Gaomon 860T, another graphics tablet.

Back in March, I did a review of the HUION 1060 Pro tablet. This time, a simpler but noticeably cheaper tablet landed on my desk.

The current price is shown in the title, but in reality it costs less than $40. I think the seller still hasn't recovered from the holidays 11.11 sale :)
As for the claim of free DHL shipping, that's not true—or maybe it just doesn't apply to our country, since DHL shipping costs more than $80.
Anyway, if you want to buy one, add it to your cart and wait for the seller to come to their senses and drop the price to a real $40.

The first downside is the loooooong delivery time. The seller extended the order protection period (though there were no problems with that). It did have tracking, of course, and the day the protection period was extended happened to be the day the tablet showed up at customs :)
The seller responded instantly. It felt like he sat by his computer around the clock. :)))

I've been swamped with work lately, even though I have several interesting projects lined up, so this review will be short. Sorry. :(

Okay, I got a little sidetracked.

Information about packaging for fairly large items is important, but I'll hide it under a spoiler anyway.

The package includes:
1. Tablet in an additional protective sleeve
2. Stylus or pen—I'm not sure which is the correct term
3. Manual
4. Software CD
5. Tool for making it easier to change the nibs
6. 5 nibs (one is already installed)
7. 10 spare nibs
8. USB-to-miniUSB cable


The package included a manual and a software CD, but my computer hasn't had an optical drive for years, so I had to make do without it.
It's high time they started putting drivers on cheap USB flash drives.


The manual is very basic, covering everything in just a few words.
But in practice, it turned out to be completely useless. The only thing you might need it for is finding out how to insert the battery.


The included USB-to-miniUSB cable is about a meter and a half long and fairly stiff. Having a miniUSB connector rather than microUSB is, in my opinion, more of a plus than a minus.
The tablet is often moved around on a desk, so the micro version of the connector is easier to break and harder to replace.
Last time, the package included a special glove and a 4 GB flash drive. This tablet has neither, but it does come with a bunch of replacement nibs—15 in all.
I don't know how quickly they wear out, but I think this should be more than enough.


I won't show how to use the extractor to replace a nib in this review; I think it's pretty self-explanatory anyway.
All the nibs are exactly the same.


The pen.
It looks simple, but is very neatly made. About the size of an average ballpoint pen, with a rubberized grip, two buttons (which can be reassigned), and a power button on the opposite end.


I honestly don't quite understand the purpose of the power button, since by my calculations even a zinc-carbon battery would last almost a year without switching it off.
A zinc-carbon battery has a capacity of about 500 mAh: 500/0.07 mA = 7150 hours, or 7150/24 = 298 days.
The current draw in my test didn't change whether I was using the pen or it was simply switched on and lying on the desk.


A fairly thick protective film was stuck to the top of the tablet. You can use it through the film if you really want to, but it's terribly inconvenient.
The Chinese characters below the active area surprised me, since the name Gaomon is in English everywhere else.
I have nothing against Chinese characters, but this looks a little illogical.


This will be one of the few reviews where I don't show photos of the insides.
I didn't take it apart for two reasons:
1. There's nothing particularly interesting inside. A large board covered in traces, with a separate section for the buttons and processor.
2. The tablet wasn't for me.


The underside is simple and unremarkable.
There's a label with the tablet's model name and rubber feet.
I had no complaints about the rubber feet—they grip well, at least while they're new—but the bottom is another story.
I never thought I'd have a complaint about the underside of a device. It's a fingerprint magnet. No, IT'S A FINGERPRINT MAGNET. Just pick up the tablet and the whole bottom is covered in fingerprints.
There's a memory card slot and a MiniUSB port on the left side of the tablet.
With a memory card installed, just like last time, you essentially get a card reader. This is useful when working in different places: finish working, save the result to the memory card, go somewhere else, load it (or open it directly from the card), work, and save.
If you only work at home, this feature is practically pointless, but when you're on the move, it means you don't have to carry a flash drive around all the time.


The tablet is a little smaller than the HUION 1060.

There are six additional buttons on the left; the HUION 1060 has 12, and the HUION H610 has 8.
The extra buttons are assigned the main functions—undo, erase, switch tools, and so on. When you press a button, a notification appears at the bottom of the computer screen showing which button was pressed.
There’s also a green LED indicator here. It blinks and lights up—in short, it puts on a show of frantic activity, but in reality it doesn’t do anything particularly useful. It reminds me a bit of our government :)


I had no complaints about the tablet’s appearance; it looks great, except for one big BUT.
Despite the manufacturer’s attention to detail and efforts to make an attractive device, almost everyone seems to go for glossy surfaces—and in this case, black ones too.
If the fingerprints were visible on the underside, they’re even more noticeable here. That’s why I recommend choosing the white version of the tablet.
The working surface itself is rough and matte, so it doesn’t show fingerprints. The top and bottom are simply matte, but that glossy area on the left—I got tired of wiping it down before taking photos.




And this is what it looks like “in hand.” The tablet “senses” its pen from about 15 mm away: the cursor starts moving, and the buttons work. Move the pen farther away, and nothing works.
Naturally, positioning is absolute: move the cursor to the bottom-left corner, lift the pen and move it to the top-right, then bring it close, and the cursor instantly jumps to the new position. After using a mouse, it feels strange at first, but you get used to it quickly and can use it just like a mouse.



Summary.
Pros
The tablet works great.
Neat construction.
Spare nibs included.
Good packaging.
Low price.
A more pleasant-sounding name than the previous version :)

Cons
The surface shows fingerprints easily; it’s better to choose the white version.
Long delivery time.

My opinion. Above, I said it works great, of course, I meant for devices in this price range. Obviously, it wouldn’t be fair to compare this tablet with Wacom tablets, but I didn’t notice any difference compared with the HUION in use.
The previous tablet had a battery in the pen, but after measuring its current consumption, I’m left wondering—why? As far as I can tell, a pen with a replaceable battery is perfectly adequate: it’s cheaper and will work for a long time. So I don’t see the point of a rechargeable battery if you only need to charge it once every six months. Better to pay less and just replace the battery every now and then.
There’s really only one downside: the black surface shows fingerprints, so you’ll either have to keep a cloth handy or put up with it looking grubby.
All in all, it’s a perfectly decent tablet: it works, the price is reasonable, the seller is sensible, and the packaging is sturdy. What more could you want? Maybe a USB flash drive with the drivers already on it. It’s strange nobody thought of that sooner.