I reviewed the Acemate S10 last month,⁠ so the changes are pretty easy to spot. Ball speed now tops out at 75 mph, there are new options for serve practice and match-style sessions, along with more drills and a bigger emphasis on analysing what you did and what to work on next. Plus you get much longer battery life.

Five ways to train

The existing Rally Mode remains, with the S10 Pro tracking shots that land in and moving to return them from around the landing position. Acemate has now surrounded that with Drill, Serve, Ball Machine and Battle modes. 

Serve Mode looks particularly interesting. The robot tracks whether the serve lands in, along with speed, net clearance and spin, before sending a return back so you can practise the serve-plus-one pattern. That turns it into something quite different from simply sticking a basket of balls next to you and hitting serves for half an hour.

Battle Mode goes further. Here, the S10 Pro acts as an opponent and chooses its response according to what happens during the point. There are Defense, Attack, Topspin and Variety playing styles, with the machine keeping score and recording the point-by-point result. 

How convincing that feels on court will be the big question. A tennis robot can react to ball position, speed and trajectory, but replicating the randomness and decision-making of a human opponent is another thing entirely. Still, this is a much more interesting direction than simply adding another hundred preset drills.

More pace was an obvious upgrade

There was one area where I thought the regular S10 had room to improve. Its 60 mph maximum speed was fine for recreational and intermediate play, but stronger players could eventually hit its ceiling. The S10 Pro raises that to 75 mph, or 120 km/h.

Acemate calls the new launching system ACE+ SHOT Tech. Instead of physically rotating the robot to change horizontal direction, the mechanism changes the direction of the ball inside the machine. In theory, that should allow quicker changes from one placement to another while the robot itself stays properly positioned on court. Horizontal coverage reaches 180 degrees, while players can also alter trajectory, feed interval and flat, topspin or backspin delivery. 

That could be one of the more important S10 Pro upgrades. The regular S10 already moves around the court on omnidirectional wheels, so separating the robot’s movement from the direction of its next shot should make faster sequences feel less mechanical.

Capacity also rises from around 80 balls on the S10 to 100 on the S10 Pro. More importantly, Acemate now quotes up to five hours of battery life, roughly double the original model’s rated figure. It can operate on hard, clay and grass courts. 

Acemate is also doing more with the data

The other big part of the Pro pitch happens after you stop hitting. Acemate describes the system as a five-stage loop covering training, tracking, analysis, review and improvement.

There are now more than 100 built-in training plans, along with custom settings through the Acemate app. Play can be controlled using a phone, supported smartwatch or gestures. After you are done hitting, the software records performance data and produces analysis and recommendations for what to work on next.  

There is a price attached to all of this. The Acemate S10 Pro costs $2,999 in the US, €2,999 in Europe, £2,999 in the UK, CAD$3,999 in Canada and AUD$4,599 in Australia. The company is already accepting deposits for preorders on its website. 

That puts it considerably above the regular S10, and also into a part of the market where buyers will expect the smarter training features to do more than look impressive in an app. Having recently compared the S10 with tennis robots from Slinger, Pongbot and Lumistar⁠, I think Acemate’s strongest argument remains the same. It is trying to build something closer to a solo hitting partner rather than another very sophisticated ball launcher.

That distinction is becoming more interesting as the category gets busier. The Lumistar Tero⁠ puts more emphasis on portability and straightforward practice, while the Pongbot Pace S Pro⁠ takes its own approach to structured drills and player tracking. Acemate is increasingly betting on the idea that a robot should react to you rather than simply make you react to it.

The post IFA 2026: Acemate tennis robot S10 Pro adds 75 mph feeds & more ways to train appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The complete system costs $189 in the US and is available in six colours, including mirrored and standard versions. There is no subscription to pay, either.

Speedo is focusing on technique

According to the official Speedo iQ product page, the system tracks pace, distance, strokes, breathing and turns. It can also examine head position, breathing angle, distance per stroke, turn time and carry angle across freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly.

Once the swim is finished, the Speedo iQ app lets you replay the session, compare performances and follow your progress over time. It also turns the recorded data into recommendations and suggests drills aimed at the parts of your technique that need more work.

The module records everything independently, so there is no need to keep a phone beside the pool. It can also be removed and fitted to another compatible pair of Vanquisher goggles. So worn or damaged goggles can be replaced without throwing away the electronics.

Speedo says its smart googles have been approved by World Aquatics. They can be worn during official competitions as well as normal training. So that’s something to keep in mind if you are serious about your swimming pursuits.

The missing display is a big choice

What’s interesting here is that the company has taken a very different approach from FORM and FINIS. There is no heads-up display showing your pace, lap count or other information as you swim, with all the analysis saved until afterwards. Plus, you can turn a pair of dumb goggles into smart goggles.

In our FORM Smart Swim 2 review, the real-time display was one of the strongest features. It shows heart rate, split time, stroke rate, distance and workout instructions directly in your line of sight, although the goggles cost $249 and some of the more advanced coaching tools require a subscription.

The FINIS Smart Goggle offers a similar approach to Form. It also puts live performance information in front of the swimmer while keeping the overall design close to a normal pair of goggles.

Speedo is instead betting that some swimmers would rather have an uncluttered view and dig into more detailed technique data once they leave the water. That makes their goggles less useful for adjusting pace halfway through a session, but potentially more interesting for swimmers who want to understand how they move through the water. Speedo IQ also bring one of swimming’s biggest brands into a category that has remained fairly small.

The post Speedo takes on FORM with its first smart swim goggles appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

I have now spent serious court time with the Slinger Bag, Pongbot Pace S Pro, Acemate tennis robot S10 and Lumistar Tero, and choosing between them is not really about finding the one with the longest specification sheet. Each takes a different approach to solo tennis, from cheap and simple repetition to structured drills and a robot that actually reacts to the ball coming back.

That is what makes this comparison more interesting than simply ranking them from best to worst. Depending on how you practise, the least sophisticated machine here could easily be the right choice, while spending twice as much could get you technology you barely use.

Tech specs compared

Specifications only tell part of the story here. Pongbot, Acemate and Tero all quote strong spin figures, for example, but they feel quite different on court because of how they deliver the ball, how drills work and whether the machine reacts to the player or the returned shot.

The biggest spec surprise is probably Tero. It is comfortably the lightest machine I have used here while still quoting the highest maximum ball speed, although its spin feels less aggressive in practice than the number suggests. Pongbot is the better choice if you specifically want heavier, faster and more demanding feeds, while Acemate’s selling point has little to do with winning the raw-spec contest.

Lumistar Tero

Tero is the machine I would probably point most recreational and intermediate players towards. It is exceptionally portable, takes about a minute to get running, and in my testing the feed has been consistent with no jams.

The wristband is a bigger deal than it sounds. Instead of walking back to the machine or constantly reaching for your phone, you can start and stop feeds or switch what you are working on with voice commands, and that keeps the session moving. There are 34 preset drills, custom sequences and 35 shot positions, so there is plenty to play with without the learning curve becoming excessive.

Tero does not watch the ball coming back at it. The wristband can provide position information, but there are no built-in cameras (unless you opt for the Pro version), so its training analysis is much less meaningful than what Acemate can produce. Spin is also the weakest part of its on-court performance, although pace is more than enough for the recreational and intermediate players I think this machine suits best.

Read my full Lumistar Tero review.

Acemate tennis robot S10

Acemate is best characterised as a tennis robot, and that is exactly why I like it. Rather than staying behind the baseline and waiting to fire the next programmed ball, the S10 uses two 4K cameras to follow your return, predicts where it is going and moves around the court on four omnidirectional wheels.

The timing is what makes the difference in practice. A slow return gives the machine more time before it sends the next ball, while a harder return brings the response sooner, so I found myself recovering and split-stepping much more naturally than I do against a fixed-interval machine. It still does not play exactly like another person, but of these four it comes comfortably closest.

There are compromises. The 60 mph top speed is below Pongbot and Tero, the rated battery life is shorter, and the S10 is more awkward to pull any real distance than either Slinger or Tero. Strong tournament players looking mainly for brutal pace and spin may therefore prefer Pongbot, but recreational and intermediate players who get bored hitting predictable feeds may find Acemate much more engaging.

The optional catching net is clever as well. It catches a good number of balls coming its way and cuts down on how much time you spend collecting them. Plus you get useful analysis of your shots with detailed statistics, along with AI suggestions on how to improve your game.

One thing stands out here. Of these four machines, I found Acemate to be the most fun to use. The cameras, court movement and reactive timing make sessions feel less repetitive and much closer to actually rallying with someone.

Read my full Acemate tennis root S10 review.

Pongbot Pace S Pro

Pongbot has its own advantages. It can fire balls at up to around 80 mph, generate strong topspin or backspin and hold more than 150 balls, while the battery is good for several long sessions rather than one afternoon on court.

What separates it from an ordinary high-powered launcher is the movement tracking. Sensors monitor your position at 100 Hz, allowing modes such as Recovery Trigger and Adaptive Rally to change the timing and pattern of feeds according to where you are and whether you have recovered into position. It is not watching the trajectory of your return in the same way Acemate does, but it is watching you, and that can make drills considerably more demanding.

The drill system is another strength. There are more than 500 presets, and custom drills let you change speed, spin, depth and placement ball by ball, so this is the machine I would take if my priority was structured repetition at a higher intensity. It is also the one of these four that gives stronger players the most room to turn the pace and spin up.

Read my full hands-on review of Pongbot Pace S Pro.

Slinger Bag

Slinger remains the easiest machine here to understand. You roll what looks like an oversized tennis bag onto court, set the speed and feed rate, adjust the elevation and start hitting. Add the oscillator and it can move the feed from side to side, which makes a major difference if you want to work on movement rather than stand in one spot.

Its biggest advantage is that it does two jobs at once. There is room for racquets, balls, drinks and other gear, so you do not necessarily need to bring a separate tennis bag, and the wheels make it easy enough to pull around despite the 15 kg weight. It is also the least intimidating option here if you just want hundreds of repeatable forehands and backhands without configuring an app first.

The limitations are equally obvious. Ball speed tops out at 45 mph, spin is not independently adjustable and drills depend heavily on where you position the machine and how you set the oscillator. After using the other three, Slinger feels basic, but basic is not automatically bad if that is all you actually need.

Read my full hands-on review of Slinger Bag.

The post I tested four tennis ball machines and they are built for very different players appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

8.7

Design 8.5/10

Ease of use 9.0/10

Use of information 9.0/10

Value for money 8.0/10

Pros

• – Moves around the court
• – Reactive timing creates more natural rallies
• – Much more engaging than a conventional ball machine
• – Extensive control over placement, speed, spin and height
• – Useful shot maps and training statistics
• – Can also work as a stationary ball machine

Cons

• – Slightly awkward to transport over longer distances
• – Pricey

Design and setup

The Acemate S10 does not look like a normal ball machine. It looks more like a small tennis robot, complete with two camera “eyes” at the front and four chunky wheels underneath. The frog comparison is hard to avoid, although the design makes more sense once you see it sliding sideways across the court.

I have used quite a few ball machines over the years, including the Slinger Bag for a couple of years and, more recently, the PongBot Pace S Pro. The S10 is easily the most ambitious of them in terms of what it tries to do on court.

At 17.8 kg, the S10 is actually lighter than many other ball machines. If you are taking it to the court by car or another mode of transport, it will be an easy job. It is compact enough to lift in and out without too much trouble.

Where it gets a little awkward is moving it any real distance on foot. There is no telescopic handle, so I usually extend the poles slightly and pull it along that way. It works, but a proper suitcase-style handle would make life easier. You can also drive it using the app, although that is more useful for moving it around the court than getting it from A to B.

Once it is on court, the four Mecanum wheels come into their own. The S10 can move sideways, diagonally and forwards without first turning its body. Watching it in action for the first time is slightly surreal, particularly when it starts tracking a return and positioning itself behind the incoming ball.

The main unit feels very solid, although a few areas are less convincing. The removable hopper clips onto the sides and is easy enough to fit, but it does not feel quite as robust as the rest of the machine.

Then there is the optional catching net. Putting it together for the first time takes some patience. The telescopic poles also feel noticeably more delicate than the main machine, and this is one part of the S10 I would be careful with. I quickly learned to hold each section near the bottom while extending or collapsing it rather than simply pulling from the top.

The good news is that you do not need to dismantle the entire structure after every session. The poles retract, and the frame folds down into something much easier to transport. Once I had done it a couple of times, setting up the net took less than a minute.

Acemate tennis robot S10

At checkout use code “G&W01” for a $50 discount.

View at Acemate

With the net extended, the S10 becomes a fairly substantial presence on court. It also attracts attention. I have had people on neighbouring courts looking over to see what it is doing, which is hardly surprising when a tennis robot suddenly starts racing sideways across the baseline. I have even seen passers-by stop to take photos. People tend to look slightly mesmerised by it.

That said, you can use the S10 without the net. In that configuration it is much more low-key and looks closer to a conventional ball machine.

As far as the device itself – there are very few built-in controls. There’s a power-on button, LED indicator and below it a little display that shows the battery life. That’s pretty much it. So you need the smartphone app while on court in order to communicate with the device.

The software setup is straightforward. You need to download the Acemate app, connect it to the robot and install any available firmware updates before getting started. That was pretty seamless for me.

Unboxing and attaching everything for the first time takes a bit of effort, especially if you try to work it out without help. The official Acemate setup video on YouTube makes the process much easier. With that playing beside me, I had the S10 assembled, connected and ready to use in around 15 minutes.

Battery life, noise

Official specs rate battery life at around 90 minutes in rally mode and up to two hours when the S10 is used more like a conventional ball machine. Which does not sound like very much.

But in practice I found the S10 used roughly 40% of its battery per hour. That is because you are not hitting continuously. There are pauses to collect stray balls, change drills, adjust settings and take a breather.

Based on my testing, I think you could get around two and a half hours of practice without much trouble. Which is plenty. In the month or so that I have been testing the robot, I never felt constrained by battery life.

Charging can be done by plugging the charging cord into the port in the machine. The other option is to open the hatch and remove the battery and plug it into the charging cord. Once refuelled, simply return the battery to its home.

When you power it on, one of the first things you notice is how quiet the S10 is. The motor makes almost no noise, and I could barely hear it while it was feeding balls. You mainly hear a slight whooshing sound as the balls come out, which is far less intrusive than I expected from something this large and mechanically complex.

The wheels are a little louder once the S10 starts moving around the court. The sound is similar to pulling a suitcase on wheels, especially when it slides sideways or accelerates towards a return. Even then, though, it is not particularly loud. I would have no concerns using it on a court next to other players.

How the Acemate S10 works

So what makes the Acemate S10 different from other machines? Plenty.

The basic idea is quite simple. Instead of standing in one place and firing balls at fixed intervals, the S10 watches where the ball goes, moves across the court and sends the next one back at a more natural moment.

There are two 4K cameras on the front of the robot. These track the ball, recognise the court and work out where your shots are heading. The four Mecanum wheels then allow the S10 to slide sideways or diagonally, and it is surprisingly quick once it is moving.

Before starting a session, you place it around the middle of the opposite baseline and let the app check its position. This only takes a few moments, and I found the cameras are very quick to recognise the court and confirm that everything is lined up correctly.

The clever part is the timing. The robot does not immediately fire another ball as soon as yours crosses the net. It waits until roughly the point where another player would make contact. A slower return gives you more time, while a harder shot brings the next ball back sooner.

That might sound like a small detail, but it changes the whole feel of the session. With a normal ball machine, you quickly fall into a fixed rhythm because you know when the next ball is coming and exactly where it is coming from. It can get repetitive pretty quickly.

With the S10, I found myself recovering, split-stepping and preparing for the next shot in a much more natural way. And because the device itself moves, the next ball is not always coming from exactly the same position on the other side of the court.

Most importantly, with stationary tennis machines it feels like work after a while. Here it feels like fun. And that is perhaps the most important difference.

As an added bonus, when the catching net is attached and the feature is enabled in the app, the robot tries to collect your return and feed it back into the system. Which is interesting in itself.

It still does not feel exactly like playing another person. The shots are generated by software, and there is no disguise or improvisation. Even so, the combination of movement and reactive timing makes it feel far less mechanical than what you get with a traditional ball machine.

Training modes and custom drills

The S10 gives you three main ways to train. There is a drill mode for working on specific shot patterns, a rally mode where the robot tries to keep the point going, and a conventional ball-machine mode where it stays in one place and feeds balls at fixed intervals.

I spent most of my time in drill and rally modes because those are what separate the S10 from a normal ball machine. In drill mode, I could choose where the robot sent the ball and define the area I was supposed to hit in return. The app then scored the session based on how accurately I found that target. This was particularly addictive. I found it pushed me to repeat the same drill in order to try and improve the score.

Rally mode feels less structured. Instead of repeating a fixed pattern, the S10 moves around its selected area and reacts to where I hit the ball. It tries to keep the rally going.

Acemate tennis robot S10

At checkout use code “G&W01” for a $50 discount.

View at Acemate

The standard ball-machine mode is more familiar. The S10 stays in one position, and you can set the direction, pace, spin, height and time between feeds. It is useful for working on one stroke repeatedly, and it also gives the robot a fallback role when I do not need the cameras or movement.

There are around 50 pre-installed drills in the app, covering forehands, backhands, volleys, baseline patterns and changes of depth. They are fine for getting started. The default feeds are also mostly flat, so I quickly moved on to creating my own drills.

The customisation is one of the stronger parts of the S10. You can build a sequence of up to 10 different balls, then adjust the landing position, speed, spin and height for each one. It takes a little trial and error because a setting that looks right in the app does not always produce the exact ball you expect on court.

You might find it easier to create the basic drill at home, then fine-tune it once you are actually playing. A ball might arrive too high, land too short or carry more than expected, so you can stop the session, adjust the individual feed and try again. Once saved, the drill is ready for future sessions.

The on-court experience

What surprised me most was how quickly the S10 stopped feeling like a gadget I was testing. After a few minutes, I was simply playing tennis and trying to keep the rally going.

The timing makes a bigger difference than I expected. Because the next feed reacts to my return rather than following a fixed interval, I had time to recover, split-step and prepare properly. With a conventional ball machine, it is easy to fall into an artificial rhythm. The S10 felt much closer to the timing of hitting with another player.

Once the novelty wore off, I found myself concentrating less on the robot and more on my footwork, recovery and shot placement. That is probably the biggest compliment I can give it. The S10 soon felt like part of the session rather than a device sitting at the other end of the court.

As a mid-intermediate player, I found the pace more than adequate. It could give me comfortable warm-up balls and then make things much harder once I increased the speed, depth and spin. The heaviest settings still do not reproduce the weight of shot from a strong tournament player, and the differences between some spin levels are not always dramatic, but there was more than enough variety for my level.

The sessions were also far more engaging than working through a hopper of identical feeds. I spent more time trying to build longer rallies, recover into position and find specific areas of the court. The target zones and scores added a competitive element, which is hard to get when training with a traditional ball machine.

Another thing I noticed is that I did not experience a single ball jam with the S10. That has happened occasionally with other machines I have used, so it was good to see.

What did happen, perhaps once an hour, was the S10 stopping because it thought there was an obstacle on the court. I play in the middle of a park where leaves regularly fall onto the surface, so my guess is that these occasionally triggered the warning. Fortunately, it did not happen often and was more of a minor interruption than a real problem.

Does the ball-catching system work?

What about the ball catching system? I think you should look at it as a bonus rather than the reason to buy this robot.

It works, but don’t buy this device expecting it will capture 100% of your returns. When the feature is enabled in the app, the S10 moves towards the incoming ball and tries to collect it in the net before feeding it back into the hopper.

The success rate of this depends heavily on the pace, height and direction of returns, as well as the type of drill you are using. For me it was anywhere between 30% and 50%, depending on the training mode and playing conditions.

Alternating between backhand and forehand crosscourt shots resulted in very few balls being caught because the robot had much more ground to cover. It performed better when I was hitting repeatedly towards one area, such as a forehand or backhand target near the centre. Wider shots, deep topspin balls and harder returns often passed beside the S10, bounced into its body or flew over the net.

If you start off with 80 balls in the hopper, you should get the equivalent of more than 100 balls when you factor in the caught balls. Which means you will spend a bit less time walking around the court collecting balls. Which is always a good thing.

Make no mistake, you will still need to pick up plenty of balls – just not quite as often. For me, the big selling point of the robot is that it moves around the court and has the built-in cameras which follow the ball, react to where you are hitting and help create a much more natural rally. The catching net is useful, but it is really just a bonus on top of that.

App and training analysis

As mentioned, there are almost no controls on the robot itself. Which means you need to use the Acemate smartphone app. Which is easy enough, and the connection to the S10 was stable during my sessions. The main screens cover training, saved data, device settings and firmware updates without burying everything in complicated menus.

After each drill, the app saves a surprisingly detailed breakdown of what happened. I could see where my shots landed, how many stayed in bounds, my longest streak, average and maximum ball speed, and how high the ball cleared the net. There is also an overall score out of 100, which gave me something simple to compare between sessions.

The court map was the part I found most useful. It quickly showed whether I was consistently finding the intended area or spraying balls across the court. I would not treat every plotted position as perfectly precise, but it was accurate enough to reveal obvious patterns in my play.

AI analysis is also there. It produces a long assessment of the session, along with recommendations and suggested follow-up drills, but much of it feels fairly generic. Running the analysis again can also produce slightly different conclusions, which makes it slightly difficult to take the player-level assessment too seriously. But it is useful in providing a direction of what needs work in your game.

For me, most of the analysis value lies in the recorded numbers and shot map rather than the AI coaching. The app gives me useful evidence of how a session went, but I still trust my own feel, and the view of an actual coach, more than its automated conclusions.

One feature I would like to see added in a future firmware update is session recording. The S10 already has two cameras watching the court. Being able to download the footage after a session would make it much easier to review technique alongside the shot data. Perhaps an idea for the next version of this robot?

Who is the Acemate S10 for?

I think the S10 makes the most sense for recreational and intermediate players who want solo practice to feel less repetitive. That is where its movement, reactive timing and scoring features add the most value. As an intermediate player, I found it challenging enough without feeling overwhelming.

Beginners should also get plenty from it, especially through the simpler drills and target-based sessions. The app makes practice feel more structured, and the scoring adds a useful sense of progress even when there is no coach on court.

Acemate tennis robot S10

At checkout use code “G&W01” for a $50 discount.

View at Acemate

It could also work well for coaches who want to add something different to individual lessons. The S10 is engaging, easy to customise and gives students immediate feedback after a drill. I would be less convinced about using it for back-to-back sessions all day, mainly because of the setup, transport and battery demands.

Advanced tournament players may find the maximum pace and spin less demanding than they need. Anyone who only wants repeatable feeds from one position can also spend less on a conventional ball machine. The S10 is for players who value realistic rally timing and a more interactive training experience, rather than raw speed alone.

Price and value

The S10 has an MSRP of $2,499 in the US, although Acemate normally sells it for $2,199 rather than at full list price. The current promotion takes another $200 off, bringing it down to $1,999. At checkout, you can then use code “G&W01” for an additional $50 discount, reducing the final price to $1,949.

Slinger Bag typically costs $749, while the Pongbot Pace S Pro comes in at around $2,270. Granted, these are full prices and the Pongbot can often be purchased with discounts. Proton sells for $1,695.

Then you have the Lobster Elite Grand Four which is currently $1,999, while the Grand Five costs $2,249 and the Grand Five LE reaches $2,499. Those machines offer more raw speed, larger ball capacities and longer quoted battery life, but they remain stationary feeders. 

That is why I do not think the S10 should be judged purely against a feature checklist. You are paying for a tennis robot that reacts to your shots, moves around the court, catches some of your balls, keeps rallies going and records what happened afterwards. None of the conventional alternatives offer that same experience.

You can find more detail on how it stacks up against the competition in my Slinger vs Tero vs Pongbot vs Acemate comparison.

FAQ

Does the Acemate S10 return the same ball?

No. Its cameras track your return, while the launcher sends a different ball from the hopper. With the catching net enabled, it attempts to collect your return and recycle it into the machine.

How often does the Acemate S10 catch the ball?

As an intermediate player, I found that it caught somewhere between 30% and 50% of my returns. The success rate depends heavily on the speed, height and placement of the shot. Sometimes it was more than that range, sometimes less.

Can the Acemate S10 work like a normal ball machine?

Yes. Its standard ball-machine mode keeps it in one position and feeds balls at fixed intervals. You can adjust the speed, spin, height and landing position.

How long does the Acemate S10 battery last?

During my testing, it used roughly 40% of its battery during an hour of normal practice. Allowing for stops to change drills and collect balls, around two and a half hours should be realistic.

Is the Acemate S10 suitable for advanced players?

It is best suited to recreational and intermediate players. Very advanced players can still use its custom drills, but some may want greater top-end pace and heavier spin.

The post Acemate tennis robot S10 review: As close as it gets to a real hitting partner appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The two companies announced their partnership in June, and Wahoo’s first supporting firmware allowed its latest bike computers to display and record raw breathing data. The latest update finishes the job by turning those measurements into personalised zones that cyclists can follow during a ride.

Breathing zones are now live

Firmware build 302661 was released on July 28 for the ELEMNT ACE, BOLT 3 and ROAM 3. According to Wahoo’s official ELEMNT firmware notes, the update adds ventilation training zones for Tymewear VitalPro users.

Wahoo app version 6.89.0 has also arrived on iOS and Android, providing the controls needed to configure those zones. Riders first complete a threshold test through Tymewear and then enter the resulting values in the Wahoo app before assigning them to their preferred cycling profiles.

Once everything is set up, the bike computer can show the rider’s current ventilation zone with a colour-coded background. Other available fields include breathing rate, tidal volume, minute ventilation and the amount of time accumulated in each zone.

The post-ride summary on the ELEMNT includes a simple graph showing the proportion of the session spent in each zone. Wahoo’s detailed Tymewear setup guide confirms that the underlying respiration data is also written to the FIT file and can be sent to the Tymewear app for further analysis.

There is currently no equivalent ventilation summary inside the Wahoo app’s activity history. The information therefore appears on the ELEMNT immediately after a ride or inside Tymewear once the completed activity has synchronized.

Another way to judge effort

Most cyclists use heart rate, power or a combination of the two to control workout intensity. Ventilation zones offer a different view by looking at how the body’s breathing changes as effort increases through aerobic and anaerobic thresholds.

Wahoo says breathing responds more quickly to changes in effort than heart rate. It could therefore provide earlier feedback when a rider increases the pace, although the usefulness of that guidance will depend on the accuracy of the VitalPro sensor and the quality of the initial threshold test.

The new feature also shows how far Wahoo’s cycling platform has advanced. Current models are increasingly becoming hubs for specialised physiological sensors rather than simply recording speed, distance, power and heart rate.

There are some limits to keep in mind. Wahoo only lists the ACE, BOLT 3 and ROAM 3 as compatible, while the $299 VitalPro uses separate breathing and heart-rate sensors that must both be paired with the ELEMNT.

The hardware cost and extra setup will keep this fairly specialised for now. Still, cyclists already using Tymewear finally have the complete integration promised in June, with breathing data converted into something they can act on while riding.

The post Wahoo adds live breathing zones to its latest bike computers appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The table tennis range is not built around one device. Pongbot currently has three main table tennis robots in the lineup: Nova S Pro, Omni S Pro and Halo S Pro. They all do the same basic job, firing balls with adjustable speed, spin and placement, but they sit at very different levels.

My review of the Pongbot Pace S Pro was about tennis, but the bigger point was the same. A good training robot only works if it gets out of the way and lets you build repeatable sessions without turning practice into a settings menu.

That is where Pongbot’s table tennis machines make sense on paper. These are not humanoid opponents or robots that play rallies back at you. They are smart serving robots built for repetition, placement, spin work and drill structure.

Nova S Pro is the entry point

Nova S Pro is the smallest and cheapest model in the range. It sits on the table, weighs 4kg and holds around 150 balls, so it is clearly the one designed for home users or players who want something they can move around easily.

The headline specs are still strong for the price. It can fire balls from 2 to 15 metres per second, with a frequency of 30 to 90 balls per minute. Spin goes up to 60 revolutions per second and Pongbot says it supports 9 spin variations. There are also more than 264 built-in drills, plus app and remote control.

Nova S Pro*

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The compromise is adjustment. Nova S Pro has manual side and vertical adjustment, so it does not give you the same automated placement flexibility as the more expensive models. That probably will not bother a casual or intermediate player. It may bother someone trying to build more complex footwork routines.

This is the model that looks easiest to recommend for someone who wants structured solo practice without going deep into club-level equipment. It is still a proper training robot, just stripped back in some places.

Omni S Pro steps things up

Omni S Pro is the clamp-on model and it moves the range into more serious territory. It weighs 9kg, clips onto the table and holds around 250 balls. The ball speed remains 2 to 15 metres per second, while the firing frequency stays at 30 to 90 balls per minute.

The big jump is spin and control. Omni S Pro supports up to 100 revolutions per second and 360-degree spin adjustment. It also adds automatic continuous left and right oscillation, plus automatic vertical and side adjustment. Control comes through the app or Pongbot’s E-Pad touchscreen.

Omni S Pro*

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That changes the use case. With Nova S Pro, you are getting a compact robot that can handle useful drills. With Omni S Pro, you are getting something that can build more realistic patterns across the table. Forehand, backhand, middle ball, short ball, deep ball, spin change. That is where table tennis training starts to become more serious.

It also includes more built-in drills than Nova S Pro. Pongbot’s own listing shows over 522 drills, which gives players a large preset library before they start creating their own routines. For clubs, coaches or players who train often, that extra control is probably where the money goes.

Halo S Pro is the full setup

Halo S Pro is the floor-standing model. It weighs 11kg, holds around 250 balls and uses the same broad performance range as Omni S Pro, with 2 to 15 metres per second speed, 30 to 90 balls per minute and up to 100 revolutions per second of spin.

The difference is the format. Because Halo S Pro stands on the floor, it can be positioned in different locations around the table. That gives it more flexibility than a fixed clip-on robot, especially for players who want to simulate different angles or feed patterns from more natural positions.

Halo S Pro*

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It also gets the largest drill library, with more than 702 built-in drills according to the current Pongbot listing. That makes it the most complete option in the range, but also the one that makes the least sense for someone who just wants a casual hit in the garage.

Halo S Pro looks more like club kit. It is the one for players who already know they will use a robot regularly and want the widest spread of training patterns. For everyone else, Omni S Pro may already cover the useful middle ground.

Pongbot table tennis robot comparison

The table makes the range fairly easy to understand. Nova S Pro is about portability and price. Omni S Pro is about better automation and more serious drill building. Halo S Pro is the most flexible setup, mostly because of its standing design and larger drill library.

You can also see the typical pricing. But it’s worth pointing out, the company frequently runs sales so its worth checking their site from time to time.

The AI label needs some perspective

Pongbot uses a lot of smart training language around these products. That makes sense, especially after using the Pace S Pro, but it is worth separating the useful training features from the marketing gloss.

With the Pace S Pro, the smarter side of the product is more obvious. It can track the player, adjust drills and use positioning data to make tennis practice feel less static than a traditional ball machine. That is a very different setup from the table tennis robots, which are not watching your stroke or reading your movement in the same way.

The table tennis range is better understood as a set of app-controlled serving robots with structured drills, spin variation and programmable placement. That still lines up with the same Pongbot idea I saw in the tennis machine: solo practice should feel more deliberate, less random and easier to repeat.

That does not make the table tennis models less interesting. It just makes the buying decision cleaner. With Pace S Pro, part of the appeal is the way the machine reacts to the player. With Nova S Pro, Omni S Pro and Halo S Pro, the appeal is different. You are paying for repeatable ball delivery, quick drill changes and the ability to build awkward patterns without needing a practice partner.

For table tennis, that is already a lot. You do not need every device to pretend it is a coach. Sometimes the better product is the one that feeds the exact same awkward backspin ball 80 times until your brain finally gives in.

Which one makes the most sense

Nova S Pro is the obvious starting point for most home users. It is portable, much cheaper and still gives you speed, spin and drill programming. For players who want to improve footwork, returns and consistency without spending over $1,000, it is the easiest one to understand.

Omni S Pro is probably the sweet spot for serious players. It adds automatic adjustment, higher spin capability, more drills and a larger ball capacity, while keeping the unit mounted neatly on the table. It looks like the one to consider if the robot will become part of a regular weekly training setup.

Halo S Pro is the big one. It makes sense if placement flexibility is important, or if the robot will sit in a dedicated training space rather than being packed away after each session. It is overkill for casual use, but that is not really the point of it.

What I like about Pongbot’s table tennis range is that the differences are not hard to explain. The company has not buried the buyer in tiny model changes. It has a portable model, a clamp-on model and a floor-standing model. Pick the setup first, then decide how much automation and drill depth you actually need.

After reviewing the Pace S Pro, this range feels like a natural extension of the same idea. Pongbot is clearly interested in solo training that feels more structured than old-school ball machines. The table tennis robots are less ambitious than the tennis machine in terms of tracking and AI, but they may be easier to justify for everyday practice.

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CYPLORE is trying to solve one of the biggest problems with e-bike conversion kits. It adds electric assist to existing road and gravel bikes while keeping the weight down.

The project has just launched on Kickstarter with prices starting around $599 for the FLEX version and $779 for the ready-to-ride ONE wheel setup. The pitch is simple enough. Give riders extra help on climbs and long rides without turning a lightweight carbon bike into something that suddenly feels heavy and awkward.

A very different kind of e-bike conversion

Most conversion kits end up changing the personality of the bike. You usually get a bulky mid-drive motor, a large external battery and extra weight that changes handling even when the system is switched off.

CYPLORE is clearly trying to avoid that. The motor sits inside the rear hub while the battery disguises itself as a bottle mounted in the standard cage position. There is also a small wireless remote that docks neatly onto the setup. From a distance, the bike still looks mostly normal.

That low profile approach is probably the most interesting thing here. Plenty of cyclists still resist full e-bikes because they either dislike the added mass or simply do not want their expensive road bike turning into something visually cluttered. CYPLORE seems aimed directly at those riders.

The quoted 1.7kg total system weight is also unusually low for this category. That includes both the motor and battery. The battery itself weighs roughly 800g and delivers a claimed 50km assisted range from its 111Wh capacity. USB-C charging is supported and the company says a full recharge takes around an hour.

The ride feel will decide whether this works

CYPLORE says the system uses a torque sensor that adjusts assistance based on pedalling effort in real time. Push harder and the support increases. Ease off and the motor backs away. The company also says the built-in clutch fully disengages the motor when assistance is not active, removing drag resistance from the wheel.

That last part is important because some lightweight hub systems still feel slightly sticky when riding without power. Road cyclists tend to notice those things immediately. If CYPLORE has genuinely managed a near invisible ride feel, that could end up being the real selling point rather than outright speed or power.

The system is rated at 250W and targets modern road and gravel bikes using 142x12mm thru-axles. Compatibility includes most Shimano and SRAM drivetrains.

Two versions depending on how much flexibility you want

The ONE version is the simpler option. It arrives as a complete rear wheel with the motor already built in. Riders swap out their existing rear wheel, attach the bottle battery and ride away within a few minutes.

FLEX takes a different approach. Instead of a complete wheel, buyers receive the hub motor and build it into their own preferred wheel setup. That will probably appeal more to experienced cyclists who already have favourite rims or very specific wheel configurations.

CYPLORE also splits its setups into road and gravel variants. The road rims support 25 to 32c tyres while the gravel option stretches from 32 to 55c.

There is app connectivity too. The system connects to cycling computers over ANT+ and syncs activities to Strava through the CYPLORE app. Riders can monitor battery levels, switch assist modes and view ride history from the app itself.

A familiar Kickstarter balancing act

Like many cycling hardware projects, CYPLORE sits somewhere between exciting concept and wait-and-see territory.

The company says it already has working prototypes and has completed performance testing. It also claims the founding team includes engineers and former staff from Samsung, Xiaomi, Alibaba and e-bike system companies.

Still, Kickstarter hardware campaigns always carry some uncertainty. Manufacturing delays, supply chain problems and shifting timelines remain common across the category. CYPLORE currently estimates deliveries for November 2026.

Price: $599 and up

Raised: $333,474 of $10,000 goal

Estimated delivery: November 2026
33 days to go before campaign closes

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The post A new Kickstarter wants to make your road bike electric without the bulk appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

The main experience stays

This is an extension of Form’s smart goggles idea. Instead of checking a watch between lengths, you see swim data inside the lens while you are in the water. And it works brilliantly. Smart Swim 2 LT now sits below the regular Smart Swim 2 and Smart Swim 2 Pro.

I reviewed Smart Swim 2 a while ago, and the display was the main reason the goggles worked. It made structured swimming easier because data was visible mid-set rather than after stopping at the wall. The second generation model also had a smaller module and better fit than the original, although the display still takes some getting used to.

The new LT model should offer the same basic experience for swimmers. But with one caveat.

Heart rate is the cut

The regular Smart Swim 2 includes an integrated heart rate monitor. Smart Swim 2 LT does not. That is the clearest reason to pick one over the other.

In my review, I found the built-in heart rate tracking useful because it removed the need for another device. It gave a better view of effort during intervals and recovery. But not every swimmer needs that, especially if they already train mostly by pace or use a separate heart rate strap.

HeadCoach remains part of the LT package. That gives users access to Form’s training planner and technique guidance, including feedback around swim form. SwimStraight is also now free for all users, which helps open-water swimmers keep a straighter bearing without sighting as often.

The range now makes more sense

The lineup now has three clear price points. Smart Swim 2 LT costs $149. The standard Smart Swim 2 remains at $199. Smart Swim 2 Pro now costs $259 after a $50 price cut and adds Gorilla Glass lenses and fog-free swimming. You can check the all out on Form’s website/,

Smart Swim 2 LT is the entry model for swimmers who want the display and coaching, but not integrated heart rate. Smart Swim 2 remains the better fit if you want heart rate included. Smart Swim 2 Pro sits above both with the tougher lens setup.

That is a cleaner range than before. Form has not taken away the thing that makes its goggles useful. It has just created a lower priced version for swimmers who can live without one sensor.

For regular pool swimmers, this could be the more practical option. You still get the in-lens data and the training platform, which are the main reasons to buy Form goggles in the first place. The more expensive models are still there for swimmers who want the full hardware package.

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You can check all the current Isinwheel offers here.

The power option up front

The Isinwheel GT1 Dual Motor Off Road Electric Scooter 1600W is the one that leans into power. You get two 800W motors, a 48V 13Ah battery and a quoted range of up to 35 miles. It sits on 10 inch all terrain tyres and supports up to 330lbs, so it is clearly built for more than short city hops. This thing is aimed at riders who want stronger acceleration and a bit more confidence on uneven ground.

The 6% discount code ISW6% applies here, and it runs for a long time. What’s more, right now the scooter is selling for £569 on the site, down £190 from its usual price. So quite a big drop.

A middle ground scooter

The Isinwheel GT2 Pro Off Road Electric Scooter 1200W sits between the two. It runs a 1200W motor and adds a removable 48V 15Ah battery, which is probably its most useful feature day to day. The quoted range is 37 miles and charging takes around 5 to 7 hours, so it edges slightly ahead of the GT1 on range while trading off some motor output.

That removable battery makes a difference if you do not want to move the whole scooter just to charge it. It also makes it easier to top up indoors, which can matter depending on where you store it. It uses the same ISW6% code as the GT1. Right now this one is selling for £539 on the site, down from the usual £799.

The ebike stands apart

The Dremax Commuter Ebike is a sensible part of the Isinwheel. It uses an 864W motor paired with a 720Wh Samsung battery, with a claimed range of up to 93 miles. That number depends heavily on how you ride, but even with real world variation it is clearly built for longer trips and daily use.

Bigger 27.5 inch tyres and the ebike format make it more suited to commuting and mixed terrain rather than quick bursts. It should feel more stable over distance, especially compared to standing on a scooter for longer rides.

The Dremax gets a simple £70 discount with the Dremax70 code. This is in addition to the £200 off the price it is selling right now (£1,199 down from £1,399).

Another ebike worth considering

Those three described so far are the current hot sellers. But there is another device in the mix that is also on sale.

The Isinwheel U4 Foldable Step-thru Electric Bike 500W is down to £439 from £629, which puts it in budget territory for a folding ebike. The 6% discount code ISW6% applies here, as well.

The U4 is a bit different from the Dremax. It is lighter, more compact and built around convenience rather than long range riding. You get a 500W motor and a quoted range of up to 55 miles, which is enough for shorter commutes and everyday errands without needing something as large as a full size ebike.

I recently reviewed the U4 and it comes across as a very accessible entry point into electric bikes. The folding step through frame makes it easy to store and carry, which is a big part of its appeal if you are tight on space or mixing transport modes. It is not trying to compete with higher end models on power or battery size, but it does not need to.

In day to day use, the focus is clearly on simplicity. It is the kind of bike you can just hop on without overthinking settings or modes. That makes it a solid option for casual riders or anyone who wants something straightforward for getting around, especially at the current discounted price.

You can check all the current Isinwheel offers here.

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The post Isinwheel GT1, GT2 Pro and Dremax deals, which one makes sense appeared first on Gadgets & Wearables.

Fast forward to 2026 and the product looks very different. In/Out has moved well beyond that original single-device setup into a full v4.0 system with Net Devices, Line Devices, multiple sport support and years of software updates that have made the whole thing feel much more practical.

In the original review, one of the main attractions was simplicity. You clipped the device onto the net post, connected it to your phone and suddenly your local tennis match had a touch of Hawk-Eye style technology. It was fun, useful and definitely something that got people talking on court.

But there were obvious limits. Asking one device sitting at the side of the net to judge everything was always ambitious. Accuracy depended heavily on positioning and calibration, and while the idea worked, it still felt like an early version of something that needed more refinement.

From one gadget to a proper court system

That is probably the biggest difference today. In/Out is no longer really selling one gadget. It is selling a court setup.

The company now uses Net Devices and Line Devices. Net Devices still sit on the net posts and handle the main match operation, while Line Devices sit directly along the lines they monitor. In/Out describes them as the equivalent of chair umpires and line umpires, which is actually a very good way to explain it.

This solves one of the obvious weaknesses from the original product. A device looking straight down a baseline has a much better chance of making an accurate call than one trying to judge everything from the side. In/Out says these Line Devices help deliver millimetre accuracy, and for amateur matches it recommends using two Net Devices and two Line Devices, particularly for baseline coverage.

Compared to the version I tested in 2017, this feels far less like a clever gadget experiment and much more like a serious officiating system.

Hardware has matured

My early review focused on a much simpler hardware package. Since then, In Out has gone through multiple generations including v1, v2, v3 and now v4.0.

Version 3.0 introduced support for a third middle camera on the Net Device, which expanded both video capture and match analysis. It also improved net-related tracking by separating serve net faults from rally net faults, something the original system could not handle nearly as well.

Version 4.0 takes things further with a dedicated app flow, clearer device pairing and support for a much more modular setup. One v4.0 device can now work with multiple Line Devices, and the whole system is positioned not just for tennis, but also pickleball and badminton. Also, now there’s no screen on the device itself – instead it all works through your smartphone.

Software did most of the real work

Looking back at the original review, the concept was already strong. What the product really needed was reliability.

That seems to be where most of the work happened. In/Out’s own changelog says there have been 75 software releases and five hardware generations over eight years, which tells you this was not a product left sitting after launch.

Updates improved camera speed, Line Device communication, calibration, ball detection and overall call consistency. There were fixes for cases where devices disagreed with each other, better automatic recalibration after movement and fewer false detections.

One feature I particularly like is the “Too Close To Call” alert. Instead of pretending every call is perfectly certain, the system can now flag when a decision falls inside the margin of error. That feels much more honest and much more useful for real tennis.

Back in 2017, the discussion was often whether the technology could work. Now the focus is more about how smoothly it works in practice.

The app matters much more now

When I first tested In/Out, the app was mostly there to support the device. Today it’s a much bigger part of the product.

The v4.0 app handles umpiring, stats, camera views, replays and video recording. It can record from the phone or device view, stream matches and save videos directly to the smartphone. That makes it far more useful for coaching sessions and match review, not just line calls.

Stats have also grown. Training zones, player positioning and better Line Device stats all make the system feel less one-dimensional than before. It is still not trying to replace professional broadcast-level analytics, but it offers far more than the original “was it in or out?” use case.

Still not for everyone

One thing has not changed much. This is still a specialist product.

The current v4.0 pricing costs around $499 for one Net Device and two Line Devices. That means it is still aimed more at serious players, coaches and clubs than someone playing casual doubles once a week. But that was always the reality. Even in 2017, the value was strongest for people who played regularly enough to care about accuracy, video review and structured training.

You can also opt just for the Net Device for $299. Plus, there’s a special promotion with free shipping until May 8th for Europe. No customs fees or import duties guaranteed, too.

Looking back at that original review, the core idea was right. Tennis players hate bad line calls and love any tool that removes arguments. The difference now is that the product is far more complete.

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