Tried xppen magic drawing pad with drawing display mode last weekend
I bought the xppen magic drawing pad mainly as a standalone drawing tablet first, didn't really expect much from that pc display mode tbh. Most wireless /third-party app solutions i tried before always had something off:
- pressure felt weird or inconsistent
- felt lagggy overall
- colors looked washed out
- hover didn’t work right
- random jitter when drawing fast lines
Turns out the diff is that most of those apps are basically just compressed video streaming. the magic drawing pad’s drawing display mode is actually a hardware Dp-in connection, so it behaves much closer to a REAL drawing display instead of some mirrored Android tablet!
Quick comparison from my experience:
| Actual experience | Drawing display mode | Typical mirroring apps |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | One cable, instantly works | Drivers, pairing, reconnecting |
| Drawing feel | Lines feel direct and stable | Slight lag/jitter |
| Pressure & hover | Feels like a real pen display | Often inconsistent or missing |
| Color | Feels native | Colors look compressed/off |
| Heavy desktop apps | Smooth with PC performance | Depends on streaming quality |
| Overall feeling | “Real drawing display” | “Remote controlling another screen” |
What surprised me most? hover feedback + pen shortcuts still worked normally. That alone made it feel like an actual pen display instead of “controlling a remote screen.”(gotta admit... xppen actually did a pretty good job with the pen display and pen tech here)
This feels like a game changer to my workflow*:
- outside → sketching on the couch/train/cafe with the tablet alone
- home → plug 1 type-c cable into my pc and continue directly in cps/ps
and honestly the best part is desktop software + pc power. Mobile apps are fine for sketching, but once i start doing heavier rendering, giant canvases, or too many layers... yeah I still want my pc.
Funny thing is i originally worried this thing would become another “used for 2 weeks then posted on ebay” device hhh. but even when i’m not drawing, i still keep it on my desk as a second screen for references, youtube, or just random multitasking stuff.
one thing people should know though: the drawing display mode is fixed at 1920x1080 (16:9), which keeps the aspect ratio in sync with the pc. You’ll see some black bars, but honestlly doesn’t affect drawing experience in real use.