Best portable tablets for digital art (2025 edition)

Here's my updated list of recommended tablets from 2025 with pen support that can be used for creating digital art. The recommendations are based on the full reviews I've created this year, and also last year.

The recommended tablets are arranged by price. Each tablet actually has a long list of pros and cons so I've only highlighted the key pros and cons. To see the full review, just read my full text reviews.

Oh, when Apple products are mentioned, note that you may be able to get them at lower prices from Apple refurbished store online.

USD 100 - 200

Samsung Tab S6 Lite

The 10.4-inch Samsung Tab S6 Lite (2024) (2022 model's review) is currently selling at USD 199 on Amazon USA. This is the tablet with the best pen performance in this price range. There is option to increase storage from 64GB to 128GB, but it's probably more worth the money to get a microSD card instead.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen is included
+ Good pen performance
+ Samsung OS has many features
+ Laminated display
- Processor is not that powerful, but more than powerful enough for drawing
- 4GB RAM, 64GB storage but there's microSD card slot

USD 200 - 300

There aren't many good options in this price category and even the Redmi Pad 2 and ugee UT2 that I've listed below are not ideal. To get a tablet in this price category, I recommend the Samsung Tab S6 Lite 2024, or increase your budget to USD 300 to 400, or get a secondhand unit from the USD 300 to 400 category.

Redmi Pad 2 with Redmi Smart Pen

The 11-inch Redmi Pad 2 (review is one of the best budget tablets of 2025. Price is around USD 200 for the model with 8GB RAM 256GB storage and the Redmi Smart Pen is sold separately for less than USD 50.

Pen performance unfortunately has slight diagonal line wobble or jitter, and palm rejection doesn't work that well. So this affects drawing experience.

Main pros and cons
+ Good display with 90Hz refresh rate
+ Good audio
+ Decent performance
+ Has 5G option
- Diagonal lines have slight wobble/jitter

ugee UT2

The 10.4-inch ugee UT2 (review) comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage with a microSD card slot. Pen performance is better than I expected although not as good compared to other more expensive tablets. Price is USD 229 on ugee online store, or USD 199 on Amazon. You do get better specs than the Samsung Tab S6 Lite (2022), but Samsung S Pen has better performance.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen is included
+ Decent pen performance
+ Matte glass laminated display
- Processor is not that powerful, but more than powerful enough for drawing
- Not many features with the OS
- Palm rejection does not work well

USD 300 - 400

Samsung Tab S9 FE+ and S9 FE

The 10.9-inch Samsung Tab S9 FE (review) comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. This tablet can be found occasionally at USD 299 on Amazon. This gets an easy recommendation as it's better than the Samsung Tab S6 Lite in many ways.

This tablet came out in 2023 so it should be easy to find it selling at discounted price. There's also the Samsung Tab S10 FE series which was released in 2025 but prices start from USD 499.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen is included
+ Good pen performance
+ Samsung OS has many features
+ Laminated display
+ Crazy long battery life
- Processor is not that powerful, but more than powerful enough for drawing

The 12.4-inch Tab S9 FE is USD 399 on Amazon. This is a good option if you want a bigger tablet. Note that the 10.9-inch tablet is still a big tablet, it's just the 12.4-inch is bigger.

If you don't mind secondhand or renewed units, the 11-inch Samsung Tab S8 (review) with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage is just USD 326 on Amazon. This is a fantastic tablet at a fantastic price.

iPad 11 (2025) with Apple Pencil 1

iPad 11 (2025) (review) comes with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage. This model has a spec bump and price drop compared to iPad 10. Price is USD 349 but can be found on Amazon for USD 299 occasionally and Apple Pencil 1 is another USD 69. So the total is USD 370. This is a capable entry level tablet with good pen performance.

Main pros and cons
+ Good pen performance
+ Apple App Store has many drawing and graphic design apps
- Pen is sold separately
- Pricey for the specification you get
- iPadOS takes up 15GB storage
- Display is not laminated

USD 400 - 500

XPPen Magic Drawing Pad (2025)

The XPPen Magic Drawing Pad (review) is a 12.2-inch tablet that comes with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage. Price is USD 429 on XPPen online store. Drawing performance is pretty good but not as good as the iPad.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen is included
+ Decent pen performance
+ Matte glass laminated display
+ 8GB RAM 256GB storage
+ Has DP-in feature
- Pen has no tilt

Wacom MovinkPad 11

The Wacom MovinkPad 11 was released in mid 2025 and has great pen performance that's on par with the Apple Pencil and Samsung S Pen (which also uses Wacom EMR tech). Price is USD 449 and you get 8GB RAM and 128GB internal storage but unfortunately there's no microSD card slot.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen is included
+ Fantastic pen performance
+ Good palm rejection
+ Good LCD quality
+ Matte glass laminated display
- No microSD card slot
- Android 14 with no guaranteed future OS updates

USD 500 - 1000

There are many good tablets in this price category so I'll just recommend the ones that I think offers the best value for money.

The 11-inch Apple M3 iPad Air (2025) (review) starts at USD 599 with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. It can be found for USD 549 occasionally on Amazon. Apple Pencil 2 is currently USD 114 on Amazon.

For even better value, you can look for refurbished M1 iPad Air and M2 iPad Air from the refurbished section on Apple's website.

Main pros and cons
+ Good pen performance
+ Beautiful laminated LCD display
+ Good battery life
- 2-way speakers

14.6-inch Samsung Tab S9 Ultra

The 11-inch Samsung Tab S9 (review) comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage and is currently USD 595 on Amazon. This is comparable to the M1 iPad Air in terms of value. It is difficult for me to recommend one of the other so do check out my full reviews to compare the full list of pros and cons.

You can also consider the Samsung Tab S10+ if you have more budget.

Main pros and cons
+ Pen included
+ Good pen performance
+ Laminated OLED display
+ Good battery life
+ 4-way speakers

USD 1000 - 1500

At this price range, we are looking the latest and best tablets in the market, namely the Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 series and Apple M4 iPad Pro. Prices are from USD 849 on Amazon for the 12.4-inch Samsung Tab S10+ with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage, and for the 11-inch M4 iPad Pro it's from USD 899 on Amazon.

11-inch M4 iPad Pro

I don't think you can go wrong with either tablets for drawing. And if you want something bigger, there's the 14.6-inch Samsung Tab S10 Ultra and 13-inch M4 iPad Pro. They are new so they are pricey. If you don't need the latest, you can save a lot of money by getting the previous generation tablets.

Windows tablets (expensive)

Microsoft Surface Pro 11

The 13-inch Microsoft Surface Pro 11 (review) comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. Price is USD 899 on Amazon. The pen and keyboard case are sold separately and they are expensive. The main selling point of the Surface Pro 11 is it runs desktop software. If you already have a computer, it's probably better to get an Android tablet or iPad because they have better pen performance.

There's also the Microsoft Surface Pro 12-inch if you want something smaller or more affordable, relatively speaking compared to other Surface Pros. Price is USD 799 on Amazon and the Surface Slim Pen 2 is sold separately.

The Huion Kamvas Studio 16 (review) is a 15.8-inch Windows tablet that comes with 16GB RAM and 512GB storage. This tablet probably has the best pen performance among all the tablets listed above. Price currently is USD 1444 on Huion online store.

Main pros and cons
+ Excellent pen performance
+ Excellent colour accuracy
+ Big display
+ Matte glass laminated LCD display
- Came out in 2023 and specs haven't been updated
- 4 to 5 hours battery life
- Runs hot
- No auto brightness