The iPong Mini table tennis robot is a brilliant tabletop robot that is simple to use and suitable for all levels of players. It is the cheapest table tennis robot ever sold! Here is our review.
iPong is a US brand that specializes in producing low-cost, tabletop table tennis robots. iPong robots are sometimes rebranded as “Joola Buddy”. iPong robots are made in China.
IPONG MINI
Here’s everything you need to know about the iPong Mini table tennis robot…
The iPong Mini is a very basic table tennis robot. It gives you no control over speed, spin, frequency or placement – instead delivering 20 balls in roughly 40 seconds to one position on the table. It is designed to help players master the very basic table tennis strokes.
The following description comes directly from iPong…
The iPong Mini is the ideal table tennis training robot for beginners. With no assembly required and a simple on/off switch, just add 4-AA batteries and get ready to play table tennis! It holds up to 25 balls with a sheer shell to let you see when you’re running low and casts 30 balls per minute with its new no-jam spiral gravity ball feeder. At 12” x 7” and 1.5 lbs, the iPong Mini is perfectly portable for any player. The iPong Mini has endless possibilities from playing with friends to playing solo, eliminating the need to fold up the other half the table. This simple, affordable, and fun table tennis robot brings recreational table tennis to a new and higher level of competitive play.
And here’s a promotional video from iPong…
This is a very basic table tennis robot that is aimed at new players looking to use a robot for developing simple stroke technique.
THE REVIEW
The iPong Mini table tennis robot is very small and lightweight. It is made of plastic and designed to be super portable.
I think it’s best to say right from the start that this is a very cheap robot. Some robots, like the Butterfly Amicus Professional, cost close to $2,000! The iPong Mini is on sale for less than $15. Therefore, you can’t really expect the two robots to be anywhere near comparable. You could buy 137 iPong Minis for the price of one Butterfly Amicus Professional.
There is a lot the iPong Mini can’t do. In fact, it can hardly do anything. Any serious player will probably struggle to get a lot of use from this robot. However, if you are a recreational player looking for something fun to use to entertain the kids, then the iPong Mini could be perfect. It’s cheap enough that everyone can afford it.
iPong does have some more advanced table tennis robots that you should check out if you are looking for something quite cheap, but with a few more features. You can find more information on those here.
Finally, I’m pleased to say that the iPong Mini table tennis robot works well with both the old celluloid 40mm balls and the new plastic 40+ ones. For a while, I know a lot of players were worried that the new balls wouldn’t work in their robots due to the small increase in size – but they do. You can read our ball reviews here.
BUY THE ROBOT
You can buy the iPong Mini from Amazon.
- Amazon.com: An absolute bargain at only $14.55!
Or why not check out our favorite table tennis robot, the Newgy Robo-Pong 2050. The Robo-Pong 2050 is the top-of-the-range robot from US company Newgy. It is very reasonably priced and can do everything you might want from a table tennis robot.
- Amazon.com: The best value at $749 (roughly £500).
- Amazon.co.uk: Available for £650. It is imported from the USA.
- Tabletennis11.com: Available for €890.00, with free shipping worldwide.
You might be interested in reading Ben’s popular article The Best Table Tennis Robots, which is available on his Expert Table Tennis blog. And don’t forget to check out all of our other Table Tennis Robot Reviews as well.
Have you used the iPong Mini robot yourself? What did you think of it? Please share your experiences and leave a review below in the comments.