AlphaDave
New User
There were a couple of people on the Facebook group posting that they'd had their notifications that they would ship soon, all based in Taipei it seems but the first batch appears to be a small one.
Pongbot Aura
- Thread starter dak95_00
- Start date
This in particular. They're creating the appearance that they just burned right on through the kickstarter $$$ and are looking for a way to gin up more $$$ fast. Not a good look at all.
Also, speaking as a private business owner, some simple and frequent communication - even if blatantly placating communication - is free, important to customers and goes one hell of a long way.
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
Agreed. It also concerns me because Pongbot is an established company with a multi-year history of table tennis machine products and an existing tennis ball machine product (Pace S since early 2025) that has had generally good reviews. So after raising more than US$4 million dollars on Kickstarter for the Aura one would think they shouldn’t need even more money to get production started so they could ship machines by their own announced July deadline.
Given that it is now early September and I have yet to see any confirmation that early Kickstarter backers have received their Auras, I’m not happy.
AlphaDave
New User
From IFA Berlin.
www.facebook.com
No sign of the AI camera and those who've had theirs shipped are all without the camera so just the unit. I'm guessing they're having some issues there.
11K views · 18 comments | ESSE ROBÔ JOGA TÊNIS COM VOCÊ Encontrei o PONGBOT na IFA 2026, um robô criado para treinar tênis de verdade. Ele lança bolas, se movimenta pela quadra e permite configurar diferentes tipos de treino para simular situações
ESSE ROBÔ JOGA TÊNIS COM VOCÊ Encontrei o PONGBOT na IFA 2026, um robô criado para treinar tênis de verdade. Ele lança bolas, se movimenta pela quadra e permite configurar diferentes tipos de...
www.facebook.com
No sign of the AI camera and those who've had theirs shipped are all without the camera so just the unit. I'm guessing they're having some issues there.
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
Thanks @AlphaDave but I don’t use Meta products. Can you please tell me what that link is about? A Kickstarter backer who has received their unit and posted about it? Thank you.
the_faceless_player
Hall of Fame
It's a post about Pongbot being at a German tech trade show. The Aura is on display with no AI camera module in it.
I bought this product on the mainland China shopping platform. At present, it has arrived. I will test it in the next few days. As far as I feel, it will be relatively smaller than other competitors, but I think its workmanship is not very good. It is relatively rough, and this machine has one. Version differences in local areas. That is, the one purchased in mainland China cannot be operated with APPs other than this region, and it is not designed and assembled with a remote control. It can only use the mobile phone for Bluetooth control. That is to say, if you want to buy on the platform in mainland China, you can only use the APP in this region, which is relatively troublesome.
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WilsonBlade98
Rookie
Thank you for posting, we look forward to your review.
dak95_00
Hall of Fame
I saw the same. But then the same person said he was using programs instead of just settings and that made me second guess his English language skills.
I’ll wait to receive mine before I pass judgement but I do have definite concerns. Those balls were obviously slow.
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
I sure hope that is not the maximum speed. I’m dubious…
That certainly looks a bit slow on those Facebook videos. Yikes... I'm also curious about the noise of the machine and how loud it'll be on public courts. The Pace S wasn't too loud but the Aura in the video sounds like it might be slightly worse. We'll see. That said, the Tenniix in the video above sounds awful. I'd be worried about using that around other players.
the_faceless_player
Hall of Fame
They shipped 100 units to the US this week and are expecting around that amount or a bit more every 7-10 days. Maybe they meant July 2027 shipping....
USA has to be sub-divided into multiple regions logistics wise. At least that's what I tell myself when US backers in the 1000s got shipping notices this week and I didn't as #45. I'll consider myself lucky if I get mine before end of year.
USA has to be sub-divided into multiple regions logistics wise. At least that's what I tell myself when US backers in the 1000s got shipping notices this week and I didn't as #45. I'll consider myself lucky if I get mine before end of year.
JEDI MASTER
Professional
me too! Bay Area.. nothin yet..
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
New review of the Aura, not by a Kickstarter backer that received their machine, but a teenager in France who, along with his father, has a YouTube channel called “ELouan Tennis” about his tennis activities and aspirations and who also reviews ball machines. He looks like a pretty good player for his age. I found the narration rather disconcerting, as it is done in the first person but the voice is an English adult male which does not at all match up with what is shown in the video. Obviously the voice is AI generated, so why not use a teenage boy’s voice with a French accent? That would be more accurate.
Overall it is positive review. Specifically noted is that the max ball speed appears to be what Pongobt claims, however he did not use a radar gun to measure it so it’s only a subjective impression.
Note: the Aura that Pongobt provided for this review did not include the Spotter cameras or the Spotter base. So none of the advanced features could be tested, which severely limits the usefulness of the information provided.
The YouTube thumbnail calls it a “full review” and shows the words “Spotter & AI Coach (coming soon)” so in my opinion it’s not a full review at all.
Overall it is positive review. Specifically noted is that the max ball speed appears to be what Pongobt claims, however he did not use a radar gun to measure it so it’s only a subjective impression.
Note: the Aura that Pongobt provided for this review did not include the Spotter cameras or the Spotter base. So none of the advanced features could be tested, which severely limits the usefulness of the information provided.
The YouTube thumbnail calls it a “full review” and shows the words “Spotter & AI Coach (coming soon)” so in my opinion it’s not a full review at all.
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
New update from Pongbot, #9, it states:
—————-
We have recently shipped another 400 Aura units, and we’re pleased to see our production capacity continuing to ramp up. Our current goal is to complete shipping for nearly 80% of all Kickstarter Aura orders in October, with the remaining orders planned for shipment in November.
——————
There is an odd claim in that update:
——————
As more Aura units reach our backers and make their way onto the court, we’re excited to see how actively they’re already being used. We’ve now reached an exciting milestone: the average Aura has launched more than 1,000 balls.
——————
I typically hit over 500 balls in one training session with my current ball machine, and I’m sure many players exceed 1,000 balls in a single session. I find it odd that Pongbot is acting like that is a big deal.
But what really strikes me is, why is Pongbot tracking how many balls Aura users are hitting? I don’t want the company to automatically maintain a record of everything I do with my Aura. That’s a privacy issue.
Apps sold through the Apple App Store are required to offer privacy controls so I am expecting that the Aura app will allow the user to turn off data sharing with Pongbot. I just looked in the App Store and do not see a Pongbot app for the Aura. I thought it would be released by now. Am I missing it?
—————-
We have recently shipped another 400 Aura units, and we’re pleased to see our production capacity continuing to ramp up. Our current goal is to complete shipping for nearly 80% of all Kickstarter Aura orders in October, with the remaining orders planned for shipment in November.
——————
There is an odd claim in that update:
——————
As more Aura units reach our backers and make their way onto the court, we’re excited to see how actively they’re already being used. We’ve now reached an exciting milestone: the average Aura has launched more than 1,000 balls.
——————
I typically hit over 500 balls in one training session with my current ball machine, and I’m sure many players exceed 1,000 balls in a single session. I find it odd that Pongbot is acting like that is a big deal.
But what really strikes me is, why is Pongbot tracking how many balls Aura users are hitting? I don’t want the company to automatically maintain a record of everything I do with my Aura. That’s a privacy issue.
Apps sold through the Apple App Store are required to offer privacy controls so I am expecting that the Aura app will allow the user to turn off data sharing with Pongbot. I just looked in the App Store and do not see a Pongbot app for the Aura. I thought it would be released by now. Am I missing it?
AlphaDave
New User
PONGBOT Sports App - App Store
Download PONGBOT Sports by Shanghai Future Mind Co., Ltd. on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like PONGBOT Sports.
apps.apple.com
WilsonBlade98
Rookie
Thanks @AlphaDave, I found the app and installed it after reading the privacy policy document. The app does not provide access to the Aura interface with no connection to the ball machine. So nothing to see yet. I scanned through some of the videos in the “Community” section of the app but didn’t find any about the Aura.
the_faceless_player
Hall of Fame
They’ve responded to me every time I’ve messaged them on Kickstarter. Usually same day too
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