Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet review: budget drawing tablet is an attractive choice

The Veikk Voila L is part of Veikk’s new range of drawing tablets, released alongside the VK220 Pro and the VK1060 Pro. Veikk has been producing drawing tablets for the past 10 years, although they haven’t made as much of a splash stateside as budget tablet rivals Huion.

A drawing surface rather than a screen tablet, the Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet is highly portable, easy to use and unlike its more expensive screen cousins, sturdy enough to be shoved in a rucksack. My time with the Veikk Voila L Tablet was spent mainly on Clip Studio Paint with some vector work on Inkscape thrown in for good measure, and I was impressed.

Looking to get a drawing tablet for yourself? Check out our guide to the best drawing tablets around.

Drawing experience

The Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet has a lot going for it. As a drawing surface, it’s pleasant to use, and the latency between tablet and screen is pretty much non-existent, even on phones. Given the low price of the Veikk Voila L, I was expecting far greater latency and a far cheaper-feeling tablet. It also worked right out of the box, which isn’t always the case for drawing tablets; the pressure sensitivity was there straight away both on my laptop and on my phone.

One unfortunate element was the lack of controls for phone usage on the tablet; without any way of getting into the software, I was unable to get the hotkey buttons or dial working on my phone, although they worked like a dream on my laptop. While this was a shame, I was very impressed with the different levels of pressure and the response when using the tablet with Clip Studio Paint's phone app. It also didn’t drain the phone’s battery, which was a pleasant surprise.

Stylus

Veikk uses nearly identical pens across its whole range and, as a whole, they’re pleasant to use, if a little light. The pen is battery-free, so doesn’t require charging, and it features two buttons (and no eraser tool on the end, which is fairly standard with budget designs). It comes in a small felt carry case, which should keep it relatively safe if it’s being bumped around in a rucksack, although the lack of any permanent storage for the multiple nibs supplied is a letdown.

Design & build

The Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet comes as a fairly bare-bones package, although there are some nice surprises included. Within the box – which is a little more obviously branded than the Veikk VK1560 Pro, reviewed recently – were packed the tablet, the USB cable and also multiple adaptors (USB-A to USB-C and USB-A to micro-USB), a drawing glove, multiple replacement pen nibs and alternate coloured keycaps for the hotkeys, allowing for some fun visual customisation.

The design of the Veikk Voila L is solid and streamlined; it features a clean, matte design, with a pleasant surface to draw on and a satisfying amount of drag. The rubber feet underneath kept it solidly on the tabletop without sliding around but weren’t too obtrusive when I switched to propping it up on my knees on the sofa.

The most unexpected element for a tablet of this size was the dial, which was solid, functional and pleasant to use, and on the Veikk desktop app, it was easy to program. I also appreciated the Veikk Voila L's approach to hotkeys; while most other tablet hotkeys are thin and unobtrusive, the Veikk Voila L's keys are mechanical, solid and satisfying to press.

As the Veikk Voila L's pen is battery-free and the tablet runs off of a single USB cable, the entire package is very quick and easy to set up, with a single cable to plug in, as opposed to the slightly fiddly wiring of the Veikk VK1560 Pro. The socket may be a little annoying to left-handed users wishing to use the tablet rotated, although not deal-breakingly so; the cable is right-angled, so doesn’t jut out too far.

Price

There’s no denying that the Veikk Voila L comes in at a reasonable price. But how does it stand up to its similarly priced and specced rivals?

Most tablet companies offer similar-sized tablets at a wide range of price points, but these vary widely in terms of what you get for your money. The XP Pen Deco Pro Small also features a dial – two, in fact – but at $129.99/£103.99 is more than twice the price. If you’re looking at what Wacom can offer, there’s the older Wacom Intuos Small, (featuring four express keys but no dial) at $59.95/£89.99 or the bare-bones One by Wacom, which at $49.95/£35.99 is simply a pen tablet without shortcut keys. From Huion there’s a copious range of tablets, including the Huion Inspiroy H950P, at $79.99/£69.99, which again lacks a dial but comes with eight shortcut keys.

Should you buy the Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet?

If you’re after a rugged, versatile tablet that’s easy on the wallet, simple to use and pleasing to look at, the Veikk Voila L Pen Tablet could be the perfect buy for you. It’s worth buying as a secondary tablet to carry around, a primary tablet for designers who don’t like screen tablets or as a first tablet for budding artists, and at £44.95/$44.95, it’s eminently affordable but also strong enough to survive being lugged about and battered by everyday use.