Which drawing tablet is best?

Looking for a drawing tablet under 1k, just trying to figure out which one would be the best to go for? 

Any input is appreciated!

If you're looking for a budget drawing tablet, avoid wacom as they're very expensive, instead, if you want good drawing tablets be not as expensive, you can check out Huion and XP-Pen, they have nice quality overall and are affordable compared to wacom. If not those two brands, VIEKK is an option for a fairly decent tablet too.

I'm not sure which kind of tablet you're looking for, however, one with a screen or without? Drawing tablet with a full on-screen is definitely way more expensive compared to no screen.

Pro of screened tablet:

- Can draw and see straight from screen

- Can act as a second monitor for your pc/laptop

- Easy controls with minimal need for keyboard shortcut keys

Cons:

- Heavier and bulkier

- Expensive

- Takes up way more space on your table

Pros for non-screened tablet:

- Cheap and light

- Easily portable

- Shortcut buttons to make life easier

Cons:

- depends on a laptop/pc as it needs a screen

- have to watch the screen while you draw on tablet

That's about it from the top of my head, depends what you want to go for. If your budget is $1000 you could def got for the screened one, but if you wanna save up some money, then a classic no-screen tablet should be okay to start off.

I personally own a Huion 1060p and I'm SUPER happy with it! I bought it about 3 years ago and it's still perfectly fine and it doesn't have easy life lol. I think I dropped it a few times (I also almost destroyed the pen dozens of times lol) and it didn't affect it at all. 

Depends on your budget and if you'd prefer a screen tablet vs a non-display tablet. I've found that these days, non-wacom branded screen tablets can be competitive in pricing with the larger Wacom non-display tablets. The problem with non-wacom tablets is that they can be hit or miss when it comes to drivers and if there's a problem with your product, you may have to send it overseas for repairs and pay shipping. 

Another factor you gotta take into account is portability. Is this thing just going to sit on your desk or do you expect to take it with you to work/school/travelling etc. There are pen displays in the 13 inch range (Artisul D13, XP-Pen, Wacom 13.3) that will do the job but a non-display will be even lighter. Also keep in mind both pen displays and non-displays require the use of a computer/laptop to work. 

Me personally, I use an XP-Pen 15.6 pen display that has been perfect since day one. Whilst I used to use it around the house attached to my laptop, now it just stays on my desk. 15.6 is a bit big to carry around in a backpack but is doable. 

Conversely, a friend of mine has a Huion Kamvas that constantly has disconnection issues and another who has the same tablet as me but has had minimal issues. The Huion friend used Wacom for years in college and they're probably going to move back to wacom. 

Personally, I started with a small wacom bamboo non-display that I used for a good 9 years before I upgraded. That was cheap, portable and took a quite a bamboo and I never had driver issues. However, this was at a point when Wacom dominated the graphics tablet market. I eventually upgraded to a medium sized Intuos Pro that I felt really comfortable with but was a good deal more expensive. I saw a great deal on a second hand Wacom 13 display (the really old model that requires a powerplug) and even though the colours on that were very yellow, I never went back to the intuos. From there I bit the bullet and got an XP-Pen (and note, it wasn't that much more expensive than the Intuos) and I'll probably be sticking with XP-Pen from now on. 

A great resource you can use is Brad Colbow on Youtube. His reviews are extensive and from an artist's perspective. If you're also interested in just a standalone tablet, I believe the iPad Pro and the Samsung S7+ are currently the best on the market. Hope this helps!

Thank you for the amount of detail you guys put in, damn!

ive had a screen less Wacom until now but lost my pen in the move and was planning to upgrade anyway so here I am. 

Definitely wanting one with a screen now, likely wouldn’t be transporting it apart from around major holidays (going between uni and my aunts for Christmas and Easter and such).

i have another friend with a huion and theirs was broken on arrival also, which is not great at all.

In that case case I'd lean towards the 13 inch~15 inch range (13 if you'd prefer the portability but 15 is a really nice size for drawing).

If you're getting a non wacom tablet, please remember to uninstall ALL wacom drivers before installing because they can be a pain/fight eachother. Learnt that the hard way :')

I have a different laptop now, hasn’t seen Wacom in its life haha

just gonna wait until my rent goes out to be safe and then order it

All of my tablets, cintiqs, etc have collected dust since getting an iPad.

I have the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 Art Tablet with Screen, and I think that it is amazing. It's going for $399 on Amazon. The drawing space is huge, and I think the colors are pretty good on it. It is big and heavy, and I suggest buying a 16.3in protected laptop sleeve because it doesn't come with anything to keep it protected. My dream drawing tablet is still an iPad, I really want one but yikes. Also I draw on my iPhone 6 Plus using ibispaint x and it's actually really nice, I use my fingers or a stylus; for a very cheap alternative. 

I have the 9.7" 6th gen ipad and pencil, they've held up great over the past couple years. No noticeable wear, though I haven't hauled it around much. The glass is really tough, allegedly you don't need a film protector for it and so far I haven't gotten a scratch. The surface has no texture, if the slipperiness is annoying I hear the textured film covers are good. I haven't dropped it very often so I can't testify to that kind of sturdiness lol. I'm sure the pro model is wonderful, but man that price. If I end up upgrading someday I think I'd go for the Air model cause it seems like a nice inbetween.

I think it's relevant to go on a little bit about the drawing apps since it's so exclusive..? It seems like procreate has the strongest optimization, with clip studio not that far behind. Procreate's a one-time purchase, the ios CSP specifically has a subscription model which is really annoying but you get a long free trial at least. My ipad model doesn't have a great processor or anything, but I really just don't run into lag that much anyways, so the newer models should see even less.

There's apps that allow you to mirror your PC or Mac screen onto your tablet, so you can use it like a cintiq-style screen tablet. I messed around with one of them for a bit but I ended up missing the touchscreen shortcuts too much to stick with it. If you really love your desktop software though you might find that useful, but it seems like it will generally act a little stranger than any other kind of screen tablet that connects to your computer.