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Butterfly 401
Butterfly 401 is the most frequently bought ping pong paddle on Amazon. Along with that, it won Amazon’s choice badge and has 1,151 ratings which speak a lot about its good quality.
It is an ideal racket for beginner/ intermediate level table tennis players who want to upgrade to some professional and high quality paddle after learning basic strokes. However, it is not an ideal racket for a complete beginner player who just entered into the ping pong game. If you are one of that, we recommend you to check out our article: Ten best ping pong paddles for beginners and intermediate players
Now let’s talk about its specifications and what we love about this table tennis racket.
At a glance!
Key Specifications
| ITTF Approved? | Yes |
| Rubber: | 2.1mm thick Yuki Rubber |
| Blade | 5 plywood blade |
| Weight | 5.81 oz |
| Grip | Shakehand grip flared at the end for good grip |
| Our rating | 9/10 |
| Paddle Case? | Included |
Features
ITTF Approved:
The best thing about this paddle is that it is an ITTF Approved paddle. Which means it is a highly professional paddle and can be used in official tournaments as well.
Rubber:
It comes with 2.1 mm thick Yuki rubber on both sides. The rubber with this much thickness offers a good tackiness which means that, the paddle will grip the ball for more time so you can make wise strokes to beat your competitor.
Blade:
It has 5 plywood blade which offers a good amount of power. It got 8/10 rating in speed which is an ideal speed for a beginner level player who just learnt basics of this game and now want to replace his/her paddle with a professional but easy to handle paddle.
Weight:
It has 5.81 oz (165 grams) of weight which is ideal for beginner/intermediate level player.
Grip
It has a shakehand grip ( you are supposed to hold it as you are shaking someone’s hand. What makes it my most favorite paddle is that, it is flared towards the end which means that, your hands won’t get slippery after heavy sweating and will offer you good control. Isn’t it amazing dude?
Rating:
We rated it 9/10 why? Well it is a good paddle though for an intermediate player but not ideal for a complete beginner or an advance level player. Other than that, it has a slightly short handle which might not be ideal for someone with large hands. Overall, it is a really great paddle.
Racket case included:
One thing that make Butterfly brand unique is that, they always go some extra miles to serve their customers. Let’s take an example of butterfly 401, it comes in a case which doesn’t cost you extra money. Isn’t it make it budget friendly? You won’t have to spend some extra bucks on buying case. Let’s speak a truth! It is not of that much quality though but will still keep your paddle safe from sweating and dust.
Our opinion
Overall it is a good paddle for someone who wants to upgrade his paddle to a professional paddle as it is an ITTF Approved one which is a proof of its good quality but it is not ideal for a complete beginner or an advance level player. Other than that, it has a slightly short handle which makes it completely unfit for someone with large hands. Also, 2.1 mm thick rubber is too much for a beginner, so if you are a complete beginner we would recommend you a paddle with 1.5-1.8mm thickness check out Recreational ping pong paddle They have 1.67 mm thickness and they come in a beautiful gift worthy storage case. All in a very reasonable price.
One thing that we strongly like about this paddle is, it is ITTF approved one which makes it a perfect paddle to be used in official tournaments and one thing that we strongly dislike about it is that, 2mm thick sponge attracts too much bacteria and dust so if you are planning to buy this, we would recommend you to clean it more often to keep yourself and your paddle safe.
All in all, it is one of the most popular ping pong paddle among ping pong lovers.
What we like:
- It is an ITTF Approved which means it can be used in official tournaments
- Comes with a racket case
- Has a shakehand flared grip which offers good control to a beginner/intermediate level player
- Won a good overall rating and an Amazon’s choice badge
- 2.1 mm thick sponge offers good power
What we don’t like
- It has a slightly short handle which makes it unfit for someone with large hands
- It has a thick rubber that can gather sweating and dust ( which means you are supposed to clean it more often)
- It has a balanced rating so if you are an advance level player, this paddle is might not be for you.
About the company
Butterfly is an established Japan based table tennis brand. It was founded in 1950s to provide high quality table tennis equipment. Since its beginning, this brand aimed to serve its customers only with high quality products that are simply unbeatable and addicted. Once you will get your hands on any butterfly product, you will absolutely love it!
Butterfly 401 is my most favorite table tennis racket set among their other products.
Wrapping up
The butterfly 401 has a balanced rating of 9.2. It is an ideal paddle for an intermediate players who want to level up their game by investing on a professional paddle that offers good quality in an affordable price.
This information is aimed to help you make a wise purchasing decision. Thanks for reading. I hope this article will help you a lot. Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. We would love to hear back from you!
