If you are in the market for a cheap Table tennis table then no doubt you will have come across the Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table sold by Kickback Sports (aka Sports Direct) for £189.99. For your information, the Donnay brand is owned by Sports Direct (the UK’s largest sporting retailer).
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In this post, we will be reviewing the Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table, weighing up the pros and cons of buying one and making a few other suggestions. It is our hope that after reading this, you will find it much easier to decide whether this table is right for you.
Before we get into the review, we recommend you check out Ben’s popular article, The Best Table Tennis Tables, for a comprehensive look at everything you should consider when buying a table tennis table.
You might also like to visit our Table Tennis Table Review page for our other reviews.
Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table
In this review, we will be looking at the following factors…
- Features
- Price
- Customer Satisfaction
- Recommendations
1. Features
The Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table features a 12mm playing surface (top), adjustable feet, and comes in two halves which can be wheeled around. It is very well made and super easy to assemble. It has a playback feature (meaning you can put one half of the table up to hit against – if you want to). And it can also be stored away very compact (see below).
We actually quite like the look of the table. The blue colour looks good (sometimes the shade of colour used just looks odd) and we also like how it has DONNAY printed on the table surface. Sounds good so far.
Table Thickness
The primary weakness of this table is the thickness of the playing surface. 12mm is a very thin table and as such you can expect the ball to be pretty slow and lack the height of bounce you would see on a thicker table. Ben talk’s a lot more about the importance of table thickness in his comprehensive article The Best Table Tennis Tables but, in short, competition tables are 25mm thick and you really need a table to be 19mm thick in order to get a “decent” bounce.
If you are just looking for a table to use for a bit of fun, recreational ping pong and you have no intention of ever playing serious table tennis, then getting a cheap table like this one with a 12mm top isn’t the end of the world. However, if you are used to playing on “proper” tables, or planning on learning how to play table tennis at a club or perhaps playing competitively, then a 12mm table could be rather disappointing.
The frame and undercarriage of the table are also a little bit flimsy, but what do you expect from a £189.99 table!
Indoor & Outdoor Use
As the name suggests, this Donnay table tennis table can be used both indoors and outdoors. I’ve highlighted the important word, though – used. This is not an outdoor table!
Outdoor table tennis tables are considerably more expensive because they are made of completely different materials than indoor ones. This allows them to live outside (or in a shed/garage) without getting wet, damp, or warping.
Sports Direct point out in the small print that, “This table must be stored indoors when not in use.” Basically, it’s an indoor table tennis table. There’s no harm in using it outside briefly, on a nice day, but make sure it is kept indoors and not exposed to the elements otherwise we’re afraid it will begin to disintegrate.
Added Extras
Included with the table are two bats, three balls, a net and post set, and a storage cover. Again, sounds great! The only problem is that the bats and balls are useless (if you’d like to discover why the majority of premade table tennis bats are terrible, click here), the storage cover is just a very cheap sheet, and the net you are given isn’t the same as the one shown in the photos of the table!
We would expect freebie bats and balls to be useless but it’s the rubbish net that really annoys us with this table. You can see from the photo above that the net provided is one that folds away, is really flimsy, and basically just sags all of the time. We think it’s a bit dodgy to show an expensive, solid clip-on net in the table images when that doesn’t actually come with the table.
Ben’s seen so many of these useless nets over the years that he decided to write a blog post sharing some of the best table tennis nets. If you do buy this table, we recommend you check out that article and buy yourself a replacement net. A good table tennis net will normally cost you about £20. But it’s so worth it! The net makes the table and allows you to play a fun game. A saggy net that keeps falling down is super irritating.
2. Price
We want to start off by saying that £189.99 is unbelievably cheap for a full-size table tennis table produced by a reputable brand (Donnay/Sports Direct) and sold by an established retailer (Amazon). UK delivery is only £4.99 as well, and delivering a table tennis table can’t be the easiest thing in the world.
We doubt that you will find a better table for under £200 (unless you buy a second hand one on eBay, but then you’ve got the hassle of collecting it), so you can’t really fault the table on price. However, you do get what you pay for. Don’t expect the Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table to compare to the kind of table you can buy for £300-400.
3. Customer Satisfaction
Customer reviews on Amazon have been very strong. Here’s a small selection…
“It was what was expected. Robust, easy to assemble and a great birthday present for my grandson.”
“Great quality for that price, easy to assemble and fold, the rain cover is great too. I would recommend.”
“Easy to set up and it’s a great product. Bought for the office and does the job!”
The third review is spot on. The Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table “does the job”. It’s a full-size table tennis table, that is easy enough to assemble, doesn’t fall apart, and allows you to play table tennis. What more can you ask from a £189.99 table!
4. Recommendations
Is this the right table tennis table for you?
We would happily recommend the Donnay Indoor Outdoor Table Tennis Table to anyone who is looking for a super cheap indoor table. It’s certainly the best full-size indoor table tennis table you will find for under £200. We would probably recommend you spend an extra £20 on a better net, though. And you will also want to invest in some better bats and balls.
If you are looking for an outdoor table…
Then this one probably isn’t for you. Despite the name, this table must be stored indoors at all times in order to protect the table from the elements. If you are looking for a proper outdoor table, than can be left outside in all weathers, then have a read of Ben’s comprehensive article The Best Table Tennis Tables.
If you have a bit more money to spend…
And would like to get a higher quality table tennis table, we recommend buying one with a surface thickness of at least 19mm. A 19mm table will give you much better bounce and speed, and unless you’re a top player you probably won’t be able to notice much difference between a 19mm table and a 25mm table.
We recommend the Butterfly Easifold Deluxe 22 Table Tennis Table which features a 22mm match quality playing top, the same simply rollaway design as the Donnay table, very robust legs and undercarriage, and a top quality Butterfly competition net.
We really can’t sing the praises of this table enough. This is the sort of good value, high-quality table tennis table that every club and school have been searching for for years! We wouldn’t be at all surprised if in a couple of years time these Butterfly Easifold Deluxe 22 tables are absolutely everywhere, provided the price stays at £349.99.
If you have any questions/comments please leave them below.
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