Introduction

Huion was founded in 2011 with the aim of being an innovative designer and manufacturer of digital ink devices and equivalent solutions, including pen tablets, display tablets and touch computers. We have previously looked over a few Huion graphics tablets before, including the Kamvas Pro 13 (2.5K) which is a fairly portable device priced to interest both digital artists and general content creators for photo/video editing. The Pro line goes larger, as evident by the Kamvas Pro 24 (4K), and yet the company’s bread and butter is undoubtedly the more standard lineup that is being refreshed to catch up with, and even surpass in some ways, the more expensive Pro lineup.

Today we take a closer look at the new Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3), which sports an individually calibrated 13.3″ 1080p panel with a new glass screen that promises a drawing experience closer to paper than before. It is accompanied by a revised slimmer and more accurate pen, customizable dial controllers and side buttons, and even has an optional fancy stand for those who prefer it. I first saw the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) in action at Computex this year and was impressed already. If you are looking for a more portable graphics tablet that can also be used as a secondary display, then this might well be worth your attention. Thanks to Huion for providing a sample to TechPowerUp as we begin with a look at the product specifications in the table below.

Packaging and Accessories

Going from the massive and heavy Huion Kamvas Pro 24 (4K) to the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) was a welcome change, simply because of much easier this smaller tablet is to handle and use. The product box is similarly smaller, and we see the use of a thick two-piece cardboard box with the company logo and product name on the front along with a render of the tablet itself. There’s not much else going on here, with QR codes eventually leading you to the downloads page and the more detailed user manual available online. Remove the lid to see the display calibration report for your specific unit, which is nice to see in a non-Pro model, and the tablet itself comes inside a wax paper wrap to keep it pristine and dust-free. Underneath we find the various accessories included in two separate layers, depending on whether you pay for the optional stand.

The foldable stand ST300 was included in this review unit and sells for $50 separately, or just $20 more if purchased with the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3). It weighs over 550 g by itself, feels very sturdy in the hands, and really feels like a must-have for the tablet. The stand measures in at 282 x 184 x 8 mm and can still easily fit inside a typical 13″ tablet/laptop carry case. The contact surface has silicone pads for added grip as well as to prevent scratches to the tablet itself, we see more on the bottom for a similar purpose when used on your desk. There is a smaller section underneath which can be pulled out to hold the tablet, and then a larger one you fit into various notches on the underside to get different support angles ranging from 14.5° to 45°. This allows you to position the tablet at a more ergonomic angle to better suit your hands and shoulders while also helping get the best viewing angle when working.

Huion simplifies the connectivity here compared to previous generation tablets thanks to the use of two Type-C ports on the device, one of which is fully-featured and can be used with a separately sold Type-C to Type-C cable that can provide power, display, and data signals in a single cable. What you get in the box instead is Huion’s 3-in-1 cable that goes from a right-angled Type-C connector from the tablet to three separate connectors on the source side in the form of USB Type-A for power (if the other USB connection isn’t strong enough), USB Type-A for data, and a full-size HDMI cable for video out from your graphics card to effectively use the tablet as a secondary display. We also get a USB Type-A extension cable to help with power, in case you need to get it from a USB wall adapter instead.

We also get a multi-language quick start guide with useful illustrations, although the previously linked online user manual is more detailed. There is also a microfiber cloth to keep the display clean over time as well as one of those drawing gloves which you only put two fingers into. Huion also includes a pen holder which unscrews to reveal storage for up to 10 pen nibs, with these slots already occupied by 10 spare nibs thrown in the box to ensure product longevity. Rounding off the unboxing experience is the digital pen itself with a soft touch texture making it very comfortable to hold and use. It has three buttons closer to the active end and can be easily placed into the holder for when you are taking a break, as seen above.

Closer Look

The Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) comes in two color options—Sakura Pink and Cosmo Black—and I have the former here as evident by the pink color used on the front and back. As the name suggests, this tablet uses a 13″ screen that’s actually 13.3″ in size, making it effectively larger than most of the contemporary tablets in this range that use a 12″ display. The overall dimensions are 361 (L) x 203 (W) x 12 (H) mm, also making this smaller than most other tablets sporting a 12-13″ screen. This is owing to three sides having minimal case bezels, which also helps make this tablet be usable whether you are right-handed or left-handed. The screen can also be rotated to facilitate this feature. The fourth side has the power button, two dials with associated function switch buttons, and five other buttons in the middle that use low profile tactile switches and have different patterns on the top to help identify them easily by touch. The active area for the display ends up being 294 x 165 mm in size and houses a 1920×1080 LCD IPS 60 Hz panel, and you will notice the panel itself has bezels to allow you to hold the tablet normally too. This being a non-Pro model, the max brightness of 220 nits, 25 ms response time, 1000:1 contrast ratio and 99% sRGB gamut with 178° viewing angles seem easier to accommodate—provided the price is right. There’s not a lot to see on the back outside the four rubber pads on the corners, and I will also mention the tablet feels thinner than its 12 mm thickness, owing to gentle curves all around the sides which also make it easier to hold the device in one hand.

Don’t expect to see an all aluminium chassis here, and yet I didn’t think the build quality on the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) will be an issue for anyone. If anything, the ~850 g weight of the tablet makes it easier to use even if you don’t plan on using a stand. The buttons feel solid, as do the dials themselves with the knurled finish on the side making them satisfying to rotate and press. The side with these buttons and dials also has two USB Type-C ports to help keep the product future-proof. The one closest to the power button is a fully-featured Type-C port with DisplayPort capability, allowing you to use a compatible table to provide power, data, and display signals alike. If you don’t have this cable or have a source which is not compatible with video + power out over Type-C, then you will likely use the 3-in-1 cable that comes with the tablet, which also makes for a clean connection as seen above. The other end of the cable goes to two available USB Type-A ports and a full-size HDMI port.

Here’s a look at the tablet positioned on the provided tablet stand. I found myself mostly using the stand on the smaller pop-out at a 15-20° angle when having the entire ensemble on a desk alongside my PC or laptop. The stand is such a useful accessory that I do think anyone interested in such devices should certainly get it if they do not have one already. There are also dual device stands available allowing you to have your tablet and laptop on the same stand for easier multitasking.

Before I talk more about actually using the Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3), note how much smaller it is compared to Huion’s own Kamvas Pro 13 (2.5K), both of which use 13.3″ screens. You do get a 1440p screen and an aluminium chassis with the latter, but I personally think the newer screen, pen, and lighter weight + smaller form factor of the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) will be more attractive to most people.

User Experience

The Huion website is extremely easy to navigate, and you can find the drivers for the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) on this page for the OS of your choice. It’s a good idea to remove all other graphics/drawing tablet drivers off your system first, although I found the generic Windows drivers did not cause any issues. The latest version of drivers for Windows (v15.7.6.1357) are from just a month ago, as of the date I write this article, and the installation process is simple. The program takes ~60 MB of space and runs light on system resources too. Once installed, it only shows working options if the tablet is connected and powered on. Included here are monitor calibration settings, the expected pen calibration tool and pressure sensitivity slider, and key mapping options for the buttons/dials on the tablet and pen to provide useful shortcuts within arm’s reach. You can also correct the active Window in the display if it is different from expected, as well as check for firmware updates from within the software itself. Note that the program needs to be running in the background for any of the changes from the default configuration to work.

Pressing and holding the power button pulls up the OSD (on-screen display), which then works with the pen to allow you to do some on-the-fly changes to the display too, as seen above. You can change the brightness, color temperature, choose the connection mode, change the color gamut, and even the aspect ratio as desired. In essence, if the display and pen are already working fine for you on Windows, then there is not a lot to gain from installing the first-party drivers. I would have liked profile support to allow for different sets of shortcuts for different applications—that would have made the re-mapping options even more useful. On the other hand, I suppose working professionals already have their preferred software of choice for drawing/editing, so you could remap once and call it a day.

I mentioned before how the graphics tablets I’ve used personally have been significantly smaller than this one. I typically use such tablets for taking notes and for easier editing of content such as images, as seen in the example above of the ZMF Caldera Closed headphones. Windows Ink compatibility allows for graphics tablets to work directly with Adobe Creative Suite, and Lightroom in particular. I had noticed the newer panel on the Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) felt more natural to type on during my limited time at Computex, and I am happy to say this is indeed the case here. The new anti-glare screen is the best such implementation of matte + glossy on a graphics tablet I’ve used to date, and also helping is the new pen which goes down to just a 0.35 mm gap between the screen and the tip of the pen nib now. The tip is thinner than before, and the new pen is also more sensitive and accurate to use. The smaller screen does mean you will likely be closer to the display itself, and here Huion has a small trick up its sleeve wherein you can turn off the display and use it as a pure pen tablet while looking at a larger primary display. Alternatively, this can also be used as a secondary display with, say, a laptop on the go but this use case is not going to be vastly popular I imagine. The color accuracy is quite good here, with 99% sRGB and 95% Adobe RGB coverage and individual calibration guaranteeing a ΔE 1.5—this particular sample was at 0.95, for context. As such, and combined with the notable improved screen and pen experience, pretty much anyone looking at this tablet will be a content creator using it for drawing/sketching, be it for technical drawings or illustrations to be used for a variety of applications. Palm rejection is basically a non-issue for any modern graphics tablet, as is the case here, and the various buttons and dials are very handy for tasks like quick zooms, changing brush sizes, and also hotkeys for white balance and alignment. The Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) graphics tablet comes in two colors and costs $249-269 from the Huion online store depending on whether you opt for the ST300 stand or not.