Latest reviews

Amazing BH rubber
Pros
  • Great speed
  • Great Spin
  • Blocking
  • Many gears
Cons
  • Price
  • Spin sensitive
  • Can feel too hard for those used to Tenergy or <=48 ESN
I currently use this rubber on my BH, and I love it. It was poor in my eyes when I used it as a beginner, but now that Ive grooved my technique more, my opinion changed. It is amazing for speed and spin, and is not too difficult to control. Blocking with this rubber is one of the best, it is not uncontrollable that it will fly off the table, but your shots will be fast and direct. However, the short game can be a bit challenging to master due to its spin sensitivity, but it is way easier than Tenergy imo. It also may feel a bit too hard for those used to Tenergy hardness rubbers. Therefore, I would not recommend this rubber to a beginner, but intermediates and above will find this rubber to be among the best for BH and even FH. I just hate that its stupid expensive.
Speed
8.3
Spin
9.3
Durability
10
Control
7.5
Best FH rubber ever
Pros
  • Insane Spin
  • Control
  • Relatively spin insensitive
  • Unlimited Gears
Cons
  • Can be hard to use
  • Speed
  • Low arc
  • Rather Unforgiving
I use the provincial blue sponge neo version for almost a year now, and I have to say that any H3 neo version is the best rubber for forehand, even the commercial version for beginners. It isnt the most forgiving rubber and has not great speed without boosting, but it will force you to have good technique, which in time and with a coach you will get. Once you have this, plus boost the rubber, you have a FH rubber with decent speed, amazing spin, amazing control, and no limit to power. It is so easy in short game too and not too sensitive to spin, making it a good rubber for beginners too imo. If you prefer European rubbers I would stay away, but anyone with a chinese style should for sure use H3 on Fh, nothing else compares.
Speed
6
Spin
10
Durability
9.3
Control
9
Pros
  • Spiny and good for looping
  • Good control
Cons
  • Slow
  • Needs to be boosted
Pretty good Chinese tacky forhand rubber.
Speed
5.6
Spin
9.3
Durability
7.9
Control
8.2
Golden mean
Pros
  • net control, ball feel, spin.
Cons
  • I would like a little more rigidity
Очень приятное ощущение дерева, контроль ударов. Просто попробуйте
Speed
8.4
Closest to the old celuloid ball feel
Pros
  • good bounce
  • round
  • durable
Cons
  • expensive
this is the ball I love playing most with. bounces good, are always proper round and are also very durable. I wish they were a bit more affordable.
Pros
  • nice feeling
  • good spin
  • right amount of spin
  • great blocking
  • good control
Cons
  • tends to fly a bit on backspin chops
with all the positive reviews and my tendency towards softer rubbers I wanted to try this rubber. I put it onto my Xiom TMXi blade, black 2.0 thickness. the other rubber was Yasaka Rakza 7 Soft as I had the feeling these two might be comparable plus I played now with R7s for a while.

AsiaDF is a bit slower, not too much, but when playing side by side, it is noticeable. on the other hand, AsiaDF has quite a better feel for the ball and spin is also better. where the two separate the most is blocking. with AsiaDF it was much more controlled, easier, if you like.

the only thing that bothers me a bit at the moment is when you want to really push your opponent with long backspin pushes. the ball tends to fly off the bat, either getting a bit high, or over the table. but it has great amount of spin so if it lands on the table, it's is still tricky for smashes.

serve game is also very good, offers good precision and a lot of rotation.

still cannot coment on durability, as this was the first session played with the rubber.
Speed
8.5
Spin
9
Control
9
Good for short game, loops and drives, jpen rpb. Good for value hinoki.
Pros
  • Forehand loops and drives, short game, serve and receive
  • Backhand blocks
  • Jpen rpb
Cons
  • Forehand and backhand chiquita
  • Durability
  • Weight
I notice not many reviews of this blade so I'll add my input.

I use this blade in jpen configuration. Very comfortable blade, soft phenomenal touch as of a good hinoki. Added rakza 7 on backhand for rpb too. Heavier than normal jpen in this configuration.

I found contrary to the previous review, this blade has quite good short game.

Mid distance forehand loops and drives is where it excels. I found it very comfortable there, and very forgiving. As I hit late a low for those shots, can get quite good spin and arc.

This blade has the best backhand of the jpen bats I've used. To be fair this is my first blade with inverted rpb rubber, so may not be totally fair. Even the tpb blocks feel solid, and surprisingly fast, especially since I use tensor mid tacky fastarc g-1. Rpb feels good, tho you will need to sand down the wings a bit more for comfort.

Serve receive overall good, but I found, likely to the rubber tho, a higher throw angle compared to my previous set up.

The shortcomings of this blade is flicks. I've found that I had to totally relearn one of my signature shots, tpb Chiquita for serve receive totally, and now it feels more comfortable using epb Chiquita?! Forehand flicks are also somehow less consistent, often not passing the net.

And another shortcoming is of course issue with all jpens-the cork disintegrates over time.

Overall, this is an excellent blade, and I'll very much recommend this blade to jpen players who want rpb and hinoki feel. Another blade recommended is the Yasaka Musashi V and Darker Speed 90s. But of course there is a consideration of cost.
Pros
  • Speed
  • Forehand
  • Attacking
  • Looping
  • Driving
Cons
  • Backhand
  • Spin
  • Lobbing
The Zhang Jike T5000 excels in delivering basically attacking and power. Forehand drives become very fast and just effortless, with the ball literally catapulting off the paddle. The blade's hardness and speed make it effective for forehand and backhand blocks, allowing the person to handle fast loops. So if you are a looper , blocker or driver , this blade is for you.
Speed
9.5
Control
8
Hardness
8
Durability
8.5
One member found this helpful.
rbtitco
rbtitco
I like the alc, but this would add some zing.
Crepche
Crepche
I haven’t tried the alc before , is it good?
Beautiful and more controllable version of Rosewood NCT V
Pros
  • short game
  • changing pace
  • chop block
  • loop
  • control
  • far-from-table play
I bought one of these blades as a backup for my Rosewood NCT V. It feels pretty similar, but not exactly the same. With both of these blades I used tacky Chinese rubbers (Hurricane, Skyline, Xuperman). I left a review of Rosewood NCT V here.

I'm somewhat of a connoisseur of 5-ply outer-hardwood blades. I've used both NCT V and XO models for ~6 months now, and I used Ma Lin Extra Offensive for several years. I've also tried Ebenholz, Emerald, Arctic Wood, Nostalgic, Goiabao, and Offensive Classic. All of these blades have a 5-ply composition of:
hardwood - spruce - ayous - spruce - hardwood
where the type of hardwood varies with the blade. The Rosewood blades use rosewood, Ebenholz and Emerald use ebony wood, Ma Lin Extra Offensive uses walnut wood, etc.

Based on my experience, the characteristic of Rosewood that sets it apart from the other 5-ply outer-hardwood blades is that Rosewood has an extremely nonlinear response to force -- when you hit the ball hard you get a sharp cracking sound and a very fast ball, but if you hit the ball softly you can place the ball very short on the table.

Compared to the NCT V, the rosewood in the XO model feels more muted in its effect. XO feels softer and more flexible, and has more of a linear response compared to NCT V. You still get some "pop" when hitting the ball hard, but not as much. This results in better control and lower throw angle, but you have to provide more of the power on your own. In terms of feeling, this feels somewhere between Ma Lin Extra Offensive and Rosewood NCT V.

Looping is more stable with XO, but flicking and slapping is more powerful with NCT V. As such, XO is more suitable for playing loops far from the table. NCT V is more suitable for attacking close to the table.
Speed
8.5
Control
9.2
Hardness
9
3 members found this helpful.
PenHoldSandro
PenHoldSandro
160 dollars tho
greenbeanmachine
greenbeanmachine
I got mine for $100! But still it's worth it I think.
Pros
  • Really fast
  • has pretty low arc
  • is amazing far from table
Cons
  • price
  • too fast for some players
  • is pretty bad close to table
This is a really good rubber for forehand and gives a lot of spin and speed at the same time
One member found this helpful.
PenHoldSandro
PenHoldSandro
any faster ones?
zhzhzhz
zhzhzhz

Bryce Highspeed is faster

Pros
  • Decently fast
  • Almost as tacky as H3 neo
  • has lots of control and spin
  • Hardest sponge butterfly makes
Cons
  • Hard sponge not for beginners
  • Difficult to generate speed compared to other soft sponge rubbers
It is an amazing rubber for RPB and forehand. Has good control which makes it easier to land safer shots. Works well with all wood blades and carbon blades.
Speed
8
Spin
9
Durability
9.5
Control
8
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CDS TMX Pro - A deadly weapon in the right hands
Pros
  • Great for topspin
  • Great for blocking
  • Fast
  • Spinny
Cons
  • Control
  • Short game
I bought a Cho Daeseong TMX blade from Xiom. This is an outer carbon blade with a top ply of Koto and the TMX Carbon (ALC-ZLC-X Carbon combined). My blade weighs 84g. Im really excited to have this blade because as many of you know or not know, Cho Daeseong is my favourite player and I think his blade may be one of the most aesthetically pleasing. I put a DHS H3 Neo Provincial Blue Sponge on FH and Xiom Omega 7 Pro on BH, CDS’s setup.

First Impressions
When doing normal warmup FH to FH with my training buddy, I can tell this is a fast blade. It’s definitely faster than my previous DHS Hurricane King acB. It feels quite similar speed to Viscaria honestly, but the feeling is better for me. I can be relaxed during warmup and the blade will deliver quality to the ball.

Forehand
Loops with my forehand took some time to get used to, as this is a fast blade with a relatively medium-low arc. However, once I got used to it, my forehand loops were fast and deadly. It wasn’t as spinny as say a W968 or a acB, but still very spinny. I felt a little uncomfortable with the forehand in matches, but I will get used to it.

Backhand
I think this blade, like most outer carbon blades, shines the best with BH. Very easy to play with, especially with the O7P, which I love. Fast, spinny, but not out of control. I felt confident to just rip my backhand and my buddy would have trouble getting the ball back.

Short Game and Flicks
I don’t know why, and I’m being completely honest, but I prefer this blade in the short game than Viscaria, using the same rubbers (BH on Vis was D80). It took some time to get used to, and felt a bit bouncy, but once I did, it was decent enough to touch short, but not great like a W968. BH flicks were very good with this blade, as I could easily grip the ball and send it over the net fizzing with speed and spin. FH flicks were just okay, you need to be precise with the racket angle or else you will overshoot the table or into the net.

Counters
Counters are good with this blade, but like the FH flicks, you need to time it well to land it on the table or else you will overshoot or send it into the net. I don’t think outer carbon blades are as good as inner carbons at counter topspin, but they still do the job.

Blocks
Blocking as expected was very easy on both sides. As a fast blade with great feeling and catapult, I can block strong topspin from my buddy with ease and give him quality. Just put the blade there and let it do the work. You will love the feeling.

Conclusion
This is a fantastic blade, with great speed and spin, while not being too overly hard to control. It is similar to Viscaria but with a better hand feeling and better design in my opinion. It feels more crisp on attacking shots than a Viscaria but also has a feeling of softness that the Vis doesn’t have (hard to explain). I will say though, this is a blade for upper intermediates and above, as any player lower level than that will struggle in the short game and just controlling the blade in general. But if you can control it, you have a deadly topspin and blocking machine to play with. I hope this review helps you consider whether or not the CDS TMX Pro will be your next blade, and Xiom have done fantastic to make a very beautiful blade perform brilliantly.
Speed
9.3
Control
7.5
Hardness
6.7
Durability
10
One member found this helpful.
can't really find anything that this is good for
Pros
  • feeling
Cons
  • no power
  • not much spin
  • very sensitive to incoming spin
  • breaks easily
  • costs too much
  • very bouncy
I think this is supposed to be a rubber for beginners, because the sponge is very soft. For that purpose it's fine... but there are better options.

This rubber is bouncy and fast, but it bottoms out very easily. This means that
(1) you won't be able to create slow balls because the rubber is very reactive even with a soft touch
(2) you won't be able to create fast powerful balls because the rubber bottoms out when you hit with full strength

These characteristics would make the rubber ideal for someone who has chronic shoulder / arm injuries and cannot afford to put very much effort into their strokes. These people will be able to hit a medium-speed ball with very little effort.

This rubber is very elastic and reactive to spin, but not in a way that would teach a beginner to create their own spin. This rubber allows you to return incoming spin with very little effort, but in a very passive way. The rubber is very reactive, so one learns to counteract spin by simply letting the ball hit the racket while aiming the racket in the right direction. Again, I think this may be an advantage for people with chronic injuries who can't make full strokes.

This rubber is terrible at returning slow spinny balls, especially on the serve. It is very bouncy and reactive to spin.

If you accidentally strike the table with this rubber, it will probably break. Forget about peeling glue off of the sponge and regluing it on a different blade -- the sponge will fall apart if you try to do this.

For all of my criticisms, I will say that this rubber does allow the player to "feel" the ball very well due to its soft sponge.

If you aren't a beginner, don't buy this rubber. If you are a beginner, you have better options. Yasaka Mark V or Yasaka Rakza 7 or DHS Hurricane 3 are all better options (and Hurricane 3 is significantly cheaper).
Speed
7
Spin
7
Durability
1
Control
4
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Lazer
Lazer
100% agree on this
High-quality pips for the modern game
Pros
  • punch
  • chop block
  • counter hit
  • durability
  • chinese penhold
  • disruptive / confusing
  • red sheet responds well to boosting
Cons
  • bouncy / difficult to control
I already reviewed 802-40 soft here, so I won't repeat things unnecessarily. Mostly I will compare this rubber to the 802-40 soft sponge version.

The red rubber and the black rubber have different sponges. The sponges are different colors, and they have a slightly different feeling.

The red rubber's sponge responds very well to boosting with Falco Tempo Long -- increased speed, spin, and feeling -- whereas the black sheet seems to not respond at all. I'll try again with Haifu Seamoon and post an update. I did not boost the soft 35 degree version of this rubber for comparison, because the sponge would probably become too soft.

The 42 degree version of this rubber can create significantly more spin than the 35 or 38 degree version, but control over the spin is very limited. The place where the spin capability really shines is in the serve, and more generally with short sharp strokes. When serving with this rubber you can make almost as much spin as with inverted rubber -- but you have to serve fast and long. The rubber will only create spin if you add power. As far as I can tell, it is not possible to create a slow spinny ball. With the soft sponge, there are more options to play slow spinny balls.

Touching softly will not engage the sponge, and so it will produce a dead ball (or even an antispin effect). This can be good tactically because it confuses your opponent. Essentially, the rules with this rubber are:
1. hit strongly and sharply to create your own spin (inverted rubber effect)
2. hit with medium strength from the forearm and wrist when flat hitting (classic short pips tactic)
3. hit very softly when giving your opponent's spin back to them (long pips / antispin effect)

Because of the hard sponge, this rubber behaves more like pips-out and less like inverted. It's easier to give knuckleballs and dead no-spin balls compared to the soft sponge version. Engaging the sponge creates spin. The soft sponge always engages, whereas the hard sponge only engages with strong hits.

802-40 soft is sensitive to incoming spin, so it is hard to return high-quality loops from the opponent. 802-40 Mystery III is significantly harder, and so is less sensitive to incoming spin. Blocking loops with this rubber is a lot easier than with the soft version, and usually you can just smack them back for a high-quality counterattack.

However, this harder rubber is less controllable than the soft version in general. It is very bouncy, and without the grippiness of inverted rubber, you have to be very careful about the angle at which you are hitting the ball. This rubber has a weakness with slow balls and is more suited to aggressive attacking, compared to the soft version.
Speed
8
Spin
8
Control
6
One member found this helpful.
Neutral blade; good for beginners
Pros
  • feeling
  • flexibility
  • control
  • works well with any kind of rubber
  • price-to-value ratio
Cons
  • consistency between blades
  • somewhat slow
This is a very good blade for beginners looking to build their first custom racket, and it's an excellent blade for experimentation with rubbers. If you are still trying to learn what kind of rubbers you like, then this blade will help you figure it out. There is a reason that the TableTennis11 team uses this blade for testing and reviewing rubbers.

Voodoo Classic is also one of the best blades you can find for its price.

I bought five Voodoo Classic blades for my university's ping pong club and put all different kinds of rubbers on them -- tacky, grippy, tensor, non-tensor, short pips, long pips, etc. Voodoo Classic works very well for making "loaner" rackets that new club members can borrow and try out.

With hard tacky Chinese rubbers like Hurricane and Skyline, this blade flexes and provides a long contact time, allowing you to "grab" and "rip through" the ball with lots of spin. Unfortunately, this makes the racket rather slow, so you will have to provide your own power. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and can actually be a good thing for those who are still learning technique. Softer Chinese rubbers like Battle II will give a bit more speed.

With European rubbers this blade provides a lot of power while also allowing good touch with significant amounts of spin.

Short pips and long pips both feel very controlled on this racket. On the whole, this racket is very good for learning because it provides very good feeling and control.

Voodoo Classic follows a classic popular 5-ply wood composition:
Limba-Limba-Ayous-Limba-Limba
Voodoo Classic is the budget version of this type of blade, and unfortunately this means that the production is not so consistent. The performance may be different between different blades -- some may be unexpectedly fast, some may be unexpectedly slow, etc.

There are higher-quality rackets with the same composition, and if you are looking for better quality and consistency you can try Butterfly Primorac (medium speed), Tibhar Stratus Power Wood (fast) or Butterfly Korbel (extra fast).

If you are a beginner who does not know what kind of equipment you want, I would suggest trying one (or more) of the following:
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Yasaka Mark V on both sides (old-school option)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Yasaka Rakza 7 on both sides (generic EuroJap rubber)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Friendship Battle II on both sides (generic Chinese rubber)
- Neottec Voodoo Classic with Kokutaku Blutenkirsche on both sides (most budget-friendly option)

Having the same rubber on both sides is a good idea for beginners. After 3-6 months, the rubbers will wear out and you can try a different rubber on both sides.

If you already know that you like hard tacky Chinese rubbers (especially Skyline rubbers) then I think that the best option for you will be Ma Lin Extra Offensive or a similar blade.
Speed
7.5
Control
9.5
Hardness
5.5
5 members found this helpful.
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For Rozena in Rubbers
Jack of all trade
Pros
  • Cheaper
Cons
  • Reglue
Jack of all trades but the sponge stick to the glue if you peel it off. The sponge will end-up like the moon's surface. Maybe because of the cake sponge
Speed
8
Spin
8
Durability
8
Control
8
For G-1 in Rubbers
Mini Dignics 05
Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Affordable
  • Durable
Cons
  • Short touch is not so good
  • Ugly sponge color
Get this rubber for the forehand if you're on a budget and is looking to improve your forehand skills. This rubber feels similar to dignics 05 but with less speed, spin and control. You can buy it without thinking because of its low price. However, serve receiving is not so good on this rubber, playing short is quite hard. You can pair this with FZD ALC and have good days. Upgrade to dignics 05 or 09c on the forehand if you are looking for a higher performance rubber.
Speed
8.8
Spin
9
Durability
9.5
Control
9.5
Very impressed
Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Affordable
Cons
  • The edge of the topsheet is quite fragile
I'll talk about backhand only. This rubber is very balanced, I recommend putting this on the backhand. It's a very good rubber if you want to practice your backhand topspin. The spin is not crazy like dignics 05 or 09c, but it is good enough to produce high ball quality if done right. If you can master this rubber, then you can move on to better rubbers like dignics 05, tenergy 19, dignics 09c. Not so sensitive to incoming spin as well. However, the topsheet of the sponge can be a bit fragile even when the ball hits the edge of this rubber, but it should be fine. The topsheet of this rubber can still produce good amount of spin after playing it for 50 hours. I feel like this rubber can easily last 150-200 hours of playtime. You should buy this if you lack backhand skill and is looking to improve, you can buy it without thinking because of its low price
Speed
8
Spin
8.8
Durability
9
Control
9.2
One member found this helpful.
All-round rubber, great for inverted players looking to play with pips
Pros
  • punch
  • chop block
  • counter-hit
  • durability
  • chinese penhold
  • disruptive/confusing
Cons
  • spin sensitivity
  • not so fast
I think that this rubber is very good for playing a traditional Chinese penhold style (short pips FH, optional inverted BH). Serving is quite spinny (especially compared to other short pips) but not as spinny as inverted. Chop-blocking is incredible, and allows you to return extremely spinny and confusing balls to the opponent. If you touch the ball lightly, you can create an antispin effect and give your opponent their own spin. If you dig into the sponge, you can create your own spin. Attacking the ball immediately after the bounce is really nice with this rubber. Punching the ball is very accurate and deceptive, especially with penhold.

I usually play with inverted rubber, and have used 802-40 as my first venture into the world of pips. A lot of the reason I like it is because it was easy to learn, coming from inverted rubber.

If you have experience with pips, or if you play with long pips / antispin, then 802-40 will probably feel very similar to inverted rubber.

In addition to 802-40, I've tried Spinfire, TSP Spectol, TSP Super Spinpips, Dawei 388D-1, and Butterfly Feint Long. 802-40 has been my favorite so far.

Spin: 802-40 is quite spinny for short pips. In order to get spin, you need to dig into the soft sponge. Chopping can create much more spin than brushing. Backspin is easy to do, and the soft sponge allows a lot of variation in backspin. A gentle push will create an empty ball, whereas a forceful push will create heavy backspin. If you can make these strokes look the same to your opponent, you can confuse them a lot. Backspin/sidespin serves are very easy to do. Topspin is harder to do than backspin, and you can't create heavy topspin. You need to brush very lightly to maximize contact time.

Disruptive/confusing effects: 802-40 maintains the ability to confuse opponents and play long-pips-style shots while simultaneously being able to create its own spin. For example, Spinfire is grippier and spinnier than 802-40, but loses out on a lot of the disruptive elements of pips because Spinfire is almost like inverted rubber. To me, 802-40 is the perfect balance -- it can play all types of shots. It can create spin or antispin, depending on how you use it. It can also return dead no-spin balls.

Speed: This rubber is not so fast, in terms of pips. The aspect of speed which is useful is the speed with which you can take the ball after the bounce. You can counterattack a topspin ball (and even get some countertopspin) immediately after the bounce, which can be very surprising to your opponent. This aspect of speed is much more useful than the literal speed at which the ball is moving (which is still pretty fast, but there are faster pips available).

Spin sensitivity: When dealing with heavy topspin loops, you have to be very careful. The ball will penetrate the sponge quite easily (because it is soft) and then the spin will be very potent. There are two options: either you must commit to countertopspin and try to smash the ball back, or you must try to touch the ball very softly to avoid digging into the sponge. If you block, you must block actively. Passive blocking will be very sensitive to spin.

Chopping: I would not recommend 802-40 for backhand chopping because it is so sensitive to spin. There are better options.
Speed
8
Spin
7
Durability
10
Control
8.6
2 members found this helpful.
Pros
  • ultra grippy
  • bundles of control
  • very easy to counter topsin
  • super stable
  • fantastic durability
Cons
  • price
  • not all rubbers are exactly the same
This rubber allows for offensive play with moderate speed and bundles of control.
It allows me to make huge powerful counter topspins without missing and blocking in very stable. The grip is so high that it feels like a hybrid rubber and not to far from the tibhar hybrid k3
Speed
6.6
Spin
8
Durability
9.7
Control
8.5
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