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Welcome to our XP-Pen Deco MW Pen tablet review. XP-Pen is a smaller name in the drawing tablet scene: they offer cheaper products than the big brands like Wacom and Cintiq, so it can be easy to question the quality. However, we feature their products often, and their low prices make them a fantastic entry-level tablet for hobbyists and young artists.
As a digital artist, I’ve used the previously mentioned Wacom and Cintiq, but never tried my hand at the XP-Pen brand. I was skeptical that it would hold up to my Wacom tablet, but I’m happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised, and now I’m reaching for my XP-Pen Deco MW tablet more than my old Wacom model. While I wouldn’t consider this a high-end tool for full-time digital art, it’s a fantastic addition to my desktop setup, and the slim, compact design makes it easy to store. But is it enough to be one of the best photo tablets? (opens in new tab) there are? Let’s find out.
XP-Pen Deco MW Review: Price
Priced at $69.99/£69.99, the XP-Pen Deco MW is a mid-range tablet. There are many good cheap tablets on the market now, starting from £40/£40, so the competition is very high when it comes to choosing a cheaper but quality tablet.
Overall, I think the $69.99/£69.99 price tag is a reasonable ask for the XP-Pen Deco MW, as it’s easy to set up and feels good to use, especially when discounts are available from various retailers. on the device.
XP-Pen Deco MW Review: Design and Build
Measuring 8×5 inches, this tablet is a good medium size. When connected to my laptop, it sits comfortably on my desk and is out of sight when I store it away. It’s very light but still has a solid build that gives it a nice weight. The tablet has 8 hotkeys that you can easily customize using the tablet driver, which was very easy to assign. Speaking of the tablet driver, I was very pleased with how simple it was to install and configure. It has a clean UI design that is easy to navigate. There’s a direct pressure input sensor, but I’d like it to have a visual representation of the pen stroke to show your tablet is receiving a pressure difference for art applications, as I had trouble getting the pen pressure to work with Photoshop, but I couldn’t. Please tell me if this is a bug with my tablet or software.
In terms of color, I went for the blue variation. It’s a light navy blue and visually I can’t fault it. It’s easy on the eyes and looks unique compared to my previous tablets. The XP-Pen Deco MW is available in a total of four colors: Blue, Pink, Green and Black. Graphics tablets usually come in bog-standard black or gray, so this fun selection of vibrant colors is a nice change of pace.
XP-Pen Deco MW Review: Stylus
The XP-Pen Deco MW comes with the new X3 Elite plus stylus. The new X3 smart chip promises a true photography experience thanks to 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60° tilt recognition. The pen is incredibly light, which is a good thing in the long run, but it feels a little cheap compared to other art styluses I’ve used. One of the main downsides I’ve noticed after prolonged use is the lack of grip on the pen: it gets a little uncomfortable after a while, and I think the stylus could definitely benefit from some sort of groove or grip underneath where your fingertip sits.
The stylus is packaged with over 10 spare nibs and an easy-to-change tool. As someone who often replaces pen nibs, this was much appreciated and a great addition that extends the life of your product. It has 2 buttons on the side that you can customize to quickly switch between tools as you work, and they have a really satisfying ‘click’ to use.
It’s important to note that, like most graphics tablet pens, you don’t need to charge the stylus to use it. The technology works through pressure recognition, so there’s no need to worry about batteries or charging cables. Another small issue I have with the stylus is that there is no place to store it on the tablet, such as a fabric loop or clip, so it would be easy to lose it if you were out and about, and I struggled to find a place. safe on my desk to keep it where it won’t get lost.
XP-Pen Deco MW Review: Experience Drawing
Considering it’s a cheaper tablet than any I’ve used before, I’m surprised at how good it captures. Considering the tablet’s size, it has a surprisingly large “active area” and thanks to the matte finish, it felt good to draw on a smooth surface. It has four rubber grips on the bottom that keep it firmly on your desk/workspace, so I didn’t have to worry about it sliding around when I was putting pressure on it.
You have two different options when it comes to connecting the XP-Pen Deco MW to your device of choice: it works via both a wired connection and Bluetooth. Just download the free driver from the website and away you go. It even comes with two adapters for connecting to a range of devices: USB-C to USB and Micro-USB to USB. I like to limit my cables, so I used a Bluetooth connection that works by plugging a Bluetooth adapter into a laptop/PC USB port. I ran into a few issues when it came to Bluetooth pairing where the laptop was registering, it paired but didn’t receive any input. To fix this, I had to unpair and re-pair the tablet every time I wanted to use it, which was a huge downside.
Overall, the actual drawing experience felt good and easy to operate. As an artist who uses a lot of tablets, I definitely feel that this is a suitable “starter” device for beginner digital artists, especially because of the low price. The aforementioned stylus has a pressure sensitivity of 8192 thanks to the X3 chip, and I found my brush strokes and lines to be accurate with pressure input. I found the eight side buttons very useful while working, and after assigning them custom shortcuts, they made my artistic process much faster.
XP-Pen Deco MW Review: Should You Buy?
Overall, the XP-Pen Deco MW is a great tablet if you’re looking for a compact yet affordable digital art option. It would be a great entry-level tablet as well as a good inexpensive addition for long-term artists. Despite a few minor issues with Bluetooth connectivity and pen pressure build-up, these were quickly rectified and minor inconveniences given the decent price of the XP-Pen Deco MW tablet. If you want to get an idea of a wider range of tablets, you can find our guide to the best photography tablets here. But be warned: most of the options on this list are much more expensive, so I think the XP-Pen Deco MW is a great and easy-to-use device to get started as an artist.
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