Intro

We’ve tested plenty of pen tablets, pen displays, and styluses over the years. Every product faces the same challenge: how do you balance price and performance? The XPPen Deco 01 V3 has a very clear answer — it delivers an impressive spec sheet, but quietly cuts corners in places you might not notice at first. With 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity, a 10 x 6.25-inch active area, 220–266 RPS report rate, USB-C connectivity, and Android support, the Deco 01 V3 looks great on paper. But after spending real time with it, you’ll see that this tablet knows exactly who it’s for — and where it can afford to hold back.

Buy the XPPen Deco 01 V3 on XPPen official store and get a 5% off with our exclusive code – GizmoXP 

Unboxing and Accessories

Open the box, and the first thing you’ll notice is how much XPPen includes. You get 8 replacement nibs, a screen protector, an anti-fouling glove, a USB-A to USB-C adapter, and more. Purchased separately, these accessories could easily cost $20–30. XPPen bundles them all in, effectively lowering your total cost of ownership. No need to worry about buying a glove or hunting for spare nibs right after unboxing.

Build and Design

Thickness and Weight：

At just 8mm thick, the Deco 01 V3 is one of the slimmest pen tablets in its class. Most tablets in this price range measure around 8.5–9mm. That 1mm difference is noticeable — it slips easily into a laptop bag sleeve without bulging. Weight is also well-controlled.

Surface Feel

The matte surface has a medium-fine texture. The drag resistance sits right in the sweet spot — not so slippery that you lose control, not so rough that long strokes feel tiring. Another nice touch: it resists fingerprints. Most black tablets are fingerprint magnets, but the Deco 01 V3’s matte finish keeps it looking clean. However, durability is a concern. After about a month of use, the most frequently used area showed visible polishing wear. It doesn’t affect functionality, but it may bother users who care about aesthetics. Compared to Wacom tablets, the Deco 01 V3’s surface simply doesn’t hold up as well.

Connectivity

USB-C connectivity is a welcome feature. No adapters needed — just plug in a C-to-C cable to connect to a MacBook or Android device. That said, the USB-C port lacks reinforced shielding, which could lead to loosening over time with frequent plugging and unplugging. We recommend being gentle or using a magnetic cable to reduce wear.

Shortcut Keys

The eight round shortcut keys on the left side are the most distinctive design element of the Deco 01 V3.

The keys have a short travel distance and deliver a crisp, clicky feedback. At about 1cm in diameter, they’re easy to locate with your fingertip. However, the spacing between keys is a bit tight, so blind operation can sometimes lead to mispresses until you get used to the layout.

The shortcut keys are positioned on the left side. That’s fine for right-handed users, but left-handed users will find the placement awkward — and XPPen doesn’t offer a left-handed version.

XPPen’s driver software is mature. Each key can be independently mapped to keyboard shortcuts, mouse functions, modifier keys, system commands, and even application-specific settings. You can save different shortcut profiles for Photoshop, SAI, and Clip Studio Paint — the driver automatically switches when you change software.

If you’re used to keyboard shortcuts, these eight keys will probably go unused. But if you prefer working without a keyboard, they can be helpful. We recommend mapping your most frequent actions (undo, brush, eraser) to the bottom four keys, and less frequent functions (save, new layer) to the top four.

Pressure Sensitivity and Stylus Feel

Pressure Performance

Jumping from 8,192 to 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity does make a difference — but the law of diminishing returns applies heavily here. The improvement is most visible with very light strokes, such as the faintest pencil hatching, where transitions feel slightly smoother. At normal drawing force, however, the difference between 8,192 and 16,384 levels is hard to perceive. Think of it like display refresh rates: 60Hz to 120Hz is a game-changer, but 120Hz to 240Hz is barely noticeable to most people. This upgrade feels more like a spec war checkbox. If you paint thick, highly textured work that demands extremely nuanced pressure response, you’ll appreciate the difference. But if you primarily do line art or anime-style illustrations, 8,192 levels are more than enough.

Stylus FeelPros:

• Battery-free and wireless — no charging worries
• Comfortable grip with balanced weight distribution
• 60° tilt recognition works well, delivering noticeable angle-based brush variation

Cons:

• Noticeable nib wobble. This is a common issue with XPPen pens — the nib feels slightly loose in the barrel, creating a subtle “wiggle” sensation when you press down.
• High initial activation force. Very light strokes require a bit more pressure than you might expect, which could frustrate users who rely on ultra-fine, delicate lines.

Android Support

XPPen officially supports Android 10.0 and above via the XPPen tools app. In our testing:

• Connection was stable, with no disconnects or lag issues
• However, the app offers limited functionality — advanced features like pressure curve adjustment still require returning to the desktop driver

It works, but don’t expect the same full-featured experience you get on a desktop.

Final Verdict

The XPPen Deco 01 V3 is a precisely targeted product. It focuses its manufacturing costs on the features that matter most to entry-level buyers — high pressure sensitivity, a large active area, and USB-C connectivity — while making compromises in stylus build quality, surface durability, and shortcut key ergonomics. This isn’t a “buy it blindly” tablet. But if you’re on a tight budget, want a large drawing surface, care about specs, and can accept a few trade-offs in build and feel, the Deco 01 V3 is a solid choice.

The post XPPen Deco 01 V3 Review: It Connects to Your Phone. No, Seriously. And the Pen Feels Like the Real Deal. appeared first on Gizmochina.

XPPEN Artist 12 3rd

For digital creators, the age-old dilemma persists: professional-grade drawing displays demand size and weight that make them impractical for desk use. At the same time, portable tablets often cut corners on the precision and functionality that define “pro” workflows. With 20 years of expertise in digital drawing, XPPen’s 12-inch Artist 12 3rd targets this gap directly—anchored by a featherlight 719g build and an upgraded stylus, its hardware is engineered to deliver mobility without compromise. So, we will examine whether, after addressing the portability issue, it still provides professional creative capabilities.

Core Hardware

The advantages of the XPPen Artist 12 3rd primarily lie in its “stylus” and “screen”. Let’s start with a set of key specifications: it boasts 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity, enabling precise detection of pressure intensity—ink flows with the lightest touch—and a positioning error of less than 0.2 millimeters. These metrics are highly professional for their price range. Additionally, it maintains an ultra-lightweight profile of 719 grams.

Moreover, the X-Dial and its related shortcut functions are truly impressive. Firstly, the X-Dial is exceptionally easy to operate. Common tasks such as rotating the canvas and adjusting brush thickness can be done with just a turn, which naturally fits creative thoughts and greatly boosts creative efficiency. Then, the eight customizable shortcut keys can be pressed not only from the side but also from the front, and the key feedback is very clear, letting users know for certain that the commands have been executed.

Additionally, the new key layout narrows the bezel, resulting in a higher screen-to-body ratio. Visually, it is more immersive, enabling creators to focus more on their works. Whether it’s digital painting, illustration, or design work, these functions can adapt well to the workflow and become extremely practical and helpful assistants in the creative process, making the entire creative process both efficient and smooth.

Several thoughtful design details further enhance its usability. The stylus can be “magnetically attached” to the device: a strong magnetic module on the right side of the display instantly secures the stylus with a satisfying “click”. The magnetic force is so robust that we conducted a test—pulling the stylus could lift an object three times the stylus’s weight without it detaching. This eliminates the need for a stylus case and the worry of misplacing the stylus, a rare feature among 12-inch pen displays.

All-in-one connectivity via a single cable: It features a full-function USB-C port that handles charging, display output, and data transfer simultaneously. Unlike some pen displays that require separate HDMI and power cables—forcing users to carry a tangled mess of wires—this design reduces cable clutter by 60%, significantly enhancing portability.

Adjustable stand with storage consideration: The included stand, crafted from durable composite material, offers adjustable angles from 0° to 60° and remains stable even with a 500-gram load. However, due to the display’s slim 12-millimeter thickness, the stand cannot lie completely flat against the device when folded, adding approximately 15 millimeters to its storage footprint—roughly the thickness of a smartphone.

Practical Experience

When creating illustrations indoors, the performance of the X4 smart stylus is impressive. It accurately detects pressure variations, making it ideal for intricate details like hair strands or leaf veins. The drawing experience feels natural, eliminating the need to “press hard” as with older stylus models, which reduces wrist fatigue during extended sessions. It can render 128 distinct shades from light gray to deep black—double the industry average of 64 levels—with detail fidelity comparable to traditional paper drawing.

Near-zero latency: Professional testing showed that the latency between the stylus tip touching the screen and the image appearing ranges from 28 to 32 milliseconds, consistently meeting or exceeding the official 30-millisecond claim. When drawing quick circles or ellipses, there is no “trailing” effect. The difference in performance compared to the 11-inch iPad Pro is negligible, making it fully suitable for professional drawing tasks.

Left-handed users will find it intuitive: We specifically tested it with left-handed users. When drawing diagonal lines with the stylus tilted at 60°, the line angle error was only 0.8°. Additionally, a one-click “Left-Hand Mode” eliminates the need for cumbersome system adjustments.

One minor adaptation required: The original “bullet-shaped” nib has a slightly slippery surface, which may feel “hard to grip” during the first three uses. Replacing it with the included official “matte nib” resolves this issue, increasing friction by 40% and delivering a feel similar to drawing on 80-gram sketch paper.

Screen Performance

Authentic paper-like texture: The screen surface is coated with AG nano-etched glass. Under a microscope, it reveals dense 1.2-micron protrusions, closely mimicking the fiber structure of real sketch paper. In practice, the friction between the stylus nib and the screen is higher than that of regular glass. With a friction coefficient of 0.35, it prevents lines from straying due to slippage, making it highly comfortable for artists accustomed to traditional paper drawing.

Effective anti-glare, with limitations in direct sunlight: Testing on a balcony at noon showed a screen reflectivity of only 8.5%, ensuring clear visibility of image details. However, the screen’s maximum brightness is 260 nits. In direct sunlight environments, such as parks, the screen angle must be adjusted to over 45° to avoid “whitening” of the display.

Accurate color reproduction, reducing repetitive adjustments during editing: The screen covers 99.2% of the sRGB color gamut and 97.1% of the Adobe RGB color gamut, with a color accuracy of just 1.1—top-tier performance for its price range. When editing images in Photoshop, exported colors such as “sky blue” and “vegetation green” are nearly indistinguishable from those displayed on professional monitors, reducing post-color correction time by 60%.

Compatibility

The Artist 12 Gen3 supports four major operating systems: Windows, macOS, Android, and ChromeOS. We tested it with a Windows 11 laptop, MacBook, and 11-inch Huawei MatePad Pro. In all cases, the drivers installed successfully on the first attempt, with no issues such as “device not recognized” or “non-functional shortcut keys”.

However, after extended use, we identified three areas requiring optimization: Screen brightness: At 260 nits, visibility is limited to bright light. An anti-glare hood is recommended for outdoor use. Stand stability: The foldable stand has a maximum load capacity of only 500 grams, leading to slight wobbling during vigorous drawing. A third-party desktop stand is advised.

Nib compatibility: The initial bullet-shaped nib has low friction; replacing it with the matte nib is necessary to achieve the optimal drawing feel.

Conclusion

While the XPPen Artist 12 3rd is not a perfect pen display, it addresses the category’s core dilemma – “professional devices can’t be portable, while portable devices are not Pro enough” through its “lightweight design”. The overall performance surpasses that of most comparable products, empowering artists to create with ease.

The post Striking a Balance Between Portability and PRO: The XPPen Artist 12 3rd Did appeared first on Gizmochina.

Shift to XPPen Magic Note Pad

The author has always had a preference for physical-paper books, and handwritten notes. I rarely use any digital devices like smartphones or tablets in the studio for daily note-taking, even though there’re quite a lot of tablets with paper-like screens in the office. I know my experience doesn’t apply to most people, as I just simply couldn’t read e-books on screens for a long-lasting time. However, in such a digital era, it’s inevitable that from time to time I’ll need to do my work through a screen. Fighting it somehow, I’m still sticking with handwriting to meet my miss of physical page flipping. But the team recently noticed my notebooks had been replaced by something new—the XPPen Magic Note Pad. Well, this is the best paper-like tablet I could find for fitting my reading and writing.

Appearance

As the other reviewers got to try this particular tablet, at the beginning, the XPPen Magic Note Pad looks much like a regular smart tablet. But I really see it differently. The review story is also about how I convinced them.

At first glance, it is like a drawing tablet widely used in the design industry, rather than a common tablet. It features a silver bezel and about an 11-inch display, which is how it could be so special as a note-taking device. I will talk more about the magic display later.

The backcover is in pure white with a light elegant logo printed, with a slightly matt finish. Similar to a smart tablet, the front face features a front camera on the top for facial recognition and video-meeting uses. On the left side, there’s a dedicated slot as a magnetic pen holder. The accompanied pencil can be firmly attached on the slot position.

Screen

As mentioned, one of the primary reasons I chose this Pad is the screen with a fine matt finish. It claims to be the world’s first 3-in-1 Color Note Pad. Unlike other e-ink screens, the Magic Note Pad offers up to three intelligent color modes, including Nature Colour Mode, Light Colour Mode and an special Ink Paper Mode.

With Ink Paper Mode on, the grayscale (black&white) display is sharp and clear, making text extremely comfortable to read, similar to those fine e-ink screens, without causing eye fatigue during long reading sessions. But obviously, it’s not the traditional E-ink pannel with a limited refresh rate. However, its visual effect is still very close to the texture of a paper page, while the whole UI has been accordingly optimized and beautified similarly to those E-ink devices, brief but informative. It’s truly enjoyable to have such a great reading experience with books, line drawings and comics here.

The Light Color mode is designed for various lighting conditions, with low-saturation colors that are gentle on the eyes, which is more about to simulate a color-e-ink effect. But since it has a high resolution (1920×1200) and up to 90Hz refresh rate, it can provide more detailed images and smoother animations.

The Natural Color mode, on the other hand, accurately reproduces colors, delivering a sense of depth and realism. When viewing comics or artworks, it feels like you’re having a fine printed coated paper book rather than a cold electronic device.

Compared to most E-ink displays, the most notable feature is its 90Hz refresh rate. If you’ve ever used a traditional e-ink reader, you’ll understand the patience required for even simple page-turning. I have to emphasize again, the Magic Note Pad excels in this part, offering a smooth experience that traditional e-ink screens cannot match.

Whether writing, drawing, or scrolling, the screen is virtually lag-free, with no noticeable ghosting. Once you’ve experienced this level of fluidity, it’s hard to find an excuse to go back with most E-ink devices, unless you are fine with the E-ink’s compromise in smoothness and image quality. The difference is impressive, by comparing it to the regular e-ink screen.

When it comes to eye protection, which is crucial, given the long hours we spend in front of screens, the screen on this pad is certified by TÜV SÜD for low blue light and paper-like display.

This is not an exaggeration; The ink-like screens genuinely reduce harmful blue light and eliminate screen flicker, preventing eye strain and fatigue.

The screen also features AG nano-etching technology, which minimizes glare and reflection while providing a natural writing resistance, enhancing the authenticity of the writing experience. This is another professional advantage coming from the brand: XPPen truly brings their powerful handwriting&drawing pen experience to the new tablet.

Pen

The writing experience with the XPPen Magic Note Pad is exceptional. It comes with the X3 Pro Pencil 2, which offers 16K ultra-sensitive pressure levels. This is significantly better than the 4096 or 8192 levels found in other brands.

The pen captures every ounce of pressure applied, and the lines it creates are very natural and fluid. The soft tip design ensures smooth gliding on the screen, avoiding the harsh feel of writing on glass. It feels almost identical to writing on paper.

The pencil operates via electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology, with no need for charging or Bluetooth pairing.

Additionally, the pen features a convenient shortcut button that enhances workflow efficiency, by providing quick access to eraser and customizable controls. The placement of the feature is particularly well-thought-out.

However, we did notice one minor issue: when the pen cursor is activated, it can sometimes interfere with the writing experience. But at the same time, for fine painting, and it could help with the positioning of the brushstrokes. If you can get used to it, the drawing experience on the Note Pad will be vastly boosted.

XPPen Notes

The stock App, the XPPen Notes, is another standout feature. If you’re looking for a digital note-taking app that matches your imagination and your schedule, XPPen Notes is probably the perfect solution.

First of all, creating notes has never been easier. With just one click on the desktop, you can quickly generate a note in seconds. Need to import lecture slides or project files? No problem with just one step. And XPPen Notes also supports PDF import, then allowing you to gather all important files in one place.

With pen mode, your X3 Pro Pencil 2 is like an extension of your hand, providing a precise writing and drawing experience, just as natural as using physical paper and pen. It’s not often we see such a combo on other brands’ devices. Either the writing experience needs to be optimized, or it’s diifficult to provide wider features beyond writing experience.

Switch to touch mode, you can use your fingers to record ideas or outline plans at any time, perfect for those moments of inspiration. But trust me – you probably rarely write with your finger out of sheer love for this pen.

Back to writing, we can choose from a variety of writing modes, pen, pencil, fountain pen, laser pointer, and highlighter. Each mode has its unique functions.

For example, the fountain pen is perfect for practicing calligraphy or detailed notes, with the great supports adjusting pressure sensitivity and line thickness.

The fountain pen provides even and consistent strokes, while the highlighter makes it easy to highlight the key points. And the laser pointer? It’s like a mini tutor in your hand, with lines and dots that automatically disappear after a while, so you never have to worry about erasing again!

There’s also a single-stroke shaping tool, so you can draw perfect lines, geometric shapes, and even 3D coordinates with a few clicks.

Reading is also enjoyable and convenient. Switch to reading mode and the toolbar disappears, giving you a clean, distraction-free view. But don’t worry, you can still use the underline, annotation, translation, and hyperlink features.

Speaking of translation, XPPen Notes supports 12 languages, allowing you to conquer foreign texts with confidence. And the Text Box Input Tool? It’s like typing on a digital canvas, with support for custom fonts, weights, colors, and spacing. Your notes will be as sophisticated as your style!

Another impressive bonus comes with audio recording. Whether you are in a lecture or a meeting, XPPen Notes instantly turns into a recorder. Record in segments and export as MP4 files so that you won’t miss a word.

In addition to these, the XPPen Note provides four smart eye protection modes. Seamless storage, access anytime, anywhere. Once you finish taking notes on the app, your notes are automatically saved on the device and can be uploaded to OneDrive or Google Drive for cross-device editing and backup.

Android System and Performance

The tablet runs on Android 14, and with the full power of the Google Play Store’s extensive app ecosystem, you can install apps based on your needs and workflow, just as I do.

Conclusion

Overall, while the XPPen Magic Note Pad is not perfect. To be honest, it lacks a built-in book source and library, and its processor doesn’t support more advanced operations. But luckily it runs an Android and you have plenty of third-party options. And its more expanded features will depend on how you utilize external apps to round out your library.

Still, eye protection and writing experience are really good. Whether for a long time learning, working, or creating, it is comfortable for both the eyes and the hand. I’m very happy to see the launch of such a special and powerful tablet. The friendly exeprience also gives me the confidence to recommend it to the audiences. But I must admit there are a lot of details worth exploring on the tablet outside of my review. If any of you are interested in it, it’s a good chance to find out more about the XPPen Magic Note Pad from the link here.

The post Review: How the XPPen Magic Note Pad Redefines Professional Note-Taking appeared first on Gizmochina.