Surface Pro 9 -VS- Huion Kamvas Studio 16

And thank you Squarespace for sponsoring this video.

00:00 Intro
00:39 The Screen
04:09 Specs
05:10 Squarespace
06:13 Drawing
09:25 Size and Usability
10:58 Price and Value

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[anasevi]

Great review and predicable results; Huion is becoming massive and is the only brand of drawing tablets I see routinely in the pro-enterprise space that isn't Wacom. They are still a small fraction, but that they managed that alone is very impressive considering Wacom has had that market in an airtight bubble for decades.

[kelvinchuks]

It's impressive just seeing how much the surface pro have improved over the years, Nice video Brad

[drvian]

I think if Huion ever creates Kamvas Studio Pro with 13.3 inch display - that would be interesting.
Portable, small, no need for laptop, and have access to drawing applications like "Photoshop" and "Clip Studio" (not to mention 3D modeling tools).
Great choice for art-students to carry around.

[Oxtorayk]

One thing i think is worth having in mind when discussing specs is a notion of real life needs (especially if you are living in the global south and dont get payed in dollars as i am). I'm a professional artist, working on games for 5 years and 2D animation for 5 years prior to that. i work on a 2017 pc with an amd fx 8300 processor, 8gb Ram and 500gb SSD. My current tablet is a 6 years old cintiq 13 hd. and im fully capable of doing my job and personal projects. Most of my coleagues are working on old wacom bamboos cth model. 4:27 intel i7 16 gb ram 500gb storage on a mobile tablet sounds pretty good to me. Make sure to know your needs before considering specs and numbers!

[TheKevphil]

About a month ago, I got the Huion Kamvas 24 Plus and totally *_LOVE_* it! (Dude) I had been using the Wacom 21UX with their "Flex" nibs and the experience was excellent. It has a somewhat "rubbery" tip and very controlled feel. I was concerned that I might lose that experience with the Huion, but between the felt nib and the etched screen, it's extremely similar. Now of course, some 12 years separate the tech, so maybe it shouldn't be too shocking that the Huion is very, very good.

[cammiluna]

Great video!

It seems to be a repeat of the same battle us digital artists had when we had to choose between the first-gen Cintiq Companion to the Surface Pro 2, back in the day. If your primary use of the device is art and you need all the art benefits you can possibly get, you would buy the device specifically made for artists- like the Cintiq Companion (flawed as it was) or this Kamvas Pro, but if you are a multitasker that bounces back and forth between drawing and general computing stuff, the surface, or any 2-in-one like the HP Specter or Samsung Galaxy Book is gonna be a better option.

The shape of the kamvas pro looks like something random Amazon vendors can easily thirdparty-up a keyboard folio case for, so that's progress. Remember the Cintiq Companion having a power button in such a spot that throwing the device in a bag even with the sleeve on would turn on the device and then when you go in your bag it's hot enough to look about to explode? Good times!

[angelosantoro]

Hi Brad!!! any plans on reviewing the new xencelabs display tablet??

[fablewalls]

I know the Surface Studio has higher resolution but some artists and illustrators like to draw with broader, sweeping gestures and I am one of them. 
I'd kill for an 18 - 20 inch device at 4:3 aspect ratio and a good processor but for his, I think I will always be tied to a Mac Desktop and a graphic display tablet.

[thethtimelord]

Graduated from your art academy. I drew a bell as asked during one of the videos so I'll be enjoying the lesson to be uploaded on drawing eyes soon I hope.

[haihaiwhutwhut]

Surface Pro is 3:2 not 3:4 if I remember correctly.

[JamesWilliam]

I'm looking at the Xencelabs 24 as that seems to be the sweet spot for me. Still waiting on more reviews though.

[DaneMurdock]

I'm not sure if this is a reasonable request, but I'd love to see you do a quick video demonstrating how the Huion's pen behaves in a few scenarios. I have a Kamvas pro 13 2.5k and it is great for the price, but it definitely has a few big let downs with the pen and I would make me never buy their Kamvas Studio if it also shared these problems.

1. It seems like cursor on my tablet will swing wildly away from the pen tip as I approach the edge of the screen, like even as far as an inch or more out. This is behavior is typical for EMR pens, but I found this too much on the Kamvas. It would make selecting brushes or menu items difficult. Even though my old Cintiq 13HD also does this, it still feels way more accurate even as it approaches the edges.

2. The cursor accuracy on the Kamvas also seems poor when I alter the angle I am holding the pen from. I don't always draw from some rigid, identical position, and I found the accuracy would alter pretty heavily as I moved across the screen, and I would need to reposition myself or the pen in order to get the tip to feel properly accurate. Again, my old Cintiq doesn't have this problem, it will remain much more accurate at any angle of approach unless I am really close to the edge.

I also have calibrated the Kamvas in every way possible and it never really seemed to do anything. In fact, calibrating it at all always seemed to make things worse than when I had restored the default calibration.

Huion is making some good stuff, especially when you consider price, but they are just not there yet compared to their more expensive competitors like Wacom, or Apple. I think I'd probably prefer their pen to the Surface pen though.

[phelyxz]

I think there direct competitor for the huion studio 16 is the surface pro studio. For me it's mostly the choice between those two. Because both have a bit larger screens than the original surface pro.

[roderictaylor]

I'm deciding between trying out the Huion Kamvas Studio 16 vs a Microsoft studio laptop or similar surface device. The main consideration for me is the writing experience. I currently use an iPad, and while it's great otherwise, even with a screen protector the screen feels slippery with the pencil, and I find it challenging to write neatly. After listening to this video, I'm leaning towards the Huion, based on your experience of the texture of the screen. I wish I could try it out before purchasing, but it sounds like the Huion screen would work better for me. I'm a math instructor, and currently use my 12.9" iPad as a virtual whiteboard.

[EmanuelCampos]

For me, the huion is closer to Wacom mobile studio than surface, but that Wacom was really hard to use, win10 was not mobile ready, and only the pen was not enough to interface the operational system..,

[neshiah]

The Arteck keyboard cover for the SP9 is excellent quality at about £30 GBP.

[kouotsu]

I got the first batch of these and have sadly been disappointed so far. It actually had a hardware problem with the screen bugging out and they quickly replaced with one of the later batches. So at least they have great support.

Maybe it's because I have clammy hands, but I have pretty constant issues with input. Though also some weird issues with right clicks working in some buggy ways that I've never experienced in Windows, so I think at best there's some driver issues that still need ironing out. As for my input on the art software, it's fine but I do get a lot of palm issues, though not so bad using the padded glove they included. I'm suspicious that they included this unique glove because people had this issue. Never used one with padding before.

I was hopeful to use this more for 3D art, as a lot of the software is still kind of legacy in terms of UI and really benefits from the 16:9 ratio. So far I've just thought I should go sit at my desk and use the PC.

[ericborc]

Looking forward to a review of the new OnePad from OnePlus

[gregcollins]

Hey Brad! How does the Kamvas compare to an ipad pro 12.9 (16gb ram model)?

[blayzej]

Great review. Can you compare the Huion Studio 16 with the Tab S8 Ultra?