By Brady Betzel
Over the last two years, there has been an explosion of new pen-based tablets hitting the market. With more people working from home, post pros are trying to find more efficient ways to work. As a working editor, one hardware product that has increased my efficiency when working inside of nonlinear editors is a pen-based tablet. The Huion Inspiroy Keydial KD200 has taken the standard pen tablet and created a unique combination of half a keyboard, a dial and medium-sized pen tablet. After using it for a few months, I have really come to love using it.
Throughout my career, Wacom has been synonymous with pen-based tablets. It’s so synonymous that a “Wacom tablet” has become a generic term — much like Kleenex is used to describe a tissue. But over the past couple of years, work-from-home efficiencies have become top of mind for editors, motion graphics artists and other creators, but let us not forget the real issue: affordability. Huion seems to be trying to undercut Wacom’s hold on high-quality pen-tablets.
The Huion Inspiroy Keydial KD200 is part Bluetooth-based pen-tablet and part keyboard. With the keyboard and dial on the left-hand side and the tablet on the right. The KD200 retails for $169, but can be found on sale for $139 It comes packaged with a battery-free pen, pen holder with 10 extra nibs and a nib extractor inside, USB-C cable, USB Bluetooth receiver and artist glove.
Digging In
My initial impression of the KD200 was that it felt light, but not in a cheap-feeling way. The KD200 straddles the line between solid and light. In fact, it was easy to carry around and connect with other devices. Sometimes tablets get bulky and heavy, but the KD200 felt like I could take it anywhere. To get it connected to your computer, you need to download the Huion driver/installer which you can find here.
Once installed, it will show a window stating, “Device Disconnected.” To connect, hold down the power button for a couple of seconds and the Bluetooth light will blink. Once the Bluetooth receiver is inserted into a USB port, it should immediately recognize the KD200 tablet and will display an image of the tablet in the Huion software. This is where you can set up things like keyboard shortcuts, what the dial does when turned, dial sensitivity, program specific key programming, pen settings, tablet battery percentage and more. The KD200 comes partially charged, so I only had to let it charge for 30 minutes before I was at 100%. Huion reports that it will work for 18 hours on one charge, takes 1.2 hours to charge when using a 5V1A power adapter — or up to the three hours when using a standard USB port — and will work within 5 to 10 meters.
Going down the technical rabbit hole, the KD200 pen resolution is 5080 LPI, pressure sensitivity is 8192 levels, tilt support @60 degrees, sensing height @10mm, report rate @>220PPS, .3mm of accuracy, automatic sleep @15 minutes and Bluetooth 5.0.
Testing With Adobe Apps & Resolve
I don’t like to adjust too many settings when I first open a new product to review, so I immediately jumped into Adobe Photoshop 2022 and began working. The dial was my main focus. I love external panels/tablets with knobs and wheels. I’m even more impressed when they work without a fuss. The Huion Inspiroy Keydial KD200’s dial worked immediately in Photoshop, which was a breath of fresh air. Funnily enough, I jumped over to my web browser to continue writing my review and the dial was set to Zoom in/out and it worked immediately. It might sound ridiculous, but you would be surprised at how many products I test that don’t work immediately.
To switch the dial “modes” there is a separate button next to the power button, you can toggle between Zoom in/out, adjust brush size, and scroll up/down. Below the dial is the left half of the keyboard. There are 5 keys labeled “K1” through “K5” that can be programmed to whichever key press you want; it comes programmed as the numbers 1 through 5. You can program a mouse click, program opening, system function like shut down and more, but those are the only keys that can be programmed. In addition, there is a “num” key that can be pushed to type with the second level of programming on the keyboard. For instance, under the “Q” key is the number “6”. It’s a little odd that the numbers on the second level of keypresses isn’t in a 10-key layout. I really wish it was.
Working with the KD200 inside a nonlinear editor, like Adobe Premiere Pro and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve, was a breeze. The only improvement I would recommend for the software functionality would be the ability to assign effects, color correctors and more to the dial. Even if the dial adjusted the effect that was being hovered over by the pen it would be a great timesaver.
Summing Up
Overall, the Huion KD200 is a phenomenal deal — it has a lot of functionality, can almost eliminate the keyboard, and is relatively cheap at the sale price of $139.99. The wrist rest under the partial keyboard is comfortable, the pen works well, although it does lack a button in the eraser position, and the battery lasts a long time. One of the most surprising features of the KD200 was the ability to connect to my Android-based Samsung smartphone quickly over Bluetooth. The KD200 works well with Android smartphones in apps like SketchBook.
One improvement would be for the dial to be a little more accurate when zooming in/out. I noticed when I went quick, the dial kind of skipped when zooming. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, and it honestly wasn’t that annoying, but that is my only suggestion. Otherwise, if you’re looking to buy a unique pen tablet with some programmable keys for under $150, the Huion Inspiroy Keydial KD200 is worth a serious look.
Brady Betzel is an Emmy-nominated online editor at Margarita Mix in Hollywood, working on shows like Life Below Zero and Uninterrupted: The Shop . He is also a member of the Producers Guild of America. You can email Brady at bradybetzel@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @allbetzroff.
