Some training partners cancel when it rains, charge by the hour, and never once hit the same backhand feed twice in a row. Pongbot’s robots do none of that. One lineup covers tennis, pickleball, and padel on the Aura S, serious match prep on the Pace S Pro, and table tennis on the little Nova S Pro.
All three sit in Pongbot’s Black Friday sale, which runs through December 6 with up to 55% off across the store. We pulled the current prices, checked where each machine actually sells, and rounded up the nine reasons this lineup keeps landing court time at our place.
- Aura S, the 8.9 kg multi-sport coach with a camera, $799.99 (53% off)
- Pace S Pro, the flagship that waits for you to recover, $1,219.99 (39% off)
- Nova S Pro, the backpack table tennis robot, $299.99 (25% off)
Aura S, the one that plays three sports
One machine, three courts
Aura S trains tennis, pickleball, and padel from the same little tower. One sport comes included, and you pick which one at setup. The 3-in-1 package unlocks all three from day one at $849.99, and it’s the version we’d grab for a household split across racket sports.
It carries like a racket bag
At 8.9 kg, Aura S weighs less than the bag most players already haul to the park. Our first day out with one turned into an 80-minute session that moved from baseline feeds to overhead work, and the machine came along without a second thought. Solo practice stops needing a partner, a booking, or a plan.
A camera coach rides on top
That S stands for the Spotter, a camera module that watches your shots and feeds the AI Coach. Notes land in real time, and Match Challenge rebuilds rallies from match footage you upload, so practice starts looking like the points you actually lose. It’s the closest thing to a coach who never once checks a phone.
Pongbot sells the base Aura at $599.99 for players who want the feeds without the camera, and our October guide to the Aura packages walks through all four versions side by side.
Price: $799.99 $1,699.99 (save $900.00, 53% off)
Where to buy: Pongbot
Pace S Pro, the one that takes tennis seriously
It waits until you’re ready
Most ball machines fire on a timer and turn practice into a sprint. Pace S Pro tracks your movement and holds the next feed until you’ve recovered your position, a feature Pongbot calls Recovery Trigger. Rallies start to feel like rallies, with time to reset your feet between shots. We covered the tech when it debuted at CES.
80 mph, with spin that changes fast
Feeds top out at 80 mph with up to 60 rps of spin, and the spin switches in 1.5 seconds, so a heavy topspin ball can follow a slice without a pause at the machine. Ratings run from NTRP 1.0 beginners to 7.0 elites, and the difficulty actually scales across that range.
564 drills before you build your own
Its library carries 564+ preset drills, and the app lets you design your own and sync them to the remote in one tap. Battery runs up to 8 hours, which outlasts most practice partners we’ve had. Ours included.
Price: $1,219.99 $1,999.99 (save $780.00, 39% off)
Where to buy: Pongbot
Nova S Pro, the one that lives on the table
Backpack-sized, 150 balls deep
Nova S Pro folds a whole practice session into a bag. It rides to the office, the dorm, or a friend’s garage, then loads 150+ balls and runs long past the point where a casual rally partner would call it a night.
Serves from anywhere on the table
Fixed-position robots teach you to groove one shot from one spot. Nova S Pro’s near-net serve setup breaks that habit, placing serves around the table so your feet learn the patterns a real opponent would use on you.
264 drills, every spin on the dial
Coaches designed the 264+ built-in drills, and the app hands you spin, speed, placement, and oscillation to build your own. Topspin and backspin come off the same head, so a session can swing from gentle warm-up feeds to genuinely nasty serves.
Price: $299.99 $399.99 (save $100.00, 25% off)
Where to buy: Amazon and Pongbot
The three, side by side
| Machine | Plays | Headline number | Sale price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aura S | Tennis, pickleball, padel | 8.9 kg carry weight | $799.99 |
| Pace S Pro | Tennis | 80 mph top feed speed | $1,219.99 |
| Nova S Pro | Table tennis | 150+ ball capacity | $299.99 |
Which one ends up at your place
Split your weekends between a tennis court and a pickleball league? Aura S is the easy call, and the 3-in-1 saves the unlock debate. Chasing match results and a ranking? Pace S Pro trains at the speed real points happen. Short on space but long on table tennis obsession? Nova S Pro turns any table into a practice hall for less than a year of club dues. Pongbot’s sale closes December 6, and every machine ships free in the US.
