Wacom completely redesigns its flagship Intuos Pro drawing tablets – inside and out!

Wacom has rocked the best drawing tablets market by announcing a complete redesign of its flagship Intuos Pro range. The Intuos Pro is a mainstay of the best Wacom tablets and with its new chip and digitizer set, Wacom claims the tablet boasts its "most accurate pen stroke (...) and intuitive controls in an ultra-slim, compact design." It also features an improved battery life over the Intuos Pro 2017.

Wacom says the Windows and Mac-compatible tablets have been redesigned inside and out, with the most noticeable difference being physical controls positioned along the top of the tablet, rather than to one side, to better accommodate left-handed users. Another big update is the inclusion of the Pro Pen 3, found in the Cintiq Pro, Wacom’s flagship range of pen displays.

The Pro Pen 3 is said to provide Wacom's “most sensitive, accurate, and natural pen performance,” while it can be customized with different grips, button configurations, nibs, and even weight adjustments, and doesn’t contain any batteries, removing the need for charging. It's also Wacom's first professional creative pen tablet that will work with older Wacom pro pens or a stylus made with EMR technology from Pilot, Lamy, or Staedtler.

The new Intuos Pro tablets boast enhanced ergonomics, thanks to the repositioning of mechanical dials and ExpressKeys, again, designed to better accommodate both right- and left-handed users, while also being customized for use with specific applications. The medium and large tablets have ten ExpressKeys and two dials, while the small tablet has five ExpressKeys and one dial. Each tablet is also extremely thin. All sizes boast a very sleight 0.16-0.28in (4 to 7mm) graduated thickness, with a sleek magnesium-alloy back.

The new Intuos Pro range can be paired and charged with the included USB-C to A cable or via Bluetooth 5.3. A useful enhancement is the tablets’ ability to pair to two computers simultaneously, making it easier to switch from one device to another, while a connector button allows users to “switch between the wired connection and either wireless computer,” so you can bring a third device into the mix. Wacom rates the tablets to provide 16 hours of battery when fully charged.

The tablets come with free trials of Clip Studio Paint, MASV and Capture One, as well as access to Wacom's digital rights management tool, Yuify, so artists can protect their work via a micromark in conjunction with compatible software. The range is compatible with Windows 10 (or later) and macOS 13 (or later).

The tablets are set to launch in March and will be priced as follows: Intuos Pro Small, $249.95 (£229.99), Intuos Pro Medium, $379.95 (£339.99), and Intuos Pro Large, $499.95 (£469.99).

You may also like...

If you're looking for a great drawing tablet you can take anywhere and are working with a small budget, I reviewed the One by Wacom very favorably. But if a pen display is more your style, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more complete model than the Xencelabs Pen Display 16. And if you're looking to add a drawing tablet or pen display to your own workflow for the first time, here's how I edit photos with an Apple Pencil and my iPad Pro.