Review: Huion K20 Keydial Mini

Update 6 June 2023: iPad app v1.3.0 released. More shortcuts added. Dial can be configured.

This is the Huion K20 Keydial Mini shortcut remote. The retail price is US $69.99.

I got this as a free gift when I bought the Huion Kamvas Studio 16 recently. I had initially thought this was the Huion KD100 shortcut remote but it's actually the upgraded model.

Bottomline: Huion K20 Keydial Mini works well with Windows, Mac, iPad and Android.

Here are the differences between the K20 and KD100:

So the main difference is the wireless connection which was 2.4Ghz and requires a USB-A receiver, and now it's Bluetooth 5.0. Connection strength for both is good.

The previous model Huion KD100 Keydial Mini is still available for sale at US $49.

Things included. You can click on the photo above for a closer look at the stickers.

K20 looks almost similar to the KD100 except for the darker gray at the top and the small blue labels on the keys.

Overall build quality feels plasticky but solid and it's really lightlight.

Battery life is said to be 70 hours. K20 can still be used when it's charging.

The keys have good travel and feedback. The keys are not back lit. The dial turns smoothly with audible clicks.

The Huion logo will light up blue when connected, flash when looking for a connection, and red when it's charging with the USB-C to A cable that's included.

The back has 4 rubber feet with good grip on the table.

The Huion K20 Keydial Mini works great as a compact keyboard remote you can have beside your pen tablet or pen display for extra shortcuts.

The advantage here compared to using shortcuts from an actual keyboard is it does not take up much table space so you can have the remote by the side. The downside is there are only 18 keys.

Windows and MacOS driver

There are drivers for Windows, MacOS, Android and even iPadOS.

The driver I've tested is the Windows version 15.7.4.186 and MacOS version 15.6.4.103. That's also the same driver that I'm using with the Kamvas Studio 16. Right at the bottom is a dropdown menu where you can switch between the settings for the Kamvas and the shortcut remote.

It is possible to use the K20 with other brands of pen displays and pen tablets. It's just that you will need to install two separate drivers.

With the driver, you can do the following:

• Change the brightness of the Huion logo
• Enable or diable the dial
• Adjust the dial sensitivity
• Adjust the sleep time
• Check battery level
• Customise the shortcut buttons
• Create shortcut groups for specific apps
• Backup your settings

The shortcuts you can assign to the keys are:

• Your combination of keys
• Mouse keys, wheel forward/backwards, Ctrl, Alt, Shift, WinKey
• Run program
• Lock screen, sleep, power off, show/hide desktop, taskview, start menu, calculator
• Media control: Prev/next song, volume up/down, pause/play, mute
• Settings preview
• Quick menu for 6 more shortcuts on pop-up

If you want to create shortcut groups for apps installed from the Microsoft Store, you will need to find those apps from the WindowsApp folder (exact steps detailed here).

Those Windows apps, e.g. Concepts, Affinity apps, are located in C:\Program Files\WindowsApps. But you need to enable certain permissions before you can get into that folder.

The driver works fine and the shortcuts work well. It's possible to configure 3 shortcuts to the dial and you can use the middle button to switch between the three. A label will also appear on-screen as you switch the dial functionality.

Android driver v1.2.6

The Android driver is called Huion Keydial and is available from the Google Play Store.

The version I've tested is 1.2.6 and it's buggy.

I tested the driver on my Huawei MatePad 10.8 and Samsung Tab S8 Ultra and could not get it to work properly. The app either cannot find the connected K20, or nothing happens when you press the keys to customise the shortcuts, or would just crash when you customise the hotkeys.

Don't buy the K20 if you want to use this with your Android tablet. I will update this section of the review when the Android driver app is updated in the future.

Android driver v2.0.1

Update 14 Jul 2024:

Driver v2.0.1 was released in August 2023 and has added the ability to create keyboard shortcuts and customise the dial.

iPad driver v1.3.0

The iPad driver is also called Huion Keydial and is available from the Apple App Store.

The version I've tested is v1.3.0. The dial can be customised with anti and clockwise action.

Hotkey configuration is currently available only for Procreate, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Fresco and Clip Studio Paint.

Below are the shortcuts from the pre-programmed list of shortcuts shown:

Procreate

• E: Eraser
• B: Brush
• L: Layers
• S: Selected area
• V: Move
• C: Colours
• Space: Layer window
• Alt: Eyedropper
• Cmd + Z: Undo
• [ : Brush size reduce 5%
• Shift + [ : Brush size reduce 10%
• Cmd + [ : Brush size reduce 1%
• ] : Brush size increase 5%
• Shift + ] : Brush size increase 10%
• Cmd + : Brush size increase 1%
• Command + Delete : Clear
• Cmd + 0 : Hide/show toolbar
• Cmd + ; : Drawing guide on/off
• Cmd + K : Actions menu
• Cmd + C : Copy
• Cmd + V : Paste
• Cmd + Shift + Z : Redo
• Cmd + D : Clear selection
• Cmd + J : Duplicate selection
• Cmd + B : Color balance
• Cmd + U : Hue & saturation & brightness

Photoshop

• Cmd + Z: Undo
• Cmd + Shift + Z: Redo
• E: Eraser
• I: Colour picking
• L: Lasso
• N: Transform
• V: Move
• W: Magic wand
• ] : Increase brush size
• [ : Reduce brush size

Adobe Illustrator

• Cmd + Shift + Z : Redo
• Shift + B : Brush
• Shift + E : Eraser
• Cmd + + : Zoom in
• Cmd + - : Zoom out

Fresco

• Cmd + Z: Undo
• Cmd + Shift + Z: Redo
• B: Switch to previous brush
• E: Eraser
• ~ : Erase with current brush
• I: Colour picking
• L: Lasso
• Cmd + N: New layer
• Cmd + Shift + Delete: Clear
• Cmd + T : Transform
• Cmd + , : Show/hide layers
• Cmd + L : Lock/unlock layers
• Shift + H : Flip horizontal
• Shift + V : Flip vertical

Clip Studio Paint

• Cmd + Z: Undo
• Cmd + Shift + Z: Redo
• B: Brush
• E: Eraser
• I: Colour picking
• M: Lasso
• Cmd + Shift + N: New layer
• Cmd + T : Transform

It is not possible to add your own keyboard shortcuts at the time of this review. E.g. You cannot add more shortcuts to Clip Studio Paint.

If you're using Procreate as your main app, my suggestion is to get the Aoiktye Procreate Keyboard (2nd gen) instead which has more shortcuts and is also cheaper at US $39.

If you're thinking of using other drawing apps on the iPad, you'll probably be more productive with an actual keyboard.

iPad driver v2.0.1

12 Jul 2024 update:

iPad driver v2.0.1 was released in Aug 2023 and Huion has added more apps with pre-programmed shortcuts and the ability to create your own keyboard shortcuts.

Conclusion

The Huion K20 Keydial Mini works best with Windows and I did not experience any glitches with assigning keyboard shortcuts. Concepts app, one of my favourite drawing apps, works really well with the K20.

The v1 driver released just after the launch of the K20 shortcut remote has limited functionality. But thankfully with the v2 driver launched months later in Aug 2023, Huion has made it possible to create your own keyboard shortcuts. Combination keys can also be used. And press-hold of keys will activate repeatedly.

Availability

If you're interested to get the Huion K20 Keydial Mini, you can find it on Huion online store.

Consider making your purchase through the affiliate link above. I earn some commission at no extra cost to you and your support helps me put out more reviews like the one you just read.

If you want to save some money, you can still get the previous model Huion KD100 Keydial Mini at US $49. Main difference is you need to use the USB-A receiver with your computer to connect wirelessly.