Review: Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) 120% sRGB pen display

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

The new Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) is the upgraded model of Huion Kamvas 16 (2019) released two years ago. The improvements include better colour support (120% vs 100% sRGB), new pen (PenTech 3 vs 2) and a nicer looking design with two colour options (Cosmo Black / Twilight Blue).

The unit I have is a review unit provided by Huion.


The Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) is available on Huion's online store at US $399 (at time of this review).


These are the items included:

  • 2x USB power extension cables
  • USB-C to USB-C video cable
  • 3-to-1 power and USB data cable
  • Power adapter
  • Pen and stand
  • 10 replacement nibs and nib remover
  • Quick start guide
  • Micro-fiber cleaning cloth
  • Artist glove
  • Card with links to download the driver
  • Thank you card


When buying from Huion's online store, you get to choose the appropriate plug for the wall power adapter.


These are the two USB power extension cables. One's USB-A to USB-A. The other's a USB-A to USB-C.


This is the 3-to-1 cable. The end with three heads are USB-A (black, for data), USB-A (red, for power) and full size HDMI. The other end is USB-C that connects to the pen display.


The red USB is for additional power source to the pen display.


Size for the ports of the side of the pen display and the size of the cable connectors match. There's no way to put the cable into the wrong port.


This is the PW517 pen that uses PenTech 3. It supports tilt sensitivity and up to 8,192 levels of pressure. It's battery-free so no charging is needed.

The pen looks good, lightweight but feels solid, and is comfortable to hold with its large rubber grip.


The two side buttons are customisable with the driver, and have firm feedback when pressed.

The improvement with PenTech 3 is, the pen is more firm and less wobbly. Drawing with a firm tip does provide better drawing experience.


This pen display comes with glossy protective film that has to be removed from the matte screen protector beneath.


I've got to say the instructions on the white and red warning stickers aren't that clear. It is important you don't peel off the matte screen protector while you remove the glossy protective film.


Peel off the glossy protective film slowly, and if you see a glossy surface, put back the protective film, try again. Only pull off the glossy protector film when you see the matte surface beneath.


Design of this 2021 model looks better than the 2019 model. The colours look good out of the box, and look more vibrant than the previous model.


I measured colour support for 100% sRGB, 83% NTSC, 86% AdobeRGB and 95% P3. My Spyder5Pro colour calibrator wasn't able to measure beyond 100% to test the Huion's claim of 120% sRGB coverage. Colour accuracy is reasonably good.


15.6-inch is a good size to draw on. Shown above is an A5-sized sketchbook opened and put on top of the Kamvas 16.

My size recommendation for pen displays is to get at least 13 inches or larger.


The anti-glare on the matte screen protector can be quite aggressive when there's a lot of reflection on the surface. There's also slight colour noise introduced by the matte screen protector but that's to be expected.


And here's how it looks when there's no reflections on it. This is an IPS panel so viewing angles are quite good. Colours don't shift much when viewed from angles.


Power button's at the top left. All the corners are rounded off and edges are beveled.


There are 10 physical customisable shortcut buttons. The buttons are firm and have good feedback when pressed.

You can hold down a button to change brush size and the size will update incrementally, however, it's not as fast compared to holding down a key on a keyboard.


This pen display is probably thinner than some laptops out there.


The stand shown above is my own stand, the Parblo PR100. You can choose to buy the pen display with or without the $20 Huion stand.


I highly recommend getting a stand so that it's more ergonomic to work on the pen display.


The display is laminated so there's very minimal gap between the drawing surface and the cursor beneath. After calibration, you can get the cursor to look as if it's directly beneath the pen tip. So when drawing, the lines will look like they come out from the pen tip.


Cursor tracking at the extreme edges is surprisingly accurate.


Cursor tracking on the left is off by 2-3 pixels with the cursor closer to the edge.


When I changed the orientation to 180 degrees (left handed mode) to test the cursor tracking. The offset happens on the right side. My guess is the driver is programmed this way to make it easier for you to see the cursor when the pen is blocking your view. It works well. I was able to click on all things I want, eg small icons, scroll bars, with accuracy.

Driver

The Mac and Windows driver have rather similar functionality.


The two side buttons of the pen can be customised to mouse and keyboard shortcuts.

Pressure curve can be adjusted moving the dots manually. Windows driver has two dots which allows for finer adjustments while Mac driver only has one dot.

On Windows, there's this Windows Ink feature which you may have toggle on or off to troubleshoot when pressure sensitivity is not working as expected.


If the cursor does not appear directly beneath the pen tip, this is where you can do monitor calibration to correct that. If you're left handed, you can change the orientation to 180 degrees.


The 10 physical shortcut buttons can be customised here.


You can set specific keyboard shortcuts or mouse clicks. Display Switch allows you to switch the cursor, while in dual monitor mode, from one display to another. Brush Switch is a brush-eraser toggle. You can also have buttons launch apps.


This is the dialogue box you get when you click the gear settings icon at the top right. With the Windows driver, you can create groups of shortcuts specific to apps you use. For example, you can create a set of shortcuts for Photoshop, another set for Illustrator.


To get into the OSD menu to adjust display attributes, you have to press and hold the two buttons (5 & 6) in the middle.


Some of the settings you can change are

  • Brightness
  • Backlight
  • Contrast
  • Sharpness
  • Colour temperature
  • Gamma
  • Color effect (screen mode)
  • Hue
  • Saturation
  • sRGB, AdobeRGB, user display modes


Windows driver has the additional functionality that allows you to adjust brightness, contrast, colour temperature, RGB and has some scene modes. To access that, just click the little gear icon at the top right.

There are four scene modes: standard, moving, gaming, movie. Each scene mode has pre-configured brightness and contrast. With standard mode, you can adjust brightness to 100%, but it will just max out at 128 nits from what I've measured. Movie mode goes up to 195 nits.

Drawing performance

Drawing performance is consistent and predictable. Pressure and tilt sensitivity works well. Lines come out just the way I expected. I did not experience any glitches.


Photoshop CC 2020 (Mac). Lines taper nicely. Transition from thin to thick is smooth. Curves turn smoothly.


Medibang Paint Pro (Mac). Click for a larger view.


Clip Studio Paint (Mac). Click for a larger view.


Tilt sensitivity works well with Krita. Shape of the cursor was able to follow the direction of the pen.


Photoshop 2021 (Win)


Clip Studio Paint (Win). Click for a larger view.


Medibang Paint Pro (Win). Click for a larger view.

Android support

The Huion Kamvas 16 can work with selected Android devices. Full list of supported Android devices can be found on Huion's website. From what I can see, it seems like only phones and tablets that can output video signal are compatible. All the supported Samsung devices have Samsung Dex which can connect to external monitors.

My Samsung Tab S7+ tablet was unable to provide enough power to the pen display. So I had to connect the pen display to external power, and when I did that, Android crashed and my Samsung tablet restarted. The crash also caused the battery charging to not work but thankfully with another Android reboot, battery charging was possible again. It was scary so I did not attempt to connect my Samsung tablet to the pen display again.

Anyway, Android support with pen displays and drawing tablets (those without displays) is always hit and miss. Sometimes pressure sensitivity may not work, and since there's no driver you can't adjust the pressure curve and can't use the physical shortcut buttons.

Note that Android apps are designed for touch interface, and pen displays are not touch sensitive, so it doesn't really make sense to use touch-sensitive apps on non-touch-sensitive displays.

Conclusion

The Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) is a good improvement over the previous model. Driver-related issues with some of the drawing apps have been addressed, fixed.

The design looks better, colour support is better and drawing performance is fantastic with all the various drawing apps I've tested on Windows and MacOS. The pen is sensitive and cursor tracking is surprisingly accurate even at the extreme edges.

There are no significant downsides but I do have some minor quibbles. You can use the Windows driver to adjust brightness, contrast and other colour attributes, but you can't do so as easily in MacOS. The other issue is the matte screen protector does introduce some colour noise to the visuals but that's to be expected with matte screen protectors.

Overall, this pen display looks good and performs well. It's definitely a pen display to consider if you're thinking of getting one.

Here are the pros and cons at a glance

Pros
+ Design looks good
+ Solid build quality
+ 15.6-inch is a good size for drawing
+ 1080P resolution is sufficient for a 15.6-inch screen
+ 100% sRGB colour support
+ Matte drawing surface provides a tactile feel while drawing, but still a bit too smooth
+ 10 physical shortcut buttons
+ Battery free pen supports tilt and 8192 levels of pressure
+ 10 replacement tips included
+ Pen tip is firm and has minimal wobble
+ Drawing performance (line quality) is good
+ No glitches with various drawing apps tested
+ Lines have little to no wobble and jitter
+ Initial activation force is very minimal
+ Laminated display has minimal gap between the drawing surface and actual LCD
+ USB-C cable can be used for video, data and power to minimise cable clutter

Cons
- Stand ($20) sold separately
- Matte screen protector introduce slight colour noise
- Aggressive anti-glare can cause white haze, affects contrast
- Maximum brightness measured at 195 and only achieve in Movie screen mode
- Android support not that useful

Availability

Huion Kamvas 16 (2021) is available from Huion online store and Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.es | Amazon.it | Amazon.co.jp

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52 Comments

HI. Thank you fur this review

Submitted by Ted on

Hi. Thank you fur this review.

How does the texture feel on the matte screen protector compare to the Huion Kamvas 13, and to the Kamvas 16 Pro? I Ordered this 2021 16" tablet (haven't received it yet), and preferred it over the 16 pro just because this model comes with a "paper like" screen protector, opposed to the pro which is all glass...

I hoped that it would feel much like the kamvas 13, which is also relatively new, and has similar characteristics. The Kamvas 13's texture was praised by you (and others) as very good, while you describe this one as "a bit too smooth". Are they really that different in that respect? Does the 16 pro's etched glass feel more "paper-like"? Thanks!

@Ted

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Ted
The screen protector here is very similar to the Kamvas 13. It still has texture, but on the smoother side, but it's not considered slippery at least for me. Most importantly, it's nice to work on.

The etched glass will have a bit more texture, and even less slippery.

Matte screen protectors are never truly paper-like.

How does this one fare

Submitted by beluga on

How does this one fare against XP-Pen Innovator 16?
I guess imho, the dial function is more useful than touch, let alone just buttons.
Am considering of purchasing an Innovator 16 soon.
Tried borrowing XP-Pen 15.6 Pro for about an hour or two to see how it fits in my current workflow.

Hi

Submitted by Ted on

Hi

Can I use this tablet in conjunction with my xp-pen deco 01 v02? I don't mean at the same time, but each one at a time. Can both drivers live happily together in my PC?
Thanks!

Hi Teoh.

Submitted by Ted on

Hi Teoh.

I finally received my new tablet. For my needs, It's way too smooth. I contacted Huion and they replied that they sell a matte screen protector for my tablet and "the material is slightly different" than the one currently installed. they did not address my question if that material is closer to the one on my tablet or the one on the 13" (the more textured one). Would you know anything about it?

@Ted

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Ted
Matte screen protectors will have different smoothness. Huion is on the smoother side compared to typical matte screen protectors I've used on tablets. However, most matte screen protectors on pen displays are kinda similar in terms of smoothness.

Anyway, even if the matte screen protector has more texture, it will still become smoother with usage.

Thank you for your answer.

Submitted by Ted on

Thank you for your answer.

"However, most matte screen protectors on pen displays are kinda similar in terms of smoothness"

Not exactly: In your previous answer to my question you wrote that the the texture on the 13" is less smooth. Also in your YouTube review for the 13" you were so impressed by Its rough texture, that you even put your microphone close to the screen so that the sound the pen makes with the screen protector could be heard.

"Anyway, even if the matte screen protector has more texture, it will still become smoother with usage"

That's true, but given that Huion sells a protector separately, one can order a new protector when needed. I wish I knew what is the texture on the protector Huion sells for my 16". I would order and try it, but I don't want to mess around with the messy application procedure, especially when no one guarantees a rougher texture.

@Ted

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Ted
Oh, I forgot about the 13. That's rougher but it's still a screen protector so it will still become smoother with usage. Even the matte glass from Huion feels smoother like the surface on this Kamvas 16

Hola, no he tenido ninguna

Submitted by GEMA on

Hola, no he tenido ninguna tableta todavía y había leído que la kamvas 16 pro era muy aconsejable. Estaba a punto de comprarla para empezar a trabajar con ella en diseño gráfico, ilustración... pero al ver el nuevo modelo kamvas 16 2021 me has surgido dudas, creo que las características son muy similares pero que han hecho mejoras en la 2021. He leído que la 2021 es la homóloga de la kamvas 16 pro. Me surgen dudas con la calidad del a pantalla. Cuál me aconsejas comprar? Gracias

Hi Teoh,

Submitted by Andrew Harding on

Hi Teoh,

Regarding the smoothness of the screen protector on the Huion Kamvas 16 (2021), how does it compare to the XP Pen Innovator 16? Also, how does the pen performance compare between them? Many thanks and kind regards.

@Andrew Harding

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Andrew Harding
The smoothness on the matte surface, either glass or screen protector, is actually quite similar. Personally I won't be able to tell which is which if I'm not told. The matte glass will have slightly better image quality.

@jack

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@jack
Both pen displays are quite good and quite similar in performance so it's really difficult to recommend one over the other.

Main dfifferences are, Innovator 16 has the wheel which I find more convenient for changing brush sizes, and XP-Pen offers 18 months warranty. Huion has matte glass which is more durable and less prone to scratches.

Hi sir, how would you compare

Submitted by Galax on

Hi sir, how would you compare this with xp pen artist 15.6 pro? Which one would be better? I've compared the two of them based on your review but they're kinda have the same specs, so I hope you can help me on this one, which one is better for drawing and digital art? And yes they do have the same screen size but which one is slightly better at it? And which one has more color rgb gamuts and which one is more portable and more sturdy if accidentally dropped?

Sturdy quality - (e.g xp pen)
Best feel at drawing -
No lag or anything that can hinder your drawing like slow response rate -
For slightly degree drawings like tilt of the pen -
More color rgb -
And which one has better screen zoom shortcut keys - (e.g xp pen because of the dial)

There's a sale on lazada an asian online site and they roughly sale at the same price, the kamvas 16 2021 version is roughly $350 while the xp pen is $300, and I know it comes to personal preferences but can you recommend me which one would be much better even if it's your personal preferences used to recommend me which one would be better? Hope you can reply soon! Thank you!

Hi,

Submitted by shaitan on

Hi,
Thank you for the detailed review, just placed my order for kamvas 16 (2021), i own a wacom intuos.

Just wondering if i can have both wacom and huion drivers downloaded in my mac, and is it possible to switch between both tablets without uninstalling and reinstalling either drivers when switching between the two tablets?
There was solution i found online for windows but wondering if in mac can i have both drivers at same time and simply switch between the tablets when i want to use either one?
Thank you

Hi

Submitted by Michal on

Hi
Which should I choose if I have a budget for kamvas 22 (not plus) or kamvas 16 (2021)?
Are there any differences apart from the size? Any advantages of one over the other? So far I have used a tablet without a screen.
Thanks for your feedback.

@Michal

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Michal
Kamvas 22 (non-plus) and this Kamvas 16 (2021) has similar image quality for the screen. So it just comes down to the screen size. And with the 16, you get shortcut buttons.

What is the performance and

Submitted by Matthew Langford on

What is the performance and pen pressure like in Illustrator? No one seems to have done any reviews with illustrator, which is a bit concerning, as I purchased the kamvas 16 the other day and waiting for it to arrive. I need it to play well with Illustrator and still yet to find a review that features someone testing it in the program.

Hi Teoh, thank you for your

Submitted by Eric on

Hi Teoh, thank you for your detailed review on every possible aspect.

I have read through the other article titled “What's a pen display? How to choose a good one?”. You suggested that we always look for IPS LCD panels that support 100% sRGB and have good brightness (200 nits or higher).

However, one of the cons you mentioned “Maximum brightness measured at 195 and only achieved in Movie screen mode.” seemed to barely meet the criteria for a good display brightness.

Hence I wonder, aside from brightness, are there additional differences (like color vibrance, saturation & etc.) between Standard mode (128 nits) and Movie mode (195 nits) when it comes to drawing? Is the 128 nits brightness good enough for us to illustrate and colorize easily in a well-lit room?

@Eric

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Eric
128 nits is on the lower side, but it's not dim though. I would probably recommend something at least 150 nits for bright room environment where there's sunlight streaming in. If you have curtains, then 128 nits is alright.

Most pen displays nowadays have brightness around 150 - 200 nits.

I've been mulling over

Submitted by Witold Konikowski on

I've been mulling over getting my first ever drawing display and so far I'm torn between this model and XP-Pen artist 16 2nd gen. Which would you say is the better pick? I can get Kamvas 16 2021 for EUR 263, 289 with the ST300 stand, while the XP-pen Artist 16-2 would be EUR 289, 326 with the stand.

I've read the reviews for both on your blog and initially the pictures seemed to indicate that the Kamvas has a greater gap between the nib and the cursor, but then I've read that you can calibrate that away. So, are both tablets pretty much equal in pen accuracy in relation to the position of the cursor? And can you hide the mouse cursor when drawing in windows with the kamvas?

Can the Kamvas draw enough power from a laptop/computer via usb-c only to work without problems?

Is the Parblo pr100 stand better than the ST300? It's only eur 4.5 more.

On regards to brightness, the kamvas seems to be brighter, but only in movie mode. Does movie mode sacrifice, e.g.,colour or similar and can you draw when the tablet is in movie mode?

Cya
Raziel-chan

@Witold Konikowski

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Witold Konikowski
The pen tip and gap with the Huion isn't really noticeable from working distance away.

Whether the cursor can be hidden will depend on the app you use. E.g. some apps can turn the cursor into crosshair, brush preview, circle, arrow and other shapes. I think the cursor cannot be hidden completely so you'll have to choose a cursor (from your drawing app) that is most minimalist.

Whether the Kamvas or XPPen can drawn enough power really depends on the computer you use. So far even my laptop (Macbook Air) is able to power both pen displays.

Parblo PR100 can be ajusted with one hand but PR300 requires two hand -- the other hand has to move the metal legs into position.

I'm not sure why the Kamvas could only reach 128 nits with standard and higher with movie mode. I no longer have the unit to test but it should be possible to just use movie mode but you'll need to colour calibrate it if the colours look off.

Lastly Huion has slightly better drawing performance. XP Pen has slight jitter with slowly drawn diagonal lines, but it's not something that really shows up when you're actually drawing unless you really draw that slow.

Between the two I may go with XP Pen because I prefer the design or look. BUT if you ask me the same question on other days, I may go with Huion. lol.

Thanks for the reply, that

Submitted by Witold Konikowski on

Thanks for the reply, that answers almost all of my questions. I only have one more.

Is the colour noise caused by the anti-glare filter really noticeable on the Huion compared to the XP-pen?

Thanks. Just one more

Submitted by Witold Konikowski on

Thanks. Just one more question, since I've seen you reviewed this tablet as well.

Is it worth it to pay eur 323 for Xp-pen Artist 16 Pro vs 263 for Kamvas 16 2021? How is the drawing experience of that one compared to the huion?

@Witold Konikowski

Submitted by Teoh Yi Chie on

@Witold Konikowski
The XPPen has good drawing performance but the Huion is slightly better. If your work requires lots of line art and accuracy is very important, e.g. comics, then perhaps Huion is better.

Otherwise, I personally prefer XPPen because of the better display, e.g. better brightness, less anti-glare haze. For the type of art I create which does not require extreme precision, the XPPen is good enough.

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