Review: XP-PEN Artist 16 Pen Digitizer Monitor

I've been getting quite a lot of requests for the review of the new XP-PEN Artist 16. So let's get on with this review.

Disclaimer: XP-PEN sent over a review unit for this review.


XP-PEN currently has three sizes for pen digitizer displays. There are the Artist 10.1, Artist 16 and Artist 22. So the Artist 16 is the medium size pen display in the product line.

I've reviewed the Artist 22 last year and was reasonably satisfied with its performance. That product worked well and predictably. As a quick summary, the Artist 16 performs quite well but I discovered some issues. Anyway, let's start with the specs:

  • Product dimensions: 40.5 x 25.5 x 3.3cm without stand
  • Active area: 34.4 x 19.3 cm
  • Screen: 15.6 inches with 1920 x 1080 resolution
  • Panel type: IPS
  • Colors: 16.7 million
  • Contrast: 1,000:1
  • Input ports: HDMI and USB
  • Pen: Rechargeable
  • Pressure sensitivity: 2,048 levels
  • Resolution: 5080LPI
  • Report rate: 200 reports/second

And these are the things included in the box:

  • The display
  • mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter
  • USB cable for connecting the display and computer
  • HDMI cable
  • 2x stylus pen with stand
  • 2x charging cable for the pen
  • 8x replaceable nibs
  • Power cable and power brick
  • Manual and driver CD
  • Black glove


The only graphics port on the Artist 16 is the HDMI port. They have provided a mini-DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. So if your computer has either HDMI or mini-DisplayPort, you're good to go. If you output from a DVI port, then you will need to get a DVI-HDMI adapter.

Build quality and design

The build feels pretty solid. There's a good weight to it but it's not that heavy since it's just a 15.6-inch display.


There's a matte surface bezel with rounded corners. 8 physical shortcut buttons are on the left. For left handed users, that might be an inconvenience?


The screen is glossy with a black bezel as well. The screen is a 15.6-inch display with 1920 x 1080 resolution. It's the same resolution as the Artist 22. Because the screen is smaller, everything appears sharper and it's more difficult to spot the pixelation (although it's still there). It's a perfectly fine resolution to work on. User interface elements like menus, buttons are all at decent sizes and easy to click accurately with the pen.



The stand behind is adjustable at different angles. When the monitor is almost vertical, it's the bottom of the screen and the stand propping it up. When you tilt the monitor is almost flat, the bottom lifts up and it's only the stand supporting the monitor, and because the base of the stand is smaller, it has tendency to wobble more when you press down hard while drawing. The stand from the Artist 22 is better because it's the stand that supports the monitor at all angles.


That the latch that you can release to change the angles.

The cables now come out from the left side. So when the monitor is laid down, the cable are not being pressed upon.

The IPS screen and colours

The IPS panel is supposed to have good colour reproduction but it is definitely not as good compared to normal IPS monitors. When I first turned on the power, the colours were off by quite a bit. I used the Spyder 5 Pro calibrator to calibrate it. The monitor's settings only allow you to adjust the brightness and contrast. So colour calibration has to be done either through your operating system's colour management, or with the help of a calibrator (which saves a lot of time).


On the other side are 5 menu buttons to access the monitor's menu.

I calibrated the monitor three times actually. First time, it had a sRGB gamut readout of 86%. I adjusted the contrast via the monitor and calibrated again and I got 89% sRGB. On the second day, I still wasn't pleased with the colours and calibrated it again, this time it reached 96% sRGB. The colours look relatively good now, but you can't really compare to standard IPS monitors out there. Viewing angles are decent. The glossy screen is reflective so it could be a problem if you have lights coming from your back or top. Compared to matte screen pen displays like the Artisul D10, Artisul D13 and Wacom MobileStudio Pro, the glossy surface does have the advantage of making the screen look brighter and colours slightly more vibrant.

Drivers

As usual, uninstall all other tablet drivers before installing the XP-PEN's.

After installation, you will need to restart the computer for the stylus to work properly.

For this review, I was only able to test it on Mac OS. I currently do not have any Windows computer to test it on so you might have to get an idea of how it might perform on Windows via the Artist 22 review. If you don't want to read that review, I'll just summarise it here: All drawing apps work fine except Mischief.


With the driver, you can adjust the pressure sensitivity, customize shortcut buttons on the stylus and on the monitor, and also calibrate the monitor for parallax error. Talking about parallax, the glass is a few millimetres above the screen so there will be some parallax error. But parallax can be corrected easily via software so it's not a problem.


On the left is a picture to show you the distance between the tip and the screen. Picture on the right shows you how it would actually look when you're using the pen.

The pen

XP-PEN has generously included 2 pens and charging cables. Not many companies include backups. They did this with the Artist 22 also.


The pen has a nice size and comes with a huge rubber grip that covers perhaps 70% of the body. There are two side buttons but no eraser. You do need to charge the pen and the charging port is behind the pen. Since you have two pens, you can charge both and when battery runs low, you can swap. You can still use the pen while it's charging though.


There's a pen stand provided and inside are 8 replacement nibs. You can put the pen either vertically (which I like) or horizontally.

Since the screen is glossy glass, you'll get the hard tip on glass drawing experience. It does not feel as good compared to drawing on matte surface but it's certainly not a negative experience. Main thing here is the pen doesn't squeak when the nib moves across the glass.

Drawing performance

Overall, drawing performance is good. The pressure sensitivity works very well. The display is responsive and lines appear instantly as they are drawn. There's no lag.

Here are the apps that I've tested
Photoshop CS5: Works fine
Illustrator CS5: Pressure does not work
Affinity Photo: Works fine
Krita: Works fine
Mischief: Works fine
Medibang Paint Pro: Works fine
Tayasui Sketches Pro: Works fine


These are strokes from Photoshop CS5 (Mac). I used the default pressure curve and the pressure sensitivity support is very good. You can draw very lightly on the screen and it will produce a line.

Lines are smooth, tapers gradually when you draw and lift fast. In short, performance is predictable, just the way I want them to be.


These are strokes from Medibang Paint Pro (Mac). It works very well too. Same findings as Photoshop.


Tayasui Sketches Pro is a tablet app that's ported over to Mac OS. It works fine too.

The monitor would get warm after a while. The warm area is around the top left in the shape of a horizontal rectangle that takes up 1/3 height and 1/2 width.

Conclusion

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the performance.

There aren't many issues except for the pressure not working with Illustrator CS5 (Mac) and the issue with colour calibrating. I have a colour calibrator and won't know what to do without it. *laughs*

Once it's up and working, it performs predictably. There are no glitches or strange things happening. Lines come out the way I want them to, and there's no lag.

So should you get the Artist 22 or Artist 16? Main difference is the size, and the Artist 22 does not have physical shortcut buttons. I'm fine working on either sizes. The working surface area of 15.6 inches is roomy and allows me to draw comfortably without squinting my eyes. If you have a limited budget, the Artist 16 is cheaper by over USD $120 (currently). As a Cintiq alternative, it's performs and competes well.

Pros
+ Good built quality
+ IPS panel with decent colour reproduction and viewing angles
+ 2 pens include
+ Spare nibs included
+ 2048 levels of pressure sensitivity works well
+ 8 physical shortcut buttons on the monitor
+ Input for HDMI, and has adaptor for mini-DisplayPort to HDMI
+ Works well, predictably

Cons
- Pressure does not work with Illustrator CS5 (Mac)
- Requires proper colour calibration to get the colours looking right
- Glossy screen prone to reflections, depends on your working environment
- Gets warm at top left after a while
- When monitor is laid out and supported only by stand, it can wobble when you press hard.

Availability

You can find the XP Pen Artist 16 and more reviews on Amazon. Purchases though the links get me a commission at no extra cost to you, and helps me put out more reviews like this.

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es

Some places called it Artist16 (without the space).

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18 Comments

Terrible product I have one

Terrible product I have one and it is so temperamental. Doesn’t connect to my Mac. Very intermittent connection. Sending it back. Xpen kept blaming my Mac there’s nothing wrong with my brand new iMac every thing else works fine from it.

Hello im looking at the XP

Hello im looking at the XP-Pen artist 16 pro ,will you do a review of that one since they advertise it as a different more upgraded 16, Being im purchasing my first tablet just want to be sure it worth the money since i seen some negative review on amazon

Encontre la pantalla y los

Encontre la pantalla y los colores hermosos una vez calibrados con mi celular amoled en mano para comparar colores. Le saque el protector y el lapiz corria fluido y la pantalla mejoro 100% en la imagen que parecia granulada y opaca, ahora tengo imagen vibrante con colores vibrantes y el lañiz desliza mejor. ( pero me cuido de pulir su punta con una tela para que no se ralle en algun momento)
Creia al principio que la pantalla era de acrílico y que la rayaria, pero luego la golpee apenas con mi anillo y me di cuenta que era vidrio, como los celulares, solo que al ser tan grande flexiona un poco a la presion. Me deja mas tranquila a no rayarla.
Seria bueno que vendan un protector de vidrio como los celulares para ella.

Pase de una gableta wacom intups pro a esta y pense no poder adaptarme a dibujar sobre la pantalla, que la mano me estorvaria. Y si es apenas un poquito pero es tan buen filling dibujar sobre la pantalla que parece mas tuyo el dibujo. . Mas artistico se siente el proceso. Asi qie me adapte en 2 dias y ya al quinto dia no vuelvo al antiguo sistema porque lo siento mejor, mas lindo, mas poético podria decirse.
No uso el soporte y dibujo en la cama apollada al respaldar con la tableta en mis piernas, y ya no vuelvo al dolor de espaldas ni nada.
Uso windows 7 , paintoolsai,y mangastudio.

Me quejo de una sola cosa, y es la contra mas grande diria yo. Es que los cables de enchufan directo, ( el de carga y el qie va a la noteboock que la gobierna) esto hace que se muevan y podrian a futuro falsear los conectores. No pensaron en una prensita de goma que los agarre a la tableta.

Por otro lado me quejo de que no es una pantalla integrada, osea que tenga internamente una noteboock aunque sea pequeña, con bateria. para no tener que usar cables a la noteboock o un cargador...
Su tubiece esas dos cosas seria una bomba .
Pero igual esta genial. Genial.
No me puedo quejar. Pero una siempre ve pequeños defectos en todo.
De comprarla, te diria, si vende tu antigua tableta y comprala. Lo vale. Y vale mas de lo que cobran.
15.6" es el tamaño justo. Hermosa para trabajar
Ademas xp-pen artis 16 tiene el mismo tamaño exterior que la xp-pen artis 13 . Porque no se.
Pero eso me hizo decantar por la 16"
Y no le erre. Tengo manos grandes y va re bien.
Talvez para una chica chiquita seria un pelin grande.
Pero nada casi.
Puedo meterla en un protector de noteboock de 15.6" de neoprene y a la mochila.. Me gusta lo portatil y este es el tamaño mas grande para ser transportada..
22" me pareceria una locura . Quien dibujaria en una 22"? . No se ni porque la fabrican.
Les diría a los fabricantes que hagan la de 13" con el mismo formato externo que la 16" asi valdria tambien comprarla. ( una para casa y una para llevar) por ahora me manejo con la de 16" y voy bien.
Es un lujo.

Otro detallito era que los botones eran todos iguales, con lo que no sabes en que boton estan tus dedos. Pero esto lo solucione con unos atrás con pegatina, colocando solo a 2 de arriva y 2 de abajo. Lo que orienta la mano para no tener que verlos.
Ademas queda muy lindo. Un poco de brillo en la pantalla.

Thanks!

Thanks!

I managed to calibrate it using the Spyder and it works nice :)

By the way, when using Mac do you ever have problems with the 16 when using two desktops? I have lots of trouble when opening Clip Studio Paint. It doesn't want to open in the second space/monitor/tablet, and sometimes it even cuts CSP's workspace half between both displays (the XP-Pen and the MacBook Pro).

Just trying to set up my

Just trying to set up my Artist 16 pro. Uninstalled old drivers and installed the XP-Pen driver for my mac version. I keep getting "Device Not Found" when I try to calibrate. Monitor works fine. I'm running El Capitan 10.11.6

Any ideas?

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