Honest Tobio's Watercolor Kit Review (2026): Is It Actually Worth It?
Last updated: June 2026
We mostly cover watercolor pencils here, but readers keep asking about all-in-one paint kits, so we tested the most popular one.
We paid full price for the Tobios Watercolor Kit ourselves. This review is not sponsored. Some links below are affiliate links, and we may earn a small commission if you purchase, at no extra cost to you.
Watercolor has become hugely popular in recent years, and there are now dozens of beginner kits promising to get you painting fast. Plenty of artists on Instagram and TikTok work straight out of these starter sets. The question new painters keep asking is simple: are they actually worth it, or will the kit just join the pile of unwanted art supplies?
Tobios Watercolor Kits are portable sets built around high-quality paints and a walnut palette held together with magnets. The colors are vibrant and consistent, and the walnut palette is genuinely beautiful and durable. Below are our results after several weeks with the kit, plus how it stacks up against three competing products.
Tobios Watercolor Kit
A walnut magnetic palette, 12 highly pigmented paint tubes, a refillable water brush, a 60-page 300 gsm cotton sketchbook, a wristband and a printed manual plus beginner e-book: everything you need to start painting the day it arrives.
Check Price on Amazon →TL;DR
The Tobios Watercolor Kit is a great starter set for anyone just getting into watercolor. The walnut palette is well-made and seals shut with magnets, so you never have to worry about paint spilling in your bag. The 12 paints are highly pigmented and blend well. The included 300 gsm (140 lb) cotton paper is a real upgrade for a starter kit. Most come with 90–120 gsm paper. Setup takes seconds, and there's a beginner e-book plus responsive customer service.
This is a student-grade set, designed to be compact and portable. It's not suited to very large pieces or archival-quality work, and thick, opaque colors won't perform well. But for someone new to watercolor who wants to get started quickly and take it anywhere, it's an excellent choice.
Things I Liked
- The walnut palette is well-made and seals magnetically. It won't open in your bag.
- Heavyweight 300 gsm cotton paper, 60 sheets.
- 12 highly pigmented paints that blend well and layer beautifully.
- Small enough to carry in a pocket or bag.
- Sets up in seconds.
- Beginner e-book plus responsive customer service.
Things I Didn't Like
- Student grade, not artist grade.
- Best for small pieces of art.
- Includes white and black (some artists prefer to mix their own black).
- Costs more than a basic Amazon kit.
Rating Overview
We tested Tobios over several weeks sketching at cafés, parks and while traveling. Average setup time was around 25 seconds. The complete kit weighed 0.75 pounds including the sketchbook, water brush and paints, light enough to carry without noticing. We ran washes, color mixing, layering, lifting and small urban sketching, plus repeated wet-on-wet washes to check for buckling.
What Makes Tobios Stand Out
Three things set it apart.
Portability. The walnut palette closes with magnets and stays shut in your bag. The sketchbook is miniature and slips into a tote or large pocket. The refillable water brush is genius. You fill the handle with water so you never need a water cup, and wipe the brush on the wristband between colors.
Ease of setup. Everything is in the box, so you can start painting within minutes. No research, no assembly, no buying parts from three different stores. You just clip the palette onto the sketchbook and go.
Beginner-friendly.The kit has everything you need, and the small size takes away the pressure to be perfect. There's a printed manual, a beginner's e-book, and responsive customer service if you get stuck.
Tobios vs Funto
Funto is a travel set with paint preloaded in the palette wells, good for children traveling with family, but not ideal for adult beginners. The magnets are very weak (you'll want a clip or rubber band to hold it shut), the collapsible water cup leaked during our test, and the small wells run out of paint quickly. Compared to Funto, Tobios is cheaper but far better quality, especially the walnut palette with its stronger magnets. Funto does contain more material, though.
Edge: Tobios for build, quality and price. Funto for sheer quantity.
Tobios vs Grabie
Grabie kits come with a wide variety of tools and paints. But the set arrives in a large, heavy metal tin that isn't portable, it doesn't include a mixing palette, and the sheer number of colors can overwhelm a beginner. Many colors are hard to activate and very opaque. Compared to Grabie, Tobios has fewer colors (12) but uses the right kind of paint for a beginner, includes excellent cotton paper, and is far more portable.
Edge: Grabie for color count and price. Tobios for portability, paper quality and teaching better technique.
Tobios vs Winsor & Newton
Winsor & Newton's Cotman pocket sets are much better than typical craft-store paints, with warm and cool primaries. But Cotman is field quality, the hard plastic case is stiff to open, the pans wobble and pop out, and setup is a chore (unwrap, putty in, wet, dry). Tobios removes all of that, seals far better, and includes cotton paper. With Cotman you buy paper separately. That said, Tobios paint is student grade, while Cotman is professional grade with more room to grow.
Edge: Tobios is the better starter set. Winsor & Newton is better for people who want a system to grow with over time.
Is Tobios the Best Watercolor Kit for Beginners?
For the adult beginner, the thing that matters most is starting to paint, and then continuing to paint. Between the quality of the paper, the paints and the portability, this is one of the best beginner kits available. A serious student will outgrow it quickly and would be better served by artist-grade tubes and a larger palette.
| Kit | Price | Paint Quality | Paper Included | Portability | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tobios | $34 | Good student grade | 300 gsm cotton | Excellent | Complete beginners |
| Funto | ~$15 | Basic | Thin paper | Good | Kids and casual use |
| Grabie | ~$25 | Decent | Varies | Fair | People who want lots of colors |
| Winsor & Newton Cotman | ~$45-50 | Better paint quality | No | Good | Beginners who want to grow into a larger system |
If your goal is to get started and keep painting, Tobios is the kit we'd choose. If your goal is professional technique and artist-grade supplies, Winsor & Newton Cotman is the stronger long-term option.
The Tobios Knockoff Problem
Because Tobios is popular, there are plenty of bad imitations floating around. Tell-tale signs of a fake: a plastic palette that warps when wet, magnets too weak to hold the lid, chalky watery paint that won't blend, gouache sold as watercolor, and paper so thin it buckles. You also won't get quality customer service from resellers of cheap imitations. It's worth checking current price and availability on Amazon so you know you're getting the real thing.
Real Customer Reviews
Tobios has over 4,660 reviews and a 4.1 Trustpilot rating. Three verified reviews that match our experience:
“I bought it for me and my husband for our anniversary. We took a picnic and went to the park and painted. It was so much fun. And I'm a terrible painter, but it doesn't matter. I'm learning something new and spending time outside. Love this so much!”
Zoe K.
“This very portable kit is adorable and helps this beginner feel more creative. Great for capturing impressions on the road.”
Tiffany H.
“Portability means more opportunities to paint!”
Susanne E.
Most people don't talk about pigment chemistry. They talk about finally painting again. That was our experience too.
Final Verdict
For beginners who keep putting off getting started, Tobios hits the mark. Most starter sets end up in the attic within a month because they're daunting. Tobios chose high-quality yet affordable materials and a sealed walnut palette, with soft-pan paints built for portability. The water brush, the small size and the complete-in-one-box approach make it easy to bring along on your travels.
The student-grade paints and limited selection mean it's not for serious artists who need large-format, artist-grade materials. But if getting started has been feeling like a chore, this kit removes the excuses.
Ready to start painting? Check current price and availability on Amazon.
Check Price on Amazon →Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tobios?
Tobios is a female-founded company with one simple idea: to make starting art as simple as possible. Founder Mel is a painter who loves cafés, plein air and outdoor locations. She created the first Tobios Kit, named after her cat.
What's included in the Tobios watercolor kit?
It's an all-in-one set: a walnut wood palette with a mixing well and paint wells held shut with strong magnets, a hardcover sketchbook with 60 pages of 300 gsm cotton paper, a refillable water brush with a sealed reservoir, 12 watercolor tubes (a set of primaries plus extras like Venetian Red, Yellow Ochre, Twilight Indigo, Glacier Blue and Ivory Black), a soft wristband, a printed Artist's Manual and a 46-page beginner's e-book, all in a gift box.
What is the best watercolor kit for beginners?
It depends. Tobios is great for absolute beginners who want to start painting quickly. Grabie offers a huge selection of colors. Winsor & Newton Cotman suits those who want to develop their skills gradually with professional-grade paint.
How many colors do you need for a watercolor starter kit?
You'll get more use out of a few colors you can mix together than a huge tin you never touch. There are roughly 12 core colors used in watercolor (6 warm and 6 cool), and 12 paints is enough to get almost anyone started.
Should beginners use watercolor pans or tubes?
Tube paints (like Tobios) are packed with pigment and good for larger washes. Pan paints are neat, organized and very portable. Both work for beginners; it mostly comes down to how you like to paint.
What paper should come in a watercolor kit?
Cold-pressed cotton paper around 300 gsm / 140 lb is ideal. It absorbs water well and stays flat instead of buckling. The 300 gsm cotton paper in the Tobios kit is a genuine upgrade over the thin paper most starter kits ship with.
Is the Tobios watercolor kit worth it?
For the price, you get quality paints and good cotton paper in a sealed, portable palette: a great way to actually start painting. Serious students who need artist-grade materials and a large format will outgrow it, but as a first kit it's easy to recommend.
Prefer pencils to paint? See watercolor pencils vs watercolor paint and our full best watercolor pencils rankings.