It’s been a while since I’ve checked in with Huion. Having featured a number of their pen displays in the past, ranging from their 2.5K resolution Pro displays to the relatively huge 22 inch Plus display, they’re fun things I’ve really enjoyed using. With their latest release being a colourful update to their base Kamvas line, I’m here to play with the 13 inch model and see whether it lives up to my previously built-up expectations.
Covering the Basics
Now before jumping in, let’s just cover exactly what a pen display is for those who are perhaps unfamiliar. What we’re looking at here is a 13 inch portable monitor that also functions as a graphics tablet. It’s a simple design with the screen taking up most of the body, and a set of remappable controls living on the left side, these made up of two wheels and five buttons between them. Though some of the larger modes require external power, this particular model can function with a single USB C cable where supported by the hardware you’re connecting it to, or a custom USB C to HDMI, data USB A, and power USB A for more widespread compatibility.
The display works great as a compact streaming and recording setup when paired with a Mini PC and capture card!
Everything you need to get going is included in the box, this being the tablet itself, a stand, a pen to interact with the display along with a holder for it, the aforementioned more unique HDMI-based cable, and finally a half-glove to allow your hand to better move across the screen. Though a stand was in the box for me, it is worth mentioning that it’s a luxury that’ll cost you an additional $20 on the base $250 price point. Notably missing is a USB C to USB C cable to make use of the single-cable connectivity. This is less of a deal-breaker to me since I already had suitable cables lying around, but it should be noted that you’ll be needing a USB 3.2 cable (capable of 10gbps transfer).
Pretty much everything here both looks good and feels sturdy, with the pen being the notable exception. To give it its due credit, when in your hand it feels absolutely fine. You get three buttons in reach of your thumb that can be set to various functions, with the pen feeling light and being generally easy to hold. What I don’t understand though is just how hollow it sounds; this isn’t something common to any of Huion’s previous pens. It’s bad to the point of the pen “twanging” if hit from its back end. Though it doesn’t affect the larger usability of it, it is something I noticed off the bat, and continued to notice each time I picked up the pen.
Plugging the tablet into your PC with either the included cable or single USB C where supported, you’re pretty much good to go. The tablet is detected as a display in Windows without issue, and you’re able to use the pen straight away to start moving through the system or drawing. There is a catch though, and that lays in the fact that, without driver software installed, the pen will always interact with your primary display. This means that if you want the best experience without anything else, you’ll need to set the pen display to be your primary screen. I don’t personally mind this, but for those wanting more customisation, Huion’s driver software will be a necessity.
Better with Drivers?
As driver software goes, Huion definitely aren’t the worst. Sadly you are required to have it running in the background if you want it to do something, but it is at least simple to use. The software in this instance really has two features you’ll be interested in: mapping the pen display to a specific screen, and remapping the hotkey buttons. If you’ve used a Huion tablet before, or seen a previous review, there’s really not much that’s changed.
The first screen you’ll see focuses on the display itself. Here you can map your working area, making sure the pen inputs go to the screen you want it to. As mentioned above, without changing anything here, the display will always work with your primary screen. One neat feature the software provides is allowing you to map the display to just a portion of your screen. It’s not something I personally use, preferring to just have the pen match up to the display, but if you were wanting to play something like a 3DS game on an ultrawide monitor, I can see some neat setup potential there for keeping everything on your main screen.
Beyond screen customisation, the rest of the software is mostly dedicated to remapping both the buttons and dials on the tablet, and the three buttons on the pen. The array of options you have is something I like to see, with the customisation being on par with the kinds of things you’d get from a fancy gaming keyboard. Naturally you can map a keyboard key, but beyond that you can also have it handle mouse inputs, multi-key shortcuts, running apps, media controls, and even launching a quick menu for one button to do up to six of these actions. It’s all incredibly simple to use and understand, letting you get off the ground quickly and setup for your app of choice.
Great for Emulation
I’m not going to spend too much time on the Kamvas 13’s intended use case. There are plenty of reviews out there by people far more well versed in digital art than me that you can go watch and read. I can tell you that the display has 16384 levels of pressure sensitivity, which gives some nice granularity to how hard you’re pressing on the screen, and that the anti-glare etched glass makes for a really quite satisfying surface to draw on. Beyond that though, you should really consult an expert. I want to talk about emulation instead.
The option to use one USB C cable makes it easy to plug into a laptop for surprisingly portable experience.
You shouldn’t be surprised when I say this thing is absolutely fantastic for the big three of dual-screen gaming: the DS, 3DS, and Wii U. Until recently only the 3DS via Citra and Wii U via Cemu had an easily accessible way to play with the second screen in a separate window, but as of November of last year, melonDS brings DS emulation into the modern age. The 16:9 aspect ratio is a perfect fit for the Wii U gamepad, though I will say the black bars aren’t too distracting for the expected 4:3 aspect ratio of both the DS and 3DS bottom screen.
For each emulator setup is similarly simple, with melonDS marginally being the most awkward. For Citra and Cemu you just have to set your screen layout to be “Separate Windows” and “Separate Gamepad View” respectively, and just like that you’ll have a second window pop out. By pressing F11 with the bottom screen on the pen display, it’ll go full screen, and you’re good to go! Though not overly complex, melonDS isn’t quite as clear, requiring you to go into the “View” menu and hit “Open New Window”. From there each window needs to be setup separately, by going back to the “View” menu and into “Screen Sizing”. You can then finally set one window to be “Top Only”, and the other “Bottom Only”. Each of these emulators remembers your settings after you’ve sorted them once, so you at least don’t need to commit everything to memory.
A prime way to play Golden Balls for the Nintendo DS.
Compatibility with certain games is a little hard to discuss. Everything I tried with melonDS worked fine, with Inazuma Eleven, various Pokemon games, and the portable Zelda titles playing great. The same can be said for Citra with Ocarina of Time 3D and Pokemon Omega Ruby. Where things get hit and miss is with Cemu, and I can’t fathom why. With some games everything will work exactly as you’d expect. You tap on the screen and you get a tap in the game. Others, like Twilight Princess HD, the game won’t pick up your tap unless you make it into a small swipe. This is, for what it’s worth, consistent behaviour with using my finger on an average touch screen, but it’s still a bit of a shame to see.
Some PC gameing is also viable on the Kamvas 13, though as you’d imagine you would really only want to play a mouse-centric game like Bloons TD6 or Balatro with this kind of input scheme. For games like that it is really quite great though. It really is just a more precise touch screen, so the sky is largely the limit.
A Better Portable Monitor
The latest iteration of the Kamvas 13 is in my eyes a great pen display, but more than that, it’s just an incredibly versatile and well-built portable monitor. The $250 price point will be a bitter pill to swallow if you’re not wanting to make the most of everything it has to offer, with basic monitors going for around half of that, but in spite of that I do feel it a compelling package. The pen input lends itself wonderfully to emulating any of Nintendo’s dual-screened systems, and being able to doodle as needed has come in handy more than a few times during meetings at work. You get what you pay for, and here you’re getting something good.
Verdict
What We Liked …
- Pink colour is a refreshing change from black and looks great
- Good assortment of buttons, including two dials
- Can function using just one USB C to USB C cable
- Works out of the box without driver software (as long as it’s set as your primary monitor)
- Fantastic emulation experience with melonDS, Citra, and Cemu
- Included stand is an improvement on previous models
What We Didn’t Like …
- Driver software required to be running for customisation to apply
8 out of 10
Overall
I’ve enjoyed using Huion’s tablets in the past, and this one quite happily sits with the rest in terms of its larger quality and feature set. A versatile display that can plug and play with pretty much any modern system, it’s one I can really recommend.
