majority of artists, the S9FE does everything a tablet needs to do with quality and polish, if one is looking for a Samsung tablet.
10. iPad 10th Gen
The iPad 10th Gen (2022) is a couple of years old at this point, but it’s still an excellent device, especially after Apple lowered its price from $449 to $349.
The standard iPad, not the iPad Air, is the right iPad for most people.
As long as you don’t do extremely complex and intense digital art, even a 10th gen would be enough.
The 10.9” Liquid Retina display is clean & crisp, while the A14 Bionic chip for effortless and responsive performance like no other.
From taking notes to drawing, the responsive display caters to all your creativity needs when paired with the Apple Pencil 1st gen.
Battery life has been great too, lasting all day even with heavy use.
The 3 main things that affects drawing experience is lack of anti-reflective coating, non-laminated screen and a lower 60HZ refresh rate.
Finally, 64GB storage of base model isn’t really much for digital artists or creatives, you need to manage carefully.
Key Points to Consider Before Buying a Standalone Drawing Tablet
When choosing a standalone drawing tablet, there are a few key points that you should consider to ensure that you get the most out of your investment.
Here are some of the most important things to keep in mind:
1. Pressure and Tilt Sensitivity
Pressure Sensitivity refers to the tablet’s ability to detect how hard you are pressing down with your stylus, allowing you to create lines of varying thickness and opacity.
The higher the number of pressure levels, the more sensitive the tablet is to your touch, allowing for greater precision and control over your art.
Tilt sensitivity is also important because it detects the angle at which the stylus is held in relation to the tablet surface, making the strokes look more organic.
2. Screen Size
Some prefer a larger tablet because it has a larger active working area which is more convenient for drawing or manipulating images on a large scale.
However, larger screens may also be heavier and less portable, so it’s important to find a balance that works for your needs.
3. Screen Resolution
The resolution of a tablet determines how accurate your lines will be.
A higher resolution will give you more detail and precision in your artwork.
Look for a tablet with a high resolution to ensure that your artwork looks its best.
4. Color Accuracy
The color gamut is an important indication of how many colors a screen can reproduce.
If you a pro and work with colors a lot, it’s a good idea to get a display that covers a large range of colors (above 92% Adobe RGB).
5. Performance
A standalone drawing tablet needs to be powerful enough to easily handle day-to-day tasks.
The CPU, and RAM will have the biggest impact on performance.
Check the minimum technical requirements for your favorite art software.
I recommend at least 6GB of RAM, and Quad-core CPU.
6. Storage
It really depends on your work style. If you regularly export and archive your work, a 128GB tablet should be plenty. However, high-resolution or multi-layer electronic art files can be large.
Apps like Clip Studio Paint can also take up a lot of space. For professionals or those working on multiple projects simultaneously on one device, 256GB or more is recommended.
7. Battery Life
Battery life is an important consideration for those who plan to use their standalone drawing tablet on the go.
Look for tablets with longer battery life to ensure that you can work for extended periods of time without needing to recharge.
8. Stylus Pen
Some styluses is active, battery-operated and needs charging while the other would be passive, battery-free, and doesn’t require any charging or replacement batteries.
Whether the pen has a built-in battery or not has no direct impact on performance.
In addition, Some tablets don’t come with a pen, so you’ll have to get the pen separately, which will be an additional purchase cost.
9. Operating System
Tablets usually only support a specific operating system, for example, Apple iPad works for iPadOS, Samsung Galaxy supports Android, while Microsoft Surface runs on Windows OS.
Different platforms have different ecosystems. Ensure your favorite digital art or graphic design software is compatible with your hardware and operating system.
10. Brand
Traditional graphics tablet brands including Wacom, Huion and XP-Pen have launched their own standalone graphics tablets designed specifically for artists’ drawing needs.
Apple, Samsung and Microsoft offer fanciers computer tablets that mainly used for other purposes but are also great for drawing and design. At the same time, there are more options to choose from.
11. Budget
If you’re just starting out with digital art, you may not want to invest a lot of money in a high-end tablet.
On the other hand, if you’re a professional artist or designer, you may want to invest in a more expensive tablet that has all the bells and whistles.
Best Cheap Standalone Drawing Tablets for Beginners
There are plenty of affordable options on the market that will allow you to get started without breaking the bank.
Some popular models include Ugee UT2 (10.36″), Simbans PicassoTab X11 (11″), Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite (10.4″), Galaxy Tab S7 FE (12.4″), Galaxy Tab S9FE, ipad 9th gen (10.2″), ipad 10th gen, etc.
Cheaper tablets may not have all the features of more expensive models, but they can still provide a good value for the price.
They are a perfect choice for artists looking for a quality low-cost alternative to flagship Apple or Samsung tablets, one that doesn’t break the bank while still providing an excellent drawing experience.
However, These affordable standalone drawing tablets will be still a bit pricier than a traditional display graphic tablet like Wacom Cintiq, XPPen Artist or Huion Kamvas.
Of course it’s not hard to understand why, they come with an additional built-in computer besides screen.
Final Thoughts
If you’re an artist or designer want the portability, a standalone drawing tablet is definitely worth considering. They can be expensive, but the benefits they offer are well worth the investment.
Using the guide above, you can easily pick the best standalone drawing tablets based on your needs and budget.
Whether mobility or pen pressure sensitivity is the most crucial factor, or if you’re more concerned with software compatibility, it’s essential to do your research.
If you have a limited budget or seek a cost-effective helper, then the Samsung Galaxty Tab S9 FE or iPad 10th Gen is ideal.
However, professional artists with a sufficient budget may find the iPad Pro a better choice as it can handle various creation tasks and provide an industry-leading drawing experience.
Ultimately, the best standalone drawing tablet for you is based on your drawing needs.
Everyone’s needs are different, So one tablet that is a perfect fit for you may not be the best choice for someone else.
I hope you find this article on standalone drawing tablets informative and helpful.
