Is the XPPen Drawing Tablet Any Good in 2025?

In short: yes, but with nuance. The XPPen drawing tablet line has matured over recent years, and in 2025, it remains a viable option for many creators — from hobbyists and students to semi-professionals. However, whether it’s the best depends on your needs: performance, software support, display quality, ergonomics, and long-term durability all matter.

Let me break down why XPPen is still competitive in 2025, where it shines, and where it still has room to improve, followed by a look at the two models above.

Why XPPen Drawing Tablets Remain Competitive in 2025

1. Strong value proposition

XPPen often undercuts more premium rivals (like Wacom) while packing in features such as high pressure levels, tilt support, dial controls, full lamination, and wide color coverage. Many users feel they get more “bang for their buck.”

For example, the XPPen Magic Drawing Pad (a standalone Android tablet variant) is lauded in reviews as a “versatile slate, high-quality drawing experience at a reasonable price.” TechRadar commends it for offering “faithful pen-to-paper feel, decent responsiveness and solid color accuracy” given its price. That shows how XPPen is pushing into hybrid form factors and not just pen displays.

2. Good stylus and pressure support

The shift in many XPPen lines toward 16,384 pressure levels, better signal processing, improved activation force, and more advanced stylus chips (X-series chips) has elevated pen feel. These improvements reduce lag, jitter, and allow finer control—a must in 2025 when artists expect as-close-to-analog as possible.

3. Broad compatibility & driver maturity

XPPen supports Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and ChromeOS in many of its newer products. Over time, driver support and stability have improved, and the company is more responsive to firmware and driver updates. This helps the XPPen drawing tablet remain usable across newer OS versions.

4. Diverse product lineup

XPPen’s product range is not limited to one size. You can find compact pen displays, large-format displays, standalone Android drawing slates, and even hybrid note/drawing devices. This variety allows users to choose one suited to their workflow rather than being forced into one form factor.

Where XPPen Still Faces Challenges in 2025

1. Premium performance ceiling

While XPPen tablets are feature-rich for their price, they don’t always match ultra-premium devices in every regard. Occasional lag or performance hiccups show up in heavy workloads (very high brush counts, large canvas files). Some reviewers of the Magic Drawing Pad note that while the drawing experience is strong, “lag can rear its head sometimes” and the processing power is not top-tier.

2. Color calibration consistency

XPPen has improved gamut specs and color accuracy, but for color-critical professional work (e.g. print, high-end illustration), the calibration and panel uniformity may still lag behind ultra-premium brands. Some users might need external calibration or rely on driver tweaks.

3. Build and ergonomics

In very large displays or extended use cases, issues like stand stability, screen flex, or cable management sometimes emerge. Also, while laminated panels are standard now, anti-glare coating and long-term scratch resilience remain areas for scrutiny.

4. Ecosystem & accessory support

Though improving, XPPen doesn’t always have as mature an ecosystem of accessories (e.g. custom mounts, protective covers, etc.) compared to some veteran brands. Also, long-term driver support (10 years out) is still a question mark for some users.

Spotlight on Two 2025-Relevant XPPen Models

XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro V2 — A Balanced Pro Display

The XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro V2 sits in the mid-to-pro pen display category. It typically offers:

• A 15.6″ screen, large enough for serious work but still relatively portable
• High pressure sensitivity (often 16K) and tilt
• A red dial / control wheel or advanced dial interface for quick adjustments
• Full lamination and anti-glare / etched glass options
• Solid color gamut performance

This model is meant to bridge portability and performance. In 2025, it is well suited for digital painters, illustrators, and concept artists who want ample screen real estate without going into giant desktop displays. Because of its popularity, support, driver updates, and community tips are also more plentiful.

It represents how XPPen is positioning itself as a credible mid-tier “professional” option, and it usually undercuts similarly spec’d competitors.

XPPen Artist 22 (2nd Gen) — A Large Format Workhorse

The XPPen Artist 22 (2nd Gen) is an example of how XPPen scales upward. Larger panels like this offer more workspace, better immersion, and are ideal when you want to treat your display like a painting canvas.

Key points:

• With a big display, you get more room for UI panels, references, and multitasking
• The pen responsiveness and display quality need to scale equally — any shortcomings (e.g. latency, brightness, panel uniformity) become more noticeable
• Because of its size, stand quality, ergonomics, and cable strain are more critical

Using a larger XPPen drawing tablet like this in 2025 can make sense for serious creators or studios, especially if the newer generations get better panel tech (higher refresh rates, better color, reduced parallax). The 2nd Gen is more of a predecessor to the newer “Pro” large models, but still competes decently.

How to Decide: Is an XPPen Drawing Tablet Right for You in 2025?

In 2025, for many artists, the XPPen drawing tablet line offers an excellent balance of performance and cost. The improvements in stylus, display, and controls mean many of the pain points of earlier years are much reduced.

If you pick a newer model (like the Artist 15.6 Pro V2 or current large-format displays), make sure to test driver responsiveness, color calibration, and ergonomics for your workflow. For serious professional or color-critical work, you may want to pair your XPPen tablet with an external hardware color calibration tool or high-end monitor, but as a primary drawing surface, it’s absolutely viable in 2025.

Conclusion

Yes — the XPPen drawing tablet is still “good” in 2025, and in many cases, quite competitive. The brand has improved its hardware, software, stylus fidelity, and design across successive generations. While it doesn’t always match top-tier flagship devices in every metric, for most artists the trade-offs are reasonable, especially considering the cost.

The XPPen Artist 15.6 Pro V2 offers a mid-level pro experience with useful controls and modern stylus tech, while large displays like XPPen Artist 22 (2nd Gen) (and its successors) show how XPPen is pushing up the scale. If you choose carefully based on your use case and test for responsiveness and calibration, an XPPen is a very strong option in 2025.