Ever heard of Gaomon tablets? I was curious and tried one out.
No hours of fiddling with drivers. Simply plug it in and start drawing: The Gaomon Pro 19 promises a 4K drawing experience without the typical moments of frustration.
If you work with display tablets, you know the drill: install drivers, restart, sort out the tangle of cables, and hope the notebook recognizes the screen resolution on the first try. That makes my test device from Gaomon all the more refreshing. The brand was previously unknown to me. Now, I am enjoying their uncomplicated products. But that alone is not enough for me to rate it as a good tablet.
Note: Gaomon products are not available in the shop.
Matte display and comfortable ergonomics
When I take the Gaomon Pro 19 out of the packaging, I immediately notice how light it feels. With a display size of 18.4 inches and the attached stand, it weighs only 2.3 kilograms. The competing model from XPPen weighs that much even without a stand.
The manufacturer uses an LCD in 16:9 format with a resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels. Gaomon coats it with matte anti-reflective glass. This absorbs reflections very well, giving me a clear view. Thanks to the very fine structure on the glass, I have enough grip when drawing while the pen still glides pleasantly over the surface.
The brightness is 220 nits. That is not particularly bright. However, it is sufficient for indoor spaces, and the device is not intended for outdoor use anyway. Gaomon also specifies the color volume of the tablet. This is the total amount of colors that the Pro 19 can display (in percent). The following values show that you are in very good hands for both photo and video work if you need to work in a color-critical environment:
- 99% sRGB (internet standard)
- 96% Adobe RGB (photo printing)
- 98% DCI-P3 (movies and videos)
Hardware, stylus, and plenty of accessories
The fact that a stand is already attached to the tablet makes setting up the Gaomon Pro 19 particularly easy. I can work with it at an angle of 20 to 80 degrees. In addition, the manufacturer provides the following accessories:
- G-Pro Stylus
- Pen holder with integrated replacement nibs
- 10 standard nibs
- 10 felt nibs
- Pen holder for the tablet
- Power adapter (EU plug)
- HDMI cable
- USB-C to USB-A cable
- Microfiber cleaning cloth
- Glove
On the back, I connect the tablet to power. Here, I have to rely on my emergency supply of Swiss adapters because Gaomon only includes an EU plug. For connection to a second device, either HDMI or USB-C is available. For the latter, Gaomon includes a USB-C to A cable, but a USB-C to C cable is missing. I need that, however, if I want only a single cable between the laptop and the tablet. With C to A, it does not work on modern laptops without HDMI/USB-A without an adapter.
With my own USB-C cable, I quickly solved the problem and am happy: never before has a graphics tablet connected to my hardware so easily and worked immediately. To ensure the stylus is recognized correctly, however, I still need the appropriate software.
Software and installation work super easily
I can use the graphics tablet with Windows, Mac, Linux, and Android. If I install the driver, I only have a few setting options. But that also leads to fewer problems, and I can start quickly. I only define the workspace that should be mirrored on the graphics tablet.
For the stylus, I define what action happens when pressing the two buttons. I can also restrict the actions to individual applications. For example, I set it so that in Clip Studio Paint, one button switches directly to the eraser and the other back to a brush.
The option for screen calibration, however, has room for improvement. The instructions on what I have to do during calibration are displayed in white text – on a white background. It took me a frustratingly long moment to figure that out and decipher it.
Painting is fun, but could be a bit faster
In my test, I use the program Clip Studio Paint for drawing. Gaomon supports the software. Therefore, I can also adapt the programmable shortcuts for the stylus directly to Clip Studio Paint.
What I do miss, however, are further options for shortcuts. Since the graphics tablet does not support touch functionality and does not provide any additional buttons, I have to enter everything with the pen or via the keyboard of my laptop. Zooming, moving things, and undoing work steps takes a bit longer than necessary. Competitors like XPPen and Huion offer a practical shortcut keyboard in the scope of delivery of Pro models. With Gaomon, I don't even get one separately.
Drawing itself runs smoothly. The stylus recognizes over 16,000 pressure levels – and I notice that. The tablet recognizes my line work precisely, so I can draw very thin or very thick lines with little effort. When sketching, I love to tilt the pen a bit and thus hatch the image. I also find it pleasant that I have two types of nibs available. I especially like the felt-like variant when coloring. The harder pen tip fits well for details and outlines.
Only when coloring larger areas do I notice a latency of the pen. However, I have also noticed this problem with other professional tablets, and even there, I did not find out where the problem lies. Overall, however, that hardly bothers me.
In a nutshell
Gaomon is straightforward, but I'm missing a few things
Pro
- sharp 4K LCD with excellent color coverage
- pleasantly matte anti-reflective glass
- effortless plug-and-play setup
- Stand (20 to 80 degrees) included and already assembled
- precise stylus including two types of replacement nibs
Contra
- no USB-C to C cable included
- no touch function
- no shortcut keyboard or buttons
- only EU plug included (no CH)
Ever since I learned how to hold a pen, I've been doodling away in bright colours. Thanks to my iPad, digital art has also become part of my life. That's why I love testing tablets – from the graphic design range to the regular kind. When I feel the urge to express my creativity without lugging lots of equipment, I go for the latest smartphones and start snapping away.
