Full Intuos Pen and Touch Small Review

This is a Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch Small review and an explanation of why I do not like it. I'll discuss my experience with the graphic tablet in the past few months and I will go in-depth on the positive and the negative aspects of the drawing tablet with a summary in the end. So you can make a better-informed decision for yourself.

Specs

• 1024 Pressure Sensitivity
• 8.25-by-6.7 inches
• Settings for left handed users.
• Potential to expand with a wireless kit if you buy it
• Touch functionality
• 4 Express keys
• Free software of your choice

The Good

Touch functionality

The touch feature is something that redeems this drawing tablet for beginners. Because it allows you to rotate your work or zoom in when you're trying to do some fine detailed work. Personally, I do not use this because I feel it messes with my workflow but I know some people who have great success with it and can't imagine a graphic tablet without it. It's also possible to turn off the touch via a mechanical button in the back or switch it into the left-handed mode in the tablet software for those among us who use a left hand while drawing.

The Feel and Sound

The tablet feels great, It is well balanced and the weight feels solid enough that you do not fear about it slipping from your hand. The sound when drawing is non-existent essentially. Silent or at the very least not hard on the ears. I just wish it was bigger and the design did not look like it was made for coal miners on which I'll elaborate below.

The Bad

Size matters, at least when it comes to graphic tablets.

The Intuos Pen and Touch Small could be nearly perfect but it's just so small. To give you an example of how tiny it is I recommend you fold an A4 paper in half. Now this might not be an issue if you also have a small monitor but if you're like me with a 27-inch screen you'll find that a small drawing tablet will just not cut it. The disconnect from drawing on the graphic tablet and having to adjust to the size difference is just annoying.

Design and Color choices are bland and uninspired

You would think that a drawing tablet for designers, artists, or well in general creative folk would be a beautiful piece of art itself. Well, you would be wrong. The express keys look and probably are just rough cuts out of the same plastic material that the graphic tablet is made of, which then subsequently got glued back with functionality attached. They look ugly and feel out of place although functionally are perfectly fine. Would you not prefer a more symmetrical approach to buttons that fit the aesthetics? The active drawing area has gray dots which serve no real purpose because when you're drawing you're not supposed to look at your drawing tablet. To make matters worse you have only 2 choices in color.

• Black
• Blue

Black looks boring and the blue well it looks like they tried to pair the tablet color with the artwork they had. Not the other way around. Why can't they offer a white or a gray version like they did with the Intuos Draw?

The Stylus

The stylus feels a bit light and is not balanced. The design is a bit boring and it's short or should I say small? Maybe I'm a bit too demanding. There is also a hidden compartment at the back of the tablet where you'll find 4 extra nibs. The stylus has 2 buttons which act like the right and left click of your mouse. It has no eraser. I'm not sure what it is but either the pressure sensitivity, active area or the parallax is not up to my liking. It's simply not as precise as I would want it to be and this is why I do not recommend it over the Huion H610 Pro.

What's the difference between art, comic and photo?

There is no physical difference. The difference is in the type of free software you get with the graphic tablet.

• Art - ​Corel Painter Essentials
• Comic - Comic Pack including: Clip Studio Paint Pro and Anime Studio
• Photo - Corel Paint Shop Pro X8 and Corel After Shot Pro 2

* Mac users might get different software

Can I use Intuos Pen and Touch with software x?

Yes. Wacom is the leading brand and most programs and hardware are made with Wacom specifications in mind. They know they would lose 80% of the market share if their software or hardware wasn't Wacom friendly.

Summary - Should you get it?

If you have read my review you will notice that my objections against the Wacom Intuos Pen and Touch are fairly superficial. It's a fine tablet. It boasts a great range of functionality and is fairly affordable. If possible I would recommend you get the medium instead of the small because as I've stated before in other articles, research shows that most accomplished artists recommend more active drawing area over anything else. Experienced artists will tell you drawing area matters. They will not tell you about pressure sensitivity nor touch since these simply are not that important. Should you buy it? Yeah, why not?