Huion Kamvas 24 Series Pen Display tablets have great screens, good response times and are a joy to use. Although the most expensive generation of Huion tablets to date, they're still far more affordable than their equivalent, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24.
For
Great screen and response on 24, even better on 24 Plus
Very little parallax
Far cheaper than the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24
Against
Software can be tricky to set up
Higher priced than its Huion predecessors
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The Huion Kamvas 24 Series is the latest offering from Huion, and adds to an already full roster of affordable drawing tablets. It's a range of three tablets, including the 24, the 24 Plus and the 24 Pro, with a matte film on the 24 and etched glass on the other two.
It's no secret that Huion has been hard at work establishing itself as a big name over the past five years. And while it's still less established than Wacom, it's made itself very popular with the budget end of the market. With the Kamvas 24 Series, the Chinese company is going for the prosumer side of drawing tablets, and it has a price to match.
Although the name would suggest otherwise, the 24 Series offers a drawing surface of 28.3-inches, and a viewing angle of 178°, allowing better visibility while you move around the tablet. It runs on Huion’s Tablet Software, which while easy to use once set up can be tricky to configure, particularly with Windows 7 computers. But is it enough to inspire users to move away from their Wacom tablets? Read on to find out more.
Where the Huion Kamvas 24 Series really shines is with Photoshop. It works well with different brush types, and its 1440p QHD display excels with fine detail where accuracy is crucial.
Line pressure adjusts smoothly and without any visible graduation (and considering that it has 8192 levels of pressure, that’s hardly a surprise). The tablet's colour accuracy is fantastic; the 24 and 24 Pro cover 120% of the sRGB colour gamut and the 24 Plus covers 140%.
As the screen resolution is higher than a standard 1080p HD screen, users may find themselves also using it in day-to-day situations.
As the Huion 24 and 24 Plus come without programmable buttons, users wanting hotkeys may want to invest in the Huion KD100 Mini Keydial. The KD100 combines a dial, ideal for controlling brush size, with eighteen programmable buttons. This is fully customisable via Huion's tablet software.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: build and design
Huion Kamvas 24 Series Pen Tablet Display Showing Windows Background (Image credit: Beth Crane)
The build of the Huion Kamvas 24 series is solid, minimalistic and pleasing to the eye. The main piece of assembly required is screwing on the base. The base is well-designed and sturdy, allowing viewing angles between 20° and 80° with the simple lift of a lever. Combined with the rubberised feet on the bottom of the tablet, the Kamvas 24 can be securely rested on a desk of any material.
This is a tablet that is definitely more at home on the permanent desk than the hot-desk. With the stand it weighs more than 5kg and its size makes it a bulky parcel to carry on a commute.
There are two different screen textures available in the Kamvas 24 Series. The cheapest of the three tablets, the Huion Kamvas 24, comes with an anti-glare matte film. The other varieties (the Huion Kamvas 24 Plus and the Huion Kamvas 24 Pro) both feature etched anti-glare glass. While both screens are a pleasure to draw on, the anti-glare film does catch the nib slightly more than the glass surface.
Most artists will have a preference for a smoother or rougher surface, although the difference is slight. Combining the matte film with a felt nib is probably closest to felt tip on paper, whereas the etched glass provides a smoother, less textured experience.
The three-plug cord used to attach the tablet to a computer is one of the least elegant parts of the design, but its faults are minor. Users with access to a USB 3.0 port can attach the tablet directly to their computer, but otherwise both a USB and HDMI port are required.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: price
One of the major downsides for high-end graphics tablets for artists in the earlier stages of their career is the price, and Huion is cheerfully filling this gap in the market.
While the Huion Kamvas 24 Series is more expensive than its forebears, ranging from £799 for a 24, £899 for a 24 Plus and £849 for a 24 Pro, it's still far more affordable than Wacom’s Cintiq range.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: availability
The Huion Kamvas 24 Pro is available on Huion’s UK website, but for the 24 and 24 Plus models buyers have to visit Huion's main website and navigate to the UK section. The Pro is currently subject to some major launch discounts, with price reductions of around 15% on their UK website at the time of writing.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: peripherals
(Image credit: Beth Crane)
The Huion PW517 pen included with the 24 Series is a real standout. It uses Electromagnetic Resonance for power, rather than the awkward and easily lost charging cables of earlier Huion tablets.
It also comes with a large quantity of replacement nibs, meaning that purchasing new nibs is a long way in the future. Huion also offer felt nibs, which give the PW517 a feeling that is closer to a felt-tip.
The textured rubber surface of the pen makes it a comfortable and secure surface to grip. The pen works up to 10mm away from the screen surface, making using its two shortcut keys a breeze, and the 60° tilt support and virtually nonexistent parallax makes the process of drawing feel far more natural.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: performance
(Image credit: Beth Crane)
The Huion Kamvas 24 Series performs incredibly with drawing programs across the board. Although the place it really shines is in digital painting, it's also a pleasure to use in less pressure-sensitive contexts such as vector programs.
One of the points where Huion occasionally falls down is in the software installation, especially on older computers. Out of the box, the typical Huion user will have either a smoothly loading tablet or a frustrating half hour.
During installation, a Windows 7 PC detected the tablet but the Huion software was unable to. After a quick workaround (removing the software from auto-startup and instead triggering it manually as an administrator), it worked, and has continued to work, flawlessly. The same detection issue appeared momentarily during installation on a Windows 10 laptop, but quickly resolved itself.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series: should you buy it?
The Huion Kamvas 24 Series is definitely worth it for professionals, although a cheaper Huion tablet may serve users on a tighter budget better. Either way, the Huion Kamvas 24 Series is a worthwhile addition to any digital artist's toolkit. Huion’s Kamvas 24 Series Pen Display tablets have great screens, good response times and are a joy to use. Although the most expensive generation of Huion tablets to date, they're still far more affordable than their equivalent, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24.
Huion Kamvas 24 Series Specs
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Size:
604.2 x 358 x 21~28.3mm (Without Stand)
Weight:
5.6Kg (With Stand)
Active area:
526.85 x 296.35mm
Resolution:
2560 x 1440 (16:9) QHD
Contrast Ratio:
Kamvas 24: 1000:1 / Kamvas 24 Plus: 1200:1
Brightness:
220cd/m2 maximum
Response Time:
14ms
Gamut:
Kamvas 24: 120% sRGB / Kamvas 24 Plus: 140% sRGB
Display Colours:
16.7M
Pressure Levels:
8192
Tilt Recognition:
±60°
OS Support:
Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.12 or later, Android SB3.1 DP1.2
Huion Kamvas 24 Series Pen Display tablets have great screens, good response times and are a joy to use. Although the most expensive generation of Huion tablets to date, they're still far more affordable than their equivalent, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 24.
