I used to be skeptical in regards to the new Wacom One 13 Contact. I have been an entire wi-fi digital artist for years. My iPad Professional and I are inseparable. It is my sketchbook, my skilled productiveness work machine, and my favourite drawing instrument. How does a tethered pill even examine to my beloved iPad Professional?
Nicely, after spending a while with Wacom’s new drawing pill, I discovered myself utilizing any excuse to place the stylus on the display.
Enjoyable with a stylus
You are only one cable away from utilizing the Wacom One Contact proper out of the field. The set up course of could not be simpler. It is a shining instance of the comfort that USB-C brings to display set up. No trouble with HDMI cables: simply join one finish to the pill and the opposite finish to your graphics card or laptop computer. Even with out the Wacom drivers it really works like a easy contact display.
Whenever you first drag the stylus throughout the display, it is instantly clear that that is an correct and responsive drawing show. The stylus glides effortlessly throughout the 1,080p, matte, textured display, leaving clean, exact brushstrokes. To say it is a pleasure to attract from is an understatement. With any instrument, the higher it feels to make use of, the extra seemingly you’re to make use of it. I discovered myself arising with extra causes to make use of the Wacom One only for enjoyable. I even used it to take notes by hand throughout a piece assembly and to annotate this evaluation draft with corrections and modifications.
Picture: Wacom
The stylus tip is detachable and replaceable, not solely due to put on and tear, but additionally as a result of Wacom makes various several types of nibs to customise your drawing expertise. (Those that got here within the field had been excellent for me.) In case you’re aware of the Apple Pencil, you know the way it might generally really feel slightly… sticky. There’s none of that right here. On display, the Wacom dots present a tactile drawing expertise, like utilizing a comfortable graphite pencil on a semi-textured sketchbook web page. Clean however with the slightest little bit of satisfaction to scratch.
What I additionally like about this stylus is that it’s fully battery-free. You do not have to cost it. The Wacom One 13 Contact makes use of electromagnetic resonance (EMR) to detect the place, strain and angle of the stylus. No batteries means it is a light-weight little factor too. There isn’t any weight just like the Apple Pencil or different powered styli, that means your arms and wrists will not get as drained when utilizing the Wacom One for lengthy intervals of time.
Wacom has additionally added touchscreen capabilities to this pill (if you happen to could not inform from the identify), and it is a good choice, particularly if you happen to prefer to maintain your mouse and keyboard out of the way in which whereas utilizing the Wacom One. Tapping by way of the interface on Home windows and macOS feels responsive and much more intuitive than having to reconfigure your desk since you forgot to shut a window or two. In case you don’t love touchscreens, it can save you some cash with the Wacom One 12, which omits this characteristic and is barely smaller for a cheaper price.
Minimize the appropriate corners
My greatest criticism with the Wacom One 13 Contact is that it’s not wi-fi. I so needed to select this factor up and take it with me to the sofa and curl up for some stress-free sketching time. As a substitute, I discovered myself caught at my desk, trapped by the tyranny of that USB-C cable. However to achieve the Wacom One’s $500 value level (reasonably priced in comparison with the remainder of its vary), there are compromises in the case of professional options.
It is vitally mild and the again plate is totally plastic. That is not essentially a foul factor. I appreciated the burden because it made it simple to maneuver the system round on my desk whereas I labored. However examine the construct high quality to an iPad Air and there is a fairly huge hole. The identical if you happen to examine it to the costlier Wacom Cintiq tablets. There are not one of the further enter choices discovered on costlier fashions. No buttons, remotes or ultra-sturdy stands to lean on with confidence.
Wacom has taken all the appropriate turns right here. The Wacom One 13 Contact isn’t a multi-thousand greenback skilled illustration pill. It prices $500, and at that value it is what you may name “entry stage.” To be clear, I hate that label and solely apply it as a result of it is an reasonably priced value, not as a result of knowledgeable artist could not produce skilled work on this factor. You actually may. It is a pill you should use for years with out encountering skilled obstacles, and for $500, that is fairly unimaginable.