For years, I’ve felt a familiar pang of frustration. I can sketch on paper with a certain fluidity, the pencil an extension of my hand, but translating that skill to a digital medium often felt like learning to write again with my non-dominant hand. The disconnect between moving a mouse on a desk and seeing a line appear on a vertical screen is a hurdle many aspiring digital artists, designers, and even online educators face. It’s a clumsy, unintuitive process that can stifle creativity before it even begins. The dream of seamlessly painting in Photoshop or annotating a presentation feels distant, locked behind a steep learning curve and, more often than not, an equally steep price tag. This gap isn’t just an inconvenience; it’s a barrier that can convince talented individuals that digital art simply isn’t for them, a real loss for their potential creative output.
- Designed for OSU! gameplay, drawing, painting, sketching, E-signatures etc.. No need to install drivers for OSU! Designed for both right and left hand users
- XP-PEN advanced Battery-free stylus does not require charging, allowing for constant uninterrupted Draw and Play
What to Consider Before Buying a Graphics Tablet
A graphics tablet is more than just an item; it’s a key solution for anyone looking to translate natural hand movements into digital input with precision and nuance. For artists, it unlocks the potential of pressure-sensitive brushes, allowing for varied line weights and opacities that mimic traditional tools. For educators and professionals, it transforms a static online presentation into an interactive whiteboard, making remote collaboration more engaging and effective. For gamers, particularly in rhythm games like OSU!, it offers a level of speed and accuracy that is physically impossible with a standard mouse. The main benefit is bridging that hand-eye coordination gap, making digital interaction feel intuitive and organic rather than clunky and disconnected.
The ideal customer for this type of product is someone facing the limitations of a mouse for creative or precision tasks. This includes beginner illustrators, hobbyist photo editors, students taking online notes, teachers conducting virtual classes, and OSU! players seeking a competitive edge. It’s a gateway device for those curious about digital art but unwilling to invest hundreds or thousands of pounds in professional-grade equipment. However, it might not be suitable for seasoned professional artists who require massive drawing surfaces, built-in screens for direct feedback, or extensive programmable shortcut keys. Those users might consider alternatives like a Wacom Cintiq or an iPad Pro, which offer a more integrated, albeit significantly more expensive, experience.
Before investing, consider these crucial points in detail:
- Dimensions & Space: The active drawing area is paramount. A smaller tablet like the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is incredibly portable and fits easily on a cluttered desk, making it ideal for laptop users or those with limited space. Larger tablets offer more room for sweeping arm movements, which can be better for certain art styles, but they require a dedicated, spacious workstation.
- Capacity/Performance: The key performance metric for a graphics tablet is pressure sensitivity, measured in levels. The G640 boasts 8192 levels, which is a professional-grade standard. This determines how well the tablet registers the difference between a light touch and a heavy press, translating to fine, faint lines or thick, bold strokes. Also consider the stylus type; a battery-free (passive) pen is a huge convenience, eliminating the need for charging.
- Materials & Durability: Entry-level tablets are typically made of plastic. While this keeps them lightweight and affordable, the finish can vary. Some feel solid and well-constructed, while others can feel a bit cheap, with sharp or rough edges as some users have noted. A recurring concern we found in user feedback for budget tablets is the durability of connection ports, like the Micro USB port, which can be a point of failure over time.
- Ease of Use & Maintenance: A good tablet should be close to “plug and play.” However, driver installation is almost always necessary to unlock full functionality, like pressure sensitivity and button mapping. Check for compatibility with your operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux) and your primary software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Krita, etc.). Maintenance is minimal; keep the surface clean and be mindful of the pen nibs, which wear down and need occasional replacement (most tablets, including this one, come with plenty of spares).
While the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is an excellent choice, it’s always wise to see how it stacks up against the competition. For a broader look at all the top models, we highly recommend checking out our complete, in-depth guide:
- 【Widely Application】UGEE M708 graphic drawing tablet, features 10 x 6 inch large active drawing space with papery texture surface, provides enormous and smooth drawing for your digital artwork...
- 【PASSIVE and ENVIRONMENT-FRIENDLY PEN】-- It is a battery-free stylus which adopts the most advanced passive technology, no battery and no charging required. This environment-friendly pen, allows...
- One by Wacom Medium: Graphics tablet with an active area of 8.5 x 5.3 inch (21,6 x 13,5 cm) – Perfect digital drawing pad with a variety of possibilities: whether digital sketching, photo-editing,...
Unboxing the XP-Pen Star G640: Sleek, Simple, and Ready to Create
Opening the box for the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch, the first impression is one of minimalist efficiency. The packaging is smart and well-presented, securing the contents without any unnecessary frills. Inside, you find the tablet itself, the P01 passive stylus, a generous pack of 20 replacement nibs with a nib-remover tool, a quick start guide, and the USB cable. My initial thought upon picking up the tablet was how incredibly thin and light it is—weighing a mere 170 grams, it feels more like a slim notebook than a piece of tech. The 6×4 inch active area is clearly demarcated, and the overall footprint is compact, making it an instant friend to my often-cluttered desk space.
The build is entirely plastic, which is expected at this price point. It doesn’t have the premium heft of a Wacom Intuos, and as one long-time Wacom user noted, the edges are quite sharp and lack a comfortable bevel. I can confirm this; the finish isn’t luxurious, and some edges do feel a bit rough. However, other users found the quality surprising for the price, and I tend to agree. For a device this affordable, the construction feels sturdy enough for its intended purpose. The star of the show, the battery-free stylus, feels comfortable in the hand, with a nice weight and a simple two-button setup. It’s a huge relief not having to worry about charging cables or AAA batteries, a feature that really sets it apart from older budget models.
Advantages
- Incredible value for money, making digital art accessible to everyone.
- Professional-grade 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity provide excellent control.
- The battery-free stylus is lightweight, convenient, and never needs charging.
- Extremely versatile, excelling at digital art, OSU! gaming, and office tasks.
Drawbacks
- Build quality feels basic, with some rough plastic edges.
- The Micro USB port has been reported as a potential point of failure.
In-Depth Performance Analysis: Drawing, Gaming, and Beyond
A spec sheet can only tell you so much. The true test of a graphics tablet is in the using—the feel of the pen on the surface, the responsiveness of the cursor, and the way it translates your physical actions into digital creation. We put the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch through its paces across a range of applications, from intricate line art in Adobe Photoshop to fast-paced gameplay in OSU! and mundane document signing in Microsoft Word. What we discovered was a device that consistently punches far above its weight class, though not without a few quirks that are important to understand.
The Heart of the Experience: 8192 Levels of Pressure Sensitivity in Action
The headline feature here is the 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, and I’m happy to report that it is not just marketing jargon. In creative software like Photoshop, Krita, and Corel Painter, the performance is genuinely impressive. Paired with a pressure-sensitive brush, the tablet allowed me to create wonderfully fluid and dynamic strokes. Transitioning from a hair-thin line for detailing to a thick, bold stroke for filling was seamless and intuitive. The control is fine enough for delicate shading and cross-hatching, a process that felt natural after a short adjustment period. One user shared a portrait they created within a couple of hours of unboxing, praising how perfect the pen was for shading, and our experience backs this up completely. The tablet captures nuance that is simply lost with a mouse.
However, getting this performance requires one critical step: installing the official drivers. While Windows 10 recognizes the tablet for basic cursor movement upon plugging it in, the pressure sensitivity will not work without the driver. A few users reported issues with the pen creating “blobs” or not responding to pressure correctly, and in our testing, these symptoms are classic signs of a driver conflict or a setup that hasn’t been completed. Once the driver is installed correctly from the XP-Pen website, you can fine-tune the pressure curve to your liking, making the pen feel softer or harder to respond. For its core function as a drawing tool, the G640 delivers a level of control and fluidity that is, frankly, astounding for its price. You can explore its full feature set and user reviews to see just how many artists have been impressed by its capabilities.
Build Quality & Ergonomics: A Tale of Compromise and Portability
When you’re designing a product to be this affordable, compromises are inevitable, and for the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch, most of them are found in the physical construction. As mentioned, the tablet is incredibly lightweight and thin, making it an excellent travel companion or a discrete addition to any desk. The 6×4 inch active area might seem small, but it’s a very efficient size. It maps well to most laptop screens and single-monitor setups, requiring only small, precise wrist movements rather than large arm motions, which many people prefer. The surface has a subtle texture that provides a pleasant, paper-like resistance against the pen nib, offering more tactile feedback than a glossy screen.
The compromise comes in the materials and finish. We confirmed the observation from one veteran graphic artist who noted the lack of bevelled edges makes it a bit hard on the wrist during long sessions, and that some of the plastic edges feel “like sandpaper.” While our unit wasn’t quite that rough, the edges are certainly sharp and lack the refined finish of a more expensive Wacom tablet. The most significant concern, however, is the durability of the Micro USB port. We found multiple user reports of this port becoming loose or breaking off the internal board entirely after extended use. This appears to be the tablet’s primary physical weak point. While our unit held up fine during testing, it’s something to be mindful of—we’d recommend leaving the cable plugged into the tablet whenever possible to minimize stress on the port.
Setup & Software: Navigating the Driver Hurdle for Peak Performance
The setup experience for the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is a bit of a mixed bag, and it’s where most new users will either succeed or stumble. On the one hand, basic functionality is plug-and-play on both Windows and Mac. You can connect it and immediately start using the pen to move the cursor. For tasks that don’t require pressure sensitivity, like navigating menus or playing OSU!, this is fantastic. However, for any artistic or design work, you absolutely must download and install the drivers from XP-Pen’s official website.
This is where some user frustration can creep in. We found the process straightforward, but one user aptly described the driver setup as “god awful,” even if they figured it out in the end. The key is to ensure any previous tablet drivers (especially from other brands like Wacom) are completely uninstalled before you begin. Once installed, the software panel is relatively intuitive, allowing you to map the two buttons on the pen (e.g., to right-click and pan/scroll), adjust the pressure sensitivity, and define the active area mapping. For Mac users, it’s essential to grant the driver permissions in the System Preferences under “Security & Privacy,” a step that’s easy to miss and can prevent the tablet from working correctly. Despite the potential for a bumpy start, once it’s configured, the tablet is rock-solid and integrates seamlessly with all major creative software suites we tested.
More Than an Art Tool: A Champion for OSU! Gamers and Digital Note-Takers
One of the most celebrated uses for the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is not for art at all, but for the rhythm game OSU!. The tablet is legendary within the OSU! community, and our testing quickly revealed why. The compact active area, high report rate, and absolute positioning allow for lightning-fast and precise cursor movements that are impossible to replicate with a mouse. We saw numerous user testimonials echoing this, with players reporting their accuracy jumping from the 80s to over 90% in just a few days. One user went from getting C grades on 3-star maps to S grades in two days. The best part for gamers is that no drivers are required; you just plug it in and play. The only minor complaint we found was that the thin pen could cause hand cramps after many hours of intense gameplay, but this is a common issue with any pen-style peripheral.
Beyond gaming, the tablet proves to be a surprisingly capable tool for productivity. In an era of remote work and online learning, it’s an excellent device for annotating documents, whiteboarding ideas during a web conference, or signing digital forms. We tested it in Microsoft OneNote and PowerPoint, and the ability to add handwritten notes and diagrams was fluid and simple. As one user noted, after a couple of hours of practice, they were writing full sentences and creating diagrams with ease, recommending it as “superb for online teaching.” This versatility transforms it from a niche art tool into a multi-purpose peripheral that can enhance productivity across various digital tasks, making it a popular choice for students and professionals alike.
What Other Users Are Saying
Across the board, the sentiment surrounding the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is overwhelmingly positive, particularly when viewed through the lens of its price. Many users, from beginner drawers to experienced artists looking for a portable secondary device, praise it as being intuitive and surprisingly high-quality. One reviewer, a beginner illustrating a book, found it “very easy to use” and felt the drawing experience was great. Another, who uses a professional Wacom at work, was “very impressed with it from the offset” for use with their personal laptop.
The most fervent praise often comes from the OSU! gaming community, where the tablet is hailed as a game-changer. One player stated, “This tablet is amazing, like actually amazing,” after seeing their accuracy and grades skyrocket in just two days of use. This highlights its exceptional performance for high-speed, precision applications.
However, the feedback isn’t universally glowing. The most critical and recurring negative point concerns the build quality, specifically the Micro USB port. One user called it a “HUGE FLAW,” explaining that their port had completely broken off, a sentiment echoed by several others online. This points to a significant potential durability issue. Other critiques are more minor, focusing on the “cheap” feel of the plastic and the sharp, uncomfortable edges, which stands in contrast to the more ergonomic designs of pricier competitors.
How Does the XP-Pen Star G640 Compare to the Competition?
While the Star G640 carves out a powerful niche in the ultra-budget category, it’s important to understand what you gain by spending more. The graphics tablet market offers a wide range of options, from screenless pads to full-featured pen displays. Here’s how it stacks up against some popular alternatives.
1. Wacom Cintiq 16 Drawing Tablet with Screen
- Wacom Cintiq 16: Graphics tablet with screen. Connect the digital drawing tablet with PC or laptop via 3-in-1 connector & create ideas directly on the 15.6 inch screen. Discover Cintiq by Wacom for...
- Pen included: Thanks to the included battery-free Wacom Pro Pen 2 with 8,192 pen pressure levels & 60° tilt recognition, your Wacom drawing tablet ensures maximum precision & natural feeling. 3...
The Wacom Cintiq 16 represents a major step up in both functionality and price. The fundamental difference is that it’s a pen display, meaning you draw directly onto its 16-inch Full HD screen. This eliminates the hand-eye coordination learning curve associated with screenless tablets like the G640, offering a more natural and intuitive drawing experience akin to working on paper. It’s built to a much higher standard and carries the Wacom brand’s reputation for quality and driver stability. For serious artists, illustrators, and designers for whom the G640 is a starting point, the Cintiq 16 is the logical next step for a professional workflow.
2. Wacom One M Pen Tablet Bluetooth
- Wacom One M pen tablet, compact and versatile with bluetooth and natural pen input. Perfect for creative beginners, note taking and digital signatures.
- Including Wacome One Standard Pen: battery-free EMR pen, with 4k pressure sensitivity, tilt recognition, virtually no lag and 2 programmable buttons for customization.
The Wacom One M is a more direct competitor to the G640, as it is also a screenless tablet, but it targets a more premium segment of the beginner market. Its main advantages are Wacom’s renowned Pro Pen 2 technology, superior build quality, and the inclusion of Bluetooth connectivity for a wireless setup. While its pressure sensitivity is comparable on paper, the overall drawing feel and driver reliability of a Wacom are often considered the industry benchmark. This is the choice for a beginner who values a more polished product, brand reputation, and wireless freedom, and is willing to pay a premium for those features over the raw value of the G640.
3. XP-Pen Artist13.3 Pro Drawing Tablet
- Portable Size for Going Out - A super-portable screen with a 13.3 inch display area, which is the closest size proportion to your daily-use laptop, Artist13.3 Pro can be taking anywhere easily in your...
- Ultimate Visual Experience - Seamlessly fits the glass and the screen, XP-PEN Artist13.3 Pro adopts a fully-laminated technology, to create a zero-parallax, almost without offset and easy-to-use...
Like the Wacom Cintiq, the XP-Pen Artist 13.3 Pro is a pen display, offering an integrated screen experience. It serves as a middle ground between the budget G640 and the premium Cintiq. It provides the benefit of drawing directly on the screen but at a more accessible price point than Wacom’s offering. It also includes features like a programmable shortcut dial and express keys, which the G640 lacks entirely. An artist who starts with the G640 and loves the XP-Pen ecosystem but craves the efficiency of a screen and shortcut keys would find the Artist 13.3 Pro to be the perfect upgrade.
Our Final Verdict: Is the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch Right for You?
After extensive testing and analysis, our verdict is clear: the XP-Pen Star G640 Drawing Tablet 6×4 inch is an absolutely phenomenal entry point into the world of digital creativity and precision input. It democratizes digital art by offering professional-grade features, like 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity and a battery-free pen, at a price that is almost unbelievably low. Its performance in drawing applications is smooth and responsive, its dominance in the OSU! gaming scene is well-earned, and its utility for online education and office work adds another layer of incredible value. It successfully bridges the gap between traditional and digital work for a minimal investment.
Yes, compromises have been made in the build quality, with its basic plastic construction and the notable concern around the USB port’s longevity. However, these drawbacks are vastly overshadowed by its performance and versatility. We wholeheartedly recommend this tablet to aspiring artists, students, educators, and gamers who are looking for the best possible performance without breaking the bank. If you’re ready to unlock your digital potential, you simply will not find a better value-for-money proposition on the market. Don’t hesitate to make this powerful entry-level tablet yours today and start your creative journey.
Last update on 2025-11-15 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API