Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table Review

If you are in the market for a mid to low range, easy to store and sturdy table you may have come across the Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table made by Harvil and sold on Amazon.com by Dazadi for $349.00.

Harvil Insider Table Tennis TableIn this post, we will be reviewing the Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table, weighing up the pros and cons of buying one and making a few other suggestions. It is our hope that after reading this, you will find it much easier to decide whether this table is right for you.

Before we get into the review, we recommend you check out Ben’s popular article, The Best Table Tennis Tables, for a comprehensive look at everything you should consider before buying a table tennis table.

You might also like to visit our Table Tennis Table Review page for our other reviews.

Harvil Insider Table

In this review, we will be looking at the following factors…

  1. Features
  2. Price
  3. Customer Satisfaction
  4. Recommendations
  5. The Final Word

1. Features

The Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table features a 5/8 inch (16mm) thick playing surface top, adjustable feet to protect your floors from scratches, and it comes in two pieces for easy storage and setup. It has a playback feature (meaning you can put half of the table up to hit against – if you want to). And it can also be stored away very compact.

The table, we found, is sturdy and the MDF playing surface offers a consistent bounce. The aluminium housing provides great protection to the playing top and prevents unwanted denting when moving the table around.

16mm Playing Top

Harvil Insider Table Tennis TableThe biggest weakness of this table is the 16mm playing surface. 16mm is on the thinner side of tables, while regulation tables are 25mm. Being thin you can expect slower play and a lower bounce than normal as compared to regulation tables.

Ben talk’s a lot more about the importance of table thickness in his comprehensive article The Best Table Tennis Tables but, in short, competition tables are 25mm thick and you really need a table to be 19mm thick in order to get a “decent” bounce.

If you are just looking for a table to use for a bit of fun, recreational table tennis, and maybe a bit of training here and there, then a 16mm playing surface is fine. However, if you are used to playing on “proper” tables, or planning on learning how to play table tennis at a club or perhaps playing competitively, then a 16mm table might not meet your standards.

Mobile Design

Harvil Insider Table Tennis TableThe Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table has an MDF table top supported by an aluminium housing. The undercarriage hosts a durable powder coated steel frame. It is also equipped with 8 locking wheels, 4 on each side of the table, that allow portable and non-permanent setup.

Weighing in at just under 150 pounds the table is quite light for a full sized one. Being as light as it is, storing the table is a breeze.

The table dimensions while stored are; 61.5 inches long, 23.6 inches wide and 63.5 inches high. Its really made for easy storage.

Added Extras

Harvil Insider Table Tennis TableIncluded with the table are 4 bats, 8 balls, an accessory bag (for the balls and bats), a net and a protective cover. They make it sound great, but here are a few things we found out….

The bats and balls the table comes with are rubbish (if you’d like to discover why the majority of premade table tennis bats are terrible, click here). You’ll need to invest in some better ones and chuck those away.

The net set included is very cheap, does not meet proper standards, and can hinder play. Ben’s seen so many of these useless nets over the years that he decided to write a blog post sharing some of the best table tennis nets. If you do buy this table, we recommend you check out that article and buy yourself a replacement net. A good table tennis net will normally cost you about £20. But it’s so worth it! The net makes the table and allows you to play a fun game. A saggy net that keeps falling down is super irritating.

Finally, the ‘protective cover’ is just a plastic sheet.

3. Customer Satisfaction

The reviews we have come across on Amazon.com have quite varied responses. Here are a few…

“Great table! Well built. Easy to assemble. Ready to play in 30 minutes.”

 

“Love it! Easy to put together, easy to flip up/down, even the kids can do it!”

 

“This table is only 1/4″ thick and is, by far, the thinnest table in its price category. Other lower priced tables are 1/2″ to 5/8″ thick (ie. 2x+ as thick) and their reviews say they start to warp or bend after a short period of time. There is just no way a 1/4″ thick table will stand up. Also based on direct experience it is going to take (way) more than 30 minutes to assemble the table.”

The last comment was from a customer who owned several higher quality tables before trying out the Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table. It definitely is something to think about.

4. Recommendations

Do you think this is the right table for you?

If you are looking for a competition-standard table…

Then clearly the Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table is not for you. You’ll need to spend quite a bit more than $349.00 in order to get that kind of quality and performance.

If you want a cheap but well-built table…

We’d suggest you take a look at the Stiga Advantage – you can check out our full review here on it and it is definitely the best quality value table out there. The Stiga Advantage is not a competition-ready table, but it’s the best budget table tennis table we’ve come across. It is only $50 more expensive than the Harvil Insider but it comes from one of the most well-known brands in table tennis, includes a competition standard net, and have much better customer reviews on Amazon.

5. The Final Word

The Harvil Insider Table Tennis Table is clearly an imitation of the popular Stiga Advantage and Joola Inside tables. It even looks like they tried to copy the name of the Joola table!

Unfortunately, Harvil hasn’t quite been able to match the quality and performance of the tables from the better-known brands. With there being only a little different in price, we don’t see why anyone would take a gamble with the Harvil Insider instead of paying a little more and getting the Stiga Advantage.

Not sure if this table is the right one for you? No problem! You can check out all of our other table tennis table reviews here.

Summary
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Reviewed Item
Harvil Insider
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