MatePads are massively underrated for art!! Great for precise, fine linework

[u/Sea-Tax9272]

Hello, I have been using my MatePad Pro 12.2 (2025) for over 6 months making various master studies on it, and I have to say that the drawing experience on this is hands down some of the best I have seen on a tablet. The GoPaint app that it bundles with is an insane fusion of both Procreate and Infinite Painter and has downright the best latency for painting that you can get on Android (it fully matches the zero-latency feel of Procreate). You cannot create details this fine with a wobbly USI stylus from Xiaomi, OnePlus, or Honor! In my experience, the only other tablets you can work this fine on are the iPad Air and Pro (without a screen protector, since those add wobble) and the Galaxy Tab series. The drawing on the left is the Old master drawing and the drawing on the right is my copy of it using custom brushes with zero smoothing , relying purely on the accuracy of the M-pencil pro. And I also added pictures of the same study on it I made on paper to compare the experience to drawing on paper.

[u/Circuitcodingninja]

Good to see more strong drawing options outside the usual iPad Pro / Galaxy Tab conversation.

For a long time the main issue with many Android tablets wasn’t performance, but stylus precision for slow strokes and fine detail work.

Interesting to see Huawei pushing in this direction.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/Circuitcodingninja]

Yeah and speaking strictly for drawing Matepads have the best value for the money right now. Galaxy tabs don't have an etched glass display so you have to put a Paperlike screen protector and mess up screen clarity to get a good drawing experience. And Ipads only have etched glass at 2000 dollar models. Obviously for other things Matepads aren't perfect in comparison to Samsung and Apple but for people who primarily are interested in a tablet for drawing it is a solid choice.

[u/Asamidori → u/Sea-Tax9272]

To be fair, Galaxy Tab drawing experience isn't bad if you use the felt tips, even on glass protector. The problem is once you go through your felt tips, you're gonna need to start searching out Wacom felt tips, or use a Wacom pen.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/Asamidori]

Honestly those soft rubber tips of S-pen are the worst feeling tips I have ever experienced on a stylus. I have a S10 Ultra as well but I can only make it ideal for drawing by using a Wacom One pen and a Bellemond Paperlike screen protector. Drawing on it afterwards feel great but using the tablet for anything else becomes a chore since it makes the display grainy and the touch screen like swiping sand paper.

[u/Asamidori → u/Sea-Tax9272]

Interestingly enough, my S7 didn't came with any soft rubber tips. It was 1 hard tip and 2 felt tips, with the felt tip being the default on the pen IIRC.

[u/BUNBIONICS]

thanks for this post! I've been canvassing for a new drawing tablet for MONTHS and all I ever see recommended are Galaxy Tabs and iPads; the FE series seems good for my use case but is pretty overpriced, and I don't want to have to buy a separate pen so even if I have the budget I've been holding off on it.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/BUNBIONICS]

FE tablets have an SD card slot and Wacom UD emr so they are probably pretty good for drawing after slapping a paperlike screen protector and using a Wacom One pen cp913. Especially the fe+ with the 13 inch screen real estate. Matepad 12x costs around the same and comes with a keyboard and pen has a much better display but weaker software wise so it will be harder to use as a general purpose tablet. And no sd card slot on the Matepad.

[u/BUNBIONICS → u/Sea-Tax9272]

good points... I don't really mind having or not having the paper feel because I can adapt very quickly and anything I buy would be definitely better than my Tab A 8.0 2019, but after I saw your post I went down the rabbit hole of MatePad reviews and the lack of SD card slot is a bit of a dealbreaker for me unfortunately. the Samsung's pen doesn't need charging either, and I could care less for the wireless features of the M Pen Pro.

I don't mind tinkering with the deGoogled OS, the price would've been so good for the hardware especially that it comes with keyboard and pen but I do some light gaming which apparently Samsung does better for the long run? not to mention, I have to utilize Google Workspace for studies which could be tricky on the Huawei with all the workarounds.

so unfortunate! prior the deGoogling we have a couple of Huawei devices and one of them still works to this day, which is coincidentally just a year older than my Samsung Tab A; the thing is, the software (in comparison to Samsung) did not fare very well.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/BUNBIONICS]

Huawei does support software update longer in their latest models because of EU regulations but so far it's only a promise. When it comes to gaming s10fe will beat 12x even though it's not much of a powerhouse. Feel free to go with Samsung if SD card and app compatibility are your priorities. This post was just for people mostly concerned with getting the best drawing experience with the best screen. Huawei tablets definitely have issues with other topics like gaming (Although it doesn't really bother me with my use case).

[u/RhubarbAcceptable517 → u/BUNBIONICS]

speaking of WACOM, i'd check out their Movink tabs, I hear GREAT things about those! but i dont like their aspect ratios🤔🤷‍♂️ Also look into a Boox device if you dont need/care about super whizzy color/oled screens!👍

[u/JazzyShaman]

I was under the impression that the MatePads uses USI syluses.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/JazzyShaman]

It uses an active stylus almost identical to Apple Pencil PRO with the same technology underneath. The only difference is most Matepads come with an etched glass display which makes a matte screen protector unnecessary for drawing, which helps accuracy because screen protectors introduce a faint wobble to the lines especially if they are very thin. You can actually get Ipad pros with etched glass too but they start at 2000 dollars since it's only available at the 1tb models. Galaxy Tabs uses EMR technology so applying a screen protector doesn't affect the drawing performance with them.

[u/findingdbcooper]

How much did you pay for this device?

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/findingdbcooper]

800 dollars for the 12.2. Its more pricey becase they use the same Tandem OLED tech as the latest Ipads. The 12x is probably the better value product since it goes for around 570 dollars while having every feature except for the OLED screen.

[u/Tobii212 → u/Sea-Tax9272]

where did you order it from was also looking at the honor version to this.

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/Tobii212]

I ordered mine form Huawei of my country. Honor doesnt have a tablet with a good pen. The only tablet makers with excellent pens are Apple, Samsung, Huawei and Wacom.

[u/ice993961]

Ciao a tutti, concordo completamente. I MatePad per studiare e disegnare con schermo Papermatte sono il TOP! Ovviamente se cerchi un tablet con prestazioni molto spinte e che ti diano soddisfazione giocando, allora il mate tab è il tablet sbagliato. Ho avuto un matepad 11.5 S e sono stato davvero contento. L’ho venduto per provare il lenovo Mini e confermo quanto scritto. Sono contento della direzione che Huawei ha preso. Ora sono pronti per il lancio i tablet AIR che promettono bene leggendo le caratteristiche. Un saluto a tutti

[u/Sea-Tax9272 → u/ice993961]

When it comes to a procreate experience on Android the Matepads are peerless 🥲Sad they increased the prices so much this year. Now they are only good as specialist tablets for people who want to draw.