Wacom’s Movinkpad 11 is a fun and mid-priced entry point for digital artists
Since the advent of the internet, there has been a dedicated digital art community that’s all about creating through computing. Wacom, a Japanese company founded
Since the advent of the internet, there has been a dedicated digital art community that’s all about creating through computing. Wacom, a Japanese company founded in 1983, is considered one of the longstanding leaders in this sector. One of the oldest producers of graphics tablets in the world, Wacom has spent the last few years iterating on its Movinkpad series — a specialized Android tablet that creators can use to spin up digital art at the click of a button or the swipe of a stylus. I’m not a professional artist, or even a hobbyist. But I am a tech enthusiast and was interested to see how a digital art newbie like myself might use a device like the Movinkpad. Wacom lent TechCrunch a Movinkpad 11, the first tablet in the series. The Movinkpad 11 is not Wacom’s latest release. That’s the Movinkpad Pro 14, which came out last fall and costs substantially more at $899 and offers a number of impressive upgrades, including an OLED screen with 3K resolution and broader color spectrum. But I wanted to start with the first in the series to get to know Movinkpad from its earliest iteration. The upshot: The Movinkpad 11 easy to setup and a capable device that won’t break your budget. At $500, it’s a little too expensive for a casual user who isn’t specifically interested in digital art.
But for those who have a passion for digital doodling and not a lot of cash to throw around, it’s a relatively mid-range price point — stuck somewhere between budget picks like the Huion Inspiroy H640P (only around $30) and a more high-end item like Wacom’s own Cintiq Pro 27 (which is a whopping $3,500), or an iPad (up to $1,100). Image Credits:Lucas Ropek/TechCrunch / Lucas Ropek/TechCrunch For those unfamiliar with the digital art community, you might wonder why anyone would ever want to use one of these? If you’re into making art, why not just stick to paper and pencil? Digital art affords a distinct kind of creative experience that is impossible to replicate anywhere else, proponents argue. Its patrons include graphic designers, cartoonists, animators, and even video game designers. Some traditional artists use tablet art as a sketching and conceptualization method, and then transfer their drawings onto paper. Others do the opposite, sketching something on paper and transferring it to their tablet. Whatever you’re into, the right tablet can go a long way towards helping you realize your creative vision. Specs and setup The Movinkpad 11 is an 11.45-inch device that comes with 8 gigabytes of memory and 128 gigabytes of storage, and is battery-free, with a USB charger. It weighs just 1.3 pounds, so it’s relatively light-weight and easy to carry around with you wherever you go.
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