PROS
- Sleek design with a large drawing surface
- Accurate and precise tracking with 5080 lpi pen resolution
- QHD resolution with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio
- Top display brightness and color performance
- Included ExpressKey Remote with 17 customizable buttons and 160 hours operation time
CONS
- Stand not included
- Slight but noticeable parallax
- Relatively heavy (19.8 lbs, without stand)
The Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display tablet is a tool designed for professionals – it’s top equipment with stellar performance. The screen offers ample room for drawing and sketching and the slightly etched glass surface provides the right amount of resistance to the stylus to make your creative experience as natural as possible.
But… being released back in 2016, is the Cintiq 27QHD still up to the minute and worth the money today? Well, we’re going to find out what to expect from the display tablet right now in this Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Review. So let’s get into it!
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet – First impressions
Unboxing the package reveals Wacom’s giant Cintiq 27QHD display tablet that comes with a sleek and classy design. Measuring 30.3 x 18.3 x 2.1 inches (770 x 465 x 55 mm), the 27QHD will occupy some serious real estate on your desk. Its weight is impressive, too. With 19.8 pounds (9 kg), this pen display is a stationary unit and nothing for some occasional editing on the go.
If you’re interested in a professional display tablet that allows for some random carrying around, check out the smaller Wacom Cintiq Pro 13. For even more drawing space, take a look at the Wacom Cintiq Pro 32 Creative Pen Display. And for all more budget-conscious artists, there’s the Cintiq 16 – Wacom’s least expensive higher-end display tablet.
The Cintiq 27QHD is equipped with altogether 4 USB-3 slots, two on each side of the tablet.
There are three buttons on the top right corner that light up when you turn on the screen: a tool button, a keyboard button, and a second screen button.
On the back, you’ll find a central housing for the three cables that connect to the tablet (DisplayPort, HDMI, USB 3.0), as well as 6 screw holes for a VESA mount.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Key Specs
- Screen: 27 in, 2560 x 1440 px, AHVA LCD
- Color gamut & brightness: 97% Adobe RGG, 330 cd/m2
- Active area: 23.5 x 13.2 in (597 x 336 mm)
- Pen technology: 2,048 pressure levels, ±40 levels tilt recognition, 5080 lpi resolution
- Buttons & Touch: No hotkeys, Multi-touch only with Cintiq 27QHD Touch
- Size: 32.3 x 20.1 x 15.4 in (820 x 510 x 390 mm)
- Weight: 19.8 lb (9 kg) without stand
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet – Display Technology
The Wacom Cintiq 27QHD creative pen display tablet is the successor of the Cintiq 24HD. The screen measures 27 inches diagonally and offers ample room for you to work on your art, while keeping additional reference images and menus open.
Thanks to its edge-to-edge glass design, however, the 27QHD’s width is the same as the 24HD. The bezels around the active area have been reduced and now include magnetized strips on both sides to hold the ExpressKey Remote.
Apart from that, the Cintiq 27QHD is equipped with a slightly etched glass surface to reduce glare and provide some natural resistance for the stylus.
The Cintiq 27’s display technology is a Quad HD with a 16:9 aspect ratio – a step up from the full HD and 16:10 active screen of the previous Cintiq 24HD.
The screen image is crisp and clear, featuring a native resolution of 2560 x 1440 px and a stunning color gamut of 97% Adobe RGB. 1.07 billion colors and a contrast of 970:1 make your artworks appear vivid and true-to-life, right out of the box.
The brightness is spot on, too. 330 cd/m2 illuminate the screen immediately when being switched on. There’s no waiting time for the screen to light up.
One thing you’ll have to get used to, though, is the parallax effect. This is the little gap between the pen tip on the glass surface and the pointer on the actual display. As the glass surface is not fused with the display below, a slight distance is completely normal.
However, parallax is minimal on the Cintiq 27QHD, so it won’t bother you too much and it’s something you will get used to quickly.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet – Pen Technology
The Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display tablet comes with the Pro Pen, which is ergonomic and has a rubber grip at the bottom to make it feel comfortable in your hand, even during long editing sessions.
Like all Wacom pens, the Pro Pen works with Wacom’s patented electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology and draws its power from the active area of the screen. This allows it to be battery-free and cordless, making it lightweight and as natural to use as a real pen.
The Pro Pen features 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity on both pen tip and eraser, as well as 40 degrees of tilt recognition. Compared to the newer Pro Pen 2 with 8,192 pressure levels and 60 degrees tilt response, this is admittedly not too much for today’s standards. In real life, however, the difference is basically not noticeable and the responsiveness will be amply sufficient for most artistic needs.
You can customize the pen’s pressure sensitivity, tilt response, and double-click distance within the Wacom Desktop Center. This is also where you can program the two pen side switches to perform whatever functions are most useful for you on a per-app basis. Having your most used shortcuts right at your fingertips can speed up your workflow significantly!
The Pro Pen works impeccable, tracking is smooth and accurate. The brushstrokes are jitter-free, even when you move the cursor near the edges.
The supplied pen holder accommodates the Pro Pen when not being used, but also offers you the option to quickly lay down the pen horizontally during an editing session. The pen holder base includes 10 replacement nibs (3 felt, 6 standard, and 1 stroke nib), as well as the nib removal tool.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet – Creative experience
In a nutshell: the Cintiq 27QHD feels super-natural to use. The screen is huge enough to have reference images open next to your artwork without sacrificing any drawing space.
There are two foldout legs on the back, which allow tilting the device to 20 degrees for more editing comfort. But even without legs, the Cintiq doesn’t sit flat on your desk but at an angle of 5 degrees.
Unlike its predecessor, the Cintiq 27HD doesn’t have any built-in ExpressKeys that would interrupt your workflow when you accidentally touch them with your palm or elbow. Instead, the 27HD comes with Wacom’s ExpressKey Remote that offers you 17 customizable buttons and a Touch Ring. You can program all buttons on a per-app basis and back up your settings to Wacom’s cloud service.
With this many customization options, the possibility to back up your settings is very useful, as it will spare you the hassle to re-program each key in case your settings get lost.
The ExpressKey Remote is slim but solid. It comes with a built-in battery that – when fully powered up – will last you for around 160 hours of work. There’s a Micro USB slot at the bottom of the remote to connect it with a cable directly to the display when charging. The on/off switch at the bottom allows you to turn off the remote when not used for a longer time.
The backing of the ExpressKey Remote is magnetized, allowing you to stick it on the metal strips that run down on both sides of the tablet. The magnet is strong and will hold the remote in place even when the tablet is tilted.
As you can place the remote on either side of the tablet, the Cintiq 27QHD is ideal for both left-handers and righties.
The Cintiq 27QHD has ventilation holes on the back, but doesn’t have a fan like the 24HD. That’s why it operates silently and you won’t notice any fan noise.
Unfortunately, the Cintiq 27QHD doesn’t include the stand. Now, using a stand or not comes down to personal preference. If you like to tilt your tablet above the 20 degrees that the foldout legs allow you to, you can, for example, purchase Wacom’s additional Ergo Stand.
wacom ergo stand for cintiq 27QHD
The Wacom Ergo Stand is an accessory that you can easily mount on your desk. It lets you raise, tilt and rotate the tablet, so you can sit naturally and find your most comfortable angle for drawing.
Ergo Stand
Wacom Ergo Stand for the Cintiq 27QHD to raise, tilt and rotate the tablet.
Added Multi-Touch functionality – the Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen & Touch Display
The Wacom Cintiq 27QHD is available in two models: the standard Cintiq 27QHD and the Cintiq 27QHD Touch. For around US$400 more, the 27QHD touch monitor tablet offers you gesture-based input capabilities. This will enable you to use your fingertips to paint, draw, or liquify, and to access shortcuts directly via the display.
Whether or not you like to have this option is down to personal preference. Many artists don’t go for the touch function, because they don’t consider it a necessity in their workflow.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Color Manager
As an optional accessory, the Wacom Color Manager will help you calibrate the Cintiq 27QHD to achieve perfect color accuracy.
The Wacom Color Manager is a standalone unit, powered by X-Rite and consisting of a colorimeter and calibration software. It’s optimized for use with the Cintiq 27QHD, but is also compatible with other Wacom Cintiq screen tablets and non-Wacom products.
When used with the Cintiq 27QHD, the Color Manager will auto-adjust parameters like screen color, grayscale gamma, white point and others.
It’s a great add-on for all professional users whose workflow depends on precise color and display calibration.
Color Manager
Wacom Color Manager for the Cintiq 27QHD to auto-adjust color accuracy.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD vs Pro 24
The Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display tablet is still available on the market, however, its production has been discontinued, as it has been superseded by the new Cintiq Pro series.
The Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 comes at around the same pricepoint, but with more advanced specs than the Cintiq 27QHD. Despite its screen being slightly smaller, the Pro 24 outperforms the 27QHD with a 4K Ultra HD display, 3840 x 2160 px native resolution, 99% Adobe RGB color gamut, and 350 cd/m2 brightness.
Similarly, the supplied Pro Pen 2 doesn’t fall short outmatching its predecessor in terms of sensitivity levels.
Wacom Cintiq 27QHD Creative Pen Display Tablet – Compatibility & Connectivity
Wacom Cintiq 27 QHD creative pen display tablet – Overall rating
The Wacom Cintiq 27 QHD Creative Pen Display tablet is one of the masterpieces in the Cintiq range. Solid build quality, outstanding display performance, and accurate tracking combined with ample drawing space and high customizability via the included ExpressKey Remote make the Cintiq 27QHD a popular choice among professional creatives.
PROS
- Sleek design with a large drawing surface
- Accurate and precise tracking with 5080 lpi pen resolution
- QHD resolution with a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio
- Top display brightness and color performance
- Included ExpressKey Remote with 17 customizable buttons and 160 hours operation time
CONS
- Stand not included
- Slight but noticeable parallax
- Relatively heavy (19.8 lbs, without stand)
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!
