Whether you’re starting out or upgrading, your tablet serves an integral role in your process. So let’s discuss how the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) can offer an advantage for your art and design.

Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) Technical Specifications

Within the Kamvas Pro line, the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) offers a variety of visual and clarity improvements. Versus the prior HD version of the Kamvas Pro 16, there’s now a diagonal screen size of 15.8" while still sporting a similar low weight of 1.28 kilograms (~2.8 pounds).

However, when you look at the upgraded QHD resolution of 2560 x 1440 (16:9), you can get a feel for the visual upgrades at work. Still, you might wonder why not just opt for a 4K display. Instead, Huion struck a balance with a more budget-friendly upgrade relative to the pen display’s size.

There’s now support for 186 PPI (pixels per inch) and 145% sRGB. As per color depth, it’s a familiar 16.7 million with a 1200:1 contrast rate. All of these come together to produce a detailed, vibrant display of your artwork, so you can render the detail you’re after.

Plus, with an active work area of 349.6 x 196.7 mm (~13.76 x 7.74 inches), there’s plenty of space for your pen. So between the display quality and a sizable work area, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) delivers on the essentials. Plus, to keep everything visible, there’s also a max brightness of 220 nits.

Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) Cord Connectivity Options

While you want a drawing tablet to accurately display, cabling provides its own unique challenges. With the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K), there are two options to pair with.

For set-ups without a USB-C port, there’s a streamlined 3-to-2 cable in which the end has an HDMI, USB-A, and a red USB-A for powering the tablet. Meanwhile, the other end has two USB-C connectors that plug directly into the tablet. When plugging into the table with this cable, make sure the Huion logo side is up.

The 3-to-2 cable reduces clutter on the tablet side; there’s still a cable split to deal with when going to the likes of a laptop. If you have a USB-C port that supports video output, it’s much easier to use the included USB-C to USB-C cable. With the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K), the secondary USB power cable didn’t need to be plugged in even for max brightness.

While powering the tablet via a laptop for short drawing periods wasn’t an issue, it does quickly deplete your device’s battery life. If you do opt to use the USB power cable, the base length of it is incredibly short. So unless you’re setting up the tablet right next to a wall outlet, you’ll need to attach the included USB extension cable.

When setting up, you’ll want to make sure you’ve installed the latest Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) drivers. With the Windows variant, you’ll only need to be mindful of potential antivirus interference or your drawing software being closed before installation. However, if installing for macOS you’ll need to follow the HuionTablet prompts on-screen to allow for appropriate permissions for the drawing tablet.

Choose Your Angle with the Huion ST200 Stand

With the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K), Huion has included its ST200 adjustable stand. Rather than use one sliding piece to prop the entire display stand, this works out differently. To shift between its six different allowed angles, you can unfold the metal display front in two different ways.

While there are six angles in theory, the differences may appear minute unless you need to work at a very specific height. Regardless of position, the fold-out metal lip at the front perfectly fits the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K), so you don’t have to worry about any potential shifting of the tablet with its rubber grip. If you prefer working flat, you can also utilize the rubber feet at the back of the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K).

Pen Options for the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K)

To help foster a more true-to-life drawing experience, Huion has provided a few benefits via the included PW517 battery-free pen. This is true in large part to the Huion PenTech 3.0 technology that brings more stability and sensitivity to the tip. In terms of accessories for this, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) comes with a pen storage container with five standard nibs and five felt nibs.

For fans of the standard tablet feel, the plastic nibs deliver very smooth contact strokes. However, if you decide to experiment with the exclusively compatible felt nibs, there’s a definitely more textured feel to every stroke. Thanks to the bit of friction implemented by them, there’s a more naturalistic feel to the entire working process.

If you’ve worked with felt-tip markers, there’s a similar tactile feel here as if you were working on paper.

When it comes to managing your stylus to your use case, I found the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) pen pressure defaults to be very spot-on without any adjustments. However, for testing, I kept the Huion tablet settings hot-keyed for quick access. If you do feel anything off and need to do a quick line test adjustment, Huion has made it easy to tweak the pressure settings and then do some sample lines to compare.

Tweaking Your Settings with the On-Screen Display

Rather than toggle with your on-screen display presets via a series of buttons, Huion has made it much simpler. By holding the power button for a few seconds, you’ll bring up this display menu. From here, you’re free to navigate the four menu categories with your pen.

The first screen allows you to choose between a standard selection of presets or set user levels for brightness, contrast, and saturation. Meanwhile, the next screen allows you to pick between a few color temperature presets or customize them specifically. Then on the next screen over, you can swap between native, sRGB, or AdobeRGB color modes.

The final selection allows you to select your cable connection and make screen sizing ratio adjustments. Overall, it’s a good way to make a few quick adjustments. Just don’t forget you’re not dealing with a touch display here.

Using the Shortcut Keys on the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K)

For shortcuts, the PW517 pen features two customizable buttons. However, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) also provides an additional eight press keys for your customization. With both shortcut key sets, Huion has provided many of the typical presets; the customization is quite extensive from there.

There’s the standard option to map key combinations, mouse clicks, and run programs. But you can also swap between displays, system applications, audio controls, and pan/scroll settings. If you choose to use precision mode, you can slow your cursor to allow for more precise strokes.

In terms of responsiveness, the stylus needed to be close to the screen and register as active for the shortcut buttons to take effect. With that detail in mind, they’re otherwise a very tactile set of keys. If you’re looking to break away from software shortcuts, it’s a worthy alternative.

Drawing with Photoshop on the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K)

When first using Photoshop 2022, a glitch occurred where pressure wasn’t detected by the pen at all. However, Adobe has already released a workaround for these cases. To fix this, create a file titled PSUserConfig.txt with the following text:

Use WinTab

UseSystemStylus 0

Afterward, save that file to C:\Users[Username]\AppData\Roaming\Adobe\Adobe Photoshop 2022\Adobe Photoshop 2022 Settings. Once you restart Photoshop, you should be able to utilize the pen without issue. If you experience any other issues, checking your memory usage under Photoshop’s Performance settings is a good starting area.

Minus the initial issue on Adobe’s side, actually drawing in Photoshop was incredibly seamless. While you may still need to adjust some settings like smoothness, you’ll find it performs perfectly well alongside all of Photoshop’s assets. There’s great tapering with the pen; you can swap between light-handed and a heavier-handed approach quite easily.

If you’re after a more realistic drawing experience, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) delivers. The feedback between the tablet surface and the pen offers good mimicry of actual paper. So if you’re satisfied with your nib feel, you can just focus on drawing versus making the digital method work for you.

Working with FireAlpaca on the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K)

While Huion doesn’t specifically offer free drawing software, there are several to test out. Rather than stick solely with Photoshop, I opted to try using FireAlpaca for its more limited brush set and more specialized texture ones. For coloring in an illustration, I wanted to check for things like cursor tracking accuracy.

With this said, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) features full lamination to integrate the anti-glare glass and screen. Since there’s no air gap between the glass and LCD screen, it’s also meant to remove parallax. While using the pen, I didn’t notice any issues with the cursor following along.

If there were any inaccuracies, it was by such a small percentage that there weren’t any major issues. As long as you properly calibrate beforehand, even working with more simplistic drawing software should allow for excellent control. With the addition of the felt nib tip, the added pressure further aided this.

Should You Buy the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K)?

If you’re after an affordable yet power upgrade from the previous generation Kamvas Pro 16, the resolution upgrade and other small improvements make for an enticing graphics tablet. Besides some minor inconveniences in set-up, Huion’s Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) provides a well-rounded graphics drawing tablet package. If the resolution is the only thing stopping you, Huion’s Pro lineup includes a 4K variant as well.

For the budget-minded, the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) costs just shy of $600. If you’re willing to scale down, Huion has also released a 13-inch variant with the Kamvas Pro 13 (2.5K) at around $400. While it’s slightly smaller screen size, you can still take advantage of the same strong colors and 2.5K resolution.

If you want a drawing tablet experience where all the essential accessories are there in the box, the Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) provides a lot of value there. With the inclusion of Huion’s latest pen tech and the two nib variants, you can further get the feel you’re seeking. But overall the Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K) offers a good mid-sized display with solid visuals and colors for anyone looking to change up their digital drawing experience.