Nittaku Premium 40+ Review: Is It Still The Gold Standard?

When the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) mandated the global shift away from highly flammable celluloid balls toward 40mm+ plastic (poly) balls, the entire sport suffered a multi-year hangover. The first generation of seamless poly balls were dreadful. They were heavy, notoriously brittle on edge-hits, and possessed severe thickness variations that caused them to wobble aggressively through the air. Players despised them.

During this era of frantic experimentation across Chinese factories, Nittaku released the Premium 40+ and instantly claimed the undisputed throne. It was the only ball that felt and played remotely like the beloved celluloid generation.

But in 2026, with massive leaps in ABS polymer manufacturing across rival brands like Butterfly and DHS, does the Nittaku still reign supreme? We hit thousands of forehand loops, measured the spin retention, and punished the edges of our paddles to determine exactly why the Nittaku Premium commands such a staggering price point.

🥇 The Nittaku Premium Specification Breakdown

★ Ranked #1 (Overall Best) in our Overall Best Balls Guide

Material: Premium ABS Plastic (Seamed)

Origin: Made explicitly in Japan

ITTF Approved: Yes (World Championship Tier)

Best For: Tournament & Elite Training

What We Like

• The absolute pinnacle of "true roundness"
• Astounding durability; nearly immune to normal edge hits
• Plays the absolute closest to classic celluloid
• Extremely predictable bounce trajectory

What to Consider

• A prohibitively expensive initial price tag per ball
• Counterfeit market; must be purchased from authorized dealers

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Why “Made In Japan” Matters So Much

The overwhelming majority of table tennis balls in the world—even the ones branded by legendary European and Japanese paddle companies—are manufactured in just a handful of massive polymer factories in China. Brands send their specifications, the Chinese factory produces the ABS ball, stamps the logo on it, and ships it back out.

Nittaku refuses this model for its Premium line. The Premium 40+ is manufactured entirely in-house in Japan using a proprietary, highly guarded ABS plastic blend.

This is the secret behind the Nittaku Premium phenomenon. By controlling the exact chemical formulation and utilizing excruciatingly precise quality control during the heating and welding of the ball’s two hemispheres, Nittaku produces a ball that possesses perfect concentricity. The wall thickness remains microscopically uniform all the way around the sphere. It is as close to “perfectly round” as a mass-produced plastic object can get.

Performance Analysis: The Celluloid Heir

Because of this unique Japanese ABS blend, the Nittaku Premium interacts with your paddle fundamentally differently than its main competitor, the Butterfly A40+.

Spin Generation and “Dwell Time”

The Butterfly A40+ is famously “hard” and “crisp.” The Nittaku Premium, while still an ABS plastic, has a microscopic degree of give. It feels slightly softer upon impact. In table tennis terminology, this increased “dwell time” (the fraction of a millisecond the ball spends sinking into the rubber’s sponge) allows the player to impart significantly more aggressive topspin or underspin.

This characteristic makes the Nittaku the favorite of looping attackers who rely on heavy, rotating trajectories rather than sheer velocity. It plays closer to the legendary celluloid balls of the 1990s than any other ball on the modern market.

The End of the Mid-Air Wobble

If you have ever attempted to block a heavy topspin loop only to watch the ball inexplicably flutter two inches to the right just before hitting your paddle, you understand the frustration of cheap seamless balls. That flutter is caused by irregular wall thickness.

Because the Nittaku Premium is so perfectly concentric, its flight path is dead predictable. When you generate heavy spin, the ball draws a smooth, beautiful arc through the air. You can trust that the ball will go exactly where your technique dictates. This predictability is paramount at the tournament level, where a fraction of an inch dictates victory or defeat.

The Economics of Durability

The elephant in the room regarding the Nittaku Premium is the price point. Spending upwards of $8 or $10 for a 3-pack of ping pong balls seems absurd, especially when you can buy a bucket of 60 practice balls for just slightly more.

However, the durability of the Japanese ABS drastically alters the long-term economics of the purchase.

When a typical $1 training ball clips the wooden edge of your racket at high speed (an “edge hit”), it usually cracks or splinters. When the Nittaku Premium suffers an identical edge hit, it bounces off unharmed. The structural integrity of the welded seam combined with the proprietary plastic creates a shell that is astonishingly crack-resistant.

It is incredibly common for club players to play three nights a week with the exact same Nittaku ball for an entire month before they finally step on it or lose it under a bleacher. In that same timespan, they would have likely shattered six or seven cheaper balls. While the upfront sticker shock is high, the cost spread over time makes the Nittaku surprisingly economical for serious players.

Final Verdict: Unquestioned Supremacy

The Nittaku Premium 40+ is the gold standard, period. There is a reason that almost every highly trafficked table tennis forum treats this ball with deep reverence. It eliminates the equipment completely from the equation. If you miss a shot while playing with a Nittaku Premium, the fault lies entirely with your footwork or your stroke.

It is the necessary upgrade for competitive club play, sanctioned tournament matches, or anywhere you need the absolute pinnacle of predictable, spin-heavy performance. Do not waste them inside a Newgy practice robot, but for everything else, they are flawless.