XP-PEN Wireless Drawing Tablet Deco Pro LW 2nd, 11 Inch Bluetooth Computer Graphics Tablet with X3 Pro Stylus & Mini Key-dial, Digital Drawing Pad for Animation, Digital Art, Video Editing

**XP-Pen Deco Pro LW Tablet Review** Before diving into the review, I think it’s important to provide some context about my background. I’m a senior 3D artist with over 25 years of experience across feature films, television, games, and virtual reality production. I’ve served as a supervisor on multiple major films, and before entering the entertainment industry, I worked as a manufacturing engineer in Silicon Valley, where I specialized in writing technical documentation and procedures. Additionally, I’ve built my last five computers from scratch, so I’d like to think I know what I’m doing when it comes to tech. **XP-Pen Purchase Date**: 2024/10/01, delivered 2024/10/02 **System Specs**: - Motherboard: ASUS Z790-E WiFi - RAM: 128GB - GPU: RTX 4090 - Total Storage: 20TB - Monitors: 2x 4K displays For most of my career, I’ve relied on tablets from "that other company" (which I won’t name because this isn’t about them). However, I’ve always felt their products were vastly overpriced. I initially had my eye on the Artist Pro 19 (Gen 2), but given the current state of the visual effects and games industries, which are facing a severe downturn, I needed to make a more cost-effective choice. Freelancing has allowed me to make ends meet, but I had to stick with essentials rather than splurging on more expensive tools—even if they might boost my productivity. That’s why I opted for the Deco Pro LW. ### REVIEW **TL;DR** For the price, I’m extremely satisfied with the XP-Pen Deco Pro LW. While I encountered a few issues, they seem more related to my workstation setup than the tablet itself. I would definitely buy this tablet again. If I had the budget, I wouldn’t hesitate to upgrade to the Artist Pro 19 (Gen 2) because the quality-to-price ratio of XP-Pen products is impressive. **Packaging** I was pleasantly surprised by the packaging quality. I expected something lightweight and basic, but the box was sturdy and well-organized, with all the contents securely protected. **SCORE**: 5/5 **Documentation (Quick Guides)** The printed materials are well-done and feel more premium than I expected. While I wish the text in the manual was larger (a personal preference), the content is clear and easy to follow. The step-by-step instructions for setup are generally good, though there are some minor grammatical issues. The biggest problem lies in the English translation during the Bluetooth setup section, which could be clearer. **SCORE**: 4.5/5 **Setup** The Bluetooth setup instructions in the manual suggest pressing the power button for 3 seconds to turn on the tablet and 6 seconds to enter pairing mode. However, I found that holding the button for 3 seconds didn’t turn it on, and holding it for 4.5–5 seconds immediately put it into pairing mode, which contradicts the manual. Initially, I couldn’t get my PC to detect the tablet via Bluetooth. After troubleshooting, I discovered that the "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC" setting was disabled on my system. Once enabled, the tablet paired easily. The wireless shortcut remote uses a USB dongle (not Bluetooth), but setup through the configuration app was simple. Since the Bluetooth issue was caused by a setting on my PC, I won’t deduct any points. **SCORE**: 5/5 **Use** Upon first use, I noticed some lag and lack of smoothness when using Bluetooth, particularly in Maya and ZBrush. Using the USB-C cable instead eliminated the issue, so I’ll be spending more time tweaking my system to determine if the problem lies with my hardware or the tablet. Given that this is my first day with the tablet, I plan to further investigate and resolve the Bluetooth performance. **SCORE**: 4.5/5 **Overall**: **SCORE**: 4.9/5 I’m very happy with the Deco Pro LW and excited to explore more of what it can do. Edit 11/3/2024: After using the tablet for some time I have raised the score, and moved the stars from 4 to 5 to better reflect the quality of the product. It is my hope that, in the future, I will be able to get a Artist Pro 19 (Gen 2) based on my experience with this tablet.

I bought this tablet because I wanted something that would give me a bit more control and space when working on digital drawings, and so far I’m really happy with it. The larger drawing area is probably one of the things I noticed most. It gives you room to make more natural movements rather than feeling restricted, especially when working on more detailed sketches. The pen feels comfortable to use and is responsive, which makes drawing feel much more natural than using a mouse. I also really like the wireless option. It makes the desk a lot less cluttered and means I’m not constantly having to think about where the cable is. It’s a small thing, but it makes the whole setup more convenient. The shortcut controls are another useful feature. Once you get them set up to suit the software you use, they can save quite a bit of time and make the workflow feel smoother. There are plenty of features here, but I didn’t find it overly complicated to get started. Build quality feels good, and the tablet doesn’t feel like a cheap or flimsy product. It feels like something that should last, which is important when you’re spending this sort of money on creative equipment. Overall, I’m very pleased with the purchase. It’s made digital drawing more enjoyable and comfortable for me, and I think it offers a good balance of size, performance and useful features. Definitely a worthwhile upgrade if you’re looking for a decent drawing tablet without going straight to the most expensive options.

I highly recommend this tablet. It's easy to configure, the pen is ergonomic and steady, and the buttons on the pen are easy to access. 1) Packaging: The packaging of this pen is so professionally done that it's worth mentioning. The pen comes in a solid metal box with nibs. The tablet is well packed. It's a good indication that XPPen takes care of its product. 2) Configuration: I'm using it with a Mac Studio with the Sonoma MacOS. Simply download the driver and install. Bluetooth quickly configures after the tablet charges a bit. Adjusting the tablet area and screen area is straightforward. I just used the automatic adjustment, which gives you the screen size and tablet size. I do not recommend selecting the "mouse" option: It seems to change the pen's range. The pressure adjustment allows for the correct pressure. 3) Use: I'm using it with Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. This pen draws very steady lines, much better than my previous tablet, the pen of which was too skinny and the buttons too small. The taper on the XPPen makes it far easier to grasp. The buttons are large and easy to select, but do not get in the way of drawing. I am *very* impressed with the steadiness of the pen. There is very little wiggle, creating smooth, accurate lines (my previous pen on a popular tablet was wiggly). The included glove is a very useful accessory: It enables your hand to glide over the tablet. I have found this tablet to be exceedingly productive. I have the 15" version which I recommend. it fits on my small desk area, and the rounded front edge of the tablet is very functionally ergonomic. The XPPen is a nicely engineered product that will improve your drawing experience.

Great pad! Does exactly as needed and then some

Out of the box: great packaging, nice pen case. Try it out: on the Mac, without driver installation the pen on the tablet moves the mouse, left click works a little, no right click, basically useless. Driver installation asks for keystroke monitoring permission (twice, denied), and asks for accessibility permission (have to accept otherwise it doesn't work). Each time the software starts it asks for more permissions (denied). Hooked up the tablet with USB-A cable. Pen on tablet works fine and is responsive and feels good, buttons on pen work. Movements are smooth and soundless. Works fine for me as a left-handed person since there are no buttons on the tablet. At times something weird happens where a menu doesn't work or selections don't turn off. Solution is to quit the driver software and restart. Don't leave the driver running if you don't use the tablet, weird menu selections will happen, the driver interferes with some mouse commands. Basically the driver can be buggy and invasive but mostly works fine while using the tablet and I don't see it working when I quit the driver app. I'm not a super user, I didn't try the extra device with buttons and I didn't try any advanced pen sensitivity trials, I didn't try to set any fancy settings. It works fine for the average user drawing and painting digitally with default settings. Overall, OK value for money. Driver software should be in the App Store so you can trust it better.