PROS
- Great overall specs for a mid-range drawing tablet with screen
- Pro Pen 2 included & compatibility with Pro Pen 3D
- High levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt responsiveness
- 3-in-1 cable to avoid clutter and keep workspace neat
- Textured surface for natural drawing feel with different surface textures available
- Least expensive higher-end Wacom display tablet for semi-professional artists and professional designers on a budget
CONS
- Moderate screen resolution and color gamut
- No ExpressKeys & Multi-Touch capability
- Stand not included
Is the Wacom Cintiq 16 worth it?
The Cintiq 16 is Wacom’s best drawing tablet with screen in the mid-price range. And, it’s Wacom’s most budget-friendly display tablet in the higher-end Cintiq family.
In fact, all tablets in Wacom’s Cintiq line boast excellent features, for both digital art and photo editing. They all have an amazing pressure sensitivity of more than 8,000 levels and offer precision down to the last pixel.
When drawing on the textured screen of the Cintiq 16, you feel like you’re directly drawing with a pen on paper, not on a graphic design tablet.
Wacom Cintiq 16 vs. Wacom Cintiq 22
The Cintiq 16’s larger cousin, the Wacom Cintiq 22, comes with a bigger display and at a slightly higher price. If you don’t mind digging a bit deeper into your pocket for more drawing space, then check out the Wacom Cintiq 22.
While both the Cintiq 16 and 22 have essentially the same specs, the Cintiq 16 is aimed at the more price-conscious consumer.
Besides its standard features (1920 x 1080 px resolution, 72% color gamut, and Pro Pen 2), the Wacom Cintiq 16 stands out with 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and very minimal parallax. You can also use it with the Pro Pen 3D.
It retails just under $600, giving you the best value for money that you can currently find on the market.
Wacom Cintiq 16 or Wacom One?
If you’re on a tight budget and cannot stretch it to the $600 mark, take a good look at the Wacom One. Especially if you pursue digital art on a more casual and less frequent basis, the Wacom One might be an excellent choice for you.
Wacom introduced the new entry-level display tablet at the beginning of 2020. So when it comes to Wacom Cintiq 16 vs. Wacom One, the Wacom One is the right deal for casual and amateur creators who want to enjoy working directly on-screen.
Wacom Cintiq 16 or Intuos Pro?
In terms of specs, the Wacom Cintiq 16 is largely the same as the Intuos Pro, but with the added benefit of a live screen.
Wacom Cintiq 16 vs. Wacom Cintiq Pro 16
With this retail price and its technical specs, the Cintiq 16 lies exactly between Wacom’s Intuos tablets, and the Cintiq Pro line (Cintiq Pro 13, Cintiq Pro 16, Cintiq Pro 24, and Cintiq Pro 32). The Intuos tablets don’t have a screen, meaning the artist draws with a pen on the surface, while looking at a computer monitor.
The Cintiq Pro 16 (around $1,500), on the other hand, boasts higher screen resolution, wider color gamut, more connectivity options, and full gesture-based multi-touch control as compared to the regular Cintiq 16.
With its technical specs and the more affordable price, the Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet is a great choice for artists coming from an Intuos and wanting to up their game. It’s a fantastic investment for serious free-time creators and semi-professional designers, as well as professional artists on a budget.
The Wacom Cintiq 16 is a professional grade pen display – at a cheaper price but with all the essentials of the Pros!
With that said, one thing is sure: the Cintiq 16 delivers. But now let’s dive into this Cintiq 16 Review and find out how well exactly it delivers!
Wacom Cintiq 16 Review
Unboxing the Cintiq 16
After unboxing the Wacom Cintiq 16 drawing tablet, you’re holding an about four-pound device in your hands. Its dimensions are roughly 17 inches in width by 11 inches in height.
With that size and weight, the Cintiq isn’t probably as portable as your iPad Pro. But keep in mind that the tablet is designed for desktop use and not as a mobile editing tool.
The Cintiq 16 is black from all sides. Its 15.6-inch screen is bordered by large bezels where you can comfortably rest your hand when drawing. There’s a single on/off button on the top right to get your tablet going without getting in the way when editing.
The pen holder is a fabric sling that you can place either on the right or left side of the tablet, depending on whether you are right- or left-handed. The pen holder includes 3 replacement nibs as well as the nib removal tool – a very clever solution for not misplacing pen nibs any more!
Last but not least, the Wacom box includes the connector for HDMI and USB, sparing you the need to purchase an additional adapter for the Cintiq 16.
Wacom Cintiq 16 3-in-1 Cable Setup
There’s a single 3-in-1 cable that splits into USB-A, HDMI, and power cord. The cable has one connector at one end that connects to a port underneath the top of the tablet. There’s a lid that you can snap shut over the cable so everything is neat and remains in place.
This setup allows you to have only one cord coming from the top of your Cintiq, which avoids cable clutter and gives the whole thing more convenience than drawing tablets with side connections.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Review – Screen Technology
The screen measures 15.6 inches diagonally, and the Wacom Cintiq 16’s active area is 13.6 by 7.6 inches. The resolution is a simple 1,920 x 1,080 pixel Full HD. It can display 16.7 million colors covering 96% of sRGB, but only 72% of all NTSC colors. For comparison: the Cintiq Pro 16 has 94% of NTSC color range.
These are surely not the highest values a display tablet can have, but they still indicate good color gamut and accuracy.
The lack of resolution is most noticeable with text. So this can be an important consideration for graphic designers and illustrators who often work with text.
As for the lower color gamut, you might only notice the difference when holding the Cintiq right next to a high-end monitor.
The Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet comes with an anti-glare coating on the screen, which is great to reduce reflections. When compared side by side, a glossy laptop screen, like of a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro, will probably look brighter, but the Cintiq is more powerful at battling glare. Its screen also resists smudges better than the typical laptop display.
While the Cintiq 16 isn’t as bright as the Pro models, it also doesn’t have a glass surface. Depending on your personal preferences, this can be a plus or a minus. If you’re all about the glass feel that you get with the Wacom Cintiq Pro 13, the larger Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 or the iPad Pro, then the Cintiq 16 is probably not for you.
However, if you prefer a more textured natural-feel drawing tablet with screen, the Cintiq 16 is your thing.
Screen Brightness and Color Calibration
In the Wacom Desktop Center, you can calibrate brightness, contrast and color temperature. While this allows you to boost your display settings on the fly without needing on-device buttons, you still won’t get the black levels of a higher-end glass tablet display.
The cheaper Cintiq 16 ultimately gives you the same creative experience and end result as the higher-end Cintiq Pro.
One more point: the Cintiq 16’s display is not laminated. That means the surface you draw on is separated from the LCD screen beneath it. This can result in the so-called parallax effect, a tiny visual gap where the pen nib doesn’t seem to be touching what’s being drawn on the screen.
On Wacom’s Pro models, such as the Cintiq Pro 13 and the Cintiq Pro 16, drawing surface and LCD are laminated into one piece. This reduces parallax or eliminates it completely. However, on the Cintiq 16, the parallax is so minor that it most likely won’t be an issue at all.
Although the Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet doesn’t offer the same high-resolution screen and wide range of colors, it uses the same pen technology as the Pros. That means the Cintiq 16 is just as responsive at about a third of the cost of the Pro model.
So let’s have a look at this little technical marvel, the Pro Pen 2.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Review – Pen Technology
The included Pro Pen 2 is a first-grade Wacom stylus with a latex-free silicone rubber pen grip. As most pens in the Wacom family, it works with electro-magnetic resonance (EMR) technology. That means it’s battery-free and doesn’t need any charging.
The stylus has a nib on the one end and an eraser on the other. Both have a dazzling 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity along with a tilt range of about 60 degrees!
The responsiveness lets the pen act like a real pencil, making brush strokes thinner or thicker as it’s used with increased pressure and tilt. That way, digital drawing gets an incredibly natural and authentic feel!
Instead of switching to the eraser tool in your graphics program, you can just flip the pen over and use the on-pen eraser.
Apart from that, the Pro Pen 2 has two customizable buttons that you can map to your personal needs in the Wacom Desktop Center. Both buttons work on a per-app basis. That means you can customize them to do one thing, for example, in Adobe Illustrator, and another thing in Lightroom, ZBrush, Gimp, Krita, or any other drawing program.
If you use your Wacom Cintiq 16 for animation and a lot of 3D modeling, you can get the Pro Pen 3D. It’s compatible with the Cintiq 16 and its extra button comes in handy for 3D projects.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Review – creative experience
Is the Wacom Cintiq 16 a Touch Screen?
One of the features that has been dropped on the Cintiq 16 along with the word Pro in its name is the multi-touch function.
Well, multi touch is something you either love or hate.
Some artists like to use touch in order to zoom and rotate. Others can’t wait to switch it off. They are happy when the drawing program doesn’t respond to accidental touches with the hand. It all is a matter of personal taste.
The missing touch feature won’t bother you too much if you’re used to working with a keyboard next to your tablet. If you’re coming from an iPad or other touch-sensitive device, this might be more of a deal-breaker for you.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Express Key Remote
There’s a second hitch that might affect your creative experience: There are no Express Keys on the Cintiq 16. That means you will need to use onscreen controls.
However, there is the optional Wacom ExpressKey Remote that you can purchase separately (around $100). It provides you with customizable buttons and a Touch Ring for programming shortcuts.
ExpressKey Remote
The Wacom ExpressKey Remote with 17 customizable buttons puts your favorite shortcuts right at your fingertips.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Stand
Depending on your preferred drawing position, you can either let the Cintiq 16 sit flat on your desk, or pull out its two legs on the rear to lift it to a 19-degree angle.
If this isn’t enough lift for you, you can get an additional stand for the Wacom Cintiq 16 (around $80). That adjustable stand will tilt the tablet up to 68 degrees for a more comfortable drawing position.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Stand
The stand for the Wacom Cintiq 16 offers flexible angles for more comfortable drawing positions.
One thing to consider for Mac users: there seems to be a slight lag when running the Cintiq 16 with a Mac computer, using Photoshop. There’s a millisecond delay between taking action and it being rendered onscreen.
This lag is so small that you most likely won’t notice it right away, but it’s worth pointing out here.
When running the Cintiq 16 on Windows, everything seems to play out seamlessly.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Key Specs
- Screen: 15.6 in, 1920 x 1080 px, Full HD IPS
- Color gamut & brightness: 72% NTSC, 96% sRGB, 210 cd/m2
- Active area: 13.6 x 7.6 in (344 x 194 mm)
- Pen technology: 8,192 pressure levels, ±60 levels tilt recognition, 5080 lpi resolution
- Buttons & Touch: No
- Size: 16.6 x 11.2 x 1 in (422 x 285 x 24.5 mm)
- Weight: 4.2 lb (1.9 kg)
Wacom Cintiq 16 Compatibility & Connectivity
The Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet is compatible with Windows 7 and later, and Mac OS X 10.2 and later.
In terms of connections, the Cintiq 16 comes with a 3-in-1 cable that plugs into the Cintiq’s only port on the top rear. It branches into three cables, one ending in a HDMI adapter and another one in a USB-A connector.
Both of them must be plugged into your computer for the display and pen to work. The third cable connects to the power adapter.
Even though you might find this arrangement a bit awkward, it keeps your desktop pretty neat and prevents cables from getting cluttered.
Wacom Cintiq 16 Creative Drawing Pen Tablet
Overall rating
The Wacom Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet is a high-quality graphics tablet for all budget-conscious artists and designers who want to edit onscreen.
With its 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt range, it provides the best value for money that you can currently find among higher-end display tablets.
Professional artists who don’t mind the four-figure price tag will most likely go for the Cintiq Pro 16 over the Cintiq 16, for its UHD resolution, wider color gamut, gesture-based multi-touch abilities, and expanded connectivity.
While the Wacom Cintiq 16 lacks these features, it sits at under half the price of the Pro model, making it a great choice for semi-professional artists and creators on a budget.
Although your images will certainly look better with the Pro’s better screen specs, most of the differences, e.g. lower resolution and reduced color gamut, are only noticeable in side-by-side comparison with a high-end device.
That makes the Cintiq 16 is a strong buy for getting the same creative experience and end result at a more affordable price.
PROS
- Great overall specs for a mid-range drawing tablet with screen
- Pro Pen 2 included & compatibility with Pro Pen 3D
- High levels of pressure sensitivity and tilt responsiveness
- 3-in-1 cable to avoid clutter and keep workspace neat
- Textured surface for natural drawing feel with different surface textures available
- Least expensive higher-end Wacom display tablet for semi-professional artists and professional designers on a budget
CONS
- Moderate screen resolution and color gamut
- No Express Keys & Multi Touch capability
- Stand not included
Frequently Asked Questions
The Wacom Cintiq 16 creative drawing pen tablet is not a stand alone device. That means it doesn’t run its own operating system and doesn’t have any software installed. In order to use a Wacom Cintiq 16 you need to connect it to a PC or MAC. The Cintiq 16 is compatible with Windows 7 and later, and Mac OS X 10.2 and later.
At the time of this review, the Wacom 16 comes with up to 6 months of Clip Studio Paint EX free until March 31, 2021, and 6 months of Substance by Adobe until January 15th, 2021.
Clip Studio Paint EX is a software for illustration painting, manga and comic creation. Substance by Adobe is a 3D creation suite that includes Substance Painter, Alchemist, and Designer.
If you’re looking for a Wacom Cintiq 16 alternative that also comes with a software bundle, check out the lower priced Wacom One, which is also a drawing tablet with screen.
The Wacom Cintiq 16 creative pen tablet measures about 17 inches in width by 11 inches in height. It weighs around 4 pounds.
These are surely not the best dimensions for a portable tablet, but keep in mind that the Wacom Cintiq 16 was designed for desktop use. However, with its size and weight, it’s still possible to slip the Cintiq 16 into your bag and carry it around.
Just make sure to store the Cintiq 16 in a soft or hard case to keep it safe while you’re on the go. It’s also a great idea to use a screen protector to prevent the display from getting scratches.
The Wacom Cintiq 16 is no standalone graphics tablet. It has no operating system installed and no battery built in. In order to use the Cintiq 16, you’ll need to connect it to a PC or MAC and make sure that its power cable is plugged into a socket.
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My name is Angie and I’m a self-taught digital artist. On this blog, I am sharing my knowledge and discussing the best software and hardware for different artistic needs. My desire is to offer options for all creative stages and budgets so that everyone can follow their dream and create art!
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