Wacom has issued a tablet-shaped challenge to digital creators waiting for Apple’s long-awaited OLED iPads. On Wednesday, the company launched the Wacom Movink 13, its own OLED-based offering aimed at creators needing a highly portable drawing tablet.
Available now for $750 on the Wacom online store, the Movink features a 13.3-inch Samsung OLED Full HD display, which gives it several advantages over comparable mid-range LED tablets. Most noticeable is the lack of backlighting – Wacom says this not only prevents light leakage and excessive heat (the latter of which is a known nuisance for display tablet users), but also allows the tablet to be smaller.
Wacom says Movink is the “thinnest and lightest” pen display tablet ever made, weighing 420 grams (14.8 ounces) and ranging from 4 to 6.6 mm thick. For comparison, Wacom says it’s 66 percent thinner and 55 percent lighter than the comparably sized Wacom One 13 touch. This also makes it lighter than the 682 grams (24 ounces) of the current 12.9-inch iPad Pro model, while remaining similar in thickness.
Yes, it’s quite slim – a plus for anyone who needs a drawing tablet that can be easily thrown into a bag. Photo: Wacom
It doesn’t mind messy three-in-one cables either – the Wacom Movink 13 uses a single USB-C to USB-C cable for both power and connectivity. The tablet supports Windows, macOS, ChromeOS and Android, and a second USB-C port is also available to provide additional power if the connected device doesn’t have enough juice.
Some devices may not have enough output power for the Wacom Movink 13, requiring the use of an additional USB-C cable for additional power. Photo: Wacom
Users can also expect a wider color spectrum and deeper blacks, with a contrast ratio of 100,000:1, a hundred times higher than the recently released Wacom Cintiq Pro 17. Wacom Movink is approved for Pantone and Pantone SkinTone and provides 100 According to Wacom, DCI coverage -P3 is 95% and Adobe RGB is 95%. OLED’s faster response time also reduces pen latency to below one millisecond.
Speaking of pens, the Movink comes with a dedicated version of Wacom’s Pro Pen 3 stylus, which has a thinner, more visible nib. This version is exclusive to the Movink 13, but Wacom says the tablet also supports “multi-pen technologies” so it can work with the Wacom Pro Pen 2 or third-party products like Dr. Grip Digital, Lamy or Staedtler.
That’s about it for the free accessories, though – users who prefer to work at an angle will have to purchase a separate (and equally slim) foldable stand for $80. There are also only two customizable buttons on the tablet, one on either side, which can be used to turn touch features on and off. If you need more, you’ll have to purchase a separate Wacom ExpressKey remote for $99 or create on-screen shortcuts.
Touch controls are also supported when you don’t want to use the pen and can be turned on and off as needed. Photo: Wacom
Given that Wacom is the first graphics tablet maker to offer OLED-based tablets, the Movink 13’s closest competitor will likely be Apple’s long-awaited iPad Pro OLED, which is scheduled to launch on May 7. The most notable difference between these products is that the Wacom tablet requires connection to an external device, but at $750 (which is surprisingly cheap for Wacom), it can be much cheaper than Apple’s all-in-one offering.
If users aren’t committed to desktop creative software, the only thing that would make choosing between them more difficult would be if Apple announced a native way to use the iPad as a drawing tablet on the Mac. A girl can only dream.
Credit : www.theverge.com
