VEIKK VK1200 Drawing Tablet With 11.6-inch 1080p Display Works On Linux For ~$169

The good news is they do indeed offer broad Linux support, but the downside is there is a Linux binary blob relied upon. VEIKK offers both a generic Linux binary package or a Debian/Ubuntu archive. Their Linux driver package consists of a udev rule for setting the permissions on the input devices and then the "vktablet" binary itself.

The vktablet binary is what's used for configuring the tablet with its input controls, managing the offsets for the input depending upon your screen layout, setting up the six programmable shortcut keys to trigger other input events or open up arbitrary binaries, etc.

This Qt-based vktablet application was working out fine on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and other modern distributions. VEIKK does actively maintain their Linux packages with the most recent releases being just days ago. But, sadly, it's a proprietary package / binary and not open-source... But at least it did work well and didn't give me any troubles. So if you don't mind the binary situation, the tablet works great on Linux and is low-cost.

Existing prior to the official VEIKK Linux driver support there is also an open-source alternative (https://github.com/jlam55555/veikk-linux-driver) started by a student and that support was written via reverse engineering and also developing an effective GUI. So there is that possibility as well but for my initial testing was using the official vktablet package. It seems largely over the past 1~2 years is when VEIKK's Linux support has started coming together.

The VEIKK VK1200 has been working out well under Ubuntu Linux and Pop!_OS and no issues using it with popular programs like Krita, GIMP, and Inkscape. Overall I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the VEIKK VK1200 for $169 USD (or even $159 if going through VEIKK's own web store) with good hardware quality and this official but binary Linux driver support. While Wacom is well regarded for their Linux support over the years, a similar Wacom pen display easily costs hundreds more, so for novice and intermediate Linux artists the VEIKK VK1200 is a nice introductory option.

Those wishing to learn more about the VEIKK VK1200 can visit veikk.com as well as the Amazon.com product page (affiliate link). Thanks to VEIKK for sending over the VK1200 review sample for testing out this drawing tablet under Linux.