GAOMON Drawing Tablet [Unboxing + Review]
IT'S HERE!! My GAOMON M10K!!! [2018 Version]
Coming in a sleek white box with a satin finish, thick, sturdy, and with smoothly jointed corners.
Topped with clean, gold hot-stamped logos & product information.
The back of the box highlights the main features of this tablet which includes battery-free stylus that comes with the kit.
The top of the box lifts off to the tablet sealed nicely in a non-crinkle bag (points for this!! As I personally find normal plastic wrappers quite cheap for packaging tech.)
Another shot of the box opened up. SO MANY POINTS FOR THE TRANSLUCENT WRAPPING.
The top of the box has a spongey, padded interior as well.
Slides out smoothly, and drawing surface is smooth and matte.
Accessories are packed neatly in a sunken container within the box, and I looked for the micro USB cable only to be pleasantly surprised by it being slot nicely in a side tab.
Thoughtful packaging so far. Perfect for repacking when we travel!
Accessories come packaged neatly with manuals and warranty cards organised nicely. Along with a pouch for the tablet.
Pictured: Micro USB, Thank You Note, Manual, Driver Instructions, Drawing Glove, Spare Nibs in Felt Case, Pen in Felt Case.
The spare nibs come in a nifty pouch with a nib remover if you really wear out your current nibs. The pen comes with a loop at the end and I am not sure what this is for but I would have enjoyed a cap like some of the previous models.
The pen slips into the tablet but its not the best holder and almost slides right till the top of the pen. Would still use it in the pouch and pack it together with the tablet.
A good grip on the tablet which wasn’t too slippery for me although I would have preferred just a little more grip on the surface in the next models.
It was fully plastic, and a nice rubber grip would have added that extra touch. Not otherwise uncomfortable to hold though.
Also, TWO BUTTONS on this one. (Driver programming further down)
Still unsure what the loop at the top is for (have sent them a message about this and will update.)
From the front! There are four corner markers for the tablet to mark the end of your display screens. Perfect for me because I draw on/near the edges quite a lot.
10 tactile keys available for shortcut setup (BLESS) with a function switch surrounded by an ipod-esque touch ring.
The function switch toggles the touch ring between Canvas Zooming, Brush Size Adjustment, and Page Scrolling.
NOTE: The old rings used to malfunction and reverse direction on either side. Happy to see they’ve fixed this!
Four lovely anti slip pads on the back gave a superb grip to the table even when I nudged it.
EASY TO INSTALL GAOMON DRIVER
To install the relevant drivers, I head to https://www.gaomon.net/download/ and could filter via the ‘model’ of my tablet, whether I needed the Driver or the Manual, and whether it was for a Mac or Windows system.
I had to go into my security and privacy to allow the driver to open.
VOILA! You will see “Device Connected” on the bottom left of the driver if you’re plugged in.
One of the first hotkeys I programmed was the one to copy and flatten current layers. A life saver.
No more finger acrobatics!!
Toggling the pressure for the pen, and also setting the two buttons (tactile) was a breeze.
Good pressure detection but not so sure if this one has tilt sensitivity like the previous model.
NITTY GRITTY SPECS
CONCLUSION
The GAOMON M10K 2018 is a pretty decent tablet at an EXTREMELY reasonable price range.
Coming in as a Wacom user (Bamboo + Folio + Slate) previously, I will be giving GAOMON a solid shot as my tablet for 2019.
For more experienced digital artists, the lack of tilt-sensitivity might be a deterring factor but for beginner, mid-level entries, the improved driver, tactile shortcut buttons, and scroll wheel has added a new convenience to my work.
Great for me to dive back into creative work, but not prohibitively expensive for me to take my first few steps!