Who doesn’t love a game of darts? There’s nothing more fun than a friendly competitive game of darts with some friends.

1. Regent Halex Dart Boards
2. Halex Electronic Dartboard Manual

Unfortunately, this usually requires a trip to a seedy bar where the board is either in poor condition or surrounded by a few drunken patrons clamoring for their turn.

Halex Nottingham Bristle Dartboard with Cabinet. More Buying Choices $107.41 (1 new offer). (Electronic Dart board) 3.8 out of 5 stars 112. Get it as soon as Wed, Aug 7. FREE Shipping by Amazon. ONE80 Gladiator II Dartboard with Top-Grade African Sisal and Sword Edge Staple Free Wire Spider. 4.1 out of 5 stars 35. Halex Electronic Dartboard Manual The Halex Dart Board is an electronic dart board that makes it easy for players to keep track of scoring. A computer in the board registers the scores and calculates them so players don't have to do the math.

To skip that headache, guys can get a dartboard of their own. Whether you are a serious competitor or just a casual player, a dartboard is a great thing to have in your man cave.

While most guys don’t realize it, there are aton of options when it comes to dart boards. Not only are there different makes and models, but there are also different styles.

Depending on your taste, you can opt to go with a modern electronic dartboard or a traditional bristle board. Each of them has their benefits.

Bristle Dartboards

Bristle dartboards hark back to a time of casual playing in a pub. Usually used for tournaments, these boards are best suited for those serious about darts.

Contrary to their name, bristle boards are actually made of sisal or hemp. The sisal fixes itself after a dark hits it, making it a great material for dartboards.

The darts used with bristle boards have a steel tip and a body made from brass or tungsten. They aren’t toys by any means. While they may be a bit more dangerous, these darts provide an authentic playing experience..

4 of the Best Bristle Dartboards

1. Winmau Blade 4 Bristle Dartboard

If you want a high quality bristle dartboard, the Winmau Blade 4 is the way to go. It is made of high-quality sisal that is woven incredibly tight. This helps the sisal heal better and ultimately prolongs the life of the board.

It also features some of the thinnest triangular-shaped wire available. This creates a larger scoring area while preventing bounce outs.

The triangular shape guides the dart into the board rather than across the room. It is also free of staples, eliminating the worry of causing damage if they are hit. With a removable score ring allowing you to rotate the board for even wear, this board is sure to last many fun nights.

2. DMI Bandit Staple-free Bristle Dartboard

The DMI Bandit Staple-free Bristle Dartboard is officially sanctioned by World Darts Federation. In fact, it’s been the official board for the World Cup for well over a decade.

The high-quality sisal is dense and vibrant. The unique thing about this board is the wire spider. Instead of staples, the ultra-thin wire is embedded into the bristles. This provides 10% more playing area and virtually nothing to get in the way of the darts.

It also strengthens the overall board’s structure, making it sturdy on any wall.

3. Nodor Supawires 2 Bristle Dartboard

This regulation-sized dartboard is a great choice for any enthusiasts. It is endorsed by the American Dart Organization for its superb quality.

It has East African sisal fibers that are tightly woven to provide great healing. The dividers on this board are incredibly thin and rounded to direct darts into the board.

Regent Halex Dart Boards

The staples are thin and rounded as well. The center bullseye is staple-free for clear aiming. It also has a removable number ring and easy mounting hardware to get the board up for playing in no time.

4. Viper Shot King Bristle Dartboard

This dartboard is made to withstand a lot of wear and tear. With an official tournament size of 18 inches in diameter and a weight of 13 pounds, the board can handle anything you throw at it.

It is made of densely woven sisal fibers for longevity. The wires are rounded to reduce bounce out.

While there are staples to hold the wire spider down, they are strategically placed and also rounded so that they don’t get in the way. The bullseye is staple-free, allowing you to make your shot with no obstacles.

Bristle Dartboards in a Cabinet

1. DMI Bristle Dartboard in Oak Finish Cabinet

Reminiscent of a classy bar dartboard, the DMI bristle dartboard is a beautiful addition to any game room.

The cabinet is made from an attractive oak. The board has high-quality sisal fibers that are resilient and smooth, even after repeated throws.

The spider grid is held onto the board with minimal staples. Unlike other boards that have staples throughout, this board only has a handful that are carefully spread around the board.

The oak doors house a dart holder and chalkboard score charts.

2. Viper Hudson Collection All-In-One Dart Center

As a higher end option, this bristle dartboard doesn’t skimp on the details.

Everything is made from high-quality materials to create a truly handsome and effective board. The cabinet is made from a mahogany stained pine. The cabinet doors are attached with self-closing brushed nickel hinges, providing a unique appearance.

Made from dense sisal, the board is built to last. The board and the scoring ring are removable, allowing you to rotate it for even wear and tear. On one door, a scoring chart is tacked on for easy reference. On the other, a dry erase score chart is present for easy tracking.

Electronic Dartboards

Made for the modern man, these dartboards pack a lot of unique features. They come in a variety of styles and sizes. These boards are a great option for seasoned players and amateurs alike.

Unlike bristle boards that are made from sisal, electronic boards are predominantly plastic. They are covered in tiny holes. Darts will stick in this hole and send a message to the internal computer to calculate your score.

Generally, electronic boards come with plastic tipped darts. They are much safer, yet a lot lighter. Some models come with steel tips to make playing feel a bit more genuine.

4 of the Best Electronic Dartboards

1. Arachnid Cricket Pro 650 Electronic Dartboard

The Arachnid Cricket Pro 650 dartboard is a great party device, as up to 8 people can play at one time. The board itself it made from NylonTough. It is incredibly durable, maintaining its shape through years of playing.

The segment dividers are also very thin and designed to prevent bounce outs.

The board is regulation size and features 24 different built-in games with 132 variations. Not only does the board keep players’ score, but it also has a number of other great features, such as prompts and a handicap mode that allows players of different skill levels to compete.

2. Viper 797 Electronic Soft-Tip Dartboard

This regulation size electronic board is the ultimate party board. It has 32 built-in games with 171 variations. The LCD screen is large and bright. It keeps the score of up to 16 players while also prompting them of their turn to keep the action moving.

The board is made of commercial-grade nylon and the segment dividers are thin and rounded. The segments themselves are curved inward towards the divider to further guide the darts into the board.

To make things even better, the board features slots to hold the included 6 darts so that you never lose them.

3. Bullshooter by Arachnid E-Bristle Cricketmaxx 3.0 DartBoard in Cabinet

This electronic board is made from a unique material. Instead of plastic segments with tiny holes, the board is made from a unique E-bristle.

This material provides an authentic bristle dartboard playing experience with all of the modern perks of an electronic board. .

The board comes in a beautiful wooden cabinet. The board itself is mounted inside the cabinet, allowing you to hide it from view when it is not in use. While it does include 34 games with 183 variations, the board excels with Cricket. In fact, one of the cabinet doors features a designated Cricket X/O display.

4. Regent-Halex Millennia 1.0 Electronic Dartboard in Wood Cabinet

Also built into a gorgeous cabinet, the Regent-Halex Millennia 1.0 electronic dartboard packs in a lot of features for thrilling play.

It has 28 games with 167 variations and two scoring displays, one of which has X/O scoring for Cricket. The board itself it made of durable plastic with dividers designed to prevent bounce out.

The cabinet features dart holders to keep everything in place. The board even has a “Trash Talk” feature to make any heckler put his money where his mouth is.

Conclusion

Overall, there are a plethora of great options when it comes to dartboards. Guys should think about how they play and what they need to pick the right one.

Halex Electronic Dartboard Manual

• Electronic – For some guys, a simple electronic board is all that’s needed. These boards have everything you need to spend a few hours competing with friends. The built-in games and score tracking systems make it incredibly easy to pick up and start playing.
• Bristle – For more serious players, a bristle dartboard may be the way to go. These boards have only gotten better with time. They are made from high-quality materials to last a lifetime and offer guys the opportunity to play with authentic darts.

• Of course, there’s always the option of boards in cabinets. These boards can add a level of sophistication and class to any space. Not only that, but they keep the entire experienced contained in one spot. Guys can easily close the cabinet to keep everything in one place. It’ll still look great on the wall thanks to the wooden finish.

Either way, having your very own dartboard is the way to go. Gone are the days of playing at a bar. Instead, guys can create their very own game room with a dartboard.

It’ll provide countless nights of heated competition and fun with friends.

Top 5 Best Electronic Dartboards 2017 Reviews

It’s nearly impossible to get kids (and many grown-ups) to realize that there are actually forms of entertainment that don’t show up on their phone, tablet or video game console. There’s an effective way to get that message across, though, and that’s by setting up a family game room.

Many of our parents’ game rooms featured “attractions” that have fallen out of favor or barely exist anymore, like mechanical bowling or pinball machines. But there are game room staples which transcend generations and should have a place in every 21st century basement or garage family retreat, and one of them is a dartboard.

We’re not talking about your parents’ old-fashioned dartboards, although they’re still very much on the market and still a lot of fun. If you’re trying to compete with Minecraft, Candy Crush clones or the latest PlayStation and Xbox releases, you’re better off going high-tech with an electronic dartboard. Once the lights, sounds and automatic scorekeeping have initially grabbed the players’ attention, they’ll realize that the reason the game of darts has been around for more than 150 years is because it’s so much fun. They may even start playing the original version without bells and whistles at the local pub – if they’re old enough, of course.

What’s somewhat ironic is that electronic dartboards actually make the game more enjoyable, unless you consider arguing an integral part of the fun. The board tells you where the dart has landed and no one has to remember the score or even whose turn it is; those who enjoy playing with their favorite beverage in their hand may find that helpful.

The electronic dartboards on the market range from inexpensive smaller kids’ versions to professional models. We’ve avoided ranking the lower-level boards because, quite frankly, most are very poorly made with darts that fall apart or don’t stick to the board. You may find that we’ll allude to pro models in some of our reviews of the top 5 best electronic dartboards, but we’ve decided to focus on mid-range boards which are appropriate for the entire family.

Check out our Best Electronic Dartboard Buying Guide too!

Quick Comparison Table

Arachnid is perhaps the premier brand name in dartboards, and was the inventor of the so-called “soft-tip dart” which has taken over the sport in many parts of the world. The soft tips, made of plastic instead of metal, are obviously safer; they’re also one-third the weight of old-style darts, requiring a learning curve for old-school players but ideal for the molded plastic dartboards used in electronic games.

There are numerous Arachnid electronic dartboards on the market. We’ve chosen to review the Cricket Pro 650 which isn’t as expensive as the higher-end Bullshooter models, or the more full-featured Pro 670 and Pro 750 which have more game variations and display options. On the other hand, the 650 has more bells and whistles than the cheaper Arachnid Interactive 6000 and non-tournament size Cricket Master 300. The Pro 650 is a good compromise and a great dartboard.

This board has almost everything you’d want and compares favorably to the electronic boards used at many bars. It is a 15.5 inch regulation size-and-color model dartboard featuring five cricket and 19 other games with up to 132 options (yes, if you’re a novice dart player there’s a lot more to the game than just throwing darts and adding scores). The Cricket Pro 650 accommodates up to eight players with a four-player LED score display and four sets of tricolor cricket displays, along with a solo play option (against a computer “opponent”). There is also full control over player handicaps so novices and advanced players can go head-to-head in a competitive game.

The construction of the Pro 650 is top-notch. It’s thick and durable, but more importantly it’s built so there are very few bounce-outs during a game, with micro-thin nylon segment dividers grabbing hold to the soft-tip darts firmly. In fact, they grab the darts so well that you may have to twist them as you pull in order to remove them from the board. The only time bounce-outs or scores that don’t register can become a problem is if you’re using light darts (under 16 grams).

Among the extra features are bounce-out amend, sleep mode, and a rather-loud audio system which calls out results like “single,” “double,” “triple,” “bullseye,” “miss” and “winner” – and prompts when it’s the next player’s turn. You can turn it off if it gets on your nerves. There are some features which would be nice to have, like battery as well as AC power, X/O displays, and a selectable bullseye, but if you simply have to have those latter options you can always step up to a more expensive Arachnid model. For about $150, this is just about all the electronic dartboard anyone but a dedicated pro could want.

Just about any electronic dartboard will be a step down from an Arachnid, but the Viper 797 isn’t too much of a fall – and at less than half the price (about $65) it’s definitely worth considering.

The Viper is regulation-size and color with a 15.5 inch nylon target face that isn’t quite as diligent as preventing bounce-out or recording scores as is the Cricket Pro. But it’s close. This board can accommodate 16 players and there are more games (35) and more options (171) than on the Arachnid board (but for some reason the game defaults to Euro instead of American cricket). The scoreboard shows four players’ scores simultaneously and there’s a four-player cricket LCD display along with X/O capability – but it’s half the size of the display on the Arachnid and hard to read from a distance. There is auto-player ranking and single/double bull capability, but there’s no handicapping function for multi-player modes. In other words, there are pros and cons to the Viper 797, but overall it doesn’t provide quite the same experience for more advanced players.

You’ll find that the automated features like scoring and “next player” announce can be a little finicky, you’ll probably have to upgrade the six darts that come along with the board, and like the Cricket Pro 650 this dartboard doesn’t work on battery power. As a fun board with lots of options, however, you won’t find a better choice at the low price point of $65.

If your goal is simply a good time and not replicating the tournament experience, the Fat Cat Rigel can do the job for a very reasonable price of $45. The target face is only 13 inches (although it does have a tournament spider) and decorated in red, white and blue (with half of the supplied darts featuring American flights and half with British flights). You won’t feel as if you’re in a serious match when facing this board and you shouldn’t expect to be able to hit triple 20s with ease. For a playroom, though, it will fit right in.

Bounce-outs aren’t the problem you’d expect from a bargain-priced electronic dartboard. However, the Fat Cat isn’t as well-made as the first two products on our list of top 5 best electronic dartboards, so don’t be surprised if you start having issues with the display or other automated functions after a while.

The Rigel board can handle eight players and shows two scores at any one time, along with an easy-to-read two-player cricket display with X/O capability. Overall, this model features 32 different games with a whopping 305 scoring options. There’s no solo-play option or other advanced features, but it does have auto-announce for doubles, triples and bullseyes – and most importantly, it’s fun to play with good game variety, at a great price for a soft-tip electronic board.

First, the good news: this Japanese import is a very well-made tournament-sized electronic dartboard, and it runs on batteries so you’re not tied to an electric outlet in order to play. Now, the bad news: it’s the most expensive in our rankings, at almost $240. Finally the news that we’ll let you characterize on your own: there’s no display on this board – you have to use it in conjunction with a SmartTV or a tablet that controls the game (including board sensitivity), shows the scores and lets you play against others using the app in other locations. The manufacturers call this the “next generation” of electronic boards. Perhaps we’re stuck in the last generation, but we think there’s just a little too much work involved in playing darts with the Gran Board 2.

Let’s deal first with the specifics of the board. Right now there are just nine games programmed into this model (including all of the 01 games and standard cricket) but the company says new games will be added regularly and will be available by updating the Gran Board app. There are the options that make any advanced game more realistic like separate bull and master in/out, and there are nine different levels of solo play against the computer. Bounce-outs aren’t a major issue, and this is a solid product.

Now, for the elephant in the room. You have to download the app to your device or SmartTV, which is where you control all game functions and see the well-designed scoreboard. That means setting up hooks for your tablet underneath the board, hanging the dartboard next to your TV, or constantly having to look wherever you’ve been able put your phone or tablet down just to see what’s going on in the game. It’s great to have the ability to get regular software updates as the product is improved, but we personally prefer to have the score displayed right on the board. The app works with both iOS and Android, so everyone will be able to use it – if they want to.

This is a solid tournament-sized electronic dartboard, but the real reason to buy it is in the title: wood cabinet. There are others that come in cabinets, of course, including several Arachnid models – but not with a $100 price tag.

The build on both the board and the cabinet are good (and the cherry-finished cabinet is attractive, for a fake wood item), there aren’t a lot of bounce-outs except along the edges, and the electronics work well. There are 28 games (three crickets) with 167 variations, a two-player LED score display with X/O cricket windows, and unlike the others on our list of the top 5 best electronic dartboards, the Millenia 1.0 has a trash-talking feature (and yes, it can be turned off). This model is powered by an AC adapter.

The features on the Regent-Halex aren’t overwhelming, but they’re more than adequate for those looking to spend less than they’d pay for an Arachnid. And you can simply close the cabinet if you don’t want your visiting highbrow friends to know that you love playing darts.