Butterfly TR21 Review

The Butterfly TR21 table, also called the Butterfly Personal Rollaway table, is a regulation-sized fold-and-roll table tennis table for indoor use only. It’s very affordable and features a 3/4 inch (19mm) wood table top, 5 inch wheels with ball bearings, a 1 and a half inch steel rim and is backed by a three year warrnty.

Right off the bat, the first think you’ll notice about the TR21 is that it’s aesthetically pleasing. It’s a simple, sturdy table that has a minimalist look. The steel rail around the rim of the table top gives the table extra durability and adds to the quality aesthetic.

Assembly

One of the top complaints about the Butterfly table is that it’s notoriously difficult to assemble. For some reason, Butterfly decided to provide cryptic instructions with this table with little to know actual words in them. Perhaps this helped them save money on translations? You can check out the instructions here. Worst of all, they combine steps and show about ten things to assemble on a single page. On top of that, many of the nuts and bolts look really similar so it’s easy to accidentally use the wrong one. You need to be very careful when assembling this table.

Despite the confusing instructions, most people are able to successfully put the table together in a few hours. While this is definitely not ideal, once the table is fully set up it offers a great playing experience.

Construction

The TR21 has a heavy duty construction making this table much heavier than you would expect. It’s so heavy in fact that many customers have complained that it was extremely difficult to move into position. You will definitely want to have some help when moving this table.

The TR21 has a 19mm wooden top and high quality 1 and 1/2 inch steel rail rim aroud the edge. The top has a nice sturdy feel to it due to the chassis and legs being made of heavy-gauge steel. The top is thicker than many other tables in the price range which is good as it gives the table nice consistent bounce that rivals other tournament quality tables. The table top is constructed of wood and is not designed to withstand the outdoors. It’s not resilient enough to be deal with temperature or humidity changes and should be stored and used indoors.

Convenience Features

The table features convenient ball and paddle holders on each side of the table which is a nice extra added convenience. The table does come with a net, but customers have complained that it doesn’t fit the table perfectly - it might require some jerry-rigging to get the net into place.

The TR21 can also fold up one side at a time for playback mode or fold both sides for storage. It’s folded dimensions are 27 inches wide by 74 inches tall which make it easy to store and cover.

Conclusion

Overall, the Butterfly TR21 is a solid table build with heavy duty components. It is routinely priced at under $500 and is backed by one of the leading table tennis brands in the world, Butterfly. Butterfly actually provides a three year limited warranty so you know you’re covered if your table has a manufacturing defect. While this table is not ITTF approved, it’s a quality table that offers a lot for this low price if you’re willing to put up with the confusing assembly process.