VEIKK A15 Drawing Tablet (10x6)

Over the last few years, there's been an increase in people joining the digital creation market, and there's never been a better time to invest in some equipment than now, with a large assortment of affordable graphics tablets to choose from.

**The VEIKK A15 Drawing Tablet was reviewed using hardware provided and sent to us by Veikk, but in no way influenced the review.

There are a heap of various brands fighting for your money, and Veikk hopes to sway you towards their A15 line of drawing tablets - but does the A15 compliment your creative flair?

The answer is, in a nutshell, yes.

The £59.99 A15 is a very slim and lightweight graphics tablet, and if you've ever seen entry level Wacom or Huion tablets, the A15 at a glance looks very familiar. There is a great looking red dial that surrounds the Veikk logo in the top left, but it's worth noting that on this version of the A15, the red dial isn't interactive like it is on the Pro version.

Underneath that, there are 12 customizable hotkeys, which is an excellent amount, and these can be configured in the downloadable Veikk driver software, and they work well, with a satisfying click.

(NOTE: within the driver software, be sure to tick the 'Windows Ink Space' to get variant width lines)

Veikk have been reasonably generous in the package, with a good selection of extras included in the box:

• A15 Tablet

• 1 x Passive Pen

• 1 x USB Cable(Type C)

• 20 x Replacement Nibs

• 1 x pen clipper

• 1 x Pen Pocket

• 1 x Artist Glove

The x20 replacement nibs is a very welcome addition when opening the package to a drawing tablet, as well as the always handy artist glove. The USB C connection is also such a nice thought on an otherwise 'budget' tablet, and helps with the tablet being used for both left and right handed users - which is something you wont get on a lot of other graphics tablets.

In use the A15 works as it should, with 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity (for reference, the 5-inch Wacom Intuos ctl-4100k provides just 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity for £69.99) and provides a very responsive experience.

The pen itself is battery-free, which is similar to the Wacom line, and is chunky, but light when in use. There are two programable buttons on the pen, both of which are placed so they are easy to reach, but not so that they are pressed by accident. Whilst the pen doesn't scream out luxury like a Microsoft Surface pen or the Apple Pencil, it feels well made, and the matte black finish compliments the tablet as well - although from a design point of view, I would have personally added a red ring around the pen to match the tablet.

I used the A15 with Adobe Photoshop and my go-to drawing app Leonardo and the A15 doesn't disappoint in use, with a good amount of real estate to work on and the function keys making production faster as you work.

My biggest criticism isn't of the A15, but of myself - as I've work primarily on display tablets for last few years, going back to a display-less tablet was hard to do, but that's no fault of the A15, that's just me having to get accustomed to it again.

After around half an hour, I got back into the swing of things, and the A15 performs very well, and I was able to get a comfortable feeling when testing it in Photoshop and Leonardo with the 8192 levels of sensitivity proving to be accurate when in use. Below are some of the quick pieces I did for the review, and even though it's been a good number of years since I've done any digital art with a display-less tablet, it was quite easy to get back into the swing of things.

I originally did the tests for the review and started this write up, but then I thought I'd try some extra tests - I headed into the driver software and began changing the hotkeys to the keyboard options I would use in Vegas Pro 18, and began editing a video - the results were very good! It was surprisingly easy to edit a video using the pen, the hotkeys providing great replacements for the keyboard shortcuts, and the Cal and Dan Play video for Deep Rock Galactic was all edited entirely using the A15.

VERDICT

Overall, the Veikk A15 is a great tablet for both beginners and veterans alike - although I will always prefer to work on display tablets as they feel more natural to work on, the A15 works very well, and for the price, it's an excellent addition to Veikks ever growing portfolio of graphic tablets, and I look forward to seeing more from them.