Hand Drums vs Bongos
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Hand Drums
Explore a collection of 25 professionally recorded hand drums, including bongos, congas, and djembes. Play along to a metronome, custom beats, or your own music library. Record and share your drumming creations.
- 25 professionally recorded hand drums
- Play along to metronome, beats, and loops
- Record and share drumming sessions
- Pitch and roll controls
- Play along with iPod music
- Visual 3D effects
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If you've always wanted to play the bongos, conga, or any other hand drum, or already know how, Hand Drums Free is for you! Easy to use, extremely fun and entertaining, Hand Drums Free features 25 unique hand drums, including Bongos, Conga, Djembe, Doumbek, Cajon, Tabla and more, all professionally recorded in high quality 16 bit stereo. You can play alone, to a metronome, or to unique Pocket Beats and Loops. You can even play along to the music on your iPod right from within Hand Drums Free. With features including pitch control, ability to share and export your recordings (optional in-app purchase), metronome, drum rolls, drum loops, and more, you'll sound like a pro from the moment you start playing! FEATURES: • 25 different hand drums, all professionally recorded in high-quality 16-bit stereo: Bendir, Bongo, Bongo Jam, Boudran, Cajon, Conga, Djembe, Doumbek, Duff, Electronic Drums, Frame Drum, Frame Drum with Bells, Mini Djembe, Pakhawaj, Snare & Bass, Tabla, Talking Drum, Tambourine, Timbale, and Tom Tom, with more to follow. • 4 Unique Playing Zones on each drum create a realistic drumming experience. • Share your recordings through email, Facebook, and Twitter • Export your recordings to your computer (optional in-app purchase) • Visual 3D effect when drums are hit maximizes the drumming experience • Metronome with 43 sounds to choose from and variable speed switch (BPM) • 67 Pocket Beats and Loops to play along to • PlayAlong Beats: 16 new loops with basic bass drum, hi-hat or snare beats, to play along for added rhythmic expression! • Slide your finger between the drums • Shake your device to play sounds to your favorite music • Play drum heads simultaneously • Play along with your favorite music by easily accessing your iPod music right from within Hand Drums Free • Volume controls for both the drum sounds and music • Pitch control allows for unlimited drum sounds • Rolls on drums with variable speed adjustment (BPM) • Using headphones will allow you to fully enjoy the high quality sounds of Hand Drums Free PRIVACY POLICY: http://codyrotwein.com/privacy.html
Bongos
This app provides a realistic finger bongo pad experience with high-quality sounds. Practice along to songs, customize bongo positions, and utilize built-in metronome and recording features for jam sessions and lessons.
- Realistic finger bongo pad
- High-quality sound selection
- Customizable bongo positions
- Built-in metronome (30-300 BPM)
- Recording and loop functions
- Practice along to songs
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***** This App is a Real Finger Bongo Pad. ***** You can practice according to the Song. ***** Ideal for Jam Sessions with other Instruments. ***** Suitable for Jam Sessions and Lessons. ***** Real High Quality Sound. [Simple Bongos] * Simple Bongo Pads with No Delay. [Sound Selection & Custom Bongo Positions] * Long Press to Select and set Sound. (After selecting the sound, push the selected Bongo again, it will be changed) * Available in All Bongo Positions. [Color] * Abundant Color Variations. [Metronome] * BPM(30〜300) [Rec] * Includes Recording, Loop and Metronome functions. * Suitable for Jam Sessions and Lessons. [List of Bongo Sounds] * Real High Quality Sound. [Bongo 1,Bongo 2,Bongo 3,Bongo 4,Bongo 5,Bongo 6,Bongo 7,Bongo 8,Bongo 9,Bongo 10,Bongo 11,Bongo 12,Bongo 13,Bongo 14,Bongo 15,Bongo 16,Bongo 17,Bongo 18,Bongo 19,Bongo 20,Bongo 21,Bongo 22,Bongo 23,Bongo 24,Bongo 25,Bongo 26,Bongo 27,Bongo 28,Bongo 29,Bongo 30,Bongo 31,Bongo 32,Bongo 33,Bongo 34,Bongo 35,Bongo 36,Bongo 37,Bongo 38,Bongo 39,Bongo 40,Bongo 41,Bongo 42,Bongo 43,Bongo 44,Bongo 45,Bongo 46,Bongo 47,Bongo 48,Bongo 49,Bongo 50,Bongo 51,Bongo 52,Bongo 53,Bongo 54,Bongo 55,Bongo 56,Bongo 57,Bongo 58,Bongo 59,Bongo 60,Bongo 61,Bongo 62,Bongo 63,WoodStick,Dog]
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bongos at none against Hand Drums's 2. Bongos also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (36 vs 11). Hand Drums's advantage is review sentiment (17% vs 0%). On price, rating, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Hand Drums sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Bongos asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Hand Drums against 4.1 for Bongos. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11 and 36 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 17% of Hand Drums's written reviews are positive against 0% of Bongos's.
Hand Drums ships an update every 3 months, Bongos fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Hand Drums | Bongos |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (11 ratings) | 4.1 (36 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 16.7% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11 | 36 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 577 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Drum Starz | Satomi Uchida |
Customer experience
Hand Drums
Bongos
In-app purchases
Hand Drums
- Hand Drums Upgrade$0.99
- Exporting$0.99
Bongos
No in-app purchases









