Tennisfever
New User
Just got the S4015 and can confirm it’s really heavy. My girlfriend couldn’t lift it, but she’s a lightweight at 45kg’s though.
Siboasi 4015 Tennis Ball Machine
- Thread starter esantoro
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Just got the S4015 and can confirm it’s really heavy. My girlfriend couldn’t lift it, but she’s a lightweight at 45kg’s though.
Tennisfever
New User
The S4015 looks and feels solid, built like a tank, but I haven’t been able to try it out yet because of the lockdown.
I got it for a really good price, about $1,315 including shipping to Hong Kong. Normal price on Taobao is about $2,000 excluding shipping.
dennis allaway
New User
The ‘F’ button should only reset the position of the motors to the position it assumes when you switch the machine on. Ie the centre and medium height. So, assuming that you’ve moved the mechanism left or right, or up or down a bit during play, pressing F will bring it back to the centre. If it doesn’t do this then you either have a faulty main board or something blocking the optical sensors. Most likely the main board though. The sensors can get obstructed, so some jets of air in and around the mechanism should clear anything.
Tennisfever
New User
You mean the ball position indicator on the remote control? Mine also doesn’t move, unlike with the programming function. You have to guesstimate the position based on the number for the horizontal placement, 40 is middle of the court, 10 far left and 70 far right. The vertical button increases/decreases the height of the ball, not really position although a lower ball will land closer to the net. Need to play around with the speed and spin as well to get the position, speed, height, and spin you want.
dennis allaway
New User
None of what you have said makes sense.
the s4015 has lots of preset position drills that you select from the appropriate drill type button on the remote - each button cycles through various iterations of that drill - it’s very straight forward. It also has a program mode where you are presented with 20 (I think) positions to choose from and you can program in as many of the preset positions that you want - you do not manually change the up/down/left/right position to select. Finally it has the manual mode where you can move the mechanism incrementally in either direction and/or up and down using those buttons on the remote.
if your machine does not do these things in this way then you either have the wrong remote or it is not an s4015.
the s4015 has a digital battery level display at the back of the machine.
the s4015 has lots of preset position drills that you select from the appropriate drill type button on the remote - each button cycles through various iterations of that drill - it’s very straight forward. It also has a program mode where you are presented with 20 (I think) positions to choose from and you can program in as many of the preset positions that you want - you do not manually change the up/down/left/right position to select. Finally it has the manual mode where you can move the mechanism incrementally in either direction and/or up and down using those buttons on the remote.
if your machine does not do these things in this way then you either have the wrong remote or it is not an s4015.
the s4015 has a digital battery level display at the back of the machine.
dennis allaway
New User
Or it has a faulty main board...
Tennisfever
New User
I think you misunderstood what I wrote. I was talking about the fixed position function. You can adjust where the ball lands with the left-right buttons and the height with the up-down buttons. But with the fixed position function the remote control doesn’t show where the ball will land, the ball indicator on the remote control stays in the middle, unlike with the program function where you select the landing locations with the left-right, up-down buttons and you can see the positions of the programmed balls on the remote control.
And yes, I have the S4015 with the battery indicator.
Yes, I agree with TennisFever.
When manually adjusting the horizontal/vertical values it would be nice if the little ball icon on the remote moved as you adjusted the values. Instead you are left "guessing" where the ball is going to go.
Obviously there is logic (40 is middle of the court, 10 far left and 70 far right) but still a bit annoying that the ball icon doesn't move on the display, albeit not a big issue. (maybe its not even designed for that purpose)
I also watched one of Dennis's remote control videos.
He was able to get a topspin with top wheel setting (100) and bottom wheel setting (60), it appears I cant do that on mine. If I select topspin then the bottom wheel gets locked on value 20 and I can only adjust the top (20,40,60,80,100,120) and vice versa for backspin. Not sure if they've made an update to the settings and Dennis has an old release of the S4015?
Assume the fasted topspin possible is 120top and 20 bottom?
When manually adjusting the horizontal/vertical values it would be nice if the little ball icon on the remote moved as you adjusted the values. Instead you are left "guessing" where the ball is going to go.
Obviously there is logic (40 is middle of the court, 10 far left and 70 far right) but still a bit annoying that the ball icon doesn't move on the display, albeit not a big issue. (maybe its not even designed for that purpose)
I also watched one of Dennis's remote control videos.
He was able to get a topspin with top wheel setting (100) and bottom wheel setting (60), it appears I cant do that on mine. If I select topspin then the bottom wheel gets locked on value 20 and I can only adjust the top (20,40,60,80,100,120) and vice versa for backspin. Not sure if they've made an update to the settings and Dennis has an old release of the S4015?
Assume the fasted topspin possible is 120top and 20 bottom?
Tennisfever
New User
Hmmm...... I can get literally any combination of top and backspin from 20-140 from the top and bottom rollers. The only setting where the speed of the ball is locked to max 50 is when the vertical setting is set very high, which makes sense because the balls would otherwise shoot over the fence and into the windows of neighboring apartments.
Oh, and the F fixed position button doesn’t really reset to middle of the court and medium speed after pressing it. You need to power down the remote control and turn it on again to reset it to default setting.
Tennisfever
New User
Yeah, I get that a lot too! A lock would’ve been useful.
Also think having a randomize function as well as a cycle function for the 2-3 ball and horizontal/vertical drills would’ve been nice. I think the only randomize option there is right now is just random positions on the whole court, which is not that useful. Guess you could program a semi- random sequence but it’s a bit of work.
Hello all, I am new on this site and was wondering if I could get some information on Siboasi 4015. I have requested info on their website but haven't gotten a reply yet.
I checked videos and other details on this but there isn't any clear info on what I would like to know:
- are there preset drills on the remote (from the info it seems like there are some basic ones, not like the Lobster Elite Grand V LE).
- can one program drills and save them on the remote or is it just ad hoc, i.e. you just have to program one and run it every time?
- anyone who already purchased this, do you have any contact or pricing please? also can one haggle on the price or is it fixed?
- How long does it take for the delivery?
- I am looking for a reliable way to purchase. On the company website there are many contacts and such and I tried two of them, one through whatsapp and one through e-mail. SO far I haven't gotten any reply.
- are there any new models (like W7) that are better than the S4015? W7 doesn't have all the features as S4015.
any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
I checked videos and other details on this but there isn't any clear info on what I would like to know:
- are there preset drills on the remote (from the info it seems like there are some basic ones, not like the Lobster Elite Grand V LE).
- can one program drills and save them on the remote or is it just ad hoc, i.e. you just have to program one and run it every time?
- anyone who already purchased this, do you have any contact or pricing please? also can one haggle on the price or is it fixed?
- How long does it take for the delivery?
- I am looking for a reliable way to purchase. On the company website there are many contacts and such and I tried two of them, one through whatsapp and one through e-mail. SO far I haven't gotten any reply.
- are there any new models (like W7) that are better than the S4015? W7 doesn't have all the features as S4015.
any help is appreciated.
Thanks!
dennis allaway
New User
Hi
Firstly, let me tell you that whichever machine you choose, it’s better than a lobster.
I’m not sure where you’re from, but I’ll assume the UK.
The biggest problem with lobster is that they don’t have internal ball direction. The top half of the machine rotates to do this. All siboasi machines have internal ball direction. Believe me, when you are playing in ‘player’/random mode - you don’t want to see where it is going to put the ball. this feature is invaluable.
also, lobsters are hugely overpriced.
as for siboasi, the s4015 is the top of all the ranges. Yes, you can program in a drill, but only one, and that is forgotten when you switch the machine off (I think).
it does have preset drills, both 2 line and 3 line (ie a 2 line will put a ball, say, deep far right, then short far left, a 3 line will put one on the right, one in the middle, then one on the left, then back to middle etc). You can also get it to do random base line drops, or vollies etc.
There is also single point anywhere, very effective top and back spin, speed and frequency control.
as for pricing - that’s a tough one. I used to import and sell them (uk only) but theygot very expensive and the (unavoidable) import duties were horrendous. Even at £2000 I’d barely make any money - so offering support or warranty just made it impossible to continue. Siboasi themselves were also difficult to deal with. Almost non-negotiable on price, inflexible and no real support. They also gave me no help or respect whatsoever in marketing or supporting their products.
The machines aren’t perfect either, even though they’ve had years to get them right.
there are some poorly designed features. The mechanics are somewhat fragile.
I’d still buy one though.
My advice - if you see a new one (s3015 or s4015) cheap on alibaba - see how much it costs to get it to your door (remembering you might get stung with import taxes). Or get a second hand one off ****.
hope that helps
dennis
Firstly, let me tell you that whichever machine you choose, it’s better than a lobster.
I’m not sure where you’re from, but I’ll assume the UK.
The biggest problem with lobster is that they don’t have internal ball direction. The top half of the machine rotates to do this. All siboasi machines have internal ball direction. Believe me, when you are playing in ‘player’/random mode - you don’t want to see where it is going to put the ball. this feature is invaluable.
also, lobsters are hugely overpriced.
as for siboasi, the s4015 is the top of all the ranges. Yes, you can program in a drill, but only one, and that is forgotten when you switch the machine off (I think).
it does have preset drills, both 2 line and 3 line (ie a 2 line will put a ball, say, deep far right, then short far left, a 3 line will put one on the right, one in the middle, then one on the left, then back to middle etc). You can also get it to do random base line drops, or vollies etc.
There is also single point anywhere, very effective top and back spin, speed and frequency control.
as for pricing - that’s a tough one. I used to import and sell them (uk only) but theygot very expensive and the (unavoidable) import duties were horrendous. Even at £2000 I’d barely make any money - so offering support or warranty just made it impossible to continue. Siboasi themselves were also difficult to deal with. Almost non-negotiable on price, inflexible and no real support. They also gave me no help or respect whatsoever in marketing or supporting their products.
The machines aren’t perfect either, even though they’ve had years to get them right.
there are some poorly designed features. The mechanics are somewhat fragile.
I’d still buy one though.
My advice - if you see a new one (s3015 or s4015) cheap on alibaba - see how much it costs to get it to your door (remembering you might get stung with import taxes). Or get a second hand one off ****.
hope that helps
dennis
Thanks so much for the info Dennis! I live in the United States.
I completely agree with you on the internal ball direction. That's what I have been looking for. It's not productive if one can see which way the ball is going. All the ball machines I have seen here in the States do not have internal ball direction. There is one brand with internal ball direction, Spinfire Pro2 (https://www.spinfireusa.com). Not sure how good it is. I am researching more on this one.
If anyone has Spinfire Pro2 please let me know your experience with it.
Thank you very much for the info on S4015.
I completely agree with you on the internal ball direction. That's what I have been looking for. It's not productive if one can see which way the ball is going. All the ball machines I have seen here in the States do not have internal ball direction. There is one brand with internal ball direction, Spinfire Pro2 (https://www.spinfireusa.com). Not sure how good it is. I am researching more on this one.
If anyone has Spinfire Pro2 please let me know your experience with it.
Thank you very much for the info on S4015.
dennis allaway
New User
Yes, the spinfire is good. I believe that the 2 brands have some connection hence similar design and functions. Australian, and more expensive over here in the uk than siboasi.
Tennisfever
New User
I have the 4015. Overall I’m very satisfied with it and my ground strokes, volleys, and overheads have improved a lot since I got it. In fact, I think a ballmachine is the single best way to improve your game, if you’re serious about it.
As I said before the one big, disadvantage of the 4015 is its weight, the thing is damn heavy. It also doesn’t really roll over curbs so there’s a lot of heavy lifting to get the machine to the court.
You can program up to 20 balls all over the court but I think they all have the same spin and height, can’t program a volley and a lob for example. And you can’t save programs. To be honest I haven’t used the programming function much at all. I usually focus on one particular stroke, for example deep, heavy topspin balls to the backhand.
The new W7 looks like a simplified version of the 4015, without programming function. If it has the same internals and the price is good that wouldn’t be a bad option.
dennis allaway
New User
Just to add to that - I’m not sure that the w7 has the same internals as the s series. I think it uses the older mechanical sensors rather than the newer optical - and I’m not sure it has lithium ion batteries either. It’s the old technology in the new skin I think. Whilst that isn’t bad, there is more to go wrong.
Spinfire
New User
Spinfire does not have any connection to Siobasi. The Spinfire Pro 2 is designed and manufactured by Spinfire Sport, based in Melbourne, Australia, but distributed all over the world with local country support & service.
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Spinfire
New User
There are over 125 verified reviews for the Spinfire Pro 2, some already for the Version 2 which was just released, available if you scroll down the page a bit at each of these two links:: USA Reviews & Australian Reviews
Also look out for dk sportbot.
These are the exact same machines as Sibaosi, just under a different brand.
I managed to pickup a DK sportbot DT2 recently which is the same as S4015 for £900, Was 2nd hand but hardly used so there are bargains to be had but there aren't many of them.
These are the exact same machines as Sibaosi, just under a different brand.
I managed to pickup a DK sportbot DT2 recently which is the same as S4015 for £900, Was 2nd hand but hardly used so there are bargains to be had but there aren't many of them.
Tennisfever
New User
The Spinfire has some cool horizontal and vertical random features which the S4015 doesn’t have. But the Spinfire is also twice as expensive.
antony
Hall of Fame
is there anything else that you'd consider? Or is the Spinfire probably my best bet?
Tennisfever
New User
Well, there’s the Hydrogen Proton of course, but not sure when they’ll have stock.
The Spinfire and the Siboasi are quite similar. The Spinfire has a few more fancy features and just looks a bit more polished. But the Siboasi is no slouch. It’s a well made machine with quality components, and good value for money.
antony
Hall of Fame
September
JEDI MASTER
Professional
September
saw the T1600 on FB market place for like $1600..
looks very capable machine.. but weighing in at around 60lbs... way too heavy....
antony
Hall of Fame
i just ordered the Spinfire. The S4015 was about the same price from where I could find them so it wasn't any competition between the two. I might've taken a chance on a Hydrogen Proton but I need to play with a ball machine now! I'd be out there this moment if I had one.
Tennisfever
New User
A tad paranoid perhaps?
Tennisfever
New User
The battery of my Siboasi 4015 crapped out on me last week, after only a year of usage. It would only charge up to 50% and the machine would die after a few minutes. Contacted the Siboasi aftersales service and luckily I got a new battery sent to me within a week for free. Have to say it was not easy to replace the battery though, definitely not plug and play. A lot of difficult to reach screws and tight paces to manoeuvre around. But managed to do it in the end. Hope the new battery will last a bit longer this time.
Mine is still holding up well, Although its an external battery which is actually quite handy especially if it ever does need replaced.
Its a bit of a shame you can't get the machine to randomize speed, height, topspin and slice in one drill. But must say I am still loving the machine.
Matt Caldwell
New User
Does anyone know what the warranty is on the Siboasi Machine? Going back on forth on it and still looking at few other tennis ball machines. I like what a lot of people are saying about but have some doubts. My tennis club only has Lobster Tennis Machines so I haven't ever used any of the other brands. Any recommendations on the Siboasi compared to Lobster would be helpful!
Tennisfever
New User
Should be one year guarantee. I had an issue with my battery and they sent me a new one free of charge, with a new charger even. Had to replace the battery myself though, which wasn’t super easy, a lot of difficult to reach little screws. Can’t comment on Lobster unfortunately.
I've had a 2nd hand one for a year now and had no issues at all.
Not sure what can really go significantly wrong. Its a couple of wheels that spin.
I suspect like most devices, issues may come from a repeated soaking in rain showers.
Now you can get it shipped with an external battery too, thats what mine is.
Means any battery issues would be much easier resolved.
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