The Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 table tennis robot is a brilliant robot that is simple to use and suitable for all levels of players. Here is our review.
Newgy Industries is a US company that is well-known for producing high-quality table tennis robots. Newgy has their own factory in China and all their robots are exclusive to them – they aren’t sticking their logos on other Chinese robots. You can buy from Newgy via Amazon.
NEWGY ROBO-PONG 1040
Here’s everything you need to know about the Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 table tennis robot…
The Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 is a tabletop robot that is able to deliver every spin (except float/no spin) and can place the ball to one spot, or multiple spots on the table. The remote control gives the player control over the speed and frequency of ball delivery, and the oscillation of the robot head.
The following description comes directly from Newgy…
The Robo-Pong 1040 – ping-pong robot to improve your game or for fun and fitness! This model has analog controls to adjust ball speed, frequency and oscillation. Available spins: topspin, backspin, left sidespin, right sidespin, combination spin. Available shot selection: push, chop, serve, counter, lob, fast loop. Head angle adjustments: from low (serves) to high (lobs). Position the robot anywhere on top of the table to get a variety of angles and trajectories. The Robo-Pong 1040 includes Ball Thrower w/oscillation, Ball Bucket with Extender Cage (holds approximately 200 balls for several minutes of non-stop play), Analog Control Panel, 4 Dozen 40mm Robo-Balls and Owner’s Manual.
And here’s a promotional video produced by Newgy highlighting the features of this robot.
This is a basic table tennis robot that is aimed at new players looking to use a robot for developing simple stroke technique and regular footwork.
THE REVIEW
The Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 table tennis robot is almost identical to the Robo-Pong 540. There are just two differences.
Firstly, the Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 has a ball basket extensions which means it is able to hold 200 table tennis balls instead of just 90. This is quite useful as it means you need to refill less often.
Secondly, the Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 has the oscillator functionality. This means it can move the ball around to eight different locations on the table, instead of being fixed to one spot like the Robo-Pong 540.
As the Robo-Pong 1040 is only a little more expensive than the Robo-Pong 540 I feel like it would be silly to buy the 540. You might as well pay a little extra and get the upgrade!
The Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 is small and portable. This makes it ideal if you are going to need to keep moving it between locations.
All Newgy robots come with the easy-to-use rotating spin head. This makes it simple to choose between one of eight different types of spin by simply twisting the mechanism on the front of the robot. I like this way of selecting the spin as it can be changed really easily.
One great bonus to this robot being able to sit on the table is that it means it can deliver balls from lots of different positions. Most robots are fixed and can only shoot out balls from the center of the table. With the Robo-Pong 1040, you can place the robot close to the net or right in the corner of the table.
Another great feature of the Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 is the ability to practice receiving serves from it. You can angle the robot down so that it shoots the ball into its own side of the table. This is a really cool feature and it’s easy to position the robot and set the spin so that it is identical to receiving serves from the training partner. You can also angle it up to practice smashing against high balls.
The only negative when it comes to this robot is the possibility of “jamming”. Jamming refers to when a ball gets stuck in the robot and therefore it stops feeding. When this happens you need to go over and fix the issue, perhaps remove the ball, and then start again. Some Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 owners have complained of this problem. It isn’t serious, but it can be annoying.
Finally, I’m pleased to say that the Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 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 Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 from Amazon;
- Amazon.com: Available for $329 (roughly £225).
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 Newgy. It is very reasonably priced and can do everything you might want from a table tennis robot.
- Amazon.co.uk: Available for £650. It is imported from the USA.
- Amazon.com: Much better value at $749 (roughly £500).
- 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 Newgy Robo-Pong 1040 robot yourself? What did you think of it? Please share your experiences and leave a review below in the comments.