I’m not sure if it’s spelled Granboard or Gran Board, but this board (specifically the Gran Board 2) is home soft tip board that runs on 2 AA batteries.  It uses bluetooth technology to pair with your smart phone and/or tablet.  Your tablet/smart phone hosts the app which includes a variety of games and online play.

Purchase a Gran Board 2 Bluetooth Electronic Dartboard

The Purchase

I had been using my $2 garage sale dart board for a few months, and after playing on the Dartslive bar machines, I decided I wanted a similar dart experience at home.  I liked the sounds, award movies, themes, animations, big screen scoring; it added to the playing experience.  After scouring the Internets for what boards are out on the market, I came across the Gran Board by the company Gran Darts.  From the description it had everything I was looking for, but the only problem was I couldn’t find a retailer in the USA who carried it.  I finally settled on a site from Japan called World Darts (w-darts.com).  I had several conversations with the owner and pulled the trigger on ordering 2 Grand Boards.  Transaction on the site was via Paypal, and the board arrived from Japan in about 2 weeks.

I wanted to note there’s a Gran Board Lite aka Grand Board Dash, that is also available and uses the same software.  It’s a different build material and has less features. I don’t own one, so that’s all I know about it.

The Arrival

The box arrived safely, in good shape, and was flashy. It was bigger than I had expected,  and I have no idea why I expected something smaller.

What’s Inside the Box

• 1 Set of house darts – brass and fatter for a comfortable grip
• 1 Hanging instructions which doubles as a template
• 1 Grand Board dart board

I guess this is what you would expect to get.  It would be nice to get an official throw line, or even an extra set of house darts.

Board Build

I really like the quality of of this home board.  The board doesn’t sound hallow when you tap it like others.  It feels more substantial.  The button on the board also feels like an old arcade button, and those who grew up with arcades know’s what kind of beating those buttons would take.

Here are some of features I like about the Grand Board 2:

• Minimalist design with the focus on the board
• Segments can be replaced in case they get damaged.  I’m not sure how many other home dart boards have this feature.
• Silent treatment.  They made effort to make this board one of the quieter ones on the market by stuffing foam into each segment.
• Out sensor.  It’s nice that it can register out darts.  The downside is that it hasn’t worked well for me. My out dart on double 20 registers as a double 1.
• Wall bracket support!  I absolutely love this feature.  I’m not a fan of the tape the template to the wall and drill multiple holes.  The wall bracket (sold separately) has a center hole that represents the center bull, so you just measure floor to wall on where the bull should be, then screw the bracket into the wall, and the other piece of the bracket into the Granboard.  Makes it really simple to hang.
• Takes 2 AA batteries (also not included).  A single set of batteries probably lasted me 4-5 months, and that was with playing 4-5 times a week, and leaving it on overnight a few times.

It hasn’t been all roses for this board though, it has had a few issues while I’ve owned it.  All of them small, but I’ll call them out:

• Out sensor hasn’t worked well for me.  It has registered out when the darts were in, but you can adjust the sensor sensitivity.  I have it turned down really low, and that seems to work for me most of the time, until I miss out on a double 20 (it registers as double 1).
• Occasionally I’ll lose connection between my tablet and the board when I shoot around the 19 segment.  When it happens it will re-connect by itself, but can cause a few seconds delay until I can shoot again.

I do get bounce outs on this board, but nothing more than any other home dart board. There’s are a lot of different factors that play into what causes a bounce out, for me it’s usually caused by oily tips.  I keep a microfibre cloth around to wipe my tips once I notice bounce outs.

Overall, it’s a really solid board.  Because the insides and segments can be replaced, I don’t worry so much about the board going bad.  Also, the Gran Board and replacement parts are available now from a US retailer.  I wouldn’t hesitate recommending this board to fellow dart players.

In the part 2 review, I’ll dig into the software side of the Gran Board.