Learn what you should know to get the best graphics tablet for osu
I use graphics tablets to create my own drawings & artworks, and I have been pretty much satisfied with the ones I have.
For a good amount of time, I thought the only people that use these flat devices are artists like me. Or those who use them for handwriting & signing documents. Until I discovered that some people uses it to play games, and osu in particular.
After checking out, I was surprised to see that many people even buy graphics tablets specifically for that. And that makes sense, because graphics tablet allows you to point and click at any point of the screen faster and more intuitively than a mouse can.
And for that, I decided to create this purchasing guide for the likes of you. Using what I know about graphics tablets to help you determine how to select the best graphics tablet for the game.
To make the guide honest & reliable, I decided to play the game myself using one of my tablets. My old small Wacom Intuos 4. The one I had to replace because it was too small for my newer 27-inch iMac.
I installed Osu on my desktop PC (because the majority of people plays on it Windows). And then I started playing it using that tablet. I personally think the tablet can make great difference on how to play the game. Especially when the game tells you to Spin, which is much easier to do using a graphics tablet.
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Reasons to get a graphics tablet for osu
Some people, specifically those great at the game, say that they do equally well whether they used a mouse or a graphics tablet. I think those are great mouse users. But the fact that graphics tablets allow you to do better at the game can’t be overlooked. Especially if you are dedicated to it.
Another reason why may want to get a graphics tablet for osu is health concerns. Playing osu for so long can causes you Repetitive Stress Injury, or RSI. While I am not saying that playing the game with a graphics tablet would never causes you such problems, but it will reduces the stress on your hand, and thus can help you prevent the potential health problems that come that.
All in all, it is better to take regular breaks and talk to your doctor so that you won’t have any problem like that. Whether you play osu with a mouse or with a graphics tablet.
What you should look at or ignore in your osu graphics tablet?
In this article, I assume that you are planning on getting a graphics tablet solely for the sake of Playing osu. If you are looking for a graphics tablet to use for both digital art and to play osu in your free time. Then I highly suggest you read some of my other articles about Graphics tablets.
The things you need to look for in your graphics tablet for osu
- Surface texture:- While you are using the tablet, the fraction of the pen with the tablet surface will cause very small scratches on the surface, this is unlikely to affect the life of your tablet. But it will affect the age of the pen nib. For that reason, you may need to consider getting a graphics tablet with a slippery surface. Or get a surface cover for your tablet. So that you won’t have to change nibs that often.
- Compatibility with your operating system:- This specially goes for Mac owners. While the majority of graphics tablets supports Mac OS X very well. Some tablets don’t offer a support for all the versions of it, especially the newest ones.
- The tablet size:- Smaller graphics tablets are more optimal for osu. As it will allow you to move the mouse faster without much movements of your hands. But you may want to consider a medium-sized tablet in case you have large hand movements.
- Express keys:- This is an optional feature, but getting a graphics tablet with express key will be helpful to get rid of using the keyboard. Because these buttons are usually assigned to match a certain keystrokes. Most graphics tablets have between 3-8 express keys. And in case you don’t want to use these keys. You can still play osu by placing the graphics tablet & the keyboard side by side.
Things you shouldn’t care about when you get a graphics tablet for osu
- Touch capability:- Some graphics tablets have touch capability, which mean you could use them the same way you could use a Laptop trackpad. This feature is useless in osu for as far as I know. While you can disable this feature, I see no good reason to get a tablet with it. As it adds to the cost for no good reason.
- Pressure sensitivity:- Pressure sensitivity allows you to vary the width or opacity of your strokes based on how much pressure you apply on the tablet surface. This is a key feature for those willing to create artworks with their graphics tablets. But for osu players. Having pressure sensitivity won’t help you or hinder you from playing the game.
What option to go to?
The perfect graphics tablet for osu so far is Wacom Intuos Pen Small Tablet (CTL480). As it complies with the majority of the points I made above, and it wasn’t priced that high when I checked it while writing this article.
In case you are on a very low budget get the Intuos. There are many graphics tablets that are cheaper than it, but still allow you to play the game for a fraction of the Intuos price. Huion 4 x 2.23 Inches osu Tablet is one of them.
Beside these two tablets, there are many other options for you to consider there as well. Click here to see all available graphics tablets available at Amazon.com.
The good thing about these other options is not just the price. Many of these cheaper options are also larger than the Intuos. Which may a good thing in case you have large arm movement.
Thanks! Your article helped me out a lot! :)
You are welcome, dear Fame. Glad to see the articles I wrote help people ^^
Thanks you so much for helping me ^^
I just have a question: i never had any graphic tablet and i want to know if we absolutly need to touch our tablet to move the osu cursor? (I hope you understand my question xD)
So, i want to buy tablet to draw and to play osu at the same time (im tired of paper drawing), for the amount of ~120 dollars. So what should i buy? I was thinking to an Intuos Art ^^
Thanks a lot :)
Hello bostoo,
I know what you mean, you don’t need to touch the tablet with your pen to move the cursor, hovering the pen slightly above the tablet surface can easily move it, and it is very easy to do so.
The Intuos Art easily falls within your budget, so it is a good choice, especially if you think you will use the touch features in it. If not, getting the Intuos Draw.
I hope that helped ^^
What do u think about Wacom Intuos Photo for osu!? this is the cheapest and whats available for me where i live other than the cintiq, should i go for it or get another tablet from somewhere else?
Hello again Keesh,
I honestly don’t know where you live, but this is surely one of the cheapest Wacom offering to play OSU. If I understood your question correctly, I personally think getting the Cintiq to play OSU is a bit of an overkill.
So the cheapest tablet that my area offers is a Wacom Intuos Draw or one of these types, and it has quite the amount of money to get, my question is should i get this tablet and is it good for osu? Or should i just order one from Amazon?
Thank you for the post and your time.
Yes, these tablets can be good for Osu. They could be more than what you need actually :>
Hello! It’s been a while since I want to buy a Wacom ctl480, but I don’t know exactly where I can find it to purchase. Can you suggest me a good place for it? Thank u!
Hello Samurai! I suggest you check the Intuos Draw, it’s not expensive & can do well with Osu. Another one I suggest is the newer BT model, which supports wireless via Bluetooth, but that’s not necessary for Osu.
Most of the people prefer the wacom 480s tablet, it has good software and performs good, but in my opinion its a little bit old and there are newer and cheaper options that are same or better (wacom 480 doesnt get produced anymore so its harder to find and more expensive) For me personally i am using the xp-pen Star G640 tablet: From specs its better faster reading better height and better accuracy but Build quality is a bit worse .