The Best Drawing Tablet for YOU: The very (very) basics
Hello! In our year of 2025, we've been blessed with so many different drawing tablets! Tablets with screens? Without screens? Stand-alone tablets, and tablets that work with your phone?? It can be confusing, especially if you're new or unfamiliar to the “tablet world”So, where do you start?A lot of people tend to think a screen-based tablet is the “more professional” route, and jump right into buying one, only to find it's not quite what they were looking for.Before you make any concrete decisions, make a checklist:Do you need a monitor, or do you already have one?Are you planning to draw using your smartphone?How much desk space do you have?Do you want to take your tablet on the go?What operating system do you use?Do you want programmable hotkeys?1.)If you already have a monitor, you'll have more options for what sort of tablet you can get! A screen-tablet can provide an extra monitor for color calibration or precision, but you could also get a non-screen tablet (which tend to be cheaper), and are easier to move around in case you want to hold it on your lap while you draw. Be sure your monitor and/or computer has enough ports for the tablet to plug in!2.)Believe it or not, there are tablets that are compatible with your smartphone! If your only computer or monitor is your phone, you're not out of luck! Be assured though, the technology that smartphones and tablets use tend to be different, and while touch features may work on your phone, they will not work on your tablet. There are tablets with touch features, but they still behave slightly different than what it's like using your fingers or a stylus. In all, there's a learning curb, and it might take some getting used to!3.)Tablets come in all shapes and sizes! Measure your desk space, making sure you have enough room for any aforementioned tablet you're looking at. Imagine what it'd be like to have the tablet there. Can you pull your chair up enough to draw comfortably? If it's a screen monitor, could you tilt it to a position you're comfortable in? Don't forget to account for any desk items that you may not be able to move!4.)This sort of goes hand in hand with whether or not you want to hook up a tablet to your phone or use a standalone device! If you're invested in using your phone, make sure to find a tablet that's small enough to carry with you. If you want a standalone tablet (a tablet that doesn't need a computer to function, and runs its own operating system and apps) You'll really only need to account for the size! If the screen has a slick surface, buy a screen protector that will make it more pleasant for you to draw on. Remember that portable (standalone) tablets tend not to have as much power than a desktop or laptop computer, so it'd be wise to consider what the tablet is capable of (think GPU, RAM) and compare it with what you're currently using. If you're new to all of this, a lower-end model might work perfectly fine for you!5.)In this day and age, tablet have come a long way from only supporting one operating system, to multiple! However, there still seems to be some work to be done in this area, as some “supported” systems may still be buggy. This is where you'll really need to do some research and make sure the tablet of your choice will definitely and flawlessly work with your preferred OS!6.)Hotkeys can come either on the sides of your tablet or as a handy "controller" you can hold in the palm of your hand! I know some people (Such as myself) who prefer to just use a basic keyboard for their shortcut keys, and that's fine too! Hotkeys on the side of the tablet might take up more room, so take that into account! The other two options are up to your liking! Do you want to use a full keyboard for your shortcuts? Or do you want something you can hold in the palm of your hand? All in all, a screen-based tablet will give you more precision, especially nowadays with pen parallax getting smaller and smaller! They provide you with a “more natural” drawing experience. Non-screen tablets have a bit of a learning curb, as you're drawing on a slate while staring in an entirely different direction than your hand. Both, however have their perks, and you can be a professional using either! It's all up to preference! Of course, we can't leave out stand-alone tablets. They're the most versatile of the 3, but they tend to not have the most powerful processors and may not benefit those who are intend on using said tablet for larger projects.This is not an exhaustive list, and you need to do your research! This is just a basic starter's checklist and there's many more things to consider when buying a tablet (Such as screen resolution, OLED vs LCD screen, etc) This also isn't a list for anything other than drawing! If you want to do video editing, it may be best to look at another list.