Latest reviews

Pros
  • control
  • speed
Cons
  • slim fl handle
  • top heavy
Plies: 5W+2AC. Limba – Limba – Arylate Carbon - Ayous - Arylate Carbon –Limba – Limba

Feeling: Medium Soft due to 2 plies of limba and carbon layer more centrally aligned.

Craftsmanship: Beautiful as always. With the new hologram at the back of the handle it looks precious.

Weight Distribution: Top heavy. The blade's shape is little oval and not round.

Power: Good from mid distance and close.

Speed: Off+ (As per my skills)

Control: The ball sinks little deep due to limba. Counters and other control shots will feel good if not used with a super fast rubber.

Precision: Once you are in sync with this blade it is very accurate to place the ball any where on the board.

Thickness: 6.0 mm.

Blade Size: 157 x 150 mm.

Grip Comfort: Since I like slim flared grips this works perfect for me. Others might differ.

Chinese Rubber bonding:
Haven't tried any Chinese rubber on this blade.

Euro-Jap Rubber bonding: Awesome pairing with Tenergy and other tensors.

Speed
7.9
Control
9.4
Hardness
5.6
Durability
9.7
Pros
  • Price
  • Roundness
Cons
  • Durability
This other day i bumped in to this product. The seamless balls have good bounce. Not as heavy as Nexy or Xiom seamless balls. But good enough for standard play. Out of 3 balls 1 accidentally hit the concrete wall and burst like anything. Like it was totally destructed by a person taking all his anger out after loosing 11-0. So durability for this ball still seems a question mark for me. Otherwise they are nice to have.
Roundness
8.2
Hardness
6.9
Speed
6.2
Durability
5.6
Pros
  • Feel
  • Short game
  • Loop
Nittaku Acoustic Review
Nittaku Acoustic is a 5 ply wooden blade.

I have paired it up with Tenergy 05 and Tenergy 80. The blade gives a good feedback and the player can find out where he has gone wrong while making an error. The control of this blade is high when compared to other wooden offensive blades.

Weight: the weight is approximately 85~88 g. It feels a bit heavy when paired with Tenergy rubbers.

Make: The blade has a smooth finish and has a very comfortable straight handle. Nittaku always remain one step ahead in this respect.

Counter play: The blade is fast and controllable for a counterplay. With Tenergy rubbers the spring effect comes alive.

Topspin: the blade has a good amount of dwell time and hence looping becomes easy. Close table topspin play is effortless and aids in good amount of spin.

Mid and far distances looping is very good and the ball always travels in the intended direction.

Consistency: The blade is very consistent. One can easily achieve a quick and controlled rally in a game.

Sound: the blade produces a crisp sound effect on hitting.

Short Game: The blade has a very good touch and feels which helps in the short game at a high precision. Flips are easy and so are the pushes.

Blocking: in general wooden blades are good in blocking and Acoustic is no exception.

Conclusion: Nittaku Acoustic is a very finely crafted wooden blade made with special wood lamination technology which is originally used in stringed instrument production. Its unique blocking, looping and hitting capabilities will always be significant in the world of table tennis.
Speed
7.9
Control
9
Hardness
7.5
Durability
9.2
Pros
  • dual nature
  • control
  • head size
Cons
  • price
Blade Review: Tibhar/Nexy Actium
I am glad to review the latest defensive weapon from Nexy and Tibhar. First, let us take a look at the manufacturer’s statistics.

  • Head Size: 164mm x 157mm
  • Thickness: 6.1mm
  • Layers : 9 Wood
  • Weight: 87~89 g
  • Grip Type: Straight

Being an amateur table tennis player, I have always been a bit inclined to the beauty of chopping and fishing. Even an attacking player cannot deny the joy of winning a point through fishing or playing defensively.

First of all, I found the blade very beautiful. By design it stands out from the rest of the defensive blades. I asked Nexy for a Straight handle (87~89 g) version and they provided me with the same. The straight handle is very comfortable and easy to twiddle with. I admired the small gem placed at the bottom of the handle. The dark greenish grey color of the handle adds a nice touch to the overall looks.

Setup: Actium + FH: Mark V [max] + BH: Donic Coppa Jo Gold [max]

I chose the two very popular rubbers in India for the initial testing. With one week of testing I am publishing the results [can be updated].

Counter play: Both forehand and backhand counterplay is excellent and has nice feedback. Very good feeling. I can predict where I went wrong immediately.

Blocks: The blade has loads of control. Is this a correct sentence? Okay I repeat once again, this blade has uummmm….Well you can’t go wrong in blocking. If you can’t block properly with this one, time for a technique check.

Loops/Top-spins: Ok…Did you ask me to do a forehand or a backhand loop? Bet me 100 bucks, I can loop anything with this.

Speed: I would rate it as medium-low. [Considering HL5 as the highest in speed, so far what I have used. There may be some other Veyron’s out there, but I haven’t tried those.]

Consistency: Very consistent. Very very consistent. Doesn’t even move an inch.

Serves: I was able to perform controlled serves with lots of spin. And since the speed is not high I was able to place it near the nets.

Push: Fantastic. You mark the area will put it there. There were instances when I tried to push the ball at the edge of the table and trust me I succeeded 3 out of 4 times keeping the ball as low as possible.

Chop: Chopping with Coppa Jo Gold is a bit difficult so I used to twiddle to Mark V. Thanks to smooth edges near the wings it was really helpful. Frankly speaking I was only able to keep the ball on the table and that’s it. I was not able to provide justice to chopping with this one. I am looking forward to a pimple rubber to get an aid. And that would appear in my next testing setup.

Verdict: After one week of testing, I can testify that Actium is a very well made balanced defensive blade which can turn to attacking at any length of the table. The makers knew where to strike and have hit the bull’s eye. I would recommend this blade to the modern defensive players blindly. For those who love in and out attacking style, I don’t think this blade will suit you. But if you prefer all-round style, you are going to love this.

To buy Actium, click here.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this
....Rajd...
Speed
6.9
Control
9.4
Hardness
6.6
Durability
9.5
Pros
  • Price
  • Control
  • Spin
Cons
  • blocking
  • close table
TT Rubber – Yasaka Rakza X review
Rakza X, the latest tensor addition to the one of most popular and successful Rakza series of Yasaka. As per Yasaka, the top sheet is made of natural rubber gum which is the usual for any Yasaka rubber.
As marketed by Yasaka, the top sheet indeed provides an excellent grip over the ball. Let us now take a close look at the characteristics and its performance.
Speed: 7.5/10. Excellent speed. Rakza X with grip priority, the close table play becomes very smooth. The medium hard sponge adds power to drive shots and mid distance play becomes easy.
Spin: 8/10. The top sheet provides a good amount of topspin. The amount of spin is in between Rakza 7 (spin priority) and Rakza 9 (speed priority).
Tackiness: 3/10. The top sheet is mildly tacky. This is the same as found in typical Japanese high spin rubbers.
Throw angle/Bounciness: 5.5/10. The rubber has medium to high throw angle. While playing away from the table it produces a beautiful arc and helps a lot on counter topspins.
Sponge Hardness: 5/10. (45-50 degrees). The orange sponge is medium hard which enables to produce good speed and spin at the same time.
Weight: 5/10. It is not the heaviest rubber but not the lightest also. It is medium heavy.
Short game: 8/10.The rubber is perfect for short game. It has very good feeling. Even if you get your shots wrong the first time, next time you won’t.
Availability: Rakza X rubber is available in 1.8 mm, 2.0 mm and Max thickness.
Price: 50 USD (approx.)
Pros:
1. Price with Yasaka quality.
2. Control with power and spin.
Cons:
1. Not good from blocking perspective.
2. Little difficult for close table counters.
Conclusion: The rubber is of high quality. It is going to stay in the market and to become a long time favorite for lots of players with years to come. If you want to improve your spin along with the control then grab on a sheet of Rakza X, I am a 100% sure that you will not regret it.
Speed
8.1
Spin
8.9
Durability
7.4
Control
8.3
Pros
  • Control
  • Spin insensitive
  • forgiving
Cons
  • Durability
This is an excellent rubber for this generations younger players who are learning and developing the basics. Not fast enough but sure enough to trouble with the control.
Speed
6.1
Spin
7.1
Durability
5.5
Control
9.3
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