Review: Xencelabs’ Pen Display 16

Review: Xencelabs' Pen Display 16

Heath Firestone  –  July/August 2024
 

VITAL STATS

MANUFACTURER: Xencelabs 

PRODUCT: Pen Display 16
 
PRICING: Bundle $1,249; Essentials $999
 
 
Recently, Xencelabs released their second display tablet, which I have been looking forward to since I first encountered Xencelabs at NAB a few years ago. Their first display tablet was 24-inches and is meant for desktop-only applications. This one, however, is a much more modest 15.6-inches, and designed to work either on a desktop or as a portable option.
 
 
I’m relatively familiar with tablets, having worked with Wacom Cintiqs, Intuoses and the Wacom One, which I did a review on a couple of years ago (article can be found here). But I have to admit, this was the most impressive experience I’ve had working with a tablet. I prefer display tablets, but you pay for them. The Wacom One was the exception, with a reasonable price point, but that lower price affected the quality of the monitor itself, which left a lot to be desired. Not so with the Xencelabs Pen Display 16. Granted it is at a higher price level, but the quality of the Pen Display 16’s 4K OLED monitor is excellent.
 
When I opened the packaging for the bundled version that includes all of the accessories, I was surprised by the weight of the box. Not that the display is particularly heavy, but rather that this product came with so many accessories. It felt very high-end on unboxing, and the display itself is quite nice. It has a great feel, with a 1.25-inch bezel around the screen, which is ideal in my opinion. It also only requires one USB-C cable to run everything. This is super handy when using it in a portable capacity, where it excels. The one caveat being that it will drain your computer’s battery, drawing about 15W, and only has 170-nits of brightness in this mode.
 
There is, however, a hub that can be used, which includes a 30W USB-C power input, as well as HDMI and DisplayPort, along with a USB cable for input. Using the power supply bumps you up to 300-nits. Using the hub is ideal for swapping the device between your desktop and your notebook with a single cable swap. Also, it comes with a number of cables to support several configurations, all with color coded wire wraps to make wiring easier.
 
One thing that disappointed me, but didn’t surprise me, was the lack of touch control. However, this was compensated for by a very nice Quick Keys Remote. This is the nicest remote I have used. It has a really good feeling rotational dial with four modes indicated by the color of the ring around it, which is super useful for zooming in, changing brush size, rotating the canvas or whatever else you want to program it to do. It also has an OLED display to let you see what the keys are programmed to do, in any of four orientations. Addition-ally, it features eight buttons and a cycle key which gives you 40 shortcuts per program.
 
 
The Pen Display 16 Bundle comes with a very portable plastic-but-robust stand, which offers two adjustable angles of 18 and 32 degrees. But if you want to use this for more than just drawing, like doubling as a second high-quality, high-resolution, portable monitor, you may miss having a more upright option, so I have resorted to using the same stand I designed to solve the problems I had with wanting my Wacom One to stand more upright.
 
I mentioned before that I use this for more than just drawing, so I’ll cover those experiences as well. I do a lot of editing, and while I have custom keyboards for some of that, one thing I miss is having a jog shuttle, or more specifically, the jog or frame-by-frame advance dial of a jog shuttle. In Blackmagic Design’s DaVinci Resolve, I configured the dial to work as a jog. In my testing of using it this way, trimming a clip at the exact frame I wanted to was accomplished in half to two-thirds the time, which may only be a few seconds here and there, but over the course of a project, could cut hours out of editing. I also have used the pen to draw quick masks or other functions that just happen faster with a pen input.
 
 
 
This Pen Display 16 Bundle came with more than I expected, including a carrying case, stand, two types of pens, the remote, hub, tons of cables and really-nice cases. You can even use the display as a virtual tablet across your other monitors. While testing it, I got quite attached to it and found myself not wanting to be without it. I’m quite impressed, and because I liked the look and feel of it, found myself using it in a way I never did with other tablets or pen displays. 
 
Pricing for the Bundle is currently $1,249, while Essentials is $999, and comes with everything except the power supply and hub, Quick Keys Remote, stand and six additional cables.   
 
Heath Firestone is a regular contributor to Post and can be reached online at: heath@cinematechnica.com

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