If you are looking for a great drawing tablet, then you won’t be disappointed by Wacom!

Wacom is one of the most well-known manufacturers of drawing tablets and is the first choice of many professional artists.

Wacom offers a range of pen tablets without screen, from the budget-friendly Wacom One, Wacom Intuos, to the more advanced Wacom Intuos Pro.

For many beginners, it’s hard to understand what justifies the price difference — and whether paying more will significantly enhance the drawing experience.

In this comparison, I will lay out the key differences and share my recommendations, so you can make an informed decision based on your needs and budget.

Wacom One VS Intuos VS Intuos Pro Direct Comparison

Key Drawing Tablet Features in-depth comparison

Here’s a more in-depth analysis of the three tablets, These will help us better understand the pros and cons in each case.

Drawing Area Size

The size of the tablet’s active (or working) area is a very important parameter, since it basically means how much space you’ll have for your hand movements.

Smaller tablets are more portable and affordable, while larger ones provide more drawing space.

A good rule of thumb is to choose a tablet size that matches your screen ratio and allows you to draw without straining your arm or wrist.

Wacom One and Intuos are available in small and medium options. The active area size of small one is 6.0 x 3.7 inches, of medium one – 8.5 x 5.3 inches.

Wacom Intuos Pro is available in three options, Small, medium and large, their working area sizes being respectively 6.3 x 3.9, 8.7 x 5.8 and 12.1 x 8.4 inches.

The size of the active area is very similar across 3 wacom models, but the Intuos Pro does have the advantage of having a large version, with a significantly bigger active area than any offered by the Wacom One and Intuos.

The large size makes it much easier to control the cursor and to draw different lines. However, drawing with that size forces you to move your arm around a lot, something artists that are used to drawing with their wrist may not like.

Small size tablets make it easier to move the cursor around the screen, making them nice for photo editing & retouching, writing, taking notes, signing, etc. However, it’s not the ideal size to draw line art, since it’s hard to control the lines. It also can apply to people with limited workspace and those who carry their tablet around a lot.

Medium tablets make it easier to control your lines while zooming in less than small tablet. And it is the ideal size for most artists, and the one I recommend them to get when they are hesitant about which size to get.

Stylus Pen

Pen, or stylus, is probably the most important thing in a digital tablet, since it’s your main working tool and you’ll be holding it for hours. It should be comfortable, easy to work with, durable and capable of many things.

Wacom Intuos and Wacom One has the cordless battery-free pen with two customizable buttons.

Wacom Intuos Pro’s pen is cordless and battery-free as well, with two customizable buttons. But what makes it different is that it has an eraser on its end, bringing you extremely close to the experience of a real pencil.

Pressure Sensitivity

Pen resolution and pressure sensitivity are two-fold in the Wacom Intuos Pro over wacom one and intuos.

Both Wacom One and intuos pen features 4096 pressure levels, which should provide enough realism for beginners and artists whose style is rather simple.

The Wacom intuos pro’s pen have 8192 pressure levels, which allows your drawings to be incredibly realistic in both lining and coloring.

In practice though, you are not likely to notice the difference unless you are a professional who has extensively used drawing tablets already.

If you’re a professional artist doing complicated digital paintings, wacom intuos pro is definitely more convenient for you.

Tilt Sensitivity

The Intuos Pro and Wacom One have plus or minus sixty degrees of tilt support, allowing you to replicate real drawing processes much more effectively, tilting your pen to increase line thickness for example.

However, it is only possible if both the brush and the application you’re using are capable of it.

While the Intuos tablet doesn’t have this, it’s not really a necessity, though again, it’s nice to try and see whether it helps you or not.

Drawing Performance

wacom intuos pro provides higher pressure levels, reduced latency, lower activation force to bring creative expression to a whole new level.

If you’re a professional artist doing complicated digital paintings, this choice is definitely more convenient for you.

Having said that, everything that is done with the intuos pro can be done with the Wacom One and intuos. I would say the pro just creates a smoother experience to work on.

Express Keys

ExpressKeys are buttons placed on the tablet’s body, which can be programmed to respond to certain shortcuts, like undo/delete function, etc.

Wacom One Pen Tablet lacks customizable buttons for quick shortcuts, which could affect workflow efficiency.

The Intuos only has four user programmable express keys, and these are positioned so that you must reach over the drawing area to use them.

The Intuos Pro has four express keys in the small version, or six in the medium and large, plus a radial dial in all models.

The dial is incredibly useful, as it allows you to zoom in on images, scroll, change brush size, or anything else that you might otherwise use a scroll wheel for.

The buttons and dial are located on the end of the tablet, so it can be easily used by both left and right-handed users.

Multi-Touch Support

The Wacom One and Intuos does not support and touch gestures, and will not recognize your fingers. On the other hand, The Intuos Pro gives you multi-finger touch support, which is incredibly useful.

The multi-touch function allows you to navigate your drawings extremely easily, design and edit. You can tilt, pinch-zoom, pan and scroll, using just your fingers.

While touch is a nice feature in theory, it’s not a feature I find myself using, as it doesn’t work as smoothly as the gestures we have in mobile devices.

In case you’re worried that touch may get in the way, you could turn it off. The Intuos Pro has a button specifically for that.

Drawing Surface

It’s easy to overlook the importance of the drawing tablet’s surface texture. The way you use the tablet and the quality of your drawing is directly impacted by this parameter.

The Intuos Pro has a noticeably more premium feeling drawing surface, with a toothed texture that more closely replicates real paper.

The tablet’s scratch resistance is also excellent. The drawing surface remains free of irregularities and scratches for an extended period.

There are also texture sheets (Standard, smooth & rough) available for the Medium and Large sizes that change the surface feel, meaning that you can replicate canvas and other surfaces with the Pro.

The Wacom One and Intuos also have one standard matte surface, which is much superior to other cheap drawing tablets, but doesn’t quite as well as the Intuos Pro.

Build Quality

Wacom is known for durable and high-quality products, and all 3 options reflect that reliability.

The build quality of the Intuos Pro matches the retail price meaning it is substantial in the hand and build materials do not give off a cheap feel.

It has no hard edges and it is made of premium materials like anodised aluminium and glass fibre composite resin.

Both Wacom One and intuos tablets have very high build quality and are made to last, but not as well as Intuos Pro.

Bluetooth Connection

Wireless connectivity basically allows you to use your tablet without plugging it into your computer.

It might lead to small lags during the working process, but it also allows you to organize your workplace better and comfortably hold it in your lap while drawing.

Wireless is standard on the Intuos Pro, Wacom One and Intuos Medium. But it is optional on the Intuos small version.

Although you can get a cheaper version of the Intuos small without Bluetooth, this is not recommended as the hassle from having extra wires is just not worth the small cost saving.

Pricing

The Wacom One and Intuos vs Wacom Intuos Pro have a nearly 2x price difference.

You can get by with Wacom One or Intuos on a tight budget, but the professionals favor Intuos Pro.

Conclusion

The features available on these 3 Wacom pen tablets make this buying decision a lot easier depending on your skill level and preferences.

Clearly, the Intuos Pro is the better tool in every respect. For professionals who value precision, controls and productivity, the Wacom Intuos Pro is well worth the extra cost.

The additional ExpressKeys as well as the multi-touch feature can simplify and speed up your work, and the higher sensitivity provides a wider range over your strokes.

At a much friendlier price point, the Wacom One and Intuos are simply the better choice if you don’t need any of the extra features the intuos Pro offers. They performs just as well and can get the job done.

It all boils down to what you actually need to create your art.

I sincerely hope this post has help you decide between getting a wacom one, an Intuos or an Intuos Pro.