 Hey, so XP-Pen sent me their latest tablet to review. If you are not familiar with my channel, I only accept this type of review if the tablet could run on a GNU Linux operating system with only free Libre and open source drivers. At this stage, all other brands usually refuse to send me a device or don't even reply. But not XP-Pen. In short, they told me that even if they didn't have a Libre driver, even if the device didn't work, all I had to do was to make a video of everything that went wrong. For my part, I really liked this suggestion, and I was also seduced by the specifications of the tablet on their website. So I took up the challenge. The good news is the tablet is now working on my system. It requires some very GNU Linux-specific tweaks, but I've decided not to go into them in detail in this video. You'll find them all in a link to a blog post in the description below the video. This blog post will be way easier for me to update. This video will focus on showing what I think of this device. So what do we have here? It's a 16-inch tablet, not thick at all, but with a Quaid HD screen inside. Quaid HD is my favorite resolution, and this one comes in the 16x10 Raythear flavor. It's a metal chassis with very well-designed rubber feet that are easy to unfold. You also find plenty of power adapters for all regions in the box. A manual, a glove, something for cleaning, tablet cables, but also remote cables, and speaking of it, here it is. And the stylus in its case, along with extra nibs, and it contains the USB dongle to connect the remote. And this one can also be connected without it, by the way, via Bluetooth or wire red directly. I received it with this extra 3-in-1 cable box. And that's what I'll be using in this review. It has a red USB for the power connector, a black USB for the tablet's data to your computer, and an HDMI for the display and all converges to a single USB-C for the tablet. The active surface of the device is large, larger than an A4 document or those video game if you are more familiar with that scale. It's also bigger than my Wacom Cintiq 13 HD and about the same size as the Intuos Pro large. The active surface is laminated, very smooth but not as smooth as a glass. It has a slight texture, it's very fluid. On the back you have two USB-C inputs, one for the 3-in-1 cable, and the other one in case you choose a direct USB-C to USB-C. You also have a plus and minus button for the brightness and a power button. I really like the design once it sits on a desk. The colors are great, but I would strongly advise any user to do a color calibration on this device as it natively displays almost full A-Dob RGB. I limited mine to 100% sRGB and it's great. As a result, this tablet has become my reference for checking my colors in general. In terms of drawing, the device is really responsive and the lag is minimal. It's the first time I've tested a device that feels like that and that's after 20 years of practice. I immediately fell in love with it. The parallax is also very low and even if it needs a little bit of calibration, you won't feel much offset when drawing. The pressure sensor is also very sensitive to fine brush strokes. My first impression was that the amplitude of the pressure curve from a very light stroke to a very heavy stroke was too large. Maybe it's my hand getting old or maybe I'm just getting more sensitive with the years, but I had to set up a custom pressure curve with a firm curve that quickly reached 100% of the effect. Then all my brushes acted the way I wanted. I have to admit that I initially thought the overlay texture was too slippery. I would even describe its overlay as an oily type of surface. However, once I started using the light gray nibs rather than the standard black ones, this problem was solved for me. These nibs have a bit more friction than the standard nibs. So I get that gentle shh shh shh on the device and after 2 weeks of very intensive usage, these nibs still haven't flattened out. So I'm very curious to see how long they will last, but for now I'm very happy with them. The tilt of the tablet is also very responsive and presses for the angle. It offers a level of brush angle control I never seen before. I really like what the XP-Pen engineers have done with the Steelus in general. The presses and lack-free experience really improve the digital painting experience. When you flip the Steelus, you have an eraser. Krita, the painting app I use, will change the preset. So you can put an eraser preset on it and you'll have an eraser ready to go every time you flip the pen. This eraser brings the design of this pen closer to vacoms, and I'm not complaining about that. There are some slight design variations, but they are very minor. The remote for the shortcut is a completely standalone device, and you can even buy it separately. Under GNU linux, everything works out of the box except the little middle button on the dial. All the button feels okay, and you can customize them with a bit of effort. On the edges, you have a button for the power on, off, or the Bluetooth pairing, and somewhere else are there. You have the USB-C connector for wire red use or charging. To be honest, it's a cool gadget, but I prefer a full access to my keyboard or this little gamepad or keypad that I customize it. As for the ergonomic, I like to use it flat with the keyboard in front. I don't really like the built-in fit because then, you can only use the keyboard between you and the tablet. It works, but it's just not my style and preference. After experimenting with stack-off books, I made this little wooden easel. It is still a work in progress, but it gives me some comfort for now. I also like the fact that I can push it onto my desk and immediately free up some space for traditional drawing or small DIY projects. It's very good for the sketchbook training I'm doing now with Ball Pain Point. It's also easy to unplug and put it on a shelf and plug it as you need it. In my setup, I use it most of the time as both a display tablet and a regular tablet. I've cloned my main monitor with the tablet so I can get the best of both worlds. And I really like that because I've always struggled between a display tablet and a regular tablet. Now, I don't have to choose, it's really convenient. About the heat of the device, the hot spot is clearly on the top around the USB-C connector. It's a good design as the palm of your hand is rarely going to be there. But a word of warning, don't set the screen to 100% brightness, as I found it too difficult for my hand. I found the 65% brightness setting to be a good compromise. It gave me the right temperature for working. As you can guess, I have already adopted this device full time on my desk and I have been quite productive with it. For me, it's really like having a slightly thicker vacuum into a spro but with a killer monitor built-in. It's my favorite combination, so how could I not love it? For more information, you'll find a link to my technical blog post in the description about how to install this device on GNU Linux. You'll also find plenty of other links to where you can buy the tablet depending on your geographical location, and just a note about that, I don't make any money from these links, but there is a special offer until the end of November, so check it out because it's a real bargain. Also, XP-Pen gave me a promo code, David15, which is good until Christmas, so it will give you an extra discount. See you later and thanks for watching.