Product information
Xiom AXZi Ice Cream Blade
Weight: 91 grams
Thickness: 5.7mm
Plies: 7 (limba – limba – ALC – Kiri – ZLC – Limba – Limba)
Speed: OFF+
Stiffness: Medium Stiff
The Ice Cream Blade that I was really waiting for has arrived!! Good thing Xiom sent me the blade as soon as they have it stock. This is the one that I really liked because of the inner composite construction of the blade. I am also a limba kind of player because I love using DHS Hurricane 3 in my forehand. The AZX is a good blade but it was too fast for my style of play and it is more of an advanced or high level player. The AZXi, although even if it is a fast blade, it is suited for players who have developed some skills but not necessarily competitive type of player levels. The quality is as good as the AZX but when compared to older blades, the Ice cream blade series seem to be a notch higher in terms of quality, construction and finish. I would like to commend Xiom once again for taking into consideration in which I suggested to them that they need to change the shape of the neck and handle of the new blades as what other people who have also told me about the handles of the Feel Series. I used the Xiom Omega VII Pro as my backhand rubber and the Hurricane 3 as my fh rubber. I also switched the rubbers for the 2 sides just to test them also. I placed the Hurricane 3 first in the ALC side since I am the type of person who likes the ALC because it is not too fast nor too hard compared to pure carbon layers or ZLC layers. I also boosted the Hurricane 3.
I tested the ball on the bare blade and bounced it a few times to try and check the sound of the blade. I immediately saw that it has a lower bounce compared to the AZX. It also has a lower pitch compared to the AZX. Immediately you can tell the gap of speed even with the ZL layer. When I first used the bat for table drills for about 30 minutes, I immediately love the ALC layer using the Hurricane 3 because this is the feel I am always looking for in a blade. The ball feedback to hand is just right and no bad vibrations whatsoever. The speed is very good and above expected speed level. I thought this was slow at first but it is speedy enough. I would compare the speed as in the level of Viscaria or the Stardivarius if not faster. This is on the ALC side. The ZL side is more or less on the sped of the Innerforce ZLC.
The thing that sets it apart from the Innerforce ZLC/ALC is that for me the AZXi has a better feel. I could feel that it has more flex despite having 1 ZLC layer. This is one of the feel good blades in market right now. It feels right on everything and it’s like it is so nice to hit with. I find it easier to loop at first and it did not take a lot of effort to adjust especially the ALC side. The AZX has control but not as much as the AZXi. On the ALC side the arc with the Hurricane 3 was medium. It was not as high ast he AZX that I have observed. Even using the Omega VII Pro, the arc of the ball when I was spinning it it was medium to medium low but with a longer trajectory. The trajectory of the AZXi was not as long compared to the AZX and I think this was the main factor why the amount of control that I have for the AZXi is much better compared to the AZX. The AZXi loops really that good especially the arylate carbon part because it is very forgiving on your strong shots. The ZL fiber side has also good control but it is more direct and hard hitting. Several players in the club like both ZLC and ALC side of the blade. I prefer the ALC side myself but a lot of them love both sides especially when they used the Omega VII Pro as a forehand rubber. There was a high level player who tried the Hurricane 3 on the alc side and he really like it that he was hitting counters with the blade the minute he was using it in drills. At least with the AZXi, the Omega VII was also very forgiving and when you are loop driving very low balls, you could still have rooms for mistakes and the ball still hit the target. On the backhand, it is already given that the ALC is very controllable, the ZLC on the other hand need some fine tuning for players like me because it feels harder and offer more rebound power even just on blocks. Some people would prefer the ZL on their forehand for more power and just use the ALC for their backhand for more control. People like me prefer the ALC because we wanted to have more control and Hurricane 3 is much better with ALC in my opinion.
All in all a very good and balanced blade which personally for me rates high in control and speed but at the same have a very good feel. Had this been an ALC blade on both sides, I think I would be the happiest guy in the world right now. For other people they cannot just say anything bad against the blade because they really like it. I think people also are saying that the prices of both blades are kinda high but these two blades are still lower than several ridiculously high-priced blades. I am sure these 2 blades can outperform those blades.
Weight: 91 grams
Thickness: 5.7mm
Plies: 7 (limba – limba – ALC – Kiri – ZLC – Limba – Limba)
Speed: OFF+
Stiffness: Medium Stiff
The Ice Cream Blade that I was really waiting for has arrived!! Good thing Xiom sent me the blade as soon as they have it stock. This is the one that I really liked because of the inner composite construction of the blade. I am also a limba kind of player because I love using DHS Hurricane 3 in my forehand. The AZX is a good blade but it was too fast for my style of play and it is more of an advanced or high level player. The AZXi, although even if it is a fast blade, it is suited for players who have developed some skills but not necessarily competitive type of player levels. The quality is as good as the AZX but when compared to older blades, the Ice cream blade series seem to be a notch higher in terms of quality, construction and finish. I would like to commend Xiom once again for taking into consideration in which I suggested to them that they need to change the shape of the neck and handle of the new blades as what other people who have also told me about the handles of the Feel Series. I used the Xiom Omega VII Pro as my backhand rubber and the Hurricane 3 as my fh rubber. I also switched the rubbers for the 2 sides just to test them also. I placed the Hurricane 3 first in the ALC side since I am the type of person who likes the ALC because it is not too fast nor too hard compared to pure carbon layers or ZLC layers. I also boosted the Hurricane 3.
I tested the ball on the bare blade and bounced it a few times to try and check the sound of the blade. I immediately saw that it has a lower bounce compared to the AZX. It also has a lower pitch compared to the AZX. Immediately you can tell the gap of speed even with the ZL layer. When I first used the bat for table drills for about 30 minutes, I immediately love the ALC layer using the Hurricane 3 because this is the feel I am always looking for in a blade. The ball feedback to hand is just right and no bad vibrations whatsoever. The speed is very good and above expected speed level. I thought this was slow at first but it is speedy enough. I would compare the speed as in the level of Viscaria or the Stardivarius if not faster. This is on the ALC side. The ZL side is more or less on the sped of the Innerforce ZLC.
The thing that sets it apart from the Innerforce ZLC/ALC is that for me the AZXi has a better feel. I could feel that it has more flex despite having 1 ZLC layer. This is one of the feel good blades in market right now. It feels right on everything and it’s like it is so nice to hit with. I find it easier to loop at first and it did not take a lot of effort to adjust especially the ALC side. The AZX has control but not as much as the AZXi. On the ALC side the arc with the Hurricane 3 was medium. It was not as high ast he AZX that I have observed. Even using the Omega VII Pro, the arc of the ball when I was spinning it it was medium to medium low but with a longer trajectory. The trajectory of the AZXi was not as long compared to the AZX and I think this was the main factor why the amount of control that I have for the AZXi is much better compared to the AZX. The AZXi loops really that good especially the arylate carbon part because it is very forgiving on your strong shots. The ZL fiber side has also good control but it is more direct and hard hitting. Several players in the club like both ZLC and ALC side of the blade. I prefer the ALC side myself but a lot of them love both sides especially when they used the Omega VII Pro as a forehand rubber. There was a high level player who tried the Hurricane 3 on the alc side and he really like it that he was hitting counters with the blade the minute he was using it in drills. At least with the AZXi, the Omega VII was also very forgiving and when you are loop driving very low balls, you could still have rooms for mistakes and the ball still hit the target. On the backhand, it is already given that the ALC is very controllable, the ZLC on the other hand need some fine tuning for players like me because it feels harder and offer more rebound power even just on blocks. Some people would prefer the ZL on their forehand for more power and just use the ALC for their backhand for more control. People like me prefer the ALC because we wanted to have more control and Hurricane 3 is much better with ALC in my opinion.
All in all a very good and balanced blade which personally for me rates high in control and speed but at the same have a very good feel. Had this been an ALC blade on both sides, I think I would be the happiest guy in the world right now. For other people they cannot just say anything bad against the blade because they really like it. I think people also are saying that the prices of both blades are kinda high but these two blades are still lower than several ridiculously high-priced blades. I am sure these 2 blades can outperform those blades.
