Pongbot Omni S Pro owners' review and discussion thread

[plunder]

We all know and appreciate the versatiliy and the (by @smee0815 @olanga enhanced 🦾) functionality of the Nova S Pro; my Nova was going strong ... until i somehow🤷‍♀️ ran tired of using it. There's nothing wrong with the Nova at such a price point, heck i am keeping 2 units (lemme call them robi2 robi3, i'm not convinced by their inner build quality tbh), and hopefully you keep using it avidly week after week for 1 year and more years to come: it has to be the best robot in the sub-500US$ category ... especially if🤔 it keeps running and running without breaking down. 🛐

I've been documenting my robipon frequency painstakingly, since as a shopper I was curious myself about usage frequency of Power Pong Omega (Butterfly Amicus Prime) by disciplined players like Dario Grd: if i buy a good robot, how often will i end up using it regularly, say after 1 year of ownership? Only if i knew that i'd keep using it often enough in future, the purchase would make sense. So, if you're a Nova owner, i urge you to do the same: tally your frequency month after month, and learn if and by how much you've been slacking off. Then come back and we'll try to fathom together what the slow Nova-use k*ller has been in the long term (i kinda know what has gradually been draining my continued zeal for robi2pon but let's stayed focused on the Omni in this thread). Anyway I went back to training with my returnboards (rb1 rb3 rb4) for several months. And finally i switched back to robipon: training with my Omni S Pro (=robi4) which i bought at post-spring sale discount 🤑

TL;DR If we could travel back in time, i'd simply buy the Omni and be done with the robi acquisition topic.: it beats robi1, robi2, robi3 (=copy of robi2), in essential ways. I don't regret owning and keeping those other 3 robi units (for simple reasons) ... but if i do sell them, i'd let you guys know!

youtube is full of unboxing and first use videos of the Omni, none of the youtubers discuss practical details, curiosities, or similar interesting tidbits. In this thread we'll look at all noteworthy aspects, sometimes in comparison to the Nova and rarely to the Omega because i am not expert at operating robi1. The Nova never broke down on me, so i never dared🤫 to show off any critical details about its build quality; fair enough. I had never owned an Omni before, so i never dared 🤫 to make any own claims or statements on the product; also fair enough. Now i own them all and can finally speak up (and reconfirm/refute what other Omni owners had opined). So stay tuned, i'll keep updating this thread! 🗣️

 

[Jslick89]

I'm interested to see what you discover on the inside of your omni lol. I love mine. the only issues i have with it are very minimal. If Olga was able to do the same thing he did for the Omni that he did with the nova, i would have basically zero issues.

For the price point, its going to be really hard to beat this robot. although Pusun now has a robot thats an even lower price point and seems to the same functionality if not better (3 wheels + rotating head) for an even cheaper price.

 

[Kopp]

I checked, this robot is way too expensive. I'd rather hire a coach than buy it. I already have one that costs only about ⅑ of the price. It doesn't have AI, but it's capable of producing all kinds of spin, short and long balls and different placements. All the settings can be fixed or randomized. Maybe if I had some extra money, I would buy this one... but I never have 😅

 

[laowa]

I checked, this robot is way too expensive. I'd rather hire a coach than buy it. I already have one that costs only about ⅑ of the price. It doesn't have AI, but it's capable of producing all kinds of spin, short and long balls and different placements. All the settings can be fixed or randomized. Maybe if I had some extra money, I would buy this one... but I never have 😅

Btw what robot are u using?

 

[Kopp]

Btw what robot are u using?

https://revspin.net/robot/huieson-hs-r1.html

I bought it 4 years ago. It was only round €90 at that time. What I really like about it is that it can run on both a rechargeable battery and electricity. The battery lasts for about 4 hours, and the bucket can hold around 100 balls.

 

[plunder]

Pongbot Pocketable Powerbank

The standby current consumption of the Omni is 0.7A, if you do supply the spec'ed 24.0V. One could operate the robot at a significantly lower out-of-spec DC supply voltage (22 20 18 16 14 ... Volts), then the current draw will be higher, so that the wattage remains about the same at 16W. At full flight, the Omni draws never over 0.95A, resulting in a 2h45min robi4pon session duration with my Pweite 4x21700 powerbank (pb1). If i wanted to continue the session from a mobile power supply, i'd simply switch to my other Pweite 4x21700 powerbank (pb2) for another 2h45min lol.

When i had bought pb1 and pb2 not too long ago at pricey pricing, i wasn't aware of a modern pocketable powerbank shell which was capable of 24V DC output (barrel jack port) AND featured user-replaceable batteries (typically 18650's not 21700's). All one needs it 1 unit of this dream gadget (model name "T8" = pb3), it's so inexpensive and functional, highly recommended, makes the Pongbot use more enjoyable 🥰:

The loop (wrist strap) of the pb3 carry case is key. Use the loop on/around the rubber bumper, i.e. the distance holder between the Omni robot and the edge of the table. That's just perfect of a location for letting the powerbank dangle around right next to the robot in-air:

( photo to be added soon )

After the robi4pon session i take the powerbank out (leaving the carry case dangling empty at the table) and recharge it from a wall adapter (230V AC-to-24V DC for pb1/pb2, or 230V AC-to-20V PD USB-C for pb3). Pb3 is advertised at a 65W PD USB rating, during the first 30min of charge it comes really close , so no false advertising:

Using cheap Chinese 1500mAh 18650 cells, charging pb3 takes 62min only. Highly appreciated by me: as soon as the displays goes from "99%" to "100%", the charging stops, and likewise as soon as the displays goes from "1%" to "0%" during Omni operation, the pb3 shuts itself off. In other words, the pb3's SoC display (state of charge, in percent) is "accurate" in that regard, nice!

Using those 1500mAh cells i get an idle runtime of 2h10min. I recorded the pb3's SoC against time, at a constant current draw of 0.7A, the SoC has a very linear course (down to 15%, then discharging accelerates):

18650 cells with a certified 3500mAh capacity are common place, e.g. the MJ1 by Korean manufacturer LG. With such nice cells, at full flight you could expect around 4.0h of runtime, i.e. definitely longer than my pb1's runtime of 2h45min (24V 0.95A).

Sorry if this post sounds like a 'chinese powerbanks review haha' but to me, 24V-capable powerbanks are the way to go with Omni (and with Nova). Plenty of runtime, very satisfying, fast(!) recharging thru barrel jack or PD USB protocol (ATTENTION: pb3 does NOT support charging thru the barrel jack port!), no more cables, power adaptor, multiple socket outlet, extension cable on the floor! Makes it easier to collect balls from around the table. And yes, with the Omni one still needs to collect balls off the floor 😆

Btw, even if you doht want to operate your Omni from a powerbank (erh... in order to save monies??), i'd still recommend getting the T8 model together with 8 MJ1's: it's the ultimate pocketable powerbank solution for the rest of your life. Greedy companies charge up to 149US$ for the industrial design version.

(post is in progress)