The Top 7 Best Paintball Hoppers

Paintball hopper manufacturers try to wow you with bold claims:

• "Our hopper can feed 50 bps!"
• "It holds up to 400 paintballs!"
• "I just ate 3 feet of sub for lunch!"

OK, that last one is genuinely impressive. And the second one has some benefit too.

But 50 bps? Who needs that?

Electronic markers with ramping modes like PSP, NXL, and NPPL cap out at 15 bps in accordance with tournament rules. Most paintball fields will cap you at 12-15 bps, and semi-automatic markers can't approach those numbers anyway.

This article's purpose is to wade through the chafe and cut the fluff so you get just what you came here for: the best paintball hopper.

You'll see these terms used interchangeably because they mean the same thing. Hoppers load paintballs into your marker, so they're also called loaders.

Paintball hoppers come in two basic types:

1. Gravity-fed: Use gravity to load paintballs into your marker
2. Electronic: Use battery-power to force paintballs into your marker faster than Mother Nature can on her own

Gravity-fed hoppers are less expensive and can load 10-12 bps into your marker. Considering most players can't pull the trigger faster than 7-8 bps, there's little reason to spring for an electronic hopper if you're using a mechanical, semi-automatic paintball gun.

But if you're using an electronic paintball gun, then you absolutely need an electronic hopper to take advantage of the many advanced firing modes up to the max-allowed 15 bps rate.

With those distinctions out of the way, let's take a look at the best paintball loaders of both types.

The Virtue Spire IV Electronic Loader is in a virtual tie for Best Paintball Hopper with the Dye Rotor R2. The Spire IV is smoother and more reliable up to 13-14 bps, at which point the Rotor R2 is the better loader. But considering the max-allowed firing rate is 15 bps, what do you think is more important

• The first 14 bps
• The 15th and final bps

I'll take the first 14, and that's why we think the best paintball hopper is the Virtue Spire IV Electronic Loader.

The Proto Primo's hopper design efficiently feeds paintballs into your marker faster than any other gravity-fed loader. It almost never jams and it'll outpace your semi-automatic firing all day, every day.

The narrow loser to the top-ranked electronic loader — the Virtue Spire IV — the Dye Rotor Series actually has a longer track record of success at the pro level than any other hopper. These hoppers are lightweight, compatible with every paintball marker out there, never jam, and can fire over 50 bps. You'll have it for life, making it a worthwhile investment.

The HK Army Pinokio has a nifty design that lets you expand its capacity from 250 paintballs — the same size as other high-end hoppers here — to an astonishing 400 paintballs by adding the neck attachment, all while remaining as light and maneuverable as possible. The larger volume is great for woodsball and pairs well with some of the best markers for woodsball. And despite the Pinokio's high capacity, it can still feed over 30 bps.

The Valken V-Max Plus has a 220-paintball capacity yet weighs under 1 pound while other electronic hoppers here weigh at least a few ounces more. However, the Valken V-Max Plus is only compatible with .68 caliber markers.

Tippmann shows off their design chops once again with their Cyclone Feed Low-Profile Hopper System, which works on the Tippmann A5, X7 Phenom, and other Cyclone Feed-compatible markers.

The JT Paintball Revolution Electronic Loader was revolutionary when its paddle-powered, paintball-feeding system was first designed about 15 years ago, but it just can't keep up with the paintball hoppers above. Still, it's just about the cheapest electronic loader you'll find and feeds paintballs at 12 bps — the top end of what the best gravity-fed hopper can do — with a 180-paintball capacity.

Honorable Mentions For Best Paintball Hopper

There are a few other paintball loaders I haven't mentioned that clearly aren't the best paintball hopper but do have their place for different types of players. Let's run through a few more with a quick overview of why I like them.

• Empire Prophecy Z2 Electronic Loader: A somewhat distant third behind the Virtue Spire IV and Dye Rotor R2, this Empire Prophecy Z2 Electronic Loader is a more budget-conscious choice.
• Invert Halo Too Electronic Loader: A solid mid-level loader, the Invert Halo Too Electronic Loader feeds around 20 bps with a 180 paintball capacity.
• GenX Global Gravity-Fed Loader: Sometimes all you need is cheap and functional. This gravity-fed has no features and costs next to nothing.