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Graphic designers use computers, tablets, stylus, laptops, and more tools to bring their design ideas to life, and the advantages of technology make it easier and accessible for designers to make their ideas into real life, on this post we are going to talk about Standalone drawing tablets.
Standalone drawing tablets at first glance might seem like regular tablets, but that it’s only their appearance, as they are more than just a drawing tablet, because Standalone drawing tablets don’t need to be connected to an external computer, and you can work with them everywhere, that is why I made the work for you and will show you the best standalone drawing tablets for graphic designers and artists.
Apple iPad Pro 12.9 (Best Standalone Drawing Tablet Overall)
Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 (Best Standalone Drawing Tablet for Professional Graphic Designers)
Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ (Best Android Standalone Drawing Tablet)
Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16 (Best Large Standalone Drawing Tablet For Professionals)
Huion Kamvas Studio 22 (Great Value Standalone Drawing Tablet for Professional Designers)
Apple iPad Air (Best Portable Standalone Drawing Tablet)
Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (Best Windows Standalone Drawing Tablet)
Lenovo Tab P11 Plus (Best Android Tablet For Under $300)
Simbans PicassoTab (Best Affordable Standalone Drawing Tablet)
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Regular drawing tablets and standalone tables have a touchscreen and have the same purpose, letting you draw on it, but the main difference between them is that for a regular drawing tablet you need to connect it to an external computer, and on the other hand, standalone drawing tablets don’t need to be connected with another computer, as they work as computers having the same hardware like CPU, RAM and etc.
This ability makes standalone drawing tablets really useful as you can use them everywhere and if your only purpose is to draw, you don’t need to invest in a computer, but as these tablets also work as computers they tend to be more expensive.
If you are a graphic designer looking for the best standalone drawing tablet, these are the top 3 tablets you can find right now in the market.
Best for Professional Graphic Designers
Screen Size: 13.3 inches Resolution: 2560×1440 WQHD CPU: Intel Core i7 Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8192 levels OS: Windows 10 RAM: 8GB to 16GB DDR3
Best Standalone Drawing Tablet Overall
Screen Size: 112.9 inches Resolution: Liquid Retina XDR Color Accuracy: True Tone and P3 Wide Color CPU: Apple M1 Chip OS: iPadOS Storage: Up To 1TB
Best Android Standalone Drawing Tablet
Screen Size: 12.4-inches, CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset Resolution: 2800×1752 Storage: 256GB Connections: USB-C, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, OS: Android
Screen Size: 112.9 inches Resolution: Liquid Retina XDR Color Accuracy: True Tone and P3 Wide Color CPU: Apple M1 Chip OS: iPadOS Storage: Up To 1TB
If you are a graphic designer or artist looking for the best tablet overall, Apple iPad Pro 12.9 is your best choice, offering you a 12.9-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with 2732×2048 pixels resolution to take care of the small details of your drawing, and if you already have an Apple product, the compatibility will great.
This standalone drawing tablet is great as it offers you 10.32×7.74 inches of active drawing area and with the Apple Pencil you will have an incredible drawing experience, if we talk about performance, the Apple tablet is the winner offering you the Apple M1 chip and up to 1TB of storage. The only disadvantage is that you need to buy the Apple Pencil separately.
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Screen Size: 13.3 inches Resolution: 2560×1440 WQHD CPU: Intel Core i7 Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8192 levels OS: Windows 10 RAM: 8GB to 16GB DDR3
If you are looking for the best standalone drawing tablet for professional artists, designers, and animators Wacom MobileStudio Pro is the best Wacom range perfect to fit your professional skills, the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 is the smallest with a 13.3-inch display with a resolution of 3840×2160 WQHD for a premium drawing experience.
The Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 offers you the best high-end drawing feeling with a powerful tool with Intel Core i7, 512GB SSD storage, and Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 graphic card that will provide you the best build quality and finest touchscreen display, so if you are a professional designer looking for the best tools to control the highest details the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 is the best option for you.
Pros
Cons
Screen Size: 12.4-inches, CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset Resolution: 2800×1752 Storage: 256GB Connections: USB-C, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, OS: Android
If you are looking for a premium Android standalone tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ is your best choice offering you a powerful tablet with excellent performance thanks to its upgraded Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset, the all-day battery really useful to take your tablet with you everywhere, and 256GB of storage that can be expanded to 1TB with a microSD card.
If we talk about screen, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ offers you a great screen with a 12.4-inches large AMOLED screen and 2800×1752 display to give you vibrant and vivid colors. This tablet also has a 120Hz refresh rate that will give you a fast performance, so if you are looking for the best Android tablet, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+ is your best choice.
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Screen Size: 16 inches Resolution: 3840×2160 UHD CPU: Intel Core i7 Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8192 levels OS: Windows 10 RAM: 8GB to 16GB DDR3
If you are a professional graphic designer, animator, illustrator or artist looking for the most powerful drawing tool and the budget is not a problem for you, Wacom Mobile Studio Pro 16” is the best option for you, as is the best Wacom tablet right now in the market, with a 4K/UHD screen resolution and 6th generation Intel Core i7 processor perfect for advanced image editing and illustration.
The Wacom Mobile Studio Pro 16” covers a 96% color gamut of Adobe RGB giving you realistic and balanced colors perfect for graphic designers and artists. This advanced graphic tablet uses NVIDIA Quadro P1000 graphics that allow you to run 2D and 3D software, and the stylus Pro Pen 2 makes it a great investment for professional photographers, artists, and graphic designers.
Pros
Cons
Resolution: 1920×1080 Active Drawing Area: 18.7×10.5 inches Pen Pressure Sensitivity: 8,192 levels Connections: USB-C
If you are looking for one of the best standalone drawing tablets the Huion Kamvas Studio 22 Plus is one of the best you can find now on the market, designed for illustrators, graphic designers, and artists this drawing tablet offers you a great drawing performance thanks to the PW517 stylus making this graphic tablet an excellent and more affordable alternative to the iPad Pro.
For artists, illustrators, and graphic designers are important to have good color accuracy in their drawing tablets and with the Huion Kamvas 22 Plus you got covered with 140% sRGB color gamut and able to display 16.7 million colors in a 1920×1080 full laminated display screen resolution and has 18.7×10.5 inches of the active drawing area. This graphic tablet is made to compete with Wacom tablets and high-end iPads at a more affordable price making it a great deal.
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Specs: Active drawing area: 9.74 x 7in, Pen pressure sensitivity: Requires Apple Pencil, Connections: USB-C, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Resolution: 2350×1640 OS: iPadOS 15.4
Apple has made great tools for artists and designers and if we are looking for a great standalone drawing tablet the new iPad Air is the best iOS tablet offering you a powerful tool with the M1 Apple CPU to give you a smooth drawing experience and fast performance only by downloading your favorite drawing app.
With the Apple Pencil 2 combined with the iPad Air makes it one of the best drawing tablets on the market right now, and the best Apple tablet offering you an incredible 2360×1640 IPS LCD panel to give you an immersive feeling when drawing your next design, this tablet is perfect for designers looking for a great drawing experience and more functionalities than conventional drawing tablets, like being able to watch movies, write articles and play games.
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Cons
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Active drawing area: 11.25 x 7.5in, CPU: 11th Generation Intel Evo Platform Core i7 Pen pressure sensitivity: 4,096 (with the Surface pen), Connections: USB, USB-C, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Resolution: 2880×1920 Pixels OS: Windows 11
If you are a Windows user and you are looking for a great multifunctional tablet that will allow you to have the functions of a traditional tablet and be able to use it as a standalone drawing tablet and you already work with Windows Systems the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is your best choice offering you a really powerful tool with Intel Evo Platform Core i7 processor, 32GB of RAM and 1TB SSD storage.
This standalone drawing tablet is a really powerful tool offering you a 13-inch touchscreen and 2880×1920 resolution, this drawing tablet can compete with Apple’s flagship iPad Pro 12.9inch offering you a great drawing experience with the Surface Pen Stylus (you need to buy it separately) and another great feature about this tablet, is the kickstand that improves the ergonomics while working in your next design.
Pros
Cons
Screen: 11-inch IPS Touch screen Resolution: 2000×1200 CPU: MediaTek Helio G90T Tab Octa-Core processor with up to 2.05GHz Storage: 128GB Pen Touch Sensitivity: 4,096 levels RAM: 4GB OS: Android 11 Weight: 1.1 lbs Ports: USB 2.0
If you are a graphic designer looking for a great value standalone drawing tablet, the Lenovo Tab P11 Plus is a great option for your work, this tablet will give you a powerful performance thanks to its MediaTek Helio G90T Tab Octa-Core processor with up to 2.05GHz, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage at a great price.
The Lenovo Tab P11 Plus has a great 11-inch TDDI IPS display and 2K Resolution (2000×1200) with 400 nits of brightness being a great screen to let you take care of every small detail of your drawing, and with its Lenovo Precision Pen 2 with 4,096 pressure levels (not included), you will have an incredible drawing experience.
Pros
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Screen: 10.1-inch IPS Touch screen Resolution: 1280×800 Storage: 64GB Pen Touch Sensitivity: 1024 levels RAM: 4GB DDR4 Weight: 3.08 Pounds Ports: Micro-HDMI, USB-C, Micro-SD Card Slot, and Audio
If you are a beginner graphic designer and you are looking for an affordable standalone drawing tablet to start drawing, Simbans PicassoTab is a great choice, offering you a great drawing feeling and useful features like gloves, leather case, and screen guard for a really affordable price.
This budget-friendly standalone drawing tablet offers you a 10.1-inch IPS touch screen, 1280×800 resolution, 64GB storage, 4GB DDR4 RAM, and Pen Touch Sensitivity of 1024, being a great affordable option, but if you are looking for something more powerful this tablet can get a bit short for you.
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One of the great advantages of a standalone drawing tablet is that you don’t need a computer to connect it and you can use it everywhere, that is why you should look for a standalone tablet with good battery life, a minimum of 10+ hours to be able to work all day if you need it without worrying about the battery.
When buying a standalone drawing tablet you need that it has a high-pressure sensitivity as it will provide you with a wide range of thickness and lines allowing you to sketch, shade, and draw with accuracy. More advanced tablets can give you features like tilt recognition or multi-touch capability that will give you a better drawing experience.
If you want to invest in a standalone drawing tablet it should give you the possibility to take it everywhere, that is why you should look after one with a slim design and lightweight as it will be much easier to transport it and work from anywhere.
Another thing you should check when investing in a standalone drawing tablet is that if the program you want to use for drawing is supported by the tablet, check the OS, RAM, and Compatibility with your software before investing in a tablet to make sure you don’t waste your money.
Last but not least to consider when buying a standalone drawing tablet is to know what is your budget and how much you want to spend on it, you can find great drawing tablets for an affordable price, and if you have much budget you can go for professional options with more advanced features.
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Which is the best professional drawing tablet?
If you are a professional designer, the best drawing tablet is the Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 or Wacom MobileStudio Pro 16.
Are there any drawing tablets that work without a computer?
Yes, there is a wide range of tablets that work without a computer, These types of tablets are called standalone and the best is the Wacom MobileStudio Pro and the Apple iPad Pro.
Can you use a Wacom tablet without a computer?
Yes, but you only can use the Wacom MobileStudio Pro range without a computer, as they are standalone drawing tablets.
Does the Huion Kamvas 12 need a computer?
Yes, Huion Kamvas 12 is not a standalone drawing tablet, so you will need to connect it to a computer to be able to use it.
Is the Huion Kamvas 22 standalone?
No, the Huion Kamvas 22 is not a standalone product and will require a computer, but the Huion Kamvas 22 Studio is the standalone version that doesn’t require a computer.
What are the best standalone drawing tablets?
The best standalone drawing tablets are the Apple iPad Air, Apple iPad Pro, Microsoft Surface Pro 8, and Samsung Galaxy Tab S8+.
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If you are the type of designer who doesn’t want to spend too much time in your office and you get inspired everywhere, investing in a good standalone drawing tablet is a great choice because it will give you the possibility to work from a park or your favorite spot.
Hope you find this post useful and find the best standalone drawing tablet for you, and if you want to discover more drawing tablets you can check my other posts about them.
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If you found this post useful you might like to read these posts about Graphic Design Inspiration.
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