As a long (really long) time user of Wacom tablets I didn’t think I would get comfortable with another tablet brand. I was wrong. Huion sent me an Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet to try out. It works. And, it works well. Here are my thoughts on the experience.

Pros

  • Beautiful drawing surface
  • Dials for easy control
  • No issues with set up
  • Comfortable responsive pen
  • Easy conversion if you are used to any pen tablet
  • Wireless Bluetooth (~20 hours) as well as wired

Cons

  • On MAC computer, I can’t Hide/Reveal the Dock with the pen

Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet — Technical specifications

All of the technical specifications for the Inspiroy Dial 2 tablet are from the official Huion website.

  • Product Name: Inspiroy Dial 2
  • Product Model: Q630M
  • Color: Black
  • Pen Technology: Battery-Free EMR
  • Press Keys: 6 Programmable Press Keys
  • Function Keys: 2 function-switch buttons
  • Featured Function: 2 Dials
  • Working Area (PC Mode): 266.7 x 166.7 mm （10.5 x 6.56 inches)
  • Working Area (Android Mode): 166.7 x 83.35mm (18:9)
  • Pressure Levels: 8192 Levels
  • Pen Resolution: 5080 LPI
  • Report Rate: >300PPS
  • Reading Height: ＞10mm
  • Tilt Recognition: ±60°
  • Wireless Connection: Bluetooth 5.0
  • Communication Distance: 5-10m
  • Battery Capacity: 1300mAh
  • Power Consumption: 0.3w
  • Charging Time: 5V1A: about 2.5 hrs: 5V0.5A: about 4.5hrs
  • Standby Time: about 18 hrs
  • Interface: USB-COS Support: Windows 7 or later (Wired), Windows 10 or later 64 bit (Wired & Bluetooth), macOS 10.12 or later (Wired & Bluetooth), ChromeOS 88 or later (Wired & Bluetooth), Android 6.0 or later (Bluetooth), HarmonyOS 2.0 or later (Bluetooth), Linux (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS) (Wired)
  • Dimension: 356.6 x 207 x 8mm
  • Weight: 710g
  • What’s in the box: Pen Tablet, Battery-free Pen, USB-C Cable, Pen Holder PH05F, Standard Nib x 5, Felt Nib x 5, Nib Clip, Quick Start Guide

Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet — Setting up

Once you have downloaded your Inspiroy Dial 2 driver, it’s time to fit the tools to you. Since I work with dual monitors, that was one of the first things for me.

Dialog box for setting pen parameters. Currently showing only one screen navigation.

Here are the buttons for setting the Pen Tablet to cover both screens. Ticking the ‘All Display’ and highlight in turquoise shows both screens are active.

Depending on your personal working style you’ll want to go into the pen pressure area. This has eight levels of pressure. Changing the pen pressure can change the width of your line when working with paint brushes in programs such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Paint and other art software. Choose which value works best for you in the Pen Tablet menu.

Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet — Using a pen tablet

If you have never used a tablet for your work before you may feel a little uncomfortable. There is a learning curve but I find a myriad benefits. Using a pen versus using a mouse for trying to draw gives you much more control and accuracy. The pressure of a pen allows for more creativity.

There are five settings for pen pressure. The Pressure Test box allows you to get a feel with the resultant pressure effects. The boxes between Soft/Hard are presets. The colored squares can be manipulated for even more control. (I’m happy with the forth setting down)

Using a pen tablet is muchly efficient! When working with a mouse you need to scroll to navigate your cursor around the screen. A pen is dynamic. Wherever you place your pen tip, that is where you cursor will be. Pick up the pen put it in another place and there is your cursor. Way quicker. It does take a bit of getting used to. The other is learning how to double-click with the pen comfortably. Both of these can be learned much quicker if you retire your mouse to a drawer for a week or so. Usually in a day or two it becomes more intuitive. By the end of the week you won’t even wonder where your mouse is. The only time I use a mouse now is when there is no other choice.

Dials are programmable and you can choose different settings for each. The six buttons can be programed to perform keyboard directions.
An important feature in a Pen Tablet is the dynamic positioning of your cursor no matter where you place you pen. Not sure why the Mouse Mode button is there but if you choose it the pen is no longer dynamic. It was making me crazy until I found this setting.

Finally, for health reasons, the pen tool can help keep you from suffering carpel tunnel syndrome when replacing the repetitive movement when using a traditional mouse.

Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet — Price comparison

The Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet has an MSRP of $159.99 it’s less expensive on the Huion website at $143.99. Not sure how long it will be available on Amazon Prime Exclusive Deal at $127.99 with my last search. The similar featured Wacom Pro Medium Tablet shows an MSRP of $379.99, and a B&H price of $305.95 and a current, as of this writing price of $299.95 on Amazon. With all things being equal I find great value with the Huion model. Note that both companies have many pen tablet models with different sizes and features. At about half the price, or less, with similar features you, can’t beat the Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Pen Tablet.

My one little quibble is the pen tool is sporadic in revealing the hidden dock on the MAC computer. I deal with that by not hiding the dock as it’s not a huge deal with two screens active.