Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was pretty hesitant at spending $100 for this remote. But seeing how it could be the consolidation method I need when it comes to express keys and the handy touch wheel, especially when the 13HD has half the express keys of it's predecessor, and has no touch wheel or touch strip, I gave this one a go. PROS: - The build quality is very good, and sturdy. Being made of aluminum, with the underside being rubber material so it won’t slide around your desk easily. The PCB is protected by a metal backplate, so the durability of this remote is top-notch. If you have a Cintiq 27QHD or the newer pro models, the underside doubles as a magnet to stick onto the bezel of the pen display. - With 17 express keys, and a touch wheel that can be set to three different options, there’s plenty of customization to enable the remote to be efficient in your workflow. - The battery life on the remote is excellent, being able to go roughly around 30 hours of continuous use on a single charge. - Can be charged using micro-USB, and still remain usable during recharging. The remote's functionality would've been great, if it had not been plagued by the problems listed below, as my experience with the remote has not been pleasant. CONS: - The remote shuts off after 10 minutes of inactivity, and it's not a proper sleep mode. Meaning, you can't wake it up by pressing any key on the remote, you need to turn it on again with the switch on the bottom. The drivers do not offer anything to turn off or adjust the sleep mode timer. - The connectivity of the remote is through a proprietary RF dongle, which means no Bluetooth. Prior to purchasing, I contacted Wacom of what my options would be, should I lose the dongle, and their answer was for me to buy an entirely new remote, if that were the case. Similar to how if you lose the RF dongle on their wireless accessory kits. - While the touch wheels on their Intuos Pro line of tablets are smooth and fluid, the touch wheel on the remote has a significant amount of latency and is also very buggy. - The software used to customize the express keys would erase my settings without warning, much to my annoyance. This usually occurs after doing driver updates. With cloud and local backups failing to restore the previous settings for some unknown reason. - The battery is soldered onto the motherboard, therefore is not removable, nor is it replaceable. Giving the remote a limited lifespan once that battery fails to store a charge. - The software doesn’t allow for multiple profiles onto a single remote, so if 17 express keys aren’t enough, there is no way to switch over to another profile for a whole new set of shortcuts. Unless you buy second remote. But since they require RF dongles, you’re limited to how many USB ports you have free. - There’s no way to quickly see what functions the express keys are mapped to, without opening the settings for the Express Key Remote. Wacom did not include their handy "Express view display" hardware with the remote, like they did with their Intuos 5 or Intuos Pro line. The fact that there’s 17 keys, it baffles me as to why they didn’t. There isn't even a menu to display which button does what, like they did with their Cintiq 24HD. - And just recently, my remote keeps losing connection with my PC. I would turn the remote on, use one or two functions, then it just gives up on me. All-in-all, Wacom really needs to step up their game. There’s a reason why this remote exists. Wacom has recently taken the "form over function" approach for their tablet devices, by reducing the number of express keys present, or eliminating them altogether. Making this remote almost a necessity for those who rely on keyboard shortcuts. If this remote has a plethora of problems, this means bad news for artists and content creators, who depend on smooth, seamless productivity workflow. This remote is not even included with the Cintiq Pro 13, or 16. Both of which lack express keys and are priced over $1,000. This remote hasn't been updated since 2015, and is need of a serious refresh. The only reason why I ranked this two stars instead of one, is due to it's durability, and battery life. If someone has a unit that doesn't cause them as much trouble, it should last them a while. ​