Electronic Dartboards

Get a 15.5 in target if you play, or plan to play, soft tip leagues, since that is the target size National Dart Association rules reference. Smaller 13 to 13.5 in targets are common on home boards.

• GranBoard3s: 15.5 in target, connected to the GranBoard app.
• Solar Blast: 15.5 in target on a regulation tournament spider, with its own scoring display.
• Gran Board 132: a 13.2 in target that matches a steel tip board, with narrower doubles and triples, so practice carries over to bristle.

The best board depends on how you play, so start there:

• Online matches and app games: the GranBoard3s connects over Bluetooth and has sound-absorbing material in every segment for quieter play.
• A lower-priced quiet board: the Gran Board Dash weighs 5.5 lb and uses a shock-absorbing mat to cut bounce and noise.
• Big groups, no phone needed: the Viper 800 has 57 games, up to 16 players and shows four Cricket scores at once. The Solar Blast offers 43 games, voice prompts and room for 16 players.

Every board here plays the two league staples, Cricket and 01, plus practice and party games. In Cricket you close 15 through 20 and the bull with three marks each; in 01 you count down from a starting score such as 301 or 501 to exactly zero.

• Solar Blast: Cricket variants including Cut Throat, 301 to 901, Round the Clock, Shanghai, Killer, Golf and Baseball, with single, team or cyber play.
• GranBoard3s and Gran Board Dash: Cricket, 01, Count-Up, Half It and Animal Battle, with 9 levels of play against the computer.
• Gran Board 132: 30+ built-in games, some pay to play, plus online play through Gran Online.

For group nights, the Viper 800 shows four Cricket scores at once.

Only with app-based boards. The Gran Board Dash uses your phone, tablet or smart TV running the GranBoard app (Android 9 or later, iOS 12 or later) for graphics and scoring. The GranBoard3s and Gran Board 132 also run through the app, which is how they play opponents online, and the 132 needs a Bluetooth 4.0 device and does not work with Amazon Fire.

Boards with a built-in display, like the Viper 800 and Solar Blast, score on the board itself. On a GranBoard 3, the Gran Smart Phone Holder mounts to the board and keeps your phone in view.

It depends on the board: the GranBoards run on AA batteries or USB power, while the Viper 800 plugs into a wall outlet.

A battery board can hang anywhere with no cord across the wall, which helps when there is no outlet near your throwing lane. For a corded board, plan the outlet before you drill, and remember app-based boards also need a charged phone, tablet or smart TV nearby.

Use soft tip darts of 20 grams or less. That is the National Dart Association limit for a complete dart and GranBoard's own recommendation, because heavier darts wear segments faster. Never throw steel tips or steel conversion points at an electronic board.

Compact, slim barrels also help on a busy board, because darts packed into one segment deflect each other less. The Laserdart Lantern Shark #1 is an ultra-compact 90% tungsten barrel in 16g, 18g or 20g. Keep spare tips on hand too, like Condor 2BA tips in 40-count bags.

Most problems are a broken tip, a worn segment or a worn part behind the segments, and each is a repair, not a new board.

• Broken tip in a hole: pull it with a Tip Removal Tool #2 instead of prying with a knife.
• Cracked or worn segment: GranBoard Replacement Segments come in matched pairs for the GranBoard 2, 3 and 3s. Segments are a wear item, excluded from GranBoard's limited 3-month warranty.
• Dead spots on a 3s: these can come from a worn rubber sheet.
• Unreliable scoring everywhere: the 3s sensor matrix and other matrices are model-specific and not returnable once opened, so confirm your model first.

Hang it so the center of the bull is 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) from the floor, then mark a line 8 ft (244 cm) from the board face, measured to the front edge of the line.

• On a wall: the Gran U-shape bracket stops a GranBoard rotating. Use M4 x 8mm countersunk head screws only; tap screws can push the inner nuts into the board and damage the sensor sheet.
• Without drilling: the Gran Darts Tripod Stand weighs about 3.5 lb, includes O and U brackets and fits the GranBoard Dash, 2, 3 and 3s.
• At the line: the Gran Darts LED MAT lights up with your throws on a GranBoard 3 or 3s.