Ugee U1200 Review
For over twenty years Ugee have been developing affordable digital drawing tools. That’s nearly as long as I’ve been working in this industry, yet I’ve never had the opportunity to try one. Yes, I’ve heard of Ugee, but these days there seems to be more and more companies dipping their toes into the pen tablet pool, so many, that’s it’s difficult to keep track of who is creating what.
So, when Ugee reached out and offered to send me the U1200, their entry level pen display, I was eager to try it out.
Now this is the smaller of their drawing monitors with an active area of just under twelve inches, so not exactly tiny, but on the same level as most of today’s tablets.
The pen display I have tested that is closest to this is the Wacom One, which I reviewed a while ago now, but Ugees device is over £100 cheaper plus boasts twice the pressure levels.
So, does the lower price tag make the U1200 a less appealing option for digital artists, or can it compete with Wacom’s own entry level device?
Read on to find out…
Unboxing
The Ugee U1200 box is small and light, with the main, eye-catching artwork on the front and device details on the back.
After opening the box and removing the protective foam, you will see the tablet in all its glory, safely wrapped in plastic. Beneath this you will find a three in one cable which is used to connect the U1200 to your desktop or laptop. At one end is a USB-C connector and at the opposite end you have a HDMI and two USB type A plugs, one black and another which is red. The red version of these is used to boost the power, which brightens the display.
Also supplied is a USB extension cable which is useful if you need to plug the USB power cable into a wall socket.
What’s isn’t included in the box is a USB-C to USB-C cable, which is an alternative option if you want a tidier workspace. It is also needed if you intend on connecting the display to an Android device, which is a nice additional option, but not unique these days.
One thing to note is that any USB-C cables you currently own may not fit in the U1200. I tried a few I had lying around but they were slightly too wide for the hole. You can buy an official cable directly from Ugee, so perhaps this design choice was made to limit which cables you can use and where you buy them from.
We then have a box which contains the stylus, a smudge guard, extra pen nibs and all the manuals and warranty information.
Setup
It doesn’t take long to get up and running with the U1200. All you do is download the drivers from the Ugee website. Install them and then restart your machine.
You then plug the HDMI and USB cables into your computer and the software will detect the device.
One thing to note is to make sure you use the correct UBS-C input on the tablet, there are two, one for the three in one cable, and another for just the USB-C option.
I’m a Windows user, so my next task was to setup the tablet as a second screen. Initially I configured it to be a mirror of my main desktop, which worked well. Even though my desktop and the tablets native resolutions didn’t match, with one being 4K and the other being Full HD, the tablets screen was crips and clear.
I also tested it as a second screen, but this ended up making the applications I was using more compact, although overall performance was better this way, but more on that later.
All in all, I was up and running in a matter of minutes, and ready to start painting, sculpting or even working in 3D.
The Tablet
The design of the U1200, with its rounded corners and edges, reminds me of an Amazon Fire tablet.
At just 32 by 21 centimetres, it’s nice and compact. It’s also light and slim with four rubber feet on the back to help stop it slipping on your desk. As mentioned, there are two USB-C ports along the top, one for the three in one cable and another for a direct USB-C to USB-C connection.
Next to these you have the power button, an indicator light, and a rocker switch to control the screens brightness. There are no other buttons or keys on this tablet, which I did miss, but it’s so small and light that I could easily work with it while also having full access to my keyboard.
The front is covered with a replaceable anti-glare screen protector which reduces its reflectivity, and feels good to work on.
Even with the size of the tablet, the actual screen area is just 30 centimetres, or 11.9 inches, so you do have quite a large bevel around it. This does help when holding the device though, so your fingers aren’t covering the screen. Although this would be more of an issue if this was also a touch screen device, which it isn’t.
When on, and with the extra power USB cable connected, the full HD screen is bright, crisp, and clear. The display does dim when the power cable isn’t plugged in though, so for best results make sure it is always powered.
The screen is also colourful with 127% sRGB gamut and viewable from wider angles of around 170 degrees.
The Stylus
When I first saw the stylus, I was a little disappointed. It looked like it was going to be a cheap, plastic input device which wasn’t fun or comfortable to use. It’s a standard shape and there’s no rubber grip, so it was a little uninspiring.
It does have two buttons, which can be configured to perform almost any task, and an eraser at the opposite end which is useful for quickly removing your mistakes.
A bonus is that the pen is battery free, so you don’t need to worry about losing power halfway through your workday.
It offers 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degrees of tilt recognition so you can shade your artwork like you would when using a pencil.
After using the stylus for a while, I can confirm that it felt ok in my hand. It’s got a good weight to it and is surprisingly comfortable and responsive.
Configuration
What I like about the Ugee pen tablet software is it isn’t bloated with lots of options and settings. You get just enough to tailor your experience without having to spend hours configuring every element.
You’re given two main areas to configure with this tablet, one for the work area, and another to help you setup the pen.
With the pen, you can change the buttons, so they use a certain key or trigger a hotkey. I always like to have Alt set as an option as I use it a lot, especially when working in 3D applications.
As an additional option you can adjust the pressure curve to suite your painting style.
You can also setup the pen on a per application basis. So, as an example, you can add Photoshop and set one of the pen buttons to Space, which is used for moving the canvas.
There are global settings available too, allowing you to disable some of the features, like the pens pressure and tilt capabilities.
With the work area you can change what is shown on the U1200’s display. So, we can swap from the pen working on the main laptop display area, to it only working on the tablets screen.
The Tablet in Use
As with every device I test, I like to work on a full project to give me time to try it under proper working conditions.
With the U1200 I was pleasantly surprised with how nice it was to use. The laminated screen offers some resistance, so you get that bit of a bite with each stroke, something you don’t get with a glass screen.
When using the tablet as a second screen, although the UI was more cramped, I found it to be quick and responsive. Although the stylus offers over eight thousand levels of pressure sensitivity, I found that occasionally it wouldn’t register completely on the lighter strokes, and sometimes clicking the UI buttons didn’t always work, but these are small niggles which, over time, I got used to. Hopefully these are just driver or calibration issues.
I also tried the screen mirroring option, so the main laptop display is duplicated on the U1200. This did give me more room to work, but the performance didn’t feel as responsive.
Overall, lines were straight with no jittering or stuttering and drawing test circles and curves was equally responsive and precise.
One thing I did notice was because of the thickness of the screen there is a noticeable distance from the pen tip to the cursor, I did feel that this disconnected me in a way as I was working, but this was a minor distraction which faded over time.
As with most tablets of this type, it is also capable of connecting to an Android device. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a suitable one available to test this, but it’s a nice additional option.
Should You Invest?
I’ll admit, the thought of a screen display which was just £169 did concern me. I come from a world where a higher price often meant better quality, but I’m quickly finding that these days this isn’t the case.
I’ve reviewed a lot of tablets recently which are at the lower end of the market but been blown away by the overall quality and performance of them, and this is certainly true of the Ugee U1200.
If we compare it with the Wacom One, which is currently £259 on Amazon. For nearly a hundred pounds more, yes, you’re getting a slightly bigger screen, but also half the pressure levels. In terms of build quality and performance there isn’t much between them, so why pay more?
What I would say is that if your budget can stretch to it, I’d go the extra mile and get the extra few inches the U1600 offers. You will be getting the same device, but the screen size is boosted to 15.4 inches, rather than 11.9 inches.
It will cost an extra £90, unless you wait for a sale, but it would be worth it.
Although Ugee supplied the U1200 for me to test, the opinions offered in this review are my own.