Butterfly 401 Table Tennis Racket Review

  • Post category:Equipment / Racket
  • Post last modified:October 10, 2023
  • Reading time:10 mins read
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Butterfly 401: At a Glance

Butterfly 401 table tennis racket
  • Excellent Spin

  • Good Control

  • Affordable

  • Frequent Cleaning of Rubbers

Butterfly 401, the most popular among the Butterfly readymade paddles consists of a 5-ply wood blade and 2.1 mm thick Yaki inverted rubbers. The all-wood blade gives a good amount of control.  The 2.1 mm thick rubber springs off the ball with higher speed and spin. The extreme tacky surface imparts a high amount of spin, especially on soft strokes. The all-round ability of this racket makes it suitable mainly for intermediate players.


Butterfly 401 table tennis racket

Butterfly 401 Table Tennis Racket Review

Butterfly 401, the most popular among the Butterfly table tennis rackets, has got almost 1400 ratings on Amazon, proving its acceptability among table tennis lovers. This Shakehand style paddle is the combination of a 5-ply wood blade and 2.1 mm thick tacky rubbers that offer great spin and sufficient power.

Specification:

  • Blade: 5 layers of wood ply
  • Rubber: Yuki 2.1 mm inverted rubber
  • Sponge: 2.1 mm thick
  • Speed: 80
  • Spin: 80
  • Control: 85
  • Style: Shakehand
  • Handle: FL (Flared)
  • Warranty: 30 days
  • ITTF Approved
  • Rating: 9.4/10

Overview of Butterfly 401 Racket

The Butterfly 401 is a premade racket where the rubber is pasted permanently on the surface of the blade to increase the life of the racket. So it is not possible to replace the rubber with a new one after it becomes worn out, which is the negative aspect of this racket.

Butterfly 401 table tennis racket infographic

Blade

The blade of Butterfly 401 consists of 5 layers of wood for a medium feel. The harder outer surface of the blade provides a good amount of speed that can be evident with a speed rating of 80.

Rubber

Butterfly 401 uses the Yuki 2.1 mm inverted rubber which is tacky. The tackiness of the top sheet is the measurement of how much it can grip the ball at the time of contact. The more the rubber grips the ball, the easier it is to generate spin. The Yuki rubber is tacky enough to produce a good amount of spin in your soft strokes.

The sponge of rubber acts as an energy storage device. The 2.1 mm sponge of this rubber absorbs the energy of the ball at the time of contact and it springs off the ball with a medium trajectory to land with a higher margin of error on your opponent’s side.

Paddle Case to Protect the Rubber

The tacky rubber has a tendency to attract dust particles and in this process, the rubber loses its tackiness. Thankfully, this butterfly paddle comes with a case that helps to protect the rubber from foreign materials to elongate its life.

Performance

This is a paddle that has everything, speed, spin, and control, not to the extreme level but the amount that fulfills the requirements of a good intermediate player.

The sticky 2.1 mm rubber along with the 5-ply light blade works well for your topspin work. It’s not a carbon or 7-ply stiff blade. The design of Butterfly 401 prompts not for superfast speed but the speed that gives you a greater amount of control.

Price

This most-selling racket from Butterfly is available for $35.20 which is very reasonable considering the quality of the paddle and the high brand value of Butterfly company.

About the Brand: Butterfly

Though there may be no need to introduce Butterfly, I want to repeat that it is the world’s most popular brand in the blade and rubber categories of table tennis equipment. Butterfly, the table tennis manufacturing company from Japan proves its excellence with advanced research that enables them to entertain us with such quality products over the years since 1950. It is undoubtedly the most preferable brand for blades and rubbers among the top professional players.

Other Alternatives

You may check Palio Master 3.0 and Stiga Evolution which can be alternatives to the Butterfly 401 racket. These rackets are for all-rounders with a good balance between speed, spin, and control. 

Positives of Butterfly 401

  • 2.1 mm sponge helps to generate excellent spin and decent speed
  • The tackiness of the top sheet provides a considerable spin on soft strokes.
  • 5 mm thick blade maintains the balance between speed and control.
  • A world-famous brand like Butterfly
  • Comes with a storage case to protect the rubber
  • Budget-friendly
  • ITTF approved for tournament play

Negatives of Butterfly 401

  • The high tacky surface of the rubber is very sensitive to dust. So you have to clean rubbers frequently, otherwise, they may lose tackiness within a short interval.
  • There is an issue with a slightly small handle size.

Wrapping Up

The Butterfly 401 is a good option for advanced beginners and intermediate players who have already gained authority in the basic strokes of table tennis. However, if you are curious to know other good alternatives, you may go through my article on “Best Ping Pong Paddles”.

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