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Weight: 87 grams
Thickness: 5.8mm
Speed: OFF+
Plies: Koto - ALC - ??? - Kiri - ??? - ZLC - Koto
Stiffness: Stiff

I admit I am one of those people that is very much curious why in the world did Xiom name this and the AZXi as Ice Cream blades. I specifically ask Xiom about this and I was a bit laughing on their honest answer. The reason why they call these blades as ice cream blades is that it is like ice cream wherein remote places or villages do not have them. The AZX and AZXi are not the first composite blades in the market but Xiom claims that they are the first successful composite hybrid blades. According them, other existing blades of similar construction seem to be not balanced. One thing I am thankful about Xiom is that they listen to their consumers. People who have used the Feel series blades are saying that they like the older design for the neck and wing part of the blade more than the new design. Guess what, I told Xiom about this and they have shown that they have listened to the request. With the AZX, the neck and wing part was reduced and not as wide as the Feel series blades. It is actually closer to the older blades like that of the Stradivarius. I measured the flared handle at this base where it is the widest and the cross sectional size is 25mm x 33.5mm using an electronic caliper. Just as an added info on the blade, the orange side is the ALC side with a letter "A" mark on it while the ZLC side is the one with the purple sie with a letter "Z".

This is a very fast blade. People might think the ALC side is the slower compared to pure carbon blades but it is not. I saw their pdf files about the blade and they describe it as the ALC being the faster side while the ZLC is the slower side. I immediately asked them why they rated it that way and I got an answer where they said they made the ALC layer thicker to balance the blade. I used several rubbers in the test - DHS Hurricane 3, Omega V Europe and Omega VII Pro . I tested this for 3 days and I was careful to use the same rubber on each side with the exception of the Hurricane 3 just to test the characteristic of each side. Speedwise the ALC side is very bouncy. it is almost as bouncy as the ZLC side. I can surely say that the Viscaria is much slower than the ALC version of the AZX. At first, I tested the Hurricane 3 first because it is my preferred rubber in the forehand. I was surprised that it was really bouncy. If I compare it to the Timo Boll Spirit, the AZX is faster though the stiffness is less comapred to the TBS blade. The ZLC side is more or less identical to the ZJK ZLC blade. I cannot fully say which of the 2 is faster. Anyway, I have observed the ALC side during drills and matchplay that the throw when looping the ball is is a bit high. Honestly I had to do some adjustments with the throw and the long trajectory of the ALC side. The AZX is a very fast blade. I had to step back middle distance from the table because even with a Hurricane 3, some of my loops are going off the table. It took me a few rounds to adjust the the H3 and the AZX combo. The ZLC side on the other hand is the opposite of what I was expecting. I thought this was the faster side but it was very controllable despite the great amount of speed. The ZLC side has a bit lower throw compared to the ALC. I would say the throw is about low to medium arc in the table with long trajectory. If comparing the 2 sides it would be approximately like this - ALC high throw, long trajectory, ZLC low throw, long trajectory. Both sides are almost as fast but differ in the throw. Both sides are powerful even far from the table and not just at the middle distance from the table. When I used the H3 on the ZLC side I think it was more controllable for me because of the lower throw. I also adjusted easily with the ZLC side. DO not get me wrong, I like the feel of the ALC better than the ZLC and this is a personal preference but because ALC is much thicker in this case, I preferred the ZLC side.

I changed the rubber to Omega V Europe which is a medium soft rubber and also the Omega VII Pro which is a thick sponge, thin topsheet rubber. I could see the purpose of this blade the moment I used German rubbers on it. It is an all out attacking blade whether you are into ALC or ZLC, it does not matter. Both sides of the hybrid blade will give you more than enough power for your offensive shots far and middle distance from the table. It is just a question whether you would want a high arc or low arc long trajectory. The Omega VII Pro actually works well with both sides with the ZLC side more controllable. When you are hitting through the sponge using the Omega VII Pro, you would love the feeling of hitting the ball all the way deep into the sponge. The O7P gives you a good amount of control when using it in the Ice Cream blade when used on each side. I would not call this a looping blade because despite producing heavy amount of spin, it favors more of a direct hitting and counter looping strokes. Control is more of a personal issue wherein it needs to be used by a player who practices a lot and this should be used and highly recommended for advanced level type of players. It is a fast blade that rewards you with powerful shots that enables you to finish the point quickly any distance from the table. For blocking, it favors more of the active or punch blocks than passive blocks.

The blade concept is quite new to me and I was a bit confused with the ball felling at first because even if one side is different from the other, it produces some sort of a hybrid feel by both composite layers. You would need a bit of time to have the feel sink into your senses and then that is the time you can truly appreciate the blade. Is it a good blade? Yes not just good, it is awesome. Imagine that you can have the performance of ZJK ALC/Viscaria on one side and ZJK ZLC on the other side. All you need to do is just decide which side will be your forehand or backhand.

The master class of the Nexxus series.

The GEWO Nexxus XT Pro 48 will amaze you: whether fast, powerful opening topspins or slower, spin-focused rallies: no problem with this high-end development. You will virtually feel how the ball "digs into" the rubber. Finally, you will be able to attack your opponent with a heavy- spin opener. Precise topspins, versatile attacking, variant-rich serves/returns - this spin-focused power rubber leaves nothing to be desired. The grippy and flexible top rubber sheet provides for maXXimum coupling of the ball in all attacking actions.

This XT version is a little faster than the EL version, most suitable for the backhand.

The Nittaku Acoustic was one of my first blades, so I didn't have much experience and didn't know what to expect. I hesitated a bit to buy it because of its price tag, wondering if it was going to be worth it. I bought a blade with flared handle.
It has beautiful colors and design (with an acoustic guitar silhouette print on it)
It was really easy to adapt to it, which was quite unexpected (but nice) since I had changed from a beginner set up.
Many players complain about the small handle (as I've seen on other reviews on other websites), but I thought that it was really comfortable and helped me produce spin.
I'm really satisfied with this wooden blade as it helped me to up my game. I wasn't even close to my table tennis club partners, but now I can play against most of them and win!
I used it with Mantra H on both sides, which gave me a lot of speed! The blade was especially good to block. Maybe because of the vibrations and feeling this blade provided! It was also great for my short game and for my looping game.
Overall, it was a great offensive but really controllable blade. In my opinion, worth the money.

It's great rubber on its own but I found it disappointing in several aspects especially when you compare it to previous version of Target(Ultim/Force).
I'll try comment on its performance while comparing some aspects to Target Ultim 47.5/50

Weight:
Although not as heavy as some Chinese rubbers and Tibhar Evolution series, it's still pretty heavy (u can check Dan's review) which is quite a letdown especially when u compare to Target Ultim which was (almost) 10g lighter per uncut sheet ... even lighter than Target Pro S39.

Loop:
Very high dwell time thanks to very flexible topsheet, even more than Ultim which I already found to be pretty elastic already. This makes hard loops very controllable while really powerful when u need it (easier than Ultim as well). Under stronger impacts (drive-loop) Spin is also one of highest among Euro rubbers alongside Victas V>15, Omega VII and you don't need aggressive Chinese strokes to extract the most out of it.
Softer loops however, especially lifting backspin , could be an issue sometimes. The topsheet is very grippy only when it deforms up to certain extents, meaning on slow loops the rubber doesn't deform enough to offer sufficient grip for highest-level of spin, it's still stronger than most cheapish/last-gen rubbers, but definitely much less impressive than drive-looping with it.
Target Ultim in contrast, has excellent surface grip which allow incredibly spinny slow loops. Spin is about just as high as Target pro in drive loops but you would need more accurate shots than Target Pro to keep the ball in play as well as getting the spin you want.

Block/Punch:
Not best / direct rubber for this due to elastic topsheet, but still top-class control with lots of speed on tap when needed. Not too spin-sensitive. I would say it's friendly than quite some top-class rubbers such as V>15(also pretty good in blocking), MX-P and Tenergy (except T25) in this aspect.
I do find myself blocking/hitting even better with Target Ultim though due to stiffer topsheet.

Serve+Short games(chop, flicks):
This is the most disappointing part for me as short games is my biggest strength as well as my favorite "shots", and Target Pro felt like a significant downgrade from Target Ultim.
As mentioned earlier the topsheet lacks a bit of grip until the ball dwell into the deeper "layers" of it, meaning that to get the most spin out of the serves, you would need to do high-toss serves just like Hugo Calderano would do. If the opponent was returning the ball short with low/no spin and u want disturb the game flow by adding strong backspin to the ball it would also be a pretty difficult task. In Dan's video you might've seen Can Akkuzu chopping the ball with plenty of backspin in short games but that's because Dan gave him strong backspin in advance which makes deforming the topsheet for the receiver quite a bit easier to do. Flicks are easy with plenty of safety margin because of soft topsheet, but again it's a bit hard to generate strong spin unless your stroke really lets the ball "drill" through layers.
Target Ultim on other hand, can easily generate very strong spin in short games thanks to very grippy top layer. Medium-toss serves are more than enough to generate incredible spin and with some practise it's feasible to generate REALLY short ghost serves. It's also very easy to keep the ball short and flicks are more direct on harder impacts (again thanks to stiffer topsheet).

Conclusion: If u must buy Target Pro as Ultim/Force is discontinued, I suggest picking the hardest 51deg sponge version to get the best "surface spin". Also to extract the most out of Target Pro, you would probably need a blade which is pretty slow in lower gears as well as having a REALLY stiff top ply in order to allow the ball to have the best dwelling time on the topsheet, but even then the Target Pro does not really offer more spin than the previous Target Ultim/ Target Force. Pro is more friendly / easier, and maybe a bit spinnier in topspin rallies under very strong strokes (thanks to high dwell time) but that's about it, and even that seems a bit pointless in my case due to the massive weight addition to my racket setup which actually upsets my racket balance as well as reducing my stroke speed(as well as spin) and my forearm's agility when it comes to counteracting unexpected shots(I don't have the pro's stamina after all ). My range of toss height variations for my serves, which I often used to throw off my opponents, was also being reduced, as well doing some crazy moves during short games which was possible with Ultim but not with the Pro.

Target Pro is still a pretty good rubber that can compete with many top-class rubbers out there, but having moved back to my Target Ultim right after the Pro, I still see no reason why Cornilleau had to make all these changes to the topsheet.

Mine's at 86 grams.

One of my favorite blades.
It's build is very smart. The koto outer ply is hard and crispy, sort of 'insulating' the rest of the blade from ball impact and vibration, so weak shots are short (serves are especially easy to keep short and spinny, as well as short returns).

It synergises extremely well with soft and medium-hard rubbers too (for example, T05 which is most commonly used with it), making those ultra spinny on serves especially, because it's relative stiffness/hardness helps you maximize the effect of those rubbers.

The grip on the Viscaria is the most comfortable of any blade I've held except the LSW. Pretty much the same. The handle fills the hand perfectly and allows for a solid grip without any effort, and the way the wings are made allow you to hold it further up if you want without the blade digging into your hand.
A solid comfortable grip also allows for easier topspins.

The blade is relatively hard and stiff. Much more so than most wood blades and limba/ayous type blades. It's solidity helps you maximize the effect of the rubbers, providing a more stable counter-force to the ball so it can sink deeper into the sponge, which is why people are impressed with it's spin capabilities (this is the main factor here. Not flex or softness, since it doesn't have much of either compared to most blades).


All in all, one of the best blades in the world and the one most commonly used (by a huge margin) by professionals as well.

My NBF is a great looking blade but a little on the heavy side at 95g, frequency at 1378Hz. So I slapped on a 2.0 T05FX on one side and a 1.9 Rozena on the other. Total weight 182g, 20g heavier than my Darker Speed 90(blade freq of 2131Hz) but still manageable. I do feel the effect after a half hour of play time. The ball contact sound is not as crispy and firecracker as the DS90 but still good. This blade handles the T05FX and Rozena better than the DS90 did, it hits/loops/blocks more powerful than the DS90 but somewhat slower due to it's heavier weight and lower blade frequency. Very nice short game, good control, great power FH loop/hit from mid-range. BH loop/hit is good and powerful at first but harder for me as time goes by because of it's weight. It does play more like an all wood than a composite blade. I do feel some flex, less than that of the DS90. My next test is to put on a couple of thinner rubbers and see what the weight is and how it react to thinner rubbers.

An absolutely excellent backhand rubber (and forehand if you like a light setup and soft feel with tons of spin). The best I know.

It's an old rubber so it has the old style thicker topsheet. But in this case it's one incredible topsheet. It's bulletproof in terms of durability, the longest lasting rubber other than the xiom vegas of the same generation and chinese sticky rubbers, and also incredibly grippy, biting into the ball and spinning the shit out of it. You can very easily feel how it bites into the ball with every shot which is an excellent feeling, also giving you a ton of control over placement.

It's a very light rubber as well, weighing about 40 grams cut

Hi
I didn't own the rubber myself as this is really quick and I don't play at that level of standard to tame the beast down .
I got a chance to try it on one of friend's set up .
Blade : Butterfly Jun Mizutani
FH : T05 Hard
BH : T05 Hard

My the set up which i use is considerably slower Nittaku Ascoustic (FH : R47 BH : 42). So below is review from that point of comparision

Forehand counter : The set up was really fast so ball just sprung away too quickly. I didn't get time to feel the ball so ended up hitting longer.
After few adjustment i was able to get it right and felt my counters were very powerful but then i was hitting from one spot so most of the time i was in correct position. I doubt in match situation i can manage that with consistently.

Forehand loops : Again the loops were very spiny with low throw angle so many times i end up kissing the net (not bad in matches ). I realize the importance of proper weight transfer when playing with this rubber as when i went slight off position my shots where all over the places.

Push/Chop : I am not much of chopper so can't comment on this aspect much. Pushes with rubber was bit tricky as i ended up over compensating it. The best part was the push went deep on the table making it difficult to loop.

Block/Punches : This is the area which it suited me the best as that is my forte. The blocks were very effective as ball traveled fast giving little time for opponent to react but again it required higher skills to block really spiny balls. Punch blocks were really fun not sure if the hard sponge helped it but i was able to punch with lot of power even above average spiny balls.

Control : It is very subjective as it varies from player to player but for my level i was always going to struggle.

So my take is this rubber is really good only if you have sufficient technique and really quick moment to get in correct positions.

I will stick to my set up and keep improving my technique before going all out

Been playing this blade with goldarc-8 (50 deg Max sponge FH, 50 deg med sponge BH) and it has turned out to be a lovely combination.
As others have also reported, the blade has lots of gears which enables one to play a large variety of strokes comfortably, be it close to table or mid distance.
the control is superb !! I am able to play backhand over the table flicks/topspins very comfortably without overshooting. The blocking is one of the best i have experienced, due to the outer koto layer. I can even punch block slightly high balls perfectly. The slower gears also help in drop shots (2 bounce) , which are very helpful against defenders. Forehand/backhand topspins/counter-topspins from close/med distance are very controlled.
Throw angle is slightly medium, and dwell is also medium. So make sure your rubbers are grippy enough to lift the ball.
The small issue i think with the handle design is that the flare is not so much, when compared to butterfly viscaria or stiga blades, but that could be a personal issue, based on my hand anatomy etc.

You may try the goldarc-8 (47.5 deg max sponge) for BH. Should also be a good combination.
Cheers !!

I picked up the blade for an amazing 26€ which was a real steal. The finish is excellent and I didn't have to sand the wings (which I almost always do). I've got Tibhar Hybrid K1 on my forehand and Stiga Mantra S on my backhand.

The blade plays quite similar to the Butterfly Korbel but is a touch slower. Excellent dwell time during loops but takes some getting used to in the short game. Extremely easy to block with.

The head/blade shape and the wings are a bit unusual (quite similar to the Banda blades of the early 90ies) and takes some getting used to. The handle is quite thin and longer than most other ST blades that I have tried. The handle is really compatible with my backhand but the forehand grip took some adjust compared to the normal Stiga FL handles that I'm used to.

The whole review in the film. The possibilities of this rubber are shown. You can turn on Polish subtitles.

We inserted subtitles in English:

Hello! I made video about this blade. Please watch and enjoy the video.

For this review, I will compare Tenergy 05 Hard (T05H) to the following rubbers I had played on my penhold ZJK ALC:

• Hurricane 3 National BS (H3N) 40degree
• Tenergy 05 (T05)
• MXS

I play spin game most of the time and step away to mid distance for two-wing looping.

Topspin

Power - T05H=H3N>T05>MXS
Spin - H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
Feel (medium impact) - T05>MXS>T05H>H3N
Feel (high impact) - T05=T05H>MXS > H3N

I expected the T05H to be faster and more spinny than T05 due to its harder sponge. It turned out as expected. Most of my topspin landed further than usual and it created a lot of trouble for my opponent to block. For spin, H3N is still the king. However, at high impact when looping at mid-distance, T05H is only slightly less spinny than H3N. The feel of the rubber improves as you hit or loop harder as you are breaking into the hard sponge.

Flat hit
Power - T05H>T05>MXS>H3N
As many of us expected, flat hitting with T05H is a joy when the ball travels at bullet speed. The consistency is also higher than tacky rubber as the angle of your racket does not need to be super precise.

Flick
Consistency - H3N>T05>T05H>MXS
I do FH flick near the net a lot. In this aspect, H3N tends to deliver a higher success rate due to the grippy topsheet. When I first flicked with T05H the ball went to the net a lot. Then I realized at low impact, the T05H topsheet doesn't grab the ball as well as the H3N. T05 is easier than T05H as a softer sponge is bouncier at low impact.

It took me a few games to adjust to T05H. To flick with T05H I had to brush less and hit more to lift the ball. Once you can flick the ball over the net, it is faster than with H3N but less spin.

Block
Consistency - MXS>T05>T05H>H3N
The difference is very marginal once you've adjusted to the rubber. But overall the ones with softer sponge (T05 and MXS) means blocking is more linear than ones with harder sponge (T05H and H3N). Again, due to the powerful harder sponge, the ball may fly all the way out with T05H. You just need to close the angle a little. The difference is quite marginal.

Serve
Spin - H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
As I said, when it comes to spin, H3N is still king. No exception here. H3N delivered the most spinny shortest serve. I took me some time to adjust to T05H. But due to its harder sponge, it was easier to keep the ball short than with T05.

Service return
H3N>T05H>T05>MXS
Again, H3N keeps the return low and short due to the grippy topsheet. T05H can still keep the ball low and short once you've put enough practice into it. In fact, T05H has one advantage over H3N - topsheet less sensitive to spin. I was surprised I kept my return nice and low when I was guessing the opponent's serve.

I have a very old penhold Primorac with black tag. I have tried various rubbers on it.

The feel of the blade is out of this world. It has very decent flex which is a dream for looper.

But the flex means my BH control is low as the ball can fly up too high. I had to put rubber with low arc on my BH to counteract that.

For FH, Chinese rubbers are way too slow for Primorac in ABS ball era. Hard tensor works the best.

I have 38 degrees 2.2mm Yinhe Jupiter II on a Nittaku Violin Carbon for FH (btw, it only comes in 2.2mm thickness). This rubber is very easy to use. If you are familiar with DHS H3, you will need almost no adjustment for Jupiter II. Jupiter II feels noticeably spinner and bouncier than H3, probably because it came already boosted. I've played with this rubber for a few weeks now and the tackiness is holding on pretty well.
One thing I've noticed is how much power and spin I can generate with this rubber on a flexible blade. Nittaku Violin Carbon is not the fastest blade, but when paired with Jupiter II, there seems to be a bottomless reserve of speed and spin you can put out (remember that I'm using the 38 degrees sponge, which is the softest version. If you use the 40 degrees version, it'll be even faster). The second note-worthy thing about Jupiter II is its great control. You can easily manipulate the trajectory, speed, and spin of your shots, more so than H3. Jupiter II is more dynamic than H3. This is great for spin generation, however, it also means the rubber is more sensitive to incoming spins. The is really the only thing I have to adjust for, during training and match play.
Overall, I think Yinhe Jupiter II is a great rubber. It's not as good as boosted H3, but I definitely prefer it over unboosted H3 and H3 Neo (btw, I like H3 a lot. H3 is my usual go-to rubber). If you are lazy like me and don't want to apply booster to your tacky rubber, I suggest you try Jupiter II. And the best part is this rubber costs less than H3.

Heyyyyy Guys! Here's our first ever unboxing video on TableTennisDaily, and what better way to start than with this the highly anticipated Butterfly Tenergy 05 Hard! We will update this post with our review very soon!

In this video I give my initial impressions of the rubbers weight, sponge hardness and more!

Just to be clear: This review is for the D40+ balls (Ding Ning's picture on the box).

These are very good balls. In my mind, the Nittaku 3-star Premium 40+ is the standard of 40+ balls. This DHS ball is a good alternative, and the ball plays consistently and has good speed. I can tell the difference between these and the Nittaku ones right away, as the Nittaku balls sounds should higher pitched when bouncing/hitting. This gives the impression that the Nittaku ball is harder than these DHS balls.

I have played with it for a few weeks and like it more now than when first trying it. The first two balls out of the box didn't feel right, somehow. Now that I am used to how a non-damaged ball plays, this is a really good ball, and though a little different in feel from the Nittaku Premium 40+ it is still excellent. Very spinny, not overly bouncy, pretty consistent, though consistency could still be improved. I am changing this review back to 4-star, as I find that too many of the new balls have issues straight out of the box. Some sound broken. When the balls are first-quality, they play wonderfully; but, too many in the box should have been caught at the QA stage.

Due to the good initial reports about the Azalea blades (Allround and Offensive) from yogi_bear and others, I decided to purchase the Offensive version and put a pair of modern offensive rubbers on it. Currently I am using GEWO Nexxus EL Pro 43 and 38 on this blade. I concede that my perception of this blade versus others is influenced by the performance of these rubbers, but the blade makes its character known at any rate.

For an introduction to the Azalea series, please consult yogi_bear's fine review of the Azalea Allround.

Let's get the appearance question out of the way right up front: This blade has some lavendar/pink detailing. It does not really look like a "women's blade" however, and if you skip this blade because of how the handle looks, I can only say that you are really missing out. The key question you should ask is, "Do I want a lightweight blade with good power and control?" If yes, then do not hesitate to try this blade.

The Azalea Offensive has replaced the Ayous second/fourth layers with Spruce, and this is very effective in giving real power to your shot once you try to put some pace on the ball. During pushes and light chops, you feel the Limba top layer, but with topspin counters and blocks you feel the Spruce engage the ball. The effect is well managed and fairly linear in feel.

There is some vibration when hitting toward the end of the blade, as expected, but the vibration is well managed. The control is not simply due to the softer Limba top layer but also to the light weight of the blade, which makes quick adjust of position and angle so easy, and makes the blade not too bouncy. The power is sufficient for mid distance, but this is not a pure power hitting blade. The sound of the blade during aggressive hitting is pretty high pitched, but not so metalic as with a carbon blade. I have a feeling that the Azalea Offensive lies between the Azalea Allround and the Infinity VPS V, sharing the light weight of the Allround but having some of the harder feel of the Infinity during aggressive play.

I am very happy with this blade and rubber setup. If you like the feel of a lightweight blade but need some power in your shots, you owe it to yourself to try this beautifully designed and constructed blade. Highly recommended!

-- Tim

Rhyzer 48 is the closest any company has come to Tenergy 05. My only complaint, which is also true for 05 is the durability. I get about 20-24 hours of hard multiball training before the topsheet dies. Considering that it is significantly cheeper than Tenergy with the same durability, it makes it a much more affordable option. If you are like me and hate the overpriced Butterfly marketing machine, switch to Rhyzer 48, you won't be disappointed.