PROS
- Sturdy quality paired with maximum portability
- Highly customizable and responsive for authentic drawing feel
- Bluetooth connectivity for wireless editing comfort
- Long battery life for around 10 hours
- Perfect for both left- and right-handed creators
- Budget-friendly price makes it an affordable option for beginners
CONS
- Smaller drawing area
- No changeable texture sheets
While Wacom introduced their Intuos Pro pen tablet line in 2017, they launched the Wacom Intuos Pro Small (S) only two years later in 2019, this time focusing more on portability and compactness.
The drawing tablet is only slightly larger than an A5 paper sheet and weighs less than a pound. Great prerequisites to slip it in your laptop bag for some quick editing on the move!
But does this make the small Intuos Pro TOO small for photo editing and digital art? That’s what we’re also going to look into in this Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review!
Is the Wacom Intuos Pro worth it?
Despite its small dimensions, the Wacom Intuos Pro S comes with all the features of its larger siblings, the Intuos Pro Medium and the Intuos Pro Large.
The small Pro stands out with multi-touch functionality, Touch Ring, and six customizable Express Keys. Apart from size, this is actually the main difference between the Wacom Intuos Pro Small and Medium. The small Wacom Intuos has six ExpressKeys, while both the medium and larger models have eight.
Once you’ve customized all these features, you’ll understand why so many digital artists and photographers like to use the Wacom Intuos Pro Small for photo editing in professional apps like Photoshop, Lightroom or Illustrator. The customizability options will do their bit to make your editing workflow faster than ever before.
Setting up your Intuos Pro Small works plug & play. Once you’ve connected the drawing tablet to your computer via USB, you can download the driver for Mac or Windows from the Wacom Desktop Center.
It’s easy to map the Intuos Pro S to any computer screen, or to use it with a multi-monitor setup.
The tablet is perfect for both righties and lefties. The Wacom software allows you to configure its orientation, with the Express Keys on the opposite side of your dominant hand.
Once you’ve set up everything, all you need to do is hover the pen over the active area of the tablet, and you’re good to go!
The Intuos Pro Small works fine with a USB cable connection. With a fully charged battery, you can also use it wireless via Bluetooth Classic, during an entire day of work.
Is the Wacom Intuos Pro Small too small? is a question that comes up frequently when it’s about the Intuos Pro S. So let’s start this Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review right away by having a look at its dimensions.
The Wacom Intuos Pro Small is a top-level graphics tablet for photographers on the move. Lightweight, yet durable, with all the features of the Pros at your disposal.
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review
Dimensions
Wacom designed the Intuos Pro Small creative pen tablet with the intention to offer great functionality for small workspaces and portability for artists on the move.
The tablet is only 10.6 inches wide and 8.7 inches high. Weighing less than a pound, it’s not much heavier than a lunchbox you would carry along in your bag for a snack.
With 6.3 by 3.9 inches, the size of its active area is a bit smaller than its footprint. It is bordered by a glossy bezel; and six hotkey buttons and a touch ring on one side. The back and edges of the graphic tablet are metal, while the active area is a matte surface.
Wacom Intuos Pro Small vs Medium
These dimensions are ideal to carry the tablet around and tuck it into your bag. You might find it too small, however, if your creative work involves lots of long brush strokes.
If you wonder whether to use the Wacom Intuos Pro Small or Medium for photo editing, then workspace and portability are rather the deciding factors.
Because when it comes to Wacom Intuos Pro Small vs Medium for Photoshop or Lightroom, you can do photo editing equally well on both models. The Wacom Intuos Pro Small is rather for photographers on the go.
So, if you mainly work with a stationary setting and have enough space to spare on your desk, you can get the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium for about a hundred bucks more. 😀
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review – Pen Technology
The Wacom Intuos Pro Small comes with first-class stylus technology. The Pro Pen 2 is Wacom’s industry-leading drawing pen that makes your editing experience natural and intuitive.
Therefore, we’re going to take a good look at this magic piece of kit in this Intuos Pro Small Review.
Pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition
Wacom’s Pro Pen 2 is the gold standard in the industry, and with good reason. The stylus features an amazing 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, for both the pen tip and the eraser on the opposite end.
With an additional 60 levels of tilt recognition, the Pro Pen 2 responds precisely to even the lightest touch and produces smooth and authentic drawing lines.
For long editing or painting sessions, the Intuos Pro Small pen needs to be comfortable in your hand. Wacom has catered to that by giving their stylus a silicone-free rubber grip, which makes holding the pen easy – even during long hours of editing.
The pen is a bit wider towards the tip and gets narrower towards the end, where the eraser sits. As the eraser is just as highly responsive as the tip, you can easily flip the pen around and remove stuff with the same precision and responsiveness as you would draw with the nib.
Needless to mention: the Pro Pen 2 is cord- and battery-free!
Customizable side buttons
There are two side buttons on the Pro Pen 2 that you can program on a per-app basis. In the Wacom Desktop Center, you can assign one function to a specific button in Photoshop, while giving it another function in Illustrator and Lightroom.
Replacement nibs
The Pro Pen 2 comes with altogether 10 replacement nibs (6 standard nibs and 4 felt nibs) that are stored inside its solid pen stand.
Replacing the standard nib with a felt nib gives you a different drawing feel. While the standard nibs are a bit harder and make drawing feel similar to using a ballpoint pen, the felt nibs are softer and feel more natural. However, they also wear down faster.
Replacement pen options
If the drawing capacities of the Pro Pen 2 are not quite enough for your creative needs, you’ll be delighted to hear that the Intuos Pro Small is compatible with a range of different Wacom pens.
You can get Wacom’s Pro Pen Slim or the Pro Pen Classic, which are a bit thinner than the Pro Pen 2. If you’re into 3D modeling, then the Pro Pen 3D might be for you. Other options include the Grip Pen, Art Pen, and Airbrush Pen.
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review – Customization Options
ExpressKeys and Touch Ring
Once you’ve connected your Intuos Pro to your computer and installed the software drivers, you can start customizing tablet and stylus to your liking. All buttons work on a per-app basis, meaning you can assign each button a specific function in different editing programs.
First of all, you can orient the 6 Express Keys to be either on the left or right side. Ideally, you want to have them opposite your dominant hand. Then, you can program the keys to do any number of things.
Assigning them simple functions like ‘undo’ and ‘redo’ will already speed up your workflow immensely, because you won’t need to reach over to your keyboard anymore!
As for the Touch Ring, in the center of the Express Keys, you can set it to increase and decrease brush sizes, zooming in and out, or scrolling up and down. Eventually, you won’t have to take your fingers off your tablet anymore at all!
Multi-Touch Functionality
The Intuos Pro supports multi-touch functionality. There’s a range of different gestures that you can customize in the Wacom Desktop Center, just like the buttons.
If you’re not a fan of gesture-based touch support and find that accidental touches of the tablet often get in the way of your editing flow, don’t worry, there’s a quick fix for that, too. With a push on the side button of the tablet you can toggle touch functionality on and off on the fly, without having to go into setting and without interfering with your workflow!
Wacom’s Intuos Pro Small (S) is a workflow booster, making it easy to create in limited space without sacrificing quality.
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review – Creative Experience
If you’re coming from a larger but less sophisticated drawing tablet, you’ll grow comfortable with the Intuos Pro’s smaller active area in no time. You’ll find that making precise brush strokes is more convenient than ever before.
With the Intuos Pro S tablet and the Pro Pen 2, digital drawing feels like the real deal. Thanks to its 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt recognition, the stylus acts like a real-life pen. Press harder and you’ll get thicker strokes with more opacity. Press lighter and the strokes will become thinner and less opaque.
This gives you all the control over your image you could possibly wish for. If you make a mistake, simply flip the stylus around and remove it with the eraser. Really, everything just works like with a real pencil.
Like all Wacom tablets, the Intuos Pro Small is extremely wear-resistant. Even with heavy usage, you will hardly find any marks on its surface. Build quality all over!
Surface texture
The Wacom Intuos Pro Small comes with the standard grainy surface texture. This is an absolutely great medium for most painting and drawing actions.
However, if you purchase an Intuos Pro Medium or Large, you’ll have the option to obtain a different texture sheet. Besides the standard surface sheet, you can choose between rough and smooth for the larger Intuos tablets.
Let’s hope that Wacom bring out surface sheets for the small Intuos very soon, too!
Accessory color rings for Pro Pen 2
There’s another downside to Wacom’s Intuos Pro Small – admittedly tiny but still worth mentioning in this Wacom Intuos Pro Review… Unlike its two larger siblings, the small tablet doesn’t come with different color rings for the Pro Pen 2.
While this is certainly not a must-have, it’s still a nice accessory to help you distinguish your stylus in case you have several pens or a shared office.
If you don’t want to do without this accessory, you can get the rings separately.
Connectivity & Compatibility
You can connect your Wacom Intuos Pro Small to either your Windows PC or Mac via USB and Bluetooth Classic.
The included USB cable acts as a charger, too. That allows you to easily power up your tablet from any USB outlet. With a fully charged battery, it’ll last you for an entire working day of around 10 hours.
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Key Specs
- Active area: 6.3 x 3.9 in (160 x 100 mm)
- Pen technology: 8,192 pen pressure levels, ±60 levels tilt recognition, 5080 lpi resolution
- Buttons & Touch: 6 ExpressKeys, Touch Ring, Multi-touch functionality
- Size: 10.6 x 6.7 x 0.3 in (269 x 170 x 8.45 mm)
- Weight: 0.99 lb (450 g)
Wacom Intuos Pro Small Review:
Overall rating
By and large, the small Pro is a build quality piece of gear for professional and amateur digital artists and photographers.
Despite its small size and light weight, the Intuos Pro Small doesn’t fall short behind its larger siblings. The tablet is top-grade, customization options and touch functionalities are market-leading, as is the included Pro Pen 2.
If you’re just getting started with digital art or photo editing and don’t want to spend a ton of money on a tablet, the Wacom Intuos Pro Small might just be what you’ve been looking for.
If you’re a professional creator looking for a tablet that is handy and portable but without compromising quality, the Intuos Pro Small creative pen tablet is for you.
PROS
- Sturdy quality paired with maximum portability
- Highly customizable and responsive for authentic drawing feel
- Bluetooth connectivity for wireless editing comfort
- Long battery life for around 10 hours
- Perfect for both left- and right-handed creators
- Budget-friendly price makes it an affordable option for beginners
CONS
- Smaller drawing area
- No changeable texture sheets
Frequently Asked Questions
If you aren’t used to working with graphic tablets like those of the Intuos line, there will be a bit of a learning curve. As the Intuos tablets don’t have a screen, you’ll be looking at your computer screen to see what you’re drawing, rather than looking down at your hand on the canvas. This might sound odd at first, but it’s not at all difficult to accomplish and after just a few days of practice, it’ll start feeling like second nature. Believe me – I’ve been there, done that.
In terms of quality, Wacom Intuos pen tablets are the gold standard among drawing tablets. The Intuos Pro line (like the Wacom Intuos Pro Small here or the Intuos Pro Medium) is, as its name suggests, the more professional model, as compared to the regular Intuos line, such as the Wacom Intuos Small.
Both tablet types differ in several other aspects. Jump to the next question to find out more about the differences!
The Wacom Intuos is a basic pen tablet, mainly for beginners. It’s great for learning, drawing and designing. The Wacom Intuos Pro, as its name suggests, is a more professional graphics tablet for drawing, designing and editing.
→ Ultimate Guide To The Best Wacom Drawing Tablet For Beginners
→ Best Graphics Tablet For Professionals – Top 10 Picks
While both models have multi-touch functionality, they differ in several other aspects:
1. Active Area
The active area of the Wacom Intuos Pro is slightly larger than that of the regular Intuos. The Wacom Intuos Pro Medium’s active area, for example, is 8.7 x 5.8 in, while the Intuos is only 8.5 x 5.3 in.
2. Pen pressure sensitivity
The Wacom Intuos Pro Pen 2 features 8,192 pressure levels and has an eraser at the end with same pressure sensitivity. The regular Wacom Intuos Pen, on the other hand, has only 2,048 pressure levels and no eraser.
3. Number of ExpressKeys
The Wacom Intuos Medium has 4 ExpressKeys. The Intuos Pro M has 8 ExpressKeys, plus Touch Ring and Home Button.
4. Head-Up Display
The Wacom Intuos Pro has Head-Up Display (HUD) functionality, which allows speeding up the drawing process. HUD shows all settings quickly and hides them again after a few seconds, sparing you the need to open the software in order to see the settings.
The regular Intuos does not have head-up display functionality.
5. Bluetooth connectivity
The Wacom Intuos Pro features built-in Bluetooth connectivity. The new Wacom Intuos has wireless capability as well. The Wacom Intuos Medium comes with built-in Bluetooth standardly. As for the Intuos Small, you can choose between a Bluetooth and a non-Bluetooth version. If you have a tablet of the older Intuos line, you’ll need to purchase a separate Bluetooth kit and install it under the device’s lid in order to use the device wireless.
Which size Wacom Intuos you should get largely depends on your way of editing, and maybe the money you are willing to spend. 😄
The Intuos Pro Large measures 16.8 in by 11.2 in. The dimensions of the medium-size pen tablet are 13.2 in by 8.5 in, and the small Intuos Pro is 10.6 in by 6.7 in. All models are super-slim, with a height of 0.3 in only.
If you teeter between Wacom Intuos Pro Medium or Large, then your choice depends mainly on your way of editing. Do you create digital artworks where you mostly make long, sweeping brush strokes? Then consider the larger model.
If you can’t decide between Wacom Intuos Pro Medium or Small, then portability is the deciding factor. Do you want to carry your tablet around and be able to slip it easily into your bag? If so, you might want to get the small Intuos.
In terms of pricing, the Wacom Intuos Pro Medium is around US $ $380, the Intuos Pro Small around US $250, and the Large version around US $500.
As a bottom line, the Intuos Pro Medium tablet is indeed the happy medium between size and price, and will be perfect for most creative needs and workspace settings.
On a final note, if you like to start your digital artworks by sketching on paper, then check out the Intuos Pro Paper Edition.
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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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