Review: Huion Note E (X50) note taking Android tablet
Review unit provided by Huion
The Huion Note E (X50) is an Android tablet with an 8.4-inch matte glass LCD display that's designed for note taking, and it uses Huion own pen with PenTech 3. This tablet was launched on 20 May 2026 and is priced at USD 369.
This new tablet has better pen performance compared to the Huion Slate 10, Slate 11 and 13. This is great news because it means there may be a possibility for Huion to release Android tablets in the future with better pen performance for drawing.
The Huion Note E can certainly be used for drawing but it's limited by the display size. Huion definitely needs this tablet to be bigger to compete with the XPPen Magic Drawing Pad (2025) and the Wacom MovinkPad 11.
Specifications
| Model | X50 |
| Price | USD 369, £329, CAD 499, AUD 549, ￥54,980, 369 € |
| Dimensions | 203 x 143 x 7.4 mm |
| Weight | 348g |
| Display | 8.4-inch LCD, 60Hz |
| Display surface | Matte glass, laminated |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200, 16:10, 270 PPO |
| Response time (typical) | 30 ms |
| Viewing angle | 170 degrees |
| Contrast ratio | 1000:1 |
| Brightness (typical) | 300 nits |
| Colour gamut | 99% sRGB |
| Colour depth | 16.7m (8 bit) |
| Pen | PW510 with eraser |
| Pen technology | PenTech 3 with tilt, 8K pressure, palm rejection |
| Pen tip | Felt |
| Pen weight | 12.5g |
| Pen accuracy | ±0.3mm (Center), ±2mm (Corner) |
| Pen resolution | 5080 LPI |
| Report rate | 220 PPS |
| Port | USB-C |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 5.2, Wifi |
| Charging time | 2hr |
| Battery life | 6.5hr |
| OS | Android 15 with Huion custom UI |
| Biometric security | Fingerprint scanner |
| Mic | 2 |
| Speaker | 1 |
| Rear camera | 8MP |
| Processor | MTK Helio G99 |
| RAM and storage | 6GB, 128GB |
| MicroSD card slot | No |
| Bundled apps | HiPaint, Huion Store |
Things included
- Tablet
- Flip case
- Huion PW510 pen
- Pen nib remover
- Extra pen nibs
- USB-C to USB-C charging cable
- User manual
- Card on how to install Google Play Store
This card has instructions on how you can enable Google Play Store which is pre-installed but not enabled by default. The process is quite straightforward.
The flip case is made with PU leather on the exterior and felt-like material inside.
There are two holes on the side of the tablet to slot into the two hooks of the flip case. The flip case is not magnetic so removing the tablet from it is not as convenient. I can still grip the tablet well enough with one hand, but can't do so as easily with the flip case.
There's actually a pen holder flap but it can't be completely flat with the pen in it, or perhaps it will need some time to become flat. Anyway, the magnet of the pen is quite strong so you may not want to use that pen holder flap.
Design
This is a compact little tablet that's easy to bring around, and can be held in one hand. Weight is just 348g not including the flip case.
Bezel is noticeably thicker on the left and provides more space for you hand to hold. There's no front camera. The tablet has an auto-brightness sensor but I can't see where it is.
The iPad mini is still slightly smaller, and thinner too at 6.3mm vs 7.3mm.
Note the reflections on the anti-reflective display of the iPad mini vs the anti-glare of the matte glass on the Huion Note E. As someone who hates reflections, I appreciate the matte glass surface a lot.
USB-C charging port on the bottom is located at the corner, near the thicker bezel on the left. Transfer speed is USB 2.
The power button with built-in fingerprint scanner is located at the top right. In the photo above, you can see a bit of camera bump.
The left side has two holes for the hooks of the flip case. This side is curved while the three other sides are flat with parallel line designs.
There's one speaker located near the lower hole and audio quality sounds flat, which is not surprising.
This tablet has no volume buttons, no microSD card slot.
Camera on the back is just 8MP and there's no flash.
Display
The 8.4-inch LCD has 1920 x 1200 resolution and 60Hz refresh rate. Visuals look sharp enough from normal working distance away.
Colour support is 99% sRGB and colour depth is 16.7 million. Contrast ratio is 1000:1. Visual quality of the display looks alright. There is IPS or LCD glow when display is viewing from an angle but it's not a big issue.
Reading experience for text is good thanks to the matte glass surface.
Display is not ideal for reading comics or PDFs as text can be too small.
For web browsing, most webpages will be presented in tablet/phone mode.
Display is laminated so when writing or drawing, there's no gap between the line and the pen tip. The matte glass surface is smooth and is good for writing. There's less texture compared to matte screen protectors.
Note taking experience is good. 8.4-inch is still big enough for taking notes, but if you like to see more lines or words are a glance, perhaps you should look for an 11-inch tablet.
Response time is listed as 30ms which is in the pen display territory. There is slight latency when writing but it's not a big issue and does not affect pen performance. The tablet, app and pen are able to capture my handwriting style quite well.
OS and software
The tablet runs on Android 15 and Huion has their own UI on top.
Here are the tabs on the left bar:
- Home: Home screen
- Notes: Goes to Notes home screen
- To Dos: Goes to To-Dos home screen
- Favourites: Your favourite apps can be added here
- Apps: All apps can be found here
- Files: File manager
- Feedback: You can send suggestions and images to Huion
- Settings: Let's your change the handwriting recognition language
For the actual Android settings, you have to swipe from top right to reveal the Settings button.
One downside to Huion's UI is there's no way to change it to the typical Android home screen with the apps and dock. You may be able to change the home screen with a launcher but I did not test that.
There's no app management. You either find your apps from the Favourites tab, or from the Apps tab. Apps cannot be grouped together.
Google Play Store is not enabled by default so you'll have to read the instruction card on how to enable that. Setting up Google Play Store should take no more than 2 minutes.
The default note taking app is Huion Note which has very limited features, but works fine for writing. Notes can be saved to Google Drive, Dropbox and Microsoft OneDrive.
My favourite Android note taking app Notein is not available from Google Play Store. I tried installing the APK version of the app but cannot sign in to restore my past purchase. Flexcil is also not available.
So for note taking, I'm using MyScript Notes which works well, even the pen eraser works. There's also Microsoft OneNote, Goodnotes, Concepts.
Swiping up from apps may sometimes require two swipes, first to show the button handle bar, and swipe to home or app switcher.
Performance
The tablet uses the MediaTek Helio G99 processor which isn't that powerful but for a tablet designed for simple tasks and note taking, overall performance is smooth.
6GB of RAM is not much but sufficient.
Tablet only has 99GB of usable storage out of the advertised 128GB, and there's no microSD card slot. 99GB should be plenty even after installing apps as creating notes do not take up much storage. You can even use note taking apps that save to the cloud and those notes won't even use local storage.
Line tests
Line tests were created with Medibang Paint Pro.
1. There's no issue with slow diagonal lines. Thin lines can be drawn easily with minimal pressure.
2. Lines can taper smoothly and sharply.
3. Line transition from thin to thick is smooth. It's not as easy to draw thin lines after thick lines so this may suggest the pen has difficult detecting minor changes with pressure after drawing thick lines.
4. Consistent line width can be maintained with consistent pressure.
5. No issues with dots.
6. No issues with cursor misalignment.
There is tilt support but the front of the pen is bulbous and the pen tip will looks contact with the display when pen is tilted too low.
Drawing experience
Drawing experience is good because pen performance is consistent and predictable. Pressure and palm rejection works well.
There is slight latency but it's not really an issue for drawing. The drawing app use will also affect how much latency there is.
This tablet could work well as a mini digital sketchpad. The other mini tablets that I've reviewed that also have pen support are all more expensive, such as the Xiaomi Pad Mini, Huawei MatePad Mini and iPad mini 7 (2024). Samsung does not have a mini tablet so they are missing out.
Drawing on this tablet is enjoyable.
Battery life
Battery capacity is 4500 mAh.
Huion advertised 6.5 hours of battery life. I managed to get around 7- 8 hours with auto brightness so that's not bad.
Conclusion
The tablet may not have the best specifications given the price point obviously, but it's a well made tablet. Overall performance is smooth, lag-free.
The pen works well for note taking and for drawing, limited only by display size. Pressure and palm rejection work well. Tilt doesn't work as well due to the pen design.
The 8.4-inch display is still big enough for note taking although if you're someone who prefers to see a lot at a glance, then the small display may feel limited. Reading experience is good too thanks to the matte glass surface, but the small display is not ideal for reading comics.
Main downside or limitation would probably the fixed UI for the home screen which isn't customisable.
For a first generation portable device with Huion pen tech, it's actually quite good. There are certainly many areas to improve but at least it the pen performs well. It will be very exciting if Huion can make bigger tablets that are more geared towards drawing in the future with similar pen tech.
Pros and cons at a glance
+ Compact portable
+ Matte glass surface nice to write on
+ Good anti-glare performance
+ Good pen performance with pressure, tilt, palm rejection
+ Good note taking performance
+ Good drawing performance
+ Pen attaches to tablet with strong magnet
+ Pen does not require battery
+ There's Google Play Store, but needs to be enabled
+ Smooth overall performance
+ Auto brightness works well enough
+ There's fingerprint unlock
+ 7 hour battery life
- Home screen UI not customisable
- No microSD card slot
- Flip case is not magnetic
- Hardware specs not that good but does not affect performance
- Unsure whether Android OS can be updated in the future
- Slightly latency with writing but does not affect accuracy
- Bulbous front of the pen prevents tilt from working well
- Audio sounds hollow
- Huion Note app has limited features
Availability
The Huion Note E is available from Huion online store.
