Review units provided by Parblo
Parblo has released several budget drawing tablets in 2022 under the Ninos series with prices starting from US $25.99. That's the Ninos N design that you see in the photo above...
And this is the Ninos M with that corner extension that you can probably use to hook/hang the tablet somewhere.
The more premium tablets are under the Intangbo series and pricing starts from US $72.99.
The Parblo Ninos drawing tablets are targeted at digital art beginners. Listed below are the various sizes available and respective prices:
- N4 - 4 x 3 inches - US $25.99
- N7 - 7 x 4.37 inches - US 39.99
- N7B - 7 x 4 inches - US $43.99
- N10 - 10 x 6.25 inches - US $59.99
- N10B - 10 x 6.25 inches - US $63.99
The B suffix means the tablet and pen have shortcut buttons
Parblo sent me the N7 and N10B for this review.
I usually recommend getting a pen tablet that's at least 10 by 6 inches because that size is comfortable to work with and pairs well with monitors up to 27-inches.
For those with limited budget, the price jump between the sizes can be considered big. From N4 to N7, it's US $14 increase, and from N7 to N10 it's $20 increase.
These are the items included in the box.
- Tablet
- Quick start guide
- Pen
- 6x replacement nibs
- Nib remover
- USB-A to USB-C cable
- USB-A to USB-C adapter
- USB-A to microUSB adapter
It's quite cool to have matching colours for the pen and cable.
The small adapters are for use with Android or ChromeOS devices with USB-C or microUSB ports.
6 replacement pen nibs are included.
The pens included with the Parblo Ninos B and non-B models are different.
The Parblo P09 pen included with the non-B models does not have shortcut buttons on the side. This means you can't right click. This pen has a huge rubber grip.
The Parblo P08 pen included with the B models have two customisable side buttons. This pen is plastic throughout without a rubber grip.
Having side buttons with the pen is quite useful so if you have the extra budget, it's good to choose the tablet that comes with the P08 pen.
The pens support tilt and 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity. Note that the Parblo N4 pen tablet does not support tilt though.
Design of the tablet looks good. I like the dots on the drawing surface. Only two colours are available, blue and black. Finishing is good and overall build quality is solid.
On the back are four rubber feet with good grip on the table. At the top of the tablet is a pen holder made with cloth.
The tablet has an USB-C port on the side and near it is a mode switch with toggles between Android/computer and ChromeOS usage. The cable has USB-A connecter on one end but there's a USB-C adapter included so you can also use this with computers that only have USB-C ports.
The drawing surface has a nice tactile feel to it.
Driver
The tablet supports Windows, MacOS, Android and ChromeOS but drivers are only for Windows and MacOS.
The screenshots below are for the MacOS driver v3.6.4_1.
This is what the driver shows with the N10B tablet connected. Pen side button customisation options are available.
This is with the N7 tablet connected and there are no side button customisation options available. This means even if you buy a pen with two side buttons to use with N7 tablet, you won't be able to customise the side buttons.
Here's where you can match the aspect ratio fo the drawing surface to your display. If your hand draws a circle and an oval appears on screen, you need to match the aspect ratio.
This applies to tablets with shortcut buttons. Here's where you can customise the tablet shortcut buttons.
This applies to tablets with shortcut buttons. These are the possible settings for the pen side buttons and shortcut buttons.
This applies to tablets with shortcut buttons. You can create different groups of shortcuts for different apps. When the app you use is active, the shortcuts you have created for that app will load automatically. This is quite useful.
The driver does not have Switch Display functionality. Using this tablet with a dual display setup can be quite inconvenient when you want to switch the cursor from one display to the other.
Drawing performance
These are drawing tests from Photoshop CC2020 with the N7 tablet.
1. I find the initial activation force of the P09 pen for the N7 tablet to be higher than I expected. I had to adjust the pressure curve so as to draw thinner lines more easily. There's also slight wobble with the diagonal lines. The P08 pen (with side buttons) has lower initial activation at default settings.
2. The lines taper more abrupt when pressure falls off. The lines taper more smoothly and sharply with Medibang Paint Pro, Affinity Photo and Clip Studio Paint.
3. Line transition from thin to thick is smooth.
4. Line width can be maintained consistently by applying consistent pressure. Note the wobbly diagonal lines.
5. Dots can be drawn easily
6. Tilt sensitivity doesn't work consistently. Cursor does not follow direction of the pen.
Strokes from Affinity Photo with N7 tablet. Here you can see slight wobble too with diagonal lines drawn with Affinity Photo. The lines taper more smoothly here.
Here you can see by default the P08 pen has lower initial activation force that makes it easier to draw thinner lines.
Tilt sensitivity works randomly.
Pressure works fine with Adobe Illustrator on MacOS.
All the drawings below were drawn on the smaller N7 tablet.
Drawn with Photoshop CC 2020 (MacOS).
Drawn with Medibang Paint Pro (MacOS).
Drawn with Affinity Photo (MacOS).
Drawn with Clip Studio Paint (MacOS).
Even though from the line tests you can see slight wobble with diagonal lines, I actually did not experience any issues while drawing. The only issue is I had to adjust the pressure curve to allow me to draw thinner lines more easily, and that's with the P09 pen. The P08 pen (with side buttons) performs better at drawing as it's more sensitive.
I also did not experience any glitches while drawing other than the tilt sensitivity not working properly.
Android support
The tablet supports Android OS 6 or newer. There's also ChromeOS support but I did not test that.
When used with an Android tablet, both tablets have to be in vertical orientation. There's mapping problems with horizontal orientation. Drawing with vertical orientation will take some time getting used to.
There's no driver with Android so shortcut buttons will not work on the tablet. Side buttons on the pen may work but functionality will depend on the drawing app used. There's no driver so there's no way to customise the pressure curve.
The pen drawing performance is similar to drawing on Windows and MacOS.
Note that some Android tablets may not show the cursor. I tested the Parblo tablet with a Samsung Android (v12) tablet and the cursor was visible.
Conclusion
The Parblo Ninos pen tablets look good and have reasonably good drawing performance. The pricing is very competitive (US $26 - 64) and attractive compared to other brands.
The main downsides would be the diagonal line wobble which may or may not appear depending on what you draw and the apps you use. I did not find that to be a major issue while drawing. And tilt sensitivity doesn't work right. I have not tested or reviewed the Parblo Nino M series tablets so I can't say if they will perform similar to the N series tablets.
These are good pen tablet options to consider for beginners and for those with limited budget.
Pros and cons at a glance
+ Design looks good
+ Solid build quality
+ Good drawing performance (with downside)
+ 6 replacement nibs included
+ Works with Android
+ Attractive pricing
- Slight wobble with diagonal lines
- Tilt sensitivity does not work consistently
- Certain models come with pens that have no side buttons
Video review
Availability
You can find the Parblo Ninos pen tablets at these locations:
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