Brad Colbow: The Drawing Tablet Reviewer Every Artist Needs

Brad Colbow has built the most comprehensive and trusted library of drawing tablet and digital art hardware reviews on YouTube. With over 500,000 subscribers and a back catalog covering virtually every significant drawing tablet, display tablet, and art-focused device released in the past decade, Brad's channel is the definitive resource for any artist trying to navigate the increasingly complex landscape of digital art hardware.

What makes Brad's reviews uniquely valuable is his perspective as a working illustrator and comic artist. He doesn't evaluate tablets as tech gadgets—he evaluates them as creative tools, focusing on the factors that actually matter to artists: line quality, pen pressure accuracy, parallax, drawing surface texture, driver stability, and real-world performance during extended creative sessions. His reviews answer the questions artists actually ask, not the specifications that tech reviewers typically obsess over.

Why Brad's Reviews Matter

Artist Perspective

Brad tests every device by actually creating artwork with it—not just running synthetic benchmarks. His reviews include drawing demonstrations, close-up comparisons of line quality, and honest assessments of how each device feels during extended use. This artist-centric evaluation methodology produces reviews that are directly useful for purchasing decisions in ways that standard tech reviews cannot match.

Head-to-Head Comparisons

Brad's comparison videos are among his most valuable content. Side-by-side evaluations of competing tablets—Wacom vs. Huion vs. XP-Pen, iPad Pro vs. dedicated drawing displays, budget options vs. premium alternatives—provide the direct comparisons that make complex purchasing decisions manageable.

Long-Term Honesty

Brad provides follow-up reviews after extended use, updating his assessments based on long-term reliability, driver updates, and real-world durability. This long-term perspective reveals issues that initial reviews miss and provides a more complete picture of a device's value over time.

Annual Buying Guides

Brad's annual "Best Drawing Tablets" roundup videos are the definitive buyer's guide for digital art hardware, providing tiered recommendations across price ranges with specific use-case guidance for different types of artists. These videos are consistently among the most-watched content on his channel because they distill years of testing experience into actionable, current recommendations.

These guides are organized by budget tier and use case—best budget tablet, best mid-range, best premium, best for beginners, best for professionals, best for specific software—making it easy for artists with different needs and budgets to find relevant recommendations quickly. The annual format ensures that recommendations stay current as new devices launch and prices shift throughout the year.

The iPad and Mobile Art Coverage

Brad has been a consistent and thorough chronicler of the iPad's evolution as a professional art tool. His coverage of iPad Pro and Apple Pencil combinations, Procreate software updates, and the broader ecosystem of iOS art applications provides essential guidance for artists considering the iPad as a creative platform. His comparisons between iPad-based workflows and traditional drawing tablet setups help artists understand the genuine trade-offs between portability, software ecosystem, and raw creative capability.

The channel also covers Android-based drawing devices, Samsung Galaxy Tab S-series with S Pen, and other mobile art platforms that offer alternatives to the Apple ecosystem. This cross-platform coverage ensures that artists can make informed decisions regardless of their existing technology preferences or budget constraints.

Beyond Tablets: Monitors, Accessories, and Workspace

Brad's coverage extends beyond tablets to include art-focused monitors, color-accurate displays, ergonomic accessories, tablet stands, screen protectors, and other hardware that affects the digital art experience. These peripheral reviews address practical concerns that tablet reviews alone don't cover—questions about color accuracy for print-ready work, ergonomic considerations for artists who work long hours, and workspace optimization for different creative disciplines.

His workspace setup videos provide practical guidance on configuring a digital art station that supports comfortable, productive creative work. From desk height and monitor placement to lighting considerations and cable management, these videos help artists create physical environments that support rather than hinder their digital creative practice.

The Illustrator's Perspective

Brad's background as a working illustrator and comic artist informs every review with practical creative insight that pure tech reviewers cannot provide. When he evaluates a drawing tablet, he assesses it in the context of actual illustration workflows—comic paneling, character rendering, inking, coloring, lettering—rather than abstract drawing exercises. This professional context makes his evaluations directly relevant to artists who use tablets as primary creative tools rather than occasional accessories.

His own illustration work, visible throughout his videos and on his website, demonstrates the level of creative output that the hardware he recommends can support. This proof of concept—showing that professional-quality illustration is achievable with the tools he reviews—adds credibility that specification-focused reviews cannot replicate.

Community Trust and Integrity

Brad has built exceptional viewer trust through consistent editorial integrity. He clearly discloses when devices are provided by manufacturers for review, provides honest assessments regardless of the source of the hardware, and is willing to criticize products from companies that sponsor his content when criticism is warranted. This transparency has earned him a reputation as one of the most trustworthy voices in the digital art hardware space—a reputation that makes his recommendations genuinely influential in artist purchasing decisions.

The Bottom Line

Brad Colbow is the single most valuable resource for drawing tablet and digital art hardware purchasing decisions. His artist-perspective approach, thorough long-term testing methodology, comprehensive catalog of reviews spanning every major device category, and unwavering editorial integrity make his channel essential viewing before any digital art hardware purchase. Whether you're buying your first drawing tablet or upgrading to a professional display, Brad's informed, honest guidance ensures you spend wisely on tools that genuinely serve your creative practice.