The Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 pen tablet offers illustrators, graphic designers, photographers and artists a controller with pen-to-paper experience. The battery-free pen, dials and buttons enable you to switch functions quickly.
The Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Q630M Professional Wireless Bluetooth Digital Drawing Tablet for PC, Mac and Phone can be wired to your computer or connected via Bluetooth, remaining charged for 18 hours of work. The tablet has two dial controllers, allowing you to map specific functions with each. The tablet also offers six press keys which also can be customized to whatever function you want.
Note: Huion sent us the Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Q630M Professional Wireless Bluetooth Digital Drawing Tablet to review and keep. However, this is a completely independent review. All thoughts about this tablet are our own.
Pros
- Classy, attractive appearance
- Pen controller feels natural, offers the perfect amount of resistance, and works well at various slants
- Extremely easy to set up
- The tablet working area can be easily configured for a smaller area by using it at a 90-degree angle
Cons
- If you have not used a pen tablet before, it can be challenging to use initially. This obviously isn’t an issue with this tablet specifically, but it bears mentioning.
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-C
- OS 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 Tablet — Ergonomics and build quality
The tablet has a classy, elegant finish. The knobs are not wiggly. Despite having large hands, the battery-free pen has a slightly rubbery exterior and feels good in the hand. It’s very comfortable. It’s also weighted well, and the nib feels natural and provides enough resistance on the surface, similar to if you were writing on paper, as they describe.
The tablet comes with a weighted doughnut-shaped pen holder. This holder also holds extra nibs for the pen. I love items that offer more than one function simultaneously, and this is a clever use of space and is extremely convenient.
Repetitive Strain Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Generally speaking, pens are considerably easier on your wrist and elbow than a typical mouse. I use a Logitech MX Vertical Mouse, which is not a typical mouse. This vertically-oriented mouse uses the handshake position. This can reduce wrist pressure, forearm strain and shoulder injuries associated with Repetitive Strain Injury and Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. However, even when using a vertical mouse, it is good to switch it up and use a pen to avoid injury and pain. Products such as the Inspiroy Dial 2 make this easier. I feel that this health benefit is often overlooked when discussing pen tablets.
Build quality
The Inspiroy Dial 2 feels and looks solid. The knobs are not wiggly, and the buttons do not have a lot of play or otherwise feel cheap. It feels and looks like an elegant, well-built device that inspires confidence.
Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Tablet — In the field
When I first received the tablet for review, I was immediately struck by how large the tablet was. I generally prefer smaller tablets because I don’t have a lot of desk space and I also don’t like having to move too much to get my controller across the screen.
However, I quickly discovered that I could configure the tablet so it is oriented at 90 degrees. Not only that, I could use it while only utilizing the top third of the tablet. I am currently using the tablet in this configuration, with the knobs and buttons on the top rather than on the side.
You may already use the tablet without downloading the driver. However, the driver offers far more options. You may change or assign functions, reorient the tablet, specify the working area, and customize the pressure.
You may configure the working area easily by opening the driver, which you download from their website. The driver actually shows you the configuration by having a layout of the tablet. You may of course also customize the buttons and knobs. I chose one of the knobs for Zoom In and Out, and the other for Brush Size. These felt like controls that I might use quite often in programs such as Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop.
A brief comparison to another tablet
The only other tablet I have owned, a Wacom Intuos Bluetooth Creative Pen Tablet (small — ‎7.87 x 6.3 x 0.35 inches), is not a fair comparison. After all, the Wacom is a small, budget tablet that costs almost two-thirds less than the Huion. The Wacom Intuous is considerably smaller and does not have knobs. The Huion’s pen is noticeably larger and feels better in the hand than the Wacom pen. Additionally, the Huion’s pen offers a better pen-to-paper experience, as it offers slightly more resistance. Or to put it simply, it doesn’t feel quite as slippery. Again, this is not a fair comparison, as Wacom makes considerably nicer and higher-end tablets than the budget model I own.
You might find it interesting that the Wacom pen works on the Huion tablet. However, the Huion pen does not work on the Wacom tablet.
As with anyone changing from a mouse to a pen, there is an adjustment period in which I cannot get things to do what I want them to do, have difficulty with double-clicks, have challenges moving items, or mistakenly move items where I don’t want them to go. My experience with using the Huion was consistent with the Wacom. Once I began using it for a while, I got used to the new way of controlling items much quicker.
Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Tablet — Solid customer service
After the tablet was connected, I experienced a lag when typing after the computer had been on for a couple of hours, whether it was Gmail, iMessage, Facebook, or any other typing. Their customer service resolved this very quickly by offering another driver. They also quickly addressed this issue on their website, as I was being directed toward an older drive on the website. This should no longer be an issue. I mention this because with technology, sometimes there are small hiccups. They addressed this expediently, a sign of a good company.
Huion Inspiroy Dial 2 Tablet — Compatibility
This was tested on a 2017 iMac 27″ (MacOS Ventura 13.5.1, 40 G RAM, Radeon Pro 580 8 GB graphics card). As mentioned above, the tablet offers OS support for 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).
Don’t leave the pen or electronics resting on the tablet
If you leave the pen controller resting on the tablet, this may create interference with another controller such as a mouse. I also discovered that if you leave other electronic devices on the tablet, this can result in interference as well. I laid an RGB light panel on it and quickly realized that the cursor was stuck in the corner of the desktop.
