Wacom’s new MovinkPad drawing pill doesn’t want a PC

Wacom has introduced the MovinkPad 11, an all-in-one Android-powered pill for digital illustrators who wish to draw on the go. In contrast to different show drawing tablets in Wacom’s lineup, the $449 MovinkPad doesn’t have to be linked to a laptop computer or PC, inserting it in direct competitors with the Apple Pencil and iPad combo that’s proved extremely common with digital artists.

In contrast to Apple’s iPad lineup, nonetheless, the 11.45-inch MovinkPad prioritizes digital drawing capabilities over typical actions you’d use a pill for. The MovinkPad encompasses a 2200 x 1440p decision show with touchscreen help and anti-glare etched glass to scale back reflections and fingerprints. Whereas the Movink drawing pill that Wacom launched final yr options an OLED show, the MovinkPad makes use of an IPS display. The show has a colour efficiency of 16.7 million colours and a 99 p.c sRGB colour gamut protection ratio.

At 10.5 x 7.2 x 0.3 inches, it’s barely bigger than the 11-inch iPad Air and weighs 1.3 kilos (588 grams) in comparison with Apple’s one-pound (460 grams) providing. The remainder of the MovinkPad options could be pretty forgettable on a daily pill: it runs on Android 14, encompasses a 5 megapixel entrance digicam, a 4.7 megapixel rear digicam, twin microphones, stereo audio system, and help for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 It additionally features a USB-C port for charging and 7700mAh lithium-ion battery, however Wacom doesn’t point out what battery life you possibly can anticipate from a single cost.

Below the hood, the MovinkPad 11 is powered by a MediaTek Helio G99 processor, the identical mid-ranged chip used within the Lenovo Tab Plus that launched final yr. The MovinkPad solely comes with 8GB of reminiscence and 128GB of storage, which may’t be expanded. That limitation isn’t very best for a pill that customers will wish to save quite a lot of picture information with out counting on cloud storage.

The MovinkPad helps the identical 8,192 stress ranges and 60-degree pen tilt angles as Wacom’s important drawing show pill lineup. It comes with the customizable Wacom Professional Pen 3, which features a nib holder and customizable aspect switches, and helps a spread of third-party digital pens from manufacturers similar to Dr. Grip, Lamy, and Staedtler.

That Android 14 help implies that the MovinkPad can help a spread of common digital illustration apps which are out there on the Google Play retailer, together with Clip Studio Paint, Ibis Paint, and Krita, and comes with the Wacom Canvas sketching app pre-installed. iPads nonetheless have an edge right here as a result of Procreate — usually ranked as the highest inventive app on Apple’s App Retailer — is an iOS unique for now, although Procreate developer James Cuda has mused on plans to carry it to different platforms ultimately.

The MovinkPad 11 is a far cry from Wacom’s earlier makes an attempt to launch an all-in-one drawing pill: the MobileStudio Professional sequence got here with built-in PC {hardware}, which made it too heavy to lug round simply and value as much as $3,500, which additionally made it too costly for hobbyist illustrators to contemplate.

At $449, the MovinkPad undercuts Wacom’s MobileStudio Professional line, however the most cost-effective A16 chip iPad ($349) remains to be a extra inexpensive selection, even with the extra requirement to buy a first-gen Apple Pencil ($99). Nonetheless, the Wacom Professional Pen 3 help and different illustration-focused goodies could give Wacom the chance to poach clients who had been Apple’s costlier iPad fashions.