XPPen Magic Drawing Pad: An Affordable iPad Alternative?

In this video I test out the XPPen Magic Drawing Pad. This is a drawing display tablet with a full Android OS. I'm often asked about affordable alternatives to the iPad-and I think this could be just that.
🪄 XPPen Magic Drawing Pad
US Store: amzn.to/4bS6Uje
CA store: amzn.to/4bVPdzs
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[@melsky]

I was a lifetime Android and PC user and I got an iPad so I could use Adobe illustrator on it. It turns out I don't use illustrator on it much but I totally love fresco!

[@cms4Lena]

I love my iPad too. I use Fr, Ai, Ps on it. A magnificent device!

[@chris-piascik]

Ah yeah Fresco is so great on the iPad.

[@corwin32]

The single best thing both Procreate and Fresco do is get the heck out of my way and let me draw

[@chris-piascik]

🤝

[@TheFutureLooksGrimm]

Agreed. They are so very intuitive that way.

[@visionpersistance]

Chris, I love your work!

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks so much!

[@KaiBuskirk]

Super Cool!!! Would love to to test it!!

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! It’s a cool device.

[@derelictknives]

Nice review dude, deffs gonna check one out i'm in aus and could buy 2 of these for the price of an ipad air and pencil, new... the refurb stuff here is still stupid expensive also

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@TheFutureLooksGrimm]

Today I ordered a cellular iPad Pro m4 nano textured screen after trying it out, from my mobile provider. Unfortunately it won’t ship till Aug 2nd. 😢 Lots of people buying these.

[@peteziegel2953]

I had to use app myself to understand that that the clip studio's definition of "vector" is not a true vector but an editable vector path that bitmap brushes follow. It is a powerful feature nonetheless.

[@chris-piascik]

Oh ok, that is a cool feature, but very different from actual vector art

[@RM-xr8lq]

​@@chris-piascik its not too different, instead of using the defined path to draw a line it is just repeatedly applying a brush stamp which can scale up and down upon rendering the clip studio file is still storing that path in the vector layer as a vector function, even if the output is rasterized and not a vector file that can be externally scaled

[@TheFutureLooksGrimm]

Tried Clip Studio today on the trial. It is really complicated like using Photoshop for the first time

[@Sa1tCh1ps]

Amazing review

[@chris-piascik]

Thank you!

[@wongvunyu8461]

14:40 yeah, csp is a bit too much for Android device like Magic Drawing Pad. But on pc with perpetual license it's amazingly good, slightly under the pc adobe software.

[@wheelharp]

Great review as always! Csp vector is not a vector, itʼs just a raster layer where you can adjust your lines with bezier curves etc. However you could export your vector layers in svg format.

[@chris-piascik]

Ah ok good to know, thanks!

[@PeggyIverson]

This short and to the point answer is why I usually read all comments before replying. I just wrote a long answer elsewhere in this section about how Clip Studio must not be true vector. Thanks for the confirmation.

[@Snotnarok]

"Feels cheap" that's because the pen doesn't have a battery, so it might 'feel cheap' but not having a battery is a huge deal since that's something wacom had patented for so long we we were stuck with them as the only option. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I'm just trying to get an idea if this device is for me and my exp is with Huion/Wacom/Surface over the years but I can say a light pen with no battery is so much more ideal than going out and finding your battery is dead and you don't have the means of charging or replacing said battery. That and the battery isn't going to eventually fail and your pen is now done. That all said this thing seems neat but I'm not a fan of CSP only having a subscription on mobile platforms and that'd be the only software I would/could use since that's what I'm doing on desktop.

[@chris-piascik]

I think it wasn’t just the light weight, but more the feel of the material, etc. But I get your point. The pen seemed to work great. I think if I was more comfortable with Android and Clip Studio this would have been a better experience. It did seem a bit lacking in power when I was working at higher resolution though.

[@Snotnarok]

@@chris-piascik I've heard mixed things about the tablet depending on who you ask, hence why I stumbled on to your vid. Don't take my comment as being rude, please. I've just seen a lot of reviewers be dismissive of pens like this because they're used to the apple pencil not understanding there's no battery. Which is fair because Wacom had patented batteryless pen tech so a lot of companies couldn't use it till recently. XP-Pen and Huion included. Patent ran out so everyone can do it, so- yay.

[@theanimaster]

18:48 From the tiny iPhone 15 pro max screen I’m viewing this on, it doesn’t look pixelated. It’s still vector. The texture of the line is vector. It’s placing a vector shape on a vector path. EDIT: I turned my iPhone sideways and oh crap yeah - THAT is pixelated!! I don’t see that with Affinity Designer tho. CSP’s vector tracing appears atrocious here. It has a bazillion anchor points. Affinity Designer has better path tracing, for vector purists.

[@coolartbylexi]

You need to turn on palm rejection, using glove helps. I like clip but Ibis paint is just easier to deal with

[@chris-piascik]

Thanks for the tip

[@redford4ever]

It's pixelated because there still is a resolution to your project which will ultimately output in pixel, not vector. While Fresco looks cool during editing this is real output preview. In general Clip Studio is more heavy duty and brings stuff on the table that makes it the most productive apps down the line... on project big enough for all of its stacked features to shine. As your let's draw app, especially if you don't create your own brushes, it's not as smooth as procreate for instance. This matters not just for hobbyist - non nerdy pro artist needs the inspiring environment. Clipstudio added a "simple mode" which IMO doesn't cut it. Still, after being initially seduced by procreate I went back to clip studio which just has better customisation of brushes, far better productivity features etc. I may go back to procreate because conceptually I believe Dream is the way to handle animation. One app, one app only.

[@Carlos-eo3iu]

Vector is vector. In any true Vector program. The output will be clean no matter how much you zoom in. In real time. And final output. Raster will pixelate. Once zoomed past its designated size.

[@chris-piascik]

So are you saying Clip Studio isn’t actually vector? I don’t think that’s the case. Maybe clip studio is showing what the image would look like if you exported it as a raster file and zoomed in? That doesn’t really make sense either though.

[@redford4ever]

​@@chris-piascik I am saying it's vector based but it's always in the equivalent of "pixel preview" in Illustrator. Which is indeed what you're guessing at here. You see the actual output at the current document résolution. Note that you can also increase the output resolution" in which cases your vector content will be rendered accordingly, that is always at the finest rendering of your shapes. Which I think is sensible for what the purpose is. I may be wrong but my understanding of how Fresco does it is, if not deliberate BS, at least misleading. Say you make an animation in 1440p, with vector ink, you zoom in in your project, it's infinitely perfect, great. Then you export it and zoom in the video player and it's not. Obviously no biggy. The ideal of vector drawings in clip studio is that while the line is vector based the brush it drives is very much not and uses bitmap for the tip and textures (a bit like using a Photoshop brush on a path, but dynamically). I have yet to give Fresco a shot but at least it's quite different from Illustrator which is all vector, resulting in brushes that are very stiff and ugly for most art but that ends up always rendering as vector which can matter if you go for large prints. I *think* that Fresco doesn't do that either (most likely it does like Clip Studio bc fully vector brushes are uncool, but render them according to zoom level rather than document output?) but maybe there's a cool groundbreaking brush engine there and I have to look into it more.

[@PeggyIverson]

​@@chris-piascik the only way what is being suggested is true, is if Clip Studio is actually a program with a vector blend, not true vector. Which is the case for both Affinity Designer and Concepts. They have vector strokes that direct raster output. As far as I've always known, Fresco is 100% true vector on that side, particularly because it's supposed to go hand in hand with Illustrator. Fresco is supposed to be the stripped down, drawing essentials for both Photoshop and Illustrator. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't see Illustrator as a viable freehand app, so vector in Fresco probably won't get all of the love that it should compared to the raster side.

[@chris-piascik]

@redford4ever a video file isn’t a vector file. So when you export your vector art as a video file, it’s no longer vector. Fresco’s vector brushes are absolutely vector and can be opened up directly in adobe illustrator. Or exported as a vector PDF. But if you work in vector and then export a raster file, it’s not vector anymore.

[@flashyJulie]

Now I understand why the iPad is so good. I mean XPpen is okay, but I would buy the iPad Air instead, if you won't spend 2-3k for a iPad Pro. 😅 I think having a Apple device as Artist or Designer is so much better, including all the programs for it (Procreate, Fresco, Affinity Designer for iPad). Once you have it, you won't go back to any alternative on the market. Thanks to your last video, I will get the nano texture iPad Pro soon. 😊 It's expensive, but it holds for the next 6+ years, while whit android you have to upgrade way sooner.

[@chrisbangerter2]

What’s cheapest best iPad I could probably get right now for all this? Btw love your channel learning alot

[@chris-piascik]

Probably a previous gen iPad Air, or an m1 iPad Pro. Anything with an M series chip is extremely capable.

[@riddickganja1987]

I have the iPad 9th gen 2021, got mine for 300 quid brand new, but probably could find it cheaper somewhere I'm sure, and its really good. would recommend if you not looking to spend a lot of money.

[@Michael_Lak]

You can get an entry level ipad plus purchase the pencil. Most ipad pro "experts" have no idea that this is a thing.

[@chris-piascik]

@@Michael_Lak pretty sure I mentioned that.

[@coolartbylexi]

I’m weird I like it more than my 11 M1 … I do miss fresco. But the size n lightweight n lack of iOS interruptions make is better choice since it has every u need in the box

[@chris-piascik]

The new 13 iPad Pro is lighter than the magic drawing pad, I can’t imagine it’s much lighter than the M1 I’ll have to check. In regard to the iOS stuff, I just put on do not disturb or put it in airplane mode if I don’t want to receive alerts.

[@heinrichwettin]

Lolol so happy i went ipad for wireless. I flippin love fresco. Dont get me wrong i love the xppen that I have for other adobe apps. Thats why i went with the Pro16 big honkin buttons with a dual wheel. I didnt have faith in the gestures with xppen

[@chris-piascik]

Ah yeah, I really wished I could use Fresco while I was testing it.

[@williammclean6594]

​@@chris-piascikIt's annoying that app developers never put as much time or even make their applications for an Android. Android's file system is so much better. If they did. A lot of people would move from iPad to Android tablets. That's why most people don't use Samsung tablets because the software just isn't supported on Android. At least the ones that everyone likes like procreate and fresco. And of course Samsung tablets are as powerful as Apple but they do have more RAM which kind of makes up for it.

[@Mimi_Sim]

Maybe you could tether to a PC to use w/ Fresco.

[@chris-piascik]

Maybe, but that would defeat the purpose of it being a standalone device. I also don’t know if the drawing inputs would work hooked up to a windows machine. I’d assume it wouldn’t.

[@benjamina6915]

I've had the iPad Pro 12.9" M1 for a few years, but can't get used to iPadOS, it's just not for me, I prefer Android, it's so much more open. Got rid of my iPad to return to Android a while back. I looked at this device, it looks interesting, but it's slow and limited. I decided to go far a Samsung Galaxy Tab S9 FE. The pen is a joy to use, I like it more than the Apple Pencil. The device itself is fast, no hickups or slow downs. I choose the S9 FE instead of this one because of the better CPU and the much newer and faster GPU. The GPU in S9 isn't a few percent faster, it's over 200% faster. While on paper the S9 FE is inferior to the Pro M1, I don't notice it at all. By the way, if you buy a yearly subscription for Clip Studio Paint, it's $27 that's a huge saving over a monthly subscription. If you only use it one device it's $4.49 a month. I've got a dual device plan and pay $35 a year. As for Fresco being $9.99, it's actually not. If you only have Fresco for the iPad, it's $9.99 a month, that's more expensive than Clip Studio Paint. You probably already have a Adobe subscription for other app and I think that's why you get Fresco of $9.99 a year.... you're already paying Adobe a ton of money for the rest.

[@chris-piascik]

On the iPad, Fresco is free, or 9.99 per year for the premium version through the App Store. No other app subscription required. If you already have Creative Cloud full subscription Fresco is included for no additional cost.

[@benjamina6915]

@@chris-piascik Not here, it's paid per month. In the app it says $.9.99 per year, once you click on it, you told that deal doesn't exist and are asked to pay $120 a year.

[@chris-piascik]

@@benjamina6915 that's wild the price would change based on location. It's probably an oversite or something too.

[@pajnzillapajn1168]

it's a 1st gen, will buy the gen 2 or 3rd

[@chris-piascik]

👍

[@Michael_Lak]

This review doesnt do it justice. See Brad Colbow and Michael Clarida reviews.

[@solrax6026]

It would be better if xp pen ran a different os. Android is really a clunker of an os. I appreciate it. I just want to see more innovation

[@benpedro80]

You can use Infinite painter , is 8$ forever, then you can configure to double tab to power it on. This tablet is quite decent for the price . Plus one thing is waayyy lighter that the iPad that just make it hard to carry and draw .

[@chris-piascik]

The magic drawing pad weighs 25.7oz, the new iPad Pro 13” weighs 20.9oz, and the older M1 12.9” iPad Pro weighs 24.5oz (all weighed with pencil/stylus).

[@8XHellbentX8]

iPad vs drawing tablet? Tablets don’t work on MacOS? Or only XPP doesn’t work on MacOS?

[@Antisympathy]

If you saw the video about the apple lawsuit the video says that apple been blocking android out of their ecosystem to make the experience communicating with android users more difficult for apple users but they had to make some adjustments so they can sell in the countries they want their products in. 😮

[@chris-piascik]

The iPad runs Mac iOS, this one runs Android.

[@SuperDesignguy]

Clip Studio is probably the most demanding drawing app on Android.. so, it could be the hardware is not up to task

[@chris-piascik]

Quite possibly

[@j0shj0shj0sh]

I don't think it is weird to not be an Apple fan. And I own a Macbook lol.

[@Antisympathy]

I’m not an apple fan either and I have a few apple devices however I’m making the switch to android soon.😅

[@j0shj0shj0sh]

@@Antisympathy Good for you. I think Apple's approach to how they price ram and storage upgrades for their laptops is disgraceful. They must think we are stupid lol.

[@chris-piascik]

Did I say it was weird? I don’t think I would have said that.

[@j0shj0shj0sh]

@@chris-piascik 'Weirdly anti-Apple' - but I take the point it is different to 'Apple fan'. And I admit that there definitely are people who seem to be fundamentally opposed to Apple for no rational reason, and some of those people may indeed be weird lol.

[@chris-piascik]

@j0shj0shj0sh haha yeah, I was referring to the “aggressively anti-Apple” as a lifestyle people.

[@ossi2635]

Is there an apple insurance for users traumatized by android products?... or do we have to crowd fund the psychological therapy session for him... 😅

[@ossi2635]

by the way... i watched vids for this product all night long and you're the only one removing the foil from the case!

[@chris-piascik]

Lolol

[@Michael_Lak]

You should have just used a basic drawing app with no learning curve.

[@b.richard1023]

All drawing apps have learning curves

[@theanimaster]

8:40 iPad Pro it is!! This statement alone is enough to get the iPad - the viewing angle. Every Android device I’ve used felt obsolete out of the box (and most WERE obsolete out of the box). The only one that didn’t was because it was running Apple CarPlay - otherwise the Android apps on it were totally unusable. Thanks for the review!

[@hassanhart6189]

Solute to android users but this product looks like it sucks

[@haidak]

g damn, I just bought ipad pro and I hate Apple :(

[@pastuh]

?

[@authentikpaper]

im sorry but the Ipad pro is the best drawing pad experience just FYI :)

[@chris-piascik]

If you have an iPad Pro, this doesn’t really compare. Maybe if you had an older Air or base model.

[@LeroyMustang]

Fresco is $9.99 a month

[@chris-piascik]

Fresco is 9.99 per year on the iPad. Or it’s free if you don’t need to import your own brushes.

[@markieuanroberts]

9.99 per month if you want the Fresco on PC and iPad - Fresco for just iPad is 9.99 per year. That said I recently migrated from full creative suite to just Fresco on iPad and had to cancel completely and then subscribed to just iPad Fresco as that option didn’t appear until had completely cancelled creative suite. I pay £9.99 per year as I’ve bought a few brushes I like which don’t work with the free version.

[@janburch3923]

Sorry don’t know anything about the Android option . Gave up researching Android when I stopped programming in Cobalt.

[@LeroyMustang]

@@markieuanroberts my bad, you’re absolutely right.

[@GryphonDes]

@@chris-piascik and if you are on PC like me, you can't unlock the brush import side of things for hell or money :O

[@FrancesMarionz]

They want $500 for that toy when you could get a iPad for that ⁉️

[@chris-piascik]

🤷‍♂️

[@nerdiestthingon2wheels]

This is a big waste of time, thanks I guess

[@chris-piascik]

lol sorry

[@monomakes]

He's not really the right person to review this device. Check out Brad Colbow, he's far more system agnostic.