XPPen’s new Magic Pro 13 is an Android drawing tablet that turns into a pen display

The XPPen Magic Pro 13 is an Android 16 tablet going on sale today at an early-bird price of $899 / £899, with digital art-focused specs that compete with both Wacom and iPad.

The original XPPen Magic Drawing Pad opened my eyes and made me question whether an iPad really was the only sensible choice for mobile digital art. It had a drawing-focused screen and a stylus built for artists, without the glossy glass that makes an iPad feel like sketching on a glass table. I use an iPad Pro but a Rock Paper Pencil screen protector to get that toothy drawing-tablet feel.

Since XPPen's first Android tablet, Wacom has launched the high-spec OLED MovinkPad Pro 14, and Huion has gone for a budget spec with the Kamvas Pad 12. But the new XPPen Magic Pro 13 sits at the higher end, alongside Wacom and Apple. I've been using the Magic Pro 13 for about three weeks, and it's an impressive tablet for artists looking for a strong iPad alternative.

XPPen Magic Pro 13 Drawing Display Mode: use it as a pen display

The big idea is Drawing Display Mode: you can connect the Magic Pro 13 to a compatible PC with a single full-featured USB-C cable, and it becomes a pen display running at up to 3K at 120Hz. The stylus keeps its 16K pressure levels, tilt detection, hover preview and customisable barrel buttons, and XPPen promises ultra-low-latency input.

XPPen's pitch is that it makes this connectivity easier. In practice, that means you can sketch on the sofa or the train in your favourite Android apps, then plug in at your desk to keep going and use the tablet like a standard drawing tablet. It could save you buying a standalone tablet and a separate pen display.

XPPen’s Brian Huang, Marketing Director, says the Magic Pro 13 is “an industry-first 2-in-1 device” that works as a standalone drawing pad and a professional drawing display. “Artists need creative tools that can adapt to the way they work, wherever they create,” he adds.

Wacom's MovinkPad Pro 14 can do something similar, but it's not as simple as plug-and-play; you need to enable Developer Mode and USB Debugging in the Android settings (though it also offers WiFi connectivity).

Magic Pro 13 screen and X4 stylus: 3K, 120Hz and 16K pressure

The Magic Pro 13's sleek, tactile 3K display lets you choose 60Hz, 90Hz, or 120Hz, and its nano-etched AG+AF glass feels papery and more natural than drawing on an iPad. The display offers a bright 650 nits peak brightness, higher than the iPad and iPad Air but below the OLEDs of the MovinkPad Pro 14 and iPad Pro, plus 100% sRGB and 96% DCI-P3 coverage, with system-level switching between sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3. There’s also TÜV SÜD Low Blue Light certification.

The new X4 Smart Chip Stylus has a bullet-shaped nib, 16K pressure levels, 60-degree tilt and a claimed 2g activation force. In use, I've found the low threshold helps with light marks and delicate shading and is a huge step up from the original Magic Drawing Pad. Slow diagonals and gradual line-weight changes tell me more than the pressure count alone, especially against Wacom’s Pro Pen 3 and Huion’s PenTech 4.0, and the XPPen feels good (my full review is coming).

Magic Pro 13 design, battery and software

The Magic Pro 13 is 6.65mm thick and weighs 655g, with a 10,200mAh battery and 45W PD fast charging on both USB-C ports. It has an 8MP front camera and a 13MP rear camera for capturing references and textures on the go.

XPPen has added its own software, a must and a sign the brand is finally catching up with Wacom in software and driver support. The Shelf app lets you tag, annotate, and search reference images, and Canvas lets you make quick sketches. You also get Quick Draw with Screen Off, Freeform Windowing and Screenshot Doodle.

XPPen Magic Pro 13 price: is it worth $899?

That’s a lot for an Android drawing tablet, and Huion’s Kamvas Pad 12 is the cheaper option at $499, but it has a less powerful processor and a lower-spec display. With XPPen's new Magic Pro 13, you’re paying for the higher-end tech you expect from Wacom and Apple: a high-refresh 3K screen, 120Hz, the MediaTek Dimensity 8300 processor to handle 3D as well as standard apps, and an easy-to-use PC drawing mode. Whether the pen and the desktop connection justify the money is something I explore further in my full review.

You can find the Magic Pro 13 on XPPen’s website.

Ian Dean is Editor, Digital Arts & 3D at Creative Bloq, and the former editor of many leading magazines. These titles included ImagineFX, 3D World and video game titles Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Ian launched Xbox magazine X360 and edited PlayStation World. For Creative Bloq, Ian combines his experiences to bring the latest news on digital art, VFX and video games and tech, and in his spare time he doodles in Procreate, ArtRage, and Rebelle while finding time to play Xbox and PS5.