This Graphics Tablet Made Me Wish I Was a Better Artist, and It’s 41% Off on Prime Day
Prime Day 2025 runs from Tuesday, July 8 through Friday, July 11, and Lifehacker is sharing the best sales based on product reviews, comparisons, and price tracking tools.
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New to Prime Day? We’ve got the lowdown on everything you need to know . Sales are accurate at the time of publication, but prices and inventory are always subject to change.
Even though I’m a pretty disorganized person, I’ve spent the last year testing a ton of organization-focused productivity notebooks and tablets, and the best of them work so well that they make me want to be the kind of person who actually stores and organizes their notes. While I expected the XP-Pen Magic Note Pad to fall into that category — it’s an Android LCD tablet with three screen modes that let you switch from full color to e-ink mode — it’s actually most impressive as a drawing tablet .
Unfortunately, I can’t draw either. But this thing made me wish I could. And right now, with it on sale for 41% off for Prime Day, from $440 to $260, I’d recommend it to anyone who can.
Three screens in one, sort of
The Magic Note Pad’s biggest selling point is apparently its “X-Paper” screen (which is apparently a rebranded version of TCL’s NXTPAPER display ), which has a 1920 x 1200 resolution, a fast 90Hz refresh rate, and a peak brightness of 400 nits (for comparison, the entry-level iPad offers a 60Hz refresh rate and 500 nits of brightness). It has an etched surface to reduce glare, as well as three different color modes controlled at the OS level that supposedly transform it from a full-color LED tablet into a black-and-white e-reader.
There is a special button on the top of the device that allows you to choose between:
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Nature Color Mode or the standard you expect from any LED screen
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Light Color mode , which makes bright whites creamier and mutes other colors, similar to the effect of reading newsprint (or a color e-reader like the Colorsoft Kindle ).
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Ink Paper mode , which is designed to simulate a grayscale display using e-ink.
If you have any knowledge of the different technologies involved, you’ll see that it’s virtually impossible to turn a backlit LED screen into an e-ink display just by fiddling with the color settings. The device is TÜV SÜD Low Blue Light certified , meaning it reduces blue light levels by 25%. It’s also Paper Like Display certified , which I assume means it feels more like paper than other LED screens, offering a “more comfortable and natural reading experience.” The etched screen does reduce glare, and reading in Ink Paper Mode is a little easier on your eyes if you’re reading in a dark room, but take it outside and it’s still undeniably an LED tablet – you won’t be able to magically read in direct sunlight just by switching the display mode.
Artists love it
The Magic Note Pad’s real advantage (no pun intended) is actually less productivity and more artistic: Numerous digital artists have left reviews of it on Reddit and YouTube , and they unanimously praise it for its super-sensitive stylus, which offers four times the pressure sensitivity of the Apple Pencil — 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity for the XP-Pen stylus, compared to just 4,096 levels for the Apple Pencil.
More pressure levels give you more control over what actually hits the screen, so you can sketch and “draw” with much greater precision—giving you all the control you’d have in the real world in a digital environment. It’s enough to make me sign up for a drawing class.
Good price even as a media tablet
At its current 41% discount, the Magic Note Pad drops from its “artists-only” $440 to a more friendly $260, which is a decent deal even if all you’re looking for is a decent Android tablet with stylus support for use as a digital notepad/e-reader or for consuming media. It has a MediaTek MT8781 Octa-core processor, which seems like a solid mid-range chip, with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage, and an 8,000mAh battery that should last a few days on a single charge depending on typical use. There’s also a front-facing camera for video calls.
Looking for something else? Retailers like Walmart, Best Buy, and Home Depot are running Prime Day sales that are especially helpful if you don’t have Amazon Prime.
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Walmart’s Prime Day sale starts at midnight on July 8 and includes discounts of up to 50% . It’s an especially good option if you have Walmart+.
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Best Buy’s Prime Day sale , “Black Friday in July,” runs through Sunday, July 13, and offers some of the best tech sales online . It’s an especially good option if you’re a My Best Buy “Plus” or “Total” member.
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Home Depot has extended its July 4 sale through at least July 9, competing with some of its own great deals . It’s a particularly good option if you’re looking for power tools, appliances, or outdoor gear.