Winmau are a market leader when it comes to dartboards and have a range of dartboards for home use as well as dartboards for professional tournaments.
Globally, they are arguably the most recognized brand when it comes to dartboards and their reputation and quality is for good reason.
They have 5 staple dartboards in their collection and today we’re going to focus on one in particular and provide a Winmau Pro SFB dartboard review.
This is our first product review on Decent Darts and what better product to start with than the Winmau Pro SFB, a dartboard I’ve owned for the last three years and my go-to practice board.
If you’ve spent any time on this site before, chances are you’ve seen it making appearances in our article images.
At Decent Darts we test all bristle dartboards with the same editorial policy and testing criteria which is:
- Darts used – Red Dragon Razor Edge, 21g with a knurled point
- 1,000 darts at treble 20 to test the fibers and wires used
- 10 hours practice to test durability
You can find out more on how we test all products here
Table of Contents
Winmau Pro SFB Dartboard Review: Our Verdict
The Winmau Pro SFB dartboard is a mid-budget dartboard that is equally ideal for a beginner or competitive league player. It’s missing some features that would make it a competition standard board but for practice, it’s hard to recommend a better dartboard for the price.
Why do I say that?
Well, it’s my practice board of choice and you’ll see it on most of my images scrolling through this site.
It’s my dads dartboard of choice which you’ll also see on some product reviews (he’s one of the product testers at Decent Darts) and… my grandad uses it as his board of choice!
As casual (but also competitive) league and competition players, we’ve had no issue with the quality or durability of this board and while it can definitely be prone to some bounce outs, that’s a sacrifice that we think is reasonable when considering the price.
When looking at price, durability, and how long I’ve been able to get use out of this board for, we’re going to give it a solid 8/10 rating.
Pros
- Affordable Price
- Quality manufacturer
- Value for money
- Durable – lasts for years with casual use
- Easy to mount
Cons
- Thick round wires leading to more bounce outs
- A bit outdated, newer model board may be more expensive but have a huge upgrade in terms of technology
Who Should Buy It
The Winmau Pro SFB is great for players who need a good quality practice board at home but don’t have the budget to buy a more premium board like the Blade 6 (also from Winmau).
It’s a durable dartboard that comes at an affordable price so you definitely get good value for money.
If you play for 30 – 60 minutes, 2-3 times per week then this board will definitely hold up to casual use and it’s a great starter board for those that are looking to take the game seriously and play at a more competitive level.
Who Shouldn’t Buy It
If you are a competitive player and practice daily, this board won’t be a good enough quality to withstand that level of use.
It’s a good quality board but it’s definitely more suited to someone who will have the occasional long practice session rather than someone stepping up to the oche on a daily basis!
Having said that, I’ve had a month-long spell where I played for 30 minutes daily, didn’t rotate the board (novice error) but also didn’t notice much wear and tear so it can take frequent use, I just wouldn’t recommend it.
It’s also worth noting that the wires are a thicker design (not recently updated) so you do tend to see quite a lot of bounce outs which isn’t ideal if you’re having dedicated practice.
Winmau Pro SFB Dartboard Review: Product Overview
Durability & Quality
The Winmau Pro SFB is an entry-level dartboard that is built to the best standard for beginner/casual players.
What this essentially means is that you’re going to get a durable and well manufactured dartboard minus any premium features.
That therefore makes it a solid dartboard for home use and if you’re buying it as a beginner, you can easily expect a good few years of quality use for it (provided you maintain it properly).
It’s made with a sisal fibre base which is pretty much the standard for bristle dartboard and ensures it’s a self healing dartboard.
I use darts with a knurled point (for extra grip because I’m a front gripper and these are usually quite harsh on dartboards and can pull fibres out if the boards aren’t of a decent quality.
Having had the Pro SFB for over two years, it has held up well to my darts and I’d say it’s definitely a durable and good quality board.
It’s got a staple free bullseye but the wires are definitely not the slimmest or best angle and as a result, I get a fair amount of bounce out.
Durability & Quality – 8/10
Price
Priced between £30-£40 ($35-$45) depending on the retailer, the Winmau Pro SFB is a mid-budget dartboard for those that are starting to take the game more seriously. When looking at dartboard pricing, I’d consider the following to be a good guide:
- <£30: Budget for beginners
- £30 – £45: Mid-tier for home use
- £45 – £60: League or competition standard
- >£60: Professional standard
This is just for the dartboard and doesn’t include bundles like a dartboard and cabinet set for example.
Therefore, looking at the price and quality of the board, I’d say that it’s priced in the mid-tier range for home use, however, I do think the quality of this board would allow for it to be usable in league games.
Therefore, not only is the Winmau Pro SFB competitively priced, I’d personally say it’s maybe undervalued and therefore provides great value for the price.
I’ve had mine for 2 years and while you can definitely notice wear and tear, it’s been holding up well considering I use darts with a knurled point which is more damaging to a dartboard!
Price – 9/10
Design
The product features a staple free bullseye (ideal for cricket), three integrated hooks for wall mounting, and pre-drilled holes which can be used to connect to a dartboard stand or cabinet.
I’m personally a fan of the pre-drilled holes as my setup uses a dartboard stand so this made it significantly easier to mount.
I don’t know how confident I’d have been drilling these holes myself to be honest!
While these are handy to have features, the next price bracket up which is the Winmau Blade range comes with adjusting points to easily rotate the dartboard and reduce wear and tear and also comes with thinner and more angled wires for reduced bounce outs and a wider scoring zone.
Therefore, the features are definitely lacking compared with more expensive boards but for the price, you’re getting a really solid starter board that can even be utilized by league level players.
Design – 7/10
Dartboard Test
We’ve listed the dartboard testing criteria at the top of this article and while that’s our usual method and process to test a dartboard, this is my practice board so the number of hours used and darts thrown far surpasses the minimum test requirements.
For this example, my dad, grandad and myself all own this dartboard so you can see the images below showing the condition and wear on each dartboard.
My dad has had his for 2 years (left) and it’s had maybe 40 hours of casual play. My grandad’s board (middle) is around 8 years old and has hundreds of hours of game time but isn’t the pro version. Mine (right) is 3 years old and has also had hundreds of hours of practice.
Mine is also the board you see for ‘how to guides’ and images on this website so it’s had significant use over the years.
My grandad’s isn’t in great condition, maybe due to the age of it and not enough maintenance.
As they are all well used it’s hard to see how they hold up after 10 hours and 1,000s of darts but I guess the results from 10x those amounts are a good indication and I’d say they look like they’ve held up over time.
Conclusion
The Winmau Pro SFB dartboard is a great value and durable dartboard that is perfect for players looking to take their darts more seriously.
It’s a step up from a budget beginner board and is ideal for casual practice and more frequent household use.
It’s missing some features that would allow us to give it a better rating but with more features comes a bigger price tag.
Therefore, when looking at the value for money, quality of the dartboard, and number of reviews (2,980 reviews on Amazon at the time of writing and a 4.7/5 rating) it’s easy to see why this is such a popular dartboard and we’d definitely recommend it to most casual darters.
For a full setup, we’d recommend combining it with a Winmau Xtreme dartboard surround and Target Darts Corona Vision dartboard light.
^^ Our full reviews for both in the links above
Other Dartboards to Consider
If you were to keep it in the Winmau family, the Winmau Diamond is an incredibly similar dartboard or you could consider an upgrade to the Winmau Blade 6.
Step outside of Winmau and the Nodor Supamatch 3 is an impressive board at a similar price. The key feature is the ultra-thin and high tensile wire system which is ideal for heavy scoring and fast paced games with fewer bounce outs.
Finally, the Unicorn Eclipse Pro is a tournament standard dartboard that you can get at almost the same price as the Winmau Pro SFB.
Arguably, the Eclipse Pro is a better board when you consider it to be a tournament ready board, however, I think it comes down to brand preference as there is very little to choose between the two.
What Next
We’re building up an extensive list of product reviews here at Decent Darts, check out some of our most recent here
