Not too long ago, photo editing was a task that required some heavy digital artillery. But as expectations continue to rise and humans evolve, this is quickly changing. Manufacturers are making the most of their devices.
Anyone related to the job of professional photo editing is using photoshop these days. To work on the go, you’ll need a strong device for handling the pressure of photoshop. Though some people prefer a laptop, others like to use a tablet.
Why use a tablet though? Well, first of all, it’s easy to carry around. It acts more like a miniature version of your computer allowing you to do all the things you can do with your laptop. That’s why more and more professional photoshop users are opting for a tablet to use photoshop.
But how to pick the right tablet for photoshop? Firstly, it needs to have a good display and performance unit. The battery is also important. The weight and how it feels on your hand is another thing to consider.
To ease off the pressure, we’ve brought you the best tablets for photoshop. We’ve taken our time to research and find the best tablets from all prices and sizes to meet your needs.
Before we delve deeper into the different tablet options available for purchase, you must keep in mind the display, storage capacity, and performance of the devices as they will influence your productivity and the final result of your work. Let’s begin!
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7
Released recently, the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 is one of the most powerful tablets you can find for photoshop currently. Packed with utility and at a great price, this is the only tablet you’ll need for all of your photoshop tasks!
The Galaxy Tab S7 weighs about 500 grams, so you won’t have to worry about it not being portable. The S7 has a Snapdragon 865+ chipset that runs on 8 cores along with an Adreno 650 GPU. Both of these combined make a powerful combo that will handle all sorts of photoshop tasks with ease.
The Galaxy S7 uses a fast UFS 3.0 storage and because of that navigation and file transfer is faster than ever. The S7 has up to 512GB storage and 8GB RAM. The build quality is solid too as you’ll find the body and frame to be of aluminum.
The display of the S7 is perfect for creative artists. It comes with a near bezel-less body as you’ll find the tablet has about 83.6% screen-to-body ratio. The display supports a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ color. So overall the display is as perfect as you can get in 2024.
However, the fingerprint sensor is a bit underwhelming. On top of that, battery life isn’t that great too.
But if you count the overall scenario, the Galaxy S7 tablet is the best android tablet you can find for photoshop at the moment. And there aren’t any major reasons as to why you shouldn’t go for it.
Pros
- The tablet weighs about 500 grams and is portable.
- The latest Snapdragon 865+ chipset runs on 8 cores to provide an extra boost in creative tasks.
- Up to 512GB fast UFS 3.0 storage.
- Barely noticeable bezels (83.6% screen-to-body ratio).
- Fast 120Hz refresh rate
- This HDR10+ display is the most color-accurate tablet display by Samsung.
Cons
- The fingerprint sensor is a bit underwhelming.
- Sub-par battery life.
Surface Pro X
Some people prefer windows OS for performing creative tasks and we don’t blame them. In some cases such as photoshop, the windows tablets excel a lot. This is why we recommend you took a look at the Microsoft Surface Pro X!
Made for multitasking, the Surface Pro X comes In two versions. You can pick either the 8GB or 16GB versions. The Processor and GPU vary across versions too as you can pick up either Microsoft SQ 1 with Adreno 685 GPU or Microsoft SQ 2 Adreno with 690 GPU.
The Surface pro X has removable SSD storage and you can choose from 128, 256, or 512GB versions. The fast read and write speeds of SSD are great for multi-tasking. The battery life is another thing that you won’t have to worry about a bit as you’ll get up to 15 hours of backup in full charge.
And finally, we have the display. There’s nothing new to say here really. It features a 13” Display with PixelSense technology. The pixel sense of technology enhances each pixel to portray them even more clearly. The display also features 10 point multi-touch.
However, the lack of an SD card reader and headphone socket isn’t something you’d expect from a fairly expensive tablet.
Overall, the Surface Pro X is the perfect Windows tablet for all your photoshop needs. So if you need a windows tablet then look no further than this one.
Pros
- Up to 16GB RAM.
- 2 different versions to pick from.
- Up to 512GB fast SSD storage.
- The battery provides 15 Hour Idle time and 9 hours of work time.
- The 13” Display with PixelSense technology is perfect for displaying creative tasks.
- The display supports 10 point multi-touch.
Cons
- No SD card reader.
- Lacks headphone socket.
Apple iPad Pro
Up next we have the best tablet for Photoshop. It’s a beast in itself and needs no special introductions. I’m talking about the Apple iPad Pro.
As you may know, it was released just recently. So there’s no doubt it’ll have the best available specs. The iPad Pro is equipped with an A12Z Bionic and has a 64-bit M12 coprocessor. The chip and processor were based on a desktop-class architecture with a neutral engine.
As for the display, it has a 12.9‑inch Liquid Retina display with ProMotion technology. The display also has a true tone and P3 WIde color gamut. When combined, all of these provide a lifelike visual experience to the user.
Lastly, we’ve got the storage. You’ll encounter 4 variants while choosing the iPad Pro. You can choose from 128 GB up to 1TB. The RAM is pretty high too. So no matter which storage option you pick you will always get 6GB of RAM. One other thing, on a full charge, the iPad Pro will last up to 10 hours!
As weird as it might sound, there aren’t any serious negative points to it. Yes, it’s expensive for a tablet. Other than that, it’s perfect.
The iPad Pro does an excellent job of running Photoshop. The components of this tablet are the latest. So if you’re willing to spend that much, there’s no doubt that you should pick this.
Pros
- The 12.9‑inch Liquid Retina display provides lifelike visuals.
- The display has a unique feature called ProMotion technology. It captures motion and doesn’t blur.
- Features such as True Tone and P3 Wide color gamut provide accurate visuals.
- The A12Z Bionic chip is the best in the A12 series.
- Decent 10-hour battery life.
- Pick SSD storage options from 128GB up to 1TB.
- Superfast 6GB ram.
Cons
- Too expensive.
Wacom One (2020)
Regarded as one of the best drawing tablets of 2024, the Wacom one is neither fancy nor too simple. It provides that perfect balance of having a lot of features but still being a reasonably priced tablet.
The Wacom One is a 13” inch tablet. It comes with an active working area of 11.6 x 6.5”. The display has an aspect ratio of 16:9 and a superb 8-bit color depth. The pen has a 4096 level pressure sensitivity thus we were able to record smooth touch-ups. The display is color accurate too.
The pen included with the Wacom one has natural tilt support of 60 degrees. So now you can draw those edges without much of a problem. The response time as we mentioned was super fast. We recorded the response time to be as low as 26ms. The color gamut also had decent coverage of 72% on NTSC (CIE1931).
The pen that comes with the Wacom one is battery-free. You won’t have to worry about charging it. It also has natural tilt support of 60 degrees. Finally, it has a pressure sensitivity of up to 4096 levels. However, it lacks multi-touch support.
However, no multitouch support is a letdown.
Overall, the Wacom one is the best drawing tablet for photoshop. And it also comes within a reasonable price. So go and pick it up as fast as you can!
Pros
- 26 ms fast screen response time.
- A standard color gamut coverage of 72% on NTSC
- The 11.6 x 6.5” active area is decent enough for most creative tasks.
- The included pen has natural tilt support of 60 degrees.
- Battery-free pen.
- Each touch feels smooth thanks to 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity.
Cons
- No multi-touch support.
Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 Lite
Let’s kick the list off with the latest release from Samsung. It’s called the Samsung Galaxy Tab S6 lite. It’s the budget option tablet for running photoshop. We’ll be honest with you here, it runs photoshop quite well.
The Galaxy S6 Lite runs on a 10NM Exynos 9611 chipset. It has an octa-core processor with a Mali-G72 MP3 GPU. Though the GPU and CPU itself is pretty strong and fast, it’s further enhanced by the 4GB RAM.
Up next is the display. The Galaxy S6 lite comes with a Full HD 10.4-inch display. The LCD provides lifelike visuals to its users. It also features corner-to-corner views. Finally, the body features a Slim Metal Design which is comfortable and looks good on hand.
As for the rest of the features, you’ll get to choose from either 64GB or 128GB storage. The storage however can be expanded up to 1TB. It also has a much-requested 3.5mm headphone jack. To finish it all off, you’ll get a 13-hour battery backup on a full charge.
The only real issue we have against this tablet is that the face recognition isn’t up to the mark with some of the flagship tablets. Other than that, everything’s fine.
Overall, the Galaxy Tab S6 is a budget option tab that can run photoshop well. So if you’re looking for something a bit cheaper, this is the one to go for.
Pros
- The 10.4″ display provides excellent HD visuals.
- It runs on a strong 10NM Exynos 9611 chipset.
- The galaxy S6 lite has a Powerful Octa-core processor and Mali-G72 MP3 GPU.
- The storage is expandable up to 1TB.
- The battery backup lasts 13 hours.
- The slim metal design looks and feels good.
- 3.5mm headphone jack port and fast charging included.
Cons
- Facial recognition isn’t up to the mark.
Microsoft Surface Go
The Surface Go is a low-cost detachable tablet from Microsoft. Though it’s pretty small in size, it packs the power of a budget PC. Let’s take a look at what it has on the inside.
As we’ve mentioned, the Surface Go is a budget PC component packed inside a tablet. It has an Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y. It also has Intel HD Graphics 615 as a GPU and either 4GB or 8GB RAM depending on the version you choose.
The display is perhaps the best part of the Surface Go. It’s a 10” PixelSense screen with a max resolution of 1800 x 1200. We like the 10 points multi-touch feature. Finally, the display is a Corning Gorilla Glass 3, so even if it falls from your hand you can rest assured it won’t get damaged.
Now onto the other things. As the Surface Go can also be used as a laptop, it has some cool features of a laptop. For example, the storage is either 64 or 128 GB SSD. It means you’ll get pretty fast writing speed. The design is simple but looks good. It has a battery life of up to 9 hours. Though that’s average, it’ll do just well.
However, it doesn’t feel as powerful as an iPad. Besides that, the screen could’ve been a bit more sharper.
Overall, the Microsoft Surface Go Could be a decent choice for running photoshop. As it can function as both laptop and tablet, you’ll get the value of two, in one.
Pros
- Simplistic but beautiful design.
- A powerful Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y.
- Up to 8GB RAM.
- The 10” PixelSense display provides stunning visuals.
- The Corning Gorilla Glass 3 provides safety to the display.
- SSD storage up to 128 GB.
- Up to 9 hours of battery backup on a full charge.
Cons
- Not as powerful as an iPad.
- The screen can be a bit dull.
XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro
This next tablet is XP-Pen Artist 12 Pro. It’s specifically aimed at artists. It can also act as a budget option if you’re an artist and a Photoshop user.
As we’ve mentioned already, it’s a drawing tablet. So it isn’t like a normal tablet. Let’s begin with the display. It’s an 11.6-inch display that has an active area of 10 x 5.7 inches. The display provides a sharp viewing angle of 178 degrees. To top it all off, the display can hold up to 16.5 million colors at once!
In terms of performance, the XP-Pen artist is rivaled by none. It has a super-fast response time of 14 ms. The color gamut coverage is 72% on NTSC. It also has 8 customizable keys, you can program them to function as you want.
As for the stylus that comes with it, it’s battery-free. So there’s no hassle of charging it. But the only problem is as it’s a drawing tablet, it’ll need a computer to run
Overall, the XP-Pen artist 12 Pro was designed for artists. So unless you’re an artist who uses Photoshop, we don’t recommend it. But if you are an artist, there isn’t a better tablet than this for you.
Pros
- 11.6-inch display that has an active area of 10 x 5.7 inches
- Provides a sharp viewing angle up to 178 degrees.
- The screen responds at 14 ms which is very fast.
- The display houses up to 16.5 million colors
- The stylus runs without a battery.
- Perfect tablet for artists
Cons
- Not designed for normal users.
- It needs a computer to run.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7
Now we’ll discuss the powerhouse options. We’ll begin with the Microsoft Surface Pro 7. The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is the latest tablet from Microsoft. It is currently one of the best tablets.
Let’s begin with the performance section. The Surface Pro 7 has a Quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 Processor. The storage is SSD so you won’t have to worry about it lagging out. Also, you can choose from 4GB up to 16GB LPDDR4x RAM.
As for the display, it’s pretty big and immersive. The Surface Pro 7 comes with a pixel sense display that capitalizes on providing clear pixels. The 12.3-inch display has a max resolution of 2736 x 1824. It also features a 10-point multi-touch.
Surface Pro 7 has pretty good battery life. At 10.5 hours of backup, you’ll go through the day easily. It also has an Intel Iris Plus GPU. The GPU in particular is good for photoshop as it boosts up the visuals.
The only issue we have with this tablet is that it’s pricey. On top of that, there aren’t any thunderbolt 3 ports.
The Microsoft Surface Pro 7 has the best specs currently. So there isn’t any doubt if it can run Photoshop. If you can spend this much on a tablet, then you should go for it.
Pros
- Superfast Quad-core 10th Gen core-i7 processor
- Up to 16GB of fast LPDDR4X RAM.
- The SSD storage provides fast writing speed.
- Multi-touch enabled.
- 10.5 hours of battery backup lasts throughout the day.
- Intel Iris Plus GPU does an excellent job of rendering graphics.
Cons
- Expensive.
- No Thunderbolt 3 port.
Wacom Intuos Pro Digital Tablet
And finally, we have the Wacom Intuos pro. The finest tablet produced by Wacom, there aren’t many tablets that are as great as Wacom Intuos Pro.
The Wacom Intuos Pro has an active area of 12.1” x 8.4”. This decent-sized active area is coupled with 8192 levels of pen sensitivity. The display didn’t have any bleeding edges and we were satisfied with the way touches were being received.
One of the most requested things by creative artists is express keys. They save you time and energy. Which is why you’ll find 8 express keys that are freely customizable. This tablet also supports Bluetooth connectivity so you won’t have to worry about cords clogging up.
The Pen included with the Intuos pro is battery-free. It also has a pretty high-pressure sensitivity level of 8192. The high-pressure sensitivity makes each art come alive even better. The Wacom Intuos Pro has a few versions and variations that you can choose from. So depending on your needs you can pick the one that suits you the best.
Our only complaint is that the battery life is a bit disappointing. Other than that everything’s perfect.
Overall, the Wacom Intuos Pro is one of the best Drawing tablets for photoshop. So if it matches your budget then go for it!
Pros
- A big active area of 12.1” x 8.4”.
- Perfect display with no bleeding edges.
- The pen has 8192 levels of sensitivity so each touch feels super smooth.
- 8 freely customizable express keys.
- The pen has inbuilt tilt support and is battery-free hence it doesn’t need to be charged
- Supports Bluetooth connectivity.
- Available in different versions and variations.
Cons
- Poor battery life.
Final Thoughts
Picking the right tablet for photoshop could be very tough. Photoshop needs really good specs to run smoothly. Only a few tablets can run Photoshop properly.
If you’re willing to invest in a tablet, we suggest you either get the iPad Pro or Surface Pro 7. But if you want value for money, then the S6 Lite is by far the best. But remember one thing, no matter which one you choose it’ll be great for you!