- I'm Aaron Rutten, and today I'll be reviewing
a brand new display tablet made by Wacom.
This is the Cintiq 16.
(upbeat music)
For you digital artists who are on a budget,
you'll be excited to know
that the Cintiq 16 is an affordable option
to the more expensive Cintiq Pros.
It delivers the top-notch drawing experience
that you'd expect from a Cintiq,
without all the bells and whistles
that put the Cintiq Pro at a higher price point.
The Cintiq 16 is competitively priced at 649 U.S. dollars.
Let's start this review by taking a quick look
at an overview of what the Cintiq 16 can do.
Quick disclaimer, this is not a sponsored video,
but Wacom did send me this tablet, so I could review it.
All opinions in this video are my own.
The Wacom Cintiq 16 is a display tablet
with a screen that you can draw directly onto.
It comes with Wacom's most advanced pen, the Pro Pen 2,
which has a whopping 8,192 Pressure Levels
on the pen tip and the eraser.
The pen also supports pen tilt, which you can use
for expressions like drawing with the side of your pencil.
The Wacom Cintiq 16 also supports many of the legacy pens,
such as the Wacom Art Pen, which can sense pen rotation.
Additional nib types are also supported.
The Cintiq 16 features a 15.6 inch screen
with an HD resolution of 1920x1080 pixels.
The image you'll get on this device is not as sharp
as what you'd get on the newer 4K models,
but it's more than adequate for art and design.
A higher screen resolution makes fine lines,
stippling and hatching appear clearer and sharper,
especially when zoomed out, but, aside from that,
there's not much of an advantage
to having a higher screen resolution.
The Cintiq 16's screen was more than clear enough
for me to see much of the paper grain texture
in my pencil drawing.
As I began to zoom out, I did find it difficult
to see the exact shape of some of the smaller marks
I was making, but I wouldn't say it held me back.
The Cintiq 16 features an anti-glare screen
with a natural paper-like feel.
You definitely won't want to be drawing on a glossy screen
because it doesn't provide resistance to your pen,
it sticks to your hand,
and it reflects everything around you.
The Cintiq 16 screen is matte, not gloss,
so I was able to clearly see what I was drawing,
even while surrounded by the big lights I use for recording.
The screen also features reduced parallax,
so there isn't an abnormal gap
between your pen tip and the brush cursor.
Color accuracy is important
for professionals and artists who print their work.
The Cintiq 16's color gamut is only 72% NTSC
which is okay, but not great.
The Cintiq Pros reach nearly 100% of Adobe RGB.
The Cintiq 16 screen and body
are built of durable, scratch-resistant materials.
The build quality feels very solid
and doesn't feel flimsy or cheap.
The Cintiq 16 can be used as a single display
or as an independent display in a multi-monitor setup.
From the Wacom Desktop Center,
you can control a few basic display properties
such as Brightness, Contrast and Color Temperature.
There is also an Advanced menu
that will let you control the Power LED Brightness,
if you want to dim it or turn it off altogether.
Moving to the exterior of the Cintiq 16,
there are built in folding legs on the back of the display
that will allow the Cintiq to angle
from almost flat to a 19 degree incline.
The legs have rubber feet that grip your desk.
If you prefer more options for positions,
you can purchase an optional stand.
I much prefer using the stand,
so, in my opinion, it would be best to get one.
It makes the display much more stable and easy to position.
The stand is easily attached
using holes for a VESA mounting on the back of the display.
Assembly is easy.
The only trouble I had was attaching it upside down
on the first try.
If you wanted to use an alternative VESA-compatible mount,
such as an Ergotron arm, you could do that as well.
The Cintiq 16 can be connected to your computer
using HDMI to drive the video signal,
and USB to drive the tablet input.
No other display option is provided,
but you could buy a third party adapter
to convert HDMI to another display type.
The cable combines HDMI, USB and power
into a three-in-one cable,
which attaches securely to the back of the Cintiq 16
and does not encumber the display
as much as three separate cables would.
This is especially useful
when you are moving the tablet around on your desk.
The power cable connects to a larger power brick,
and the total length of the combined cables was adequate
for my large desk.
Moving to the front of the Cintiq 16,
you'll notice that there are not any external Express Keys
like the ones found on some of the older generation Cintiqs.
Instead, the optional Wacom Express Key Remote is supported,
which will give you 17 programmable keys
that you can use for shortcuts.
One downside to using the remote
is that the remote does not stick to the Cintiq 16
like it does on the larger models,
nor is there any additional bezel to dock the remote
even if it were magnetic.
Nevertheless, you have the option
of creating on-screen buttons you can tap on with the pen,
to invoke shortcuts and commands.
So you could live without express keys.
There is an LED illuminated power button
at the top right of the Cintiq 16.
It's inset into the surface of the bezel,
so that it's flush and does not protrude.
Should your palm graze this area while drawing,
it is possible to accidentally power the screen off,
but it's not likely.
Absent on the side of the Cintiq 16 are any USB ports
like those found on the Pro models.
There is however a pen holder that pulls out
to reveal three replacement nibs
for the pen and a nib remover.
So that's an overview of what the Cintiq 16 can do,
but let's talk about how it compares
to some of the other options out there.
To me, it's obvious that the Cintiq 16 is meant
to compete with the wide range
of imitation Cintiqs on the market.
But, in my opinion, Wacom has one-upped the competition
by showing artists the level of quality
they should expect from a budget display tablet.
I know not everyone is going to appreciate the higher level
of quality Wacom offers, but allow me to share a few
of the ways the Cintiq differs from the imitations.
Screen glare can make it very difficult
to work on a display tablet.
I can't speak for every Cintiq alternative out there,
but some have glossy screens that create a lot of glare.
As I mentioned earlier in the review,
I much prefer the Cintiq 16's matte screen
with it's anti-glare surface.
The feel of the screen is also very important.
The Cintiq 16 has a paper-like feel
which adds some friction while drawing.
It doesn't feel sticky or slippery
like a glossy screen would.
When it comes to pens, there's really no competition.
Wacom's Pro Pen 2 is a premium pen.
It's the same pen that's included
with the top of the line Cintiq Pros.
Sure, there are other pens out there
that support 8,192 pressure levels,
but that's not all that's important in a quality pen.
Wacom pens are well-built,
and the Pro Pen 2 isn't going to fall apart,
even under heavy use for years on end.
The Pro Pen 2 is also cordless,
battery-free, and does not require charging.
Don't overlook pen quality when you buy a tablet
because that's something you're going to be holding
the entire time you are drawing,
and you want it to be comfortable.
You want to be able to pick up your pen and start drawing,
without having to wait because you forgot to charge it.
Let's not forget that the Pro Pen 2 also supports pen tilt.
Pen tilt is only supported by a few Cintiq alternatives.
The Pro Pen 2 is the best pen you can get
for a drawing tablet.
Build quality is one of those things that you have to feel.
It's hard to show in a photo or a video.
The Cintiq 16 and its stand feel durable.
The stand works essentially the same as the generic ones
used for many of the Cintiq alternatives,
but it feels a lot more solid.
The drawing experience on the Cintiq 16 felt top-notch.
The pen didn't make any accidental marks or wobbly lines.
The transitions in pen pressure are smooth
and easily calibrated for a lighter or heavier touch.
There wasn't any unusual parallax,
even near the edges of the screen.
I got exactly the experience I expected
from a display tablet.
The Cintiq 16 tablet and driver were easy to install,
and performance has been consistent
across all of the art applications I've tried.
The Cintiq 16 supports a range of pens and nibs
which can extend the functions of the tablet
and give a different feel while drawing.
I'm not 100% certain,
but I don't think many of the Cintiq alternatives
support anything other than their default pen.
So those are just a few of the differences in quality
you might expect from the Cintiq 16
compared to the cheap alternatives,
but how does the Cintiq 16 compare
to the more expensive options Wacom has to offer?
Comparing the Cintiq 16 to the Cintiq Pro 13 and 16,
the Cintiq 16 does not feature multi-touch.
The Cintiq 16's screen offers a smaller color gamut
of only 72% NTSC.
The Cintiq 16 screen has a lower resolution
than the Cintiq Pro 16.
The Cintiq Pro 13 is also 1920x1080 HD.
The Cintiq 16 offers fewer display connection options
to connect the display to your computer.
The Pro models offer USB-C and DisplayPort,
in addition to HDMI.
The Cintiq 16 has a decent anti-glare surface,
but it does not feature the higher-quality,
etched glass screen that you'll find on the Cintiq Pros.
The Cintiq 16 has a plastic bezel
and does not feature the edge-to-edge glass design
of the Cintiq Pros.
And the Cintiq 16 does not feature any external USB ports
for connecting peripherals.
There are, of course, differences in price as well.
The Cintiq Pro 13 is about $150 more than the Cintiq 16.
The Cintiq Pro 16 is about $750 more than the Cintiq 16,
which is more than twice as expensive.
If you're torn between the Cintiq 16 and the Pro models,
you'll have to compare the features
and decide which ones you really need.
Honestly, the Cintiq 16 covers the essentials pretty well.
I was quite comfortable drawing on it,
even though I'm used to having more features available.
Next, I'll recap a bit by discussing the pros
and cons of the Cintiq 16, in my opinion.
We'll start with the pros.
The Cintiq 16 is well-built with durable parts.
As I've said earlier, it doesn't feel cheap.
The anti-glare coating
and parallax reduction worked really well.
The Pro Pen 2 is top-of-the-line and supports pen tilt.
Legacy Wacom pens are also supported,
which can add functionality like rotation.
There are fans on top of the Cintiq 16,
but I haven't noticed any fan noise, even while drawing
with the screen brightness up all the way.
This could be an advantage
because some of the more expensive Cintiqs
have internal fans that create noise.
The Cintiq 16 includes a handy three-in-one cable
which I find convenient.
And in regards to the optional stand,
the stand is very stable when pushing
or drawing on the screen.
It's also very stable when pushing the tablet side to side.
It does wiggle a bit on the horizontal rotational axis,
but overall it works really well
to keep your tablet in place.
The screen surface on the Cintiq 16 can feel sticky
on your skin until you break it in,
but it's not as sticky as a glossy screen.
If that sounds like something that would bother you,
you can wear a glove while you're drawing,
but it wasn't bothersome enough to keep me from drawing.
The screen feel of the Cintiq Pros is definitely nicer,
but don't get me wrong,
the Cintiq 16 still feels great to draw on.
Another con is that I found it difficult
to go from desktop to my lap, with the stand attached.
And even though it's on par with the competition,
the Cintiq 16 uses older technology.
And now for my conclusion, but first,
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The Cintiq Pro 16 is a fantastic budget display tablet
that provides the essential features an artist needs.
Coming from a larger Cintiq, I will admit
that I did miss having touch on occasion,
and the screen also feels a little bit small,
especially if the application UI
takes up a lot of your screen.
But of course you can hide that UI
and then get more screen space to draw on.
But the overall drawing experience was great,
and I felt right at home on this device.
If this were my first display tablet, I'd be so stoked.
Sure, there are alternatives out there that are cheaper
but, for those of you who would rather choose quality
over price, in my opinion it's worth the extra $100 to $200
to get something that's better quality overall.
If you're looking for an excellent,
entry-level display tablet, the Cintiq 16 is it.
You can find links to purchase the Cintiq 16 and other types
of display tablets in the description of this video
or at kit.com/AaronRutten.
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and it doesn't cost you anything extra.
If you enjoyed this review,
make sure to click the like button and comment below,
and let me know if you have any questions
about the Cintiq 16 that I didn't answer in this video.
Thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time.
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