I'm currently back to using older Windows tablets so I can use Wacom EMR again. My current go to is Lenovo Helix 2nd gen, a 11.6" slate running Core M 5Y10 I bought back in 2014. I gave it to my sister when I got the Miix 700 in 2015 but now I realize how much EMR is superior so I swapped it with her for the Miix 700, which has better specs as a computer.
I use Windows 10 because I want access to most art apps, from Clip Studio Paint (my main app) to Photoshop if I need it for a job. Also, I prefer having direct access to my data and want to manage them my own way. Can't deal with hidden files and such. I also often use my Helix 2 as a slate without keyboard dock or anything. This requires a bit of work around inside Windows 10 but most importantly a slate that uses not only Wacom digitizer but has support of Wacom Feel driver, so I can map functions and keys to the pen's barrel buttons. You can't still do that with Surface products and you need to carry something else than the slate and the pen to access more functionality for decent usability.
I would rank the mobile digitizers available for ultimate drawing functionality thusly:
1. Wacom EMR
2. Apple Pencil and Wacom AES
3. Surface Ntrig/MPP
4. Synaptic (almost gone now. MPP pretty much killed it)
For pen sensitivity and performance, you simply can't beat Wacom's EMR. Wacom AES and Apple Pencil kidna comes close, but especially for going and up and down the pressure curve, they kinda fall apart when compared to EMR. I certainly notice that my drawings have much more nuanced lines with EMR, but kinda flat with AES and Apple Pencil, even when using the same app (Clip Studio Paint) to rule out software variations. The fact that there are more dedicated ASIC for pen calculations and the touch is handled by entirely separate digitizer hardware is I think the primary reason EMR still has the edge over the others, which all share the capacitive multitouch digitizer doing double duties for finger touch and pen functions.
Also, I would rank OS for mobile pen devices in regards to apps available thusly:
1. Windows 10/7
2. iOS
3. Android and Chrome OS
4. Linux
Windows tablets simply give you the entire gamut of art software available. from legacy Wintab freeware like Paint Tool SAI, to professional standards like Adobe Creative suite. And by now, most have been retooled for multitouch UI. iOS use to be Procreate only solution for a long time in my mind, but now with Clip Studio Paint and Affinity suite, it is coming up fast. It sucks that you have to pay like $100 per year for CSP while Windows and MacOS users can pay $50 one time and call it good, but at least you have CSP now. CSP instantly made iOS relevant in my mind as device OS I can use to draw since Procreate is TERRIBLE for line quality. Seriously, if your artworks rely heavily on line quality, switch from Procreate to CSP immediately.
As for Android, It's always been a 3rd world barren wasteland for decent art apps. There are dozens of art apps for Android and they all suck in varying degree, after all these years, which is a damn shame because Samsung makes killer Android hardware with Wacom EMR digitizers...
