The Innovator 16 is an incredible graphics tablet with specs that outdo any competition at a similar price point. The sheer size of the display makes it a joy to use, and you'll quickly be absorbed in the creative process.

Specifications
  • Brand: XP-Pen
  • Active Area: 15.6"
  • Multi-Touch Support: Not touch sensitive
  • Pressure Sensitivity Levels: 8192
  • Connection: HDMI and USB
Pros
  • Responsive 8192 levels of pressure-sensitivity
  • Full copy of Artrage 5 if you register
  • Massive 15.6" drawing area
Cons
  • Anti-glare layer too easily removed with screen protector when unboxing
  • Physical dial offers no tactile feedback or resistance
  • 15-step install process on Mac OS
  • Requires full-size HDMI and USB port; Macbook users will need an adaptor
  • Stylus only, cannot function as a touchscreen
Buy This Product
XP-Pen Innovator 16

You've probably never heard of XP-Pen, but they've been making graphics tablets for 15 years now. At this point, it wouldn't be fair to say it's the one you buy if you can't afford a Wacom. In fact, XP Pen makes comparable hardware that just happens to be significantly cheaper than the market leaders.

We've looked at XP-Pen's budget offerings before, but today we're shifting to one of their more premium devices: the Innovator 16. Featuring a massive 15.6" pressure-sensitive drawing area with a built-in 1080p screen and a bevy of shortcut keys, we're pretty sure this is what every digital artist dreams of having on their desk.

Join us as we take a closer look at the XP-Pen Innovator 16, and see if it's right for you. Thanks to XP-Pen, we also have one Innovator 16 to give away to one lucky reader! Find the entry form at the end of this review.

Grab a Bargain!

If you're quick, the Innovator 16 may still be on sale for Black Friday when bought direct from your local store:

XP-Pen Innovator 16 Design and Specifications

Inside the package, you'll find:

  • The Innovator 16 tablet
  • Desktop stand
  • 3-in-1 cable
  • USB extension cable
  • USB power adaptor
  • Stylus (P05D)
  • Eight replacement nibs
  • Stylus and nib storage case
  • Drawing glove, and a cleaning cloth

With a large amount of bezel around the drawing area and the shortcut keys to one side, the Innovator 16 is quite bulky, measuring 17.5 inches wide by 10 inches tall. It's surprisingly thin at just one-third of an inch, but still, you'd have trouble transporting this in a standard size laptop bag.

XP-Pen Innovator 16 design

On the one side of the display are eight configurable keys, as well as a physical dial, and a capacitive dial inside of that. The only minor complaint I have with the hardware is that the dial is all too easy to brush past, and offers no resistance or tactile feedback (such as the slight clicks you feel when you scroll a mouse wheel). This makes it all too easy to brush your hand past it and accidentally zoom or rotate the canvas.

xp-pen innovator 16 side ports and buttons

To prevent damage in transport, the screen ships with a screen protector which should be removed before use. But be careful, because there's also an anti-glare plastic layer underneath that. This wasn't obvious, so we ended up peeling off both before realizing our error. Of course, attempting to put the anti-glare sheet back again resulted in unsightly bits of dust and air bubbles underneath, which you can see in the top left of the photos throughout this review. Functionality doesn't appear to have been affected, it's just a bit nasty looking.

xp-pen innovator 16 graphics tablet tracing an image

You'll need to use the tablet on the desktop stand, which sits at a fixed 20-degree angle. The tablet itself has no rubber feet, so may slide around if you were to use it flat on a desktop. That said, even after prolonged use at full brightness, we found the underside didn't get warm at all, so you could probably use this flat on an anti-slip mat without overheating concerns.

The 15.6" 16:9 ratio IPS display covers 92% of the Adobe RGB spec, and 125% of SRGB, with a 16.4ms response time. Offering up to 250 nits of brightness, it's not quite usable in bright direct sunlight, but this is unlikely to be your use case anyway given it must be tethered to a computer. The digitizer layer offers both tilt sensitivity up to 60-degrees, and 8192 levels of pressure. At this size, the 1080p display is not "retina" quality, and if you move your head close enough and stare, you'll see some pixels. Does it matter? Not really.

XP-Pen Innovator 16 close up on screen

Note that this is not a touch-sensitive screen—it will only work in conjunction with the stylus. This has the benefit of offering automatic palm-rejection, so you can draw however is most comfortable to you without worrying about erroneous input. Although 8 replacement nibs are included in the package, the whole stylus is inexpensive and easily replaced if you were to misplace it.

Installing the XP-Pen Innovator 16

Unfortunately, before you can actually use the Innovator 16, you'll need to jump through a few hoops. And by "a few", I mean fifteen.

First: plug it in. While one end of the 3-in-1 cable for the Innovator 16 is a neat USB-C plug, the other consists of a full-size HDMI and two USB-A plugs. One of the USB plugs should be connected to the included power adaptor; use the USB extension cable if required. This assortment of plugs is an annoyance for those us living the Apple #donglelife. If you're planning on using this with a Macbook, be sure to add a suitable adaptor to your cart as well. It's a shame the display and digitizer data can't be sent over a single USB-C plug, but it is what is. Desktop users should also ensure they have a graphic card capable of dual-monitor output or be prepared to swap over plugs.

Then, you'll need to install drivers. While this is simple on Windows, Mac users will need to follow the 15-step process outlined here. It involves changing settings that you've probably never touched before and delving into folders that are normally hidden away.

In fairness, this complex install process isn't really XP-Pen's fault. Mac OS isn't designed with this type of peripheral in mind, and Apple prefers to hide the more sensitive parts of the system away from the user.

The good news is that once it's installed, the generically named Pen Tablet Setting software is easy to use (and I can confirm it does work fine in the latest OS update, Mac OS 11.0 Big Sur). You can customize the behavior of the eight shortcut keys, as well as the physical outer dial and capacitive inner dial, and the two buttons on the stylus. These can be assigned to user-defined shortcuts, applications, or even web URLs to open. The shortcut keys can even have a custom profile for different apps.

xp-pen pentabletsetting screenshot shortcuts

You can also calibrate the screen if needed, and change the response curve of the pressure sensitivity.

xp-pen pentablet settings response curve pressure sensitivity

Another nice inclusion is that if you register your product, you can get a license key for a full copy of Artrage 5. This isn't a lite edition or time-limited trial. I've not used ArtRage before, but it's clearly been designed with Stylus input rather than mouse and keyboard, so this is where we did most of our testing. That said, the Innovator 16 is compatible with a wide array of popular art and design software packages, including Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, SAI, CDR, GIMP, Krita, Medibang, Fire Alpaca, and Blender 3D.

How Does the Innovator 16 Feel to Draw On?

When it comes to graphics tablets, more important than the fact it's an IPS panel, or that the colors are vibrant, is how it actually feels to draw on it.

I'm going to preface this section by saying I'm not an artist, and couldn't draw a pretty picture to save my life. I love to sketch out designs for DIY projects or a new area of the garden, but nothing that would even remotely resemble "art". So I apologize in advance if there's some aspect of drawing that I haven't covered. I can only evaluate the Innovator 16 from a technical perspective and offer an amateur opinion on how it actually feels. My wife volunteered for the photos and video so that my horrendous creations needn't be displayed.

XP-Pen Innovator 16 over the shoulder usage

The stylus feels good to hold. It's quite thick, with a pleasantly smooth but grippy surface. It's neither too heavy for prolonged use, nor too light to feel insubstantial. There's no dedicated eraser functionality on the other end, so you'll probably want to keep one of the two buttons assigned as an eraser. They're ever so slightly too easy to press, which might be an issue if you have particularly fat fingers.

XP-Pen Innovator 16 straight lines and responsive pressure

In terms of responsiveness, as with any graphics tablet, there is a small delay between your stylus touching the screen and a line being drawn. This input lag will depend on the software you're using and the speed of your computer, as well as how fast you're moving the stylus. At normal drawing speeds, the lag was not significant in our testing.

The Innovator 16 tablet surface feels good to draw on, and the pressure sensitivity is responsive, with only a little jitter at slow speeds (which was probably due to shakey hands). Otherwise, straight lines were straight, and curves flowed nicely.

From a technical perspective then, it gets full marks.

Should You Buy the XP-Pen Innovator 16?

While the Innovator 16 is compact and light enough to carry back and forth between say, your workplace and home, it still needs to be tethered to a computer in order to use it. If you're a digital artist, the only reason not to buy the Innovator 16 is the existence of the iPad Pro and Apple Pencil, which offers pressure-sensitive drawing features in a portable, standalone package. Of course, you won't find anything nearly as big or in the same price range, but if it's portability you're after then you may ultimately get more utility from an iPad.

I don't know many artists, but those I do know tend to enjoy sketching whenever the mood takes them, which isn't necessarily at a desk.

XP-Pen Innovator 16 drawing kanji

Still, the Innovator 16 is an incredible graphics tablet with specs that outdo any competition at a similar price point. The sheer size of the display makes it a joy to use, and you'll quickly be absorbed in the creative process.