Arachnid Cricket Pro 800 vs 900: Which Dartboard is Better?

Arachnid make excellent quality electronic dart boards which provide a great way to play darts either solo or in a group. This brand has been in the business for a long time now, and simply put: makes the best dartboards of this kind.

But while you may have decided you’d like an Arachnid, the question is knowing which model to get. With so many different variations, how can you be sure that you’re making the right purchase?

In this post, we’ll take a look at the two top offerings from the company: the 800 and the 900. In doing so, we’ll attempt to answer which is the best for what type of player, so that you can get the most bang for your buck.

Both these boards have more similarities than differences and are in many ways variations on the same theme. 

All the Arachnid Cricket Pros (including the 750 and 650), are simple electronic dartboards with a digital readout for tracking scores down the bottom. They come in tournament red and black, giving them a very authentic feel, and they feature well made plastic boards that utilize durable nylon and high-friction holes to prevent rebound. They also have narrow micro segment dividers to further combat this common issue seen in plastic dart boards.

The point of an electronic dartboard is of course to automatically track the score, and that way help to ease the flow of the game. You are no longer required to constantly interrupt your gameplay in order to update the score, and with the help of the board you can also play a host of other games. One of the key differences between these boards then is the number of games you are able to play and the number of different modes.

Note though that in order to provide this functionality, these boards are only compatible with soft tip darts.

Now looking at the differences, we can start by comparing the design. While they might look almost identical in product images, the 900 is better made with more high quality materials. They’re both good products, but the 900 does feel top end. This is why it manages to weigh 1.73lbs more than the 800, despite having a slightly smaller footprint!

Everywhere else though, these two products are near-identical. You get a round dartboard at regulation 15.5” target area, with a digital readout for up to four players (despite the games actually supporting 8 players).

Of course, what really matters here is the feature set and in particular, the number of game modes and settings.

The 800 and 900 both spoil you for choice in this regard with an embarrassment of riches – but the 900 does have the slight upper hand. That’s 48 games versus 39 games. When you take into account the variations, the 900 is even more impressive with 354 different modes versus 179.

The question is whether you are likely to use these extra game modes often. Many players will simply stick with cricket or 301, and not really try anything else. If that sounds like you, then you may not wish to spend the extra. In fact, you might consider going even lower to the 750 which has 36 game modes and 175 variations.

The other additional feature the 900 enjoys over the 800 is the voice feature. This will tell you the score for each player and invite you to step up when it’s your turn. This is a great way to learn new games and to organize a chaotic group of friends that won’t stop talking. 

That said, the 800 does feature the same heckler feature as the 900 – a fun voice that will taunt those with low scores and mock those with high scores. A lot of people find this feature irritating rather than fun, so this might not help you make up your mind.

On the whole then, the 900 basically offers a superior build quality, voice interaction, and more game modes. If you’re someone who loves playing darts and wants to experience all the different modes and styles, then you may love this. If not though, you may be perfectly happy with the 800.

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