Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 review: a clever design delivers a larger drawing space

Many of you will be more than familiar with Wacom thanks to its high-standard tablet offerings. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out on your creative journey, if you’re on the lookout for a trustworthy and efficient pen display that provides plenty of working space without taking over your setup, you’ll want to consider investing in the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17. 

While Wacom has pitched towards the 'budget' end of the drawing tablet market in recent times with the release of the Wacom One series - read our Wacom One 13 Touch review for a good example - the brand still caters for pro artists and studios, which is where the Cintiq Pro range fits. Read our guide to the best drawing tablets for our picks.

The pitch for the new Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 is it's a pro-level drawing pen display for those who want the largest working area available but taking up as little space as possible. It's a growing trend, and while rival brands like Xencelabs and XPPen choose to remove the QuickKeys and put them onto remote units, Wacom's design places them behind the display in ergonomically designed recesses. My review goes into how this clever design feels to use.

Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 review: in the box

Inside the box you’ll find the tablet, power and USB-C cables and a quick-start guide, plus a Pro Easy Stand and Pro Pen 3 with a tablet-mounted pen case. It's worth mentioning the packaging of the Cintiq Pro 17 is well-considered and, for the most part, consists of paper or plant-based materials.

Inside the robust outer box, you’ll find individual cardboard boxes holding the cables, the Pro Easy Stand, Pro Pen 3, and accessories behind and beneath the tablet. You can tell some thought has gone into the design of the packaging to allow for the use of sustainable materials while also offering a high level of protection.

I also like the little details, which include icons printed on each of the inner boxes so you know exactly where to find everything. What’s more, Wacom claims it uses recycled materials wherever possible, whether that be the packaging or product itself.

Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 review: design and display

As predicted, you get all of the premium quality and ergonomic design that you’d expect from a Wacom tablet at this price point. The 17-inch screen size doesn’t feel limiting, and offers you lots of real estate to work on without dominating the surface area of your desk.

The Wacom Cintiq Pro 17's impressive 4K anti-glare glass display offers 88% Adobe RGB and 99% DCI-P3 plus HDR support. All that means you can safely rely on the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17’s colour accuracy whether you’re an animator who wants to see how your visuals will look when projected onto a large screen, or an artist that wants to test how your art will appear when printed in CMYK. 

The display also has an 8ms refresh rate and comes at 120Hz; a step up from the Cintiq Pro 16, which could only hit 60Hz. All in all, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 has an exceptional display that will suite every creative, from graphic designer to game modeller and motion artist.

Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 review: performance

The drawing experience on the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 is a pleasant one. The display was wonderfully responsive and I encountered no issues with parallax or lagging, even when using some complex brushes on Affinity Designer.

The Pro Pen 3 provides a precise and natural-feeling drawing experience courtesy of the 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity and an improved tilt angle of +/-60 degrees. The standout feature of this pen is the high level of customisation on offer, so you can tailor it to suit your needs. You’re given the freedom to alter the pen’s weight, adjust the centre of gravity, switch between grips of various shapes, and change the number or position of the pen’s buttons.

The choices available for the button configurations are to have either three buttons or none. Different configurations are available to snap in, so the button plates will sit at the correct height whether you’re working with a pen grip or not. An advantage of being able to adjust these elements is that you can achieve a much more comfortable and ergonomic drawing experience, which can help to reduce the chances of hand and wrist fatigue.

Along with the Pro Pen 3, there’s also a useful pen holder that attaches to the tablet using a thumb wheel-operated bolt that you can screw into the thread on either the back, left, or right edges of the display. Inside, you’ll find the different grips, button configurations and metal weight, as well as additional standard and felt tips for the pen.

Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 review: hidden features

On the back of the tablet there are various ports that will ensure ease of connectivity. These include a USB-C, HDMI and mini display port. Located on the base, you’ll also find two hand grips on either side. These have eight configurable ExpressKeys, with four placed on each grip.

On top of the ExpressKey and Pro Pen 3 button controls, the tablet also utilises intuitive multi-touch gestures, making it easy to pan, zoom and rotate. While the touch gestures work well, I did miss the ability to customise the function of the two-finger touch gestures that are an option with some other branded tablets. That said, you’re still able to change the function of the three- or four-finger gestures, so it’s not the end of the world.

If you happen to want more freedom when it comes to your mounting options, you’ll be pleased to know Wacom has included a VESA 75 mount on the tablet base. Thanks to that, it’s possible to attach a variety of third-party options, which means you’re not limited to just the stands that Wacom offer.

Ultimately, the Wacom Cintiq Pro 17 is an all-round excellent piece of hardware that could prove to be an invaluable tool to aid you in the creation of your next 3D masterpiece.