First look at Wacom's new Cintiq 27QHD and Companion 2

First look at Wacom's new Cintiq 27QHD and Companion 2

Wacom has just revealed three brand new Cintiq digital art tablets... well, two new, and the other kind-of new. Their new 'flagship Cintiq' is the 27QHD, and as is the way with Wacom, it comes with a bigger, more expensive, Touch version.

The '27' bit refers to the the screen's size in inches, so now you can take your pick from 13-inch, 22-inch, 24-inch and 27-inch Cintiqs.

It comes with a new ExpressKey Remote, which can be placed anywhere on the screen or desk, giving more choice in how they use customisable keyboard shortcuts.

There are also more stand options, so you're hopfully less likely to get a crooked neck working on your masterpiece for hours and hours.

First look at Wacom's new Cintiq 27QHD and Companion 2

Of course, what really counts is under the hood. There's more pressure sensitivity, a cool one billion colours and nearly all of Adobe's colour gamut to be seen on the screen. The Touch version offers this and, you know, touch technology too!

We haven't got our hands on them yet, but based on the stats, this looks like it may boil down to three inches. Three inches more screen real estate than the company's previous flagship Cintiq, the 24HD that was released two years ago, and a sustained high price tag.

The Cintiq 27QHD comes in at £1,800, and the touch version at £2,100, and will be available from mid January. This is to replace the previous Cintiq 24HD models, which presumably will be out of production.

First look at Wacom's new Cintiq 27QHD and Companion 2

The Companion 2 is much the same to its little brother as the 27 is to the 24. Again, it looks to be a Windows 8 PC, so you have the full Cintiq specs without connecting to a PC or Mac.

With added pressure sensitivity and new tilt recognition, the Cintiq Companion 2’s Pro Pen also promises to be more like a real brush/pen/marker, especially when used in combination with apps from Adobe, Autodesk, Corel, Smith Micro, and Pixologic.

Time will tell whether hands-on will reveal any revelatory discoveries about functionality but, for now, Cintiq completists with plenty of cash to spare can rejoice in these three new high-tech toys.

Like this? Read these!

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Beren Neale
Deals Editor

Beren has worked on creative tech magazines and websites at Future Publishing for 13 years. He started this journey as Staff Writer on the digital art magazine ImagineFX, and in 2012 found himself bridging the magazine/website divide as Commissioning Editor on the newly launched Creative Bloq. Since then he took the editor role on ImagineFX, was Launch Editor of the fine art magazine Paint & Draw, moved to Canon Pro Europe website as Deputy Editor, and then edited the graphic design magazine Computer Arts. In 2020 he moved back to Creative Bloq, the biggest global art and design website, and as Deals Editor has applied his expertise in creative tech to help digital creatives get the best deals on the kit that they need and love. Outside of work, Beren likes nothing better than to climb himself a bit of rock.