When comparing Microsoft Surface Pro 4 vs Huion Giano Wireless Graphic Drawing Tablet, the Slant community recommends Microsoft Surface Pro 4 for most people. In the question“What are the best graphics tablets?” Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is ranked 2nd while Huion Giano Wireless Graphic Drawing Tablet is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is:
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Great pen support
The (included) Surface Pen has a very interesting set of features - it allows for 1024 points of pressure, has an eraser on top, and when you click the eraser it will open Cortana (Microsoft's new voice assistant). It's magnetized, so it will stick to the left side of the Surface. The Surface achieves all of this via its new N-trig technology (replacing the Wacom technology found in older generation models). There's also palm rejection technology, so whenever the pen tip it close to the screen is will ignore all finger or palm touches.
Pro Laptop-level specs
The Surface Pro 4 comes in configurations from core M up to a core i7. RAM starts at 4GB, and goes to 16GB. Storage caps out at 256GB of SSD storage, which should be enough for most users. These are all specs that can be found in most laptops - even beating out some budget-midrange desktop options.
Pro Good expandability options
The Surface has a USB 3.0 port that can be used for a mouse to be plugged in, or you can plug in a USB hub or Microsoft's own Surface Dock, which has 4 USB 3.0 ports, audio output, Gigabit Ethernet, and two HD video ports. The Surface Dock allows for as much expandability (or more) as most laptops out there. There's also a SD card slot if you need more storage (current SD card sizes range up to 200GB, although this won't be as fast as the internal SSD speeds).
Pro Large workspace
The work area of this tablet is 13.8 x 8.6’’, which is huge. This ensures artists have all the space they need to complete their sketch work.
Pro Excellent price for its features
The low price makes this tablet a worthy option for sketchers. It has many features found on high-end tablets, such as a high-accuracy pen or customizable shortcut keys, but for a cheaper price.
Pro Users can save time with Express keys
Placed right on the left side of the screen, there are 12 Express keys for quickly using 12 different commands without the keyboard. This is useful and time saving.
Pro Long battery life
The battery lasts up to 40 hours, and it takes just 6 hours to fully charge it.
Cons
Con Expensive
You can find a computer with similar specs for about half the price of the Surface Pro 4. You are paying a premium for the high-end build quality, for the engineering required to manufacture a fully portable computer, as well as for the high resolution touchscreen.
Con Lack of touch-focused apps
Windows has traditionally been a mouse-and-keyboard operating system. Finally, third party apps are starting to become more touch friendly, although it's a long, slow process. The Windows Store still lacks many big titles, which means the only option is to download the regular Windows version of most apps, which are rarely touch-friendly.
Con Lines are not equally smooth on every platform
The Giano Wireless is compatible with both Windows and macOS, but there are performance differences. It shows some shaken lines with the Windows drivers but on Mac OS the input is very smooth and precise. This may be something to consider before investing in this device.
Con Power button sticks out and can be accidentally flipped
When using the Huion Giano, it is too easy to accidentally toggle the switch between on and off by just a light flick of a lever. This makes it really inconvenient. Huion would have made this tablet a lot better by maybe changing that to a small switch on the side or possibly increasing the amount of pressure needed to toggle the lever between on and off. The power switch design comes as a downfall of an otherwise sleek design. It actually worries the user about storing the tablet, while turned on, in a narrow carrying case, since it's likely it will turn off by accident.