by Veikk VK1560 Pro: Basic Specifications
Display area: 15.6 inches
Analysis: 1920×1080
Pen without batteries
Pressure Sensitivity: 8192
Analysis: 5080LPI
Reading speed: 250 points/sec
Reading distance: 10 millimeters
Shine: 250 nits
Color range: 92% Adobe RGB
178° wide viewing angle
Pen tilt 60°
The Veikk VK1560 Pro Screen Tablet is an updated version of The Veikk VK1560 Screen Tablet. At $269.99, it’s at the more affordable end of the market, putting it up against brands like Huion and the XP-Pen (opens in new tab) rather than Wacom/Cintiq heavy hitters.
I put it through its paces in Clip Studio Paint, where it performed responsively and showed good pressure sensitivity, especially for its price range. Looking for a drawing tablet on a budget? Check out our roundup of the best Huion tablets (opens in new tab) here.
Packing
The first thing you notice about the Veikk VK1560 Pro drawing tablet is the branding on the box — specifically, the complete lack of it. It comes in an anonymous brown box with a generic plastic carrying handle. This is, most likely, to keep the cost of the tablet down, a recurring theme in the Veikk VK1560 Pro. luckily they haven’t skimped on the inner lining, which means everything arrived in good condition.
Everything in the box is laid out in a fairly understandable way, although unfortunately the extra nibs and replacement nib are stored in a non-resealable plastic bag, making them easily spilled and lost. I didn’t seem to have a manual, although it was easily accessible on their website, so that wasn’t much of a problem. One small problem that could arise from the lack of a manual is that anyone waiting to plug and play will get a little confused by all the cables. The Veikk VK1560 Pro connects to your computer twice, once with an HDMI cable and once with a USB cable.
One of my main initial quibbles out of the box is that the mount arrived without half the screws in (and the screws were rattling around the bottom of the box) and only worked at maximum and minimum angles. After taking it apart and putting it back together properly, it worked well and was a good, strong stand. My main confusion is how it got through quality control.
Design and manufacture
The Veikk VK1560 Pro is a very attractive tablet, with a screen that’s pleasing to the design and plenty of buttons for the typical shortcut user, with a number of standard Photoshop shortcuts pre-loaded. My favorite design element is the dial, which by default controls the size of the brush, but can be programmed to perform other actions. It’s a relatively thin build, about the same depth as a laptop, and seems sturdy enough to carry in a laptop bag (as long as the removable pen clip is removed before traveling – it’s pretty flimsy and with any real pressure it’ll probably come off thankfully , two are provided).
The screen is also much better suited for drawing than reading. It’s not the highest resolution and the text can look fuzzy, though not unreadable.
Fund
One of the standout features for the Veikk VK1560 Pro is the fact that they provide two styluses, meaning those prone to losing things, especially with messy workspaces – e.g. me – they’ll at least have a second pen to fall back on when the first is inevitably lost. Another thing that helps me keep my pen is the placement of a pen holder, with a slot on the side of the tablet, which is a very natural place to store it. It’s a little loose, but as long as the pen is nib up, it’s not going to fall out. Nib-wise, 30 spare nibs are provided, along with a nib replacement device, but with nowhere to store them, they’re easily lost. The previous version of this tablet, the Veikk VK1560, had a rigid pen case that also had slots for nib storage. it is not clear why they removed the case from this edition.
The pens themselves are very light and easy to hold, with two side buttons, set by default to pen/erase and right click. It’s quick and simple to make changes to the pen setting, although one quirk of the Veikk taskbar icon is the need to right-click and open it manually, rather than a quick left-click.
Painting experience
Once the Veikk VK1560 Pro drivers are installed, it is a pleasure to use. Pressure sensitivity is great and the screen texture has a comfortable bite without adding uncomfortable resistance. It’s responsive, with no lag dragging behind the pen during drawing.
Unfortunately, although there is no lag, the Veikk VK1560 Pro suffers from some parallax issues. Although it is not distracting and is relatively small depending on the angle it can be distracting. While running the tablet through the pen formatter helps, it doesn’t go away completely and is worse on the edges.
Price
The Veikk VK1560 Pro display is very affordable at $269.99/£269.99, especially when contrasted with other 16in HD tablets with similar specs. the Huion Kamvas 16 is $419 / £279, the XP-Pen Artist 16 is $399.99 / £299.99 and further up the budget scale, the Wacom Cintiq 16 is $649.95 / £569.99. With the addition of a solid base and extra pen at this price point, the Veikk is a very attractive option for this amount. Users looking for a lower-spec tablet at a lower price may also want to consider the XP-Pen Artist 10, which at £179.99/$169.99 is one of the cheapest display tablets available.
Should I buy the Veikk VK1560 Pro?
If you’re looking for an affordable tablet and don’t mind noticeable parallax, the Veikk VK1560 Pro is for you. It’s a great entry-level tablet at less than half the price of a Cintiq with similar specs, and while there may be the occasional build quality issue to consider, overall it’s a good solid tablet. It would also make a great first drawing tablet for artistically inclined teenagers.
