Latest reviews

Pros
  • light
  • Good Control
Cons
  • Small Head Size
Very Good speed and good control. Downside is a small head size almost the same as Donic Black Devil.
Speed
9
Control
8
Hardness
7
Durability
8.5
Pros
  • Easy to use
  • Very durable
  • Cheap
Cons
  • Bouncy
Very fast for smashing/hitting, could load up quite heavy under spin on chops and serves, and the rubber also have quite a nice sink and wobble effects. Very good attack and defend rubber for short-medium pips out. The other popular/classic short pips I tried were too vanilla for defending and the opponent could more easily return/attack, but not with Pluto.

Very durable, combined with the cheap price is a great bargain.

The one with sponge is quite bouncy, better for attacking. Using thinner sponge, such as 1 mm would make this a much better all round defend and attack rubber. Didn't try the OX version.
Speed
8
Spin
8
Durability
10
Control
9
Pros
  • Feel
  • Fast
That blade is very fast, yet it is controllable. The trajectory is pretty low, so blocks are great with it. Flicks, smashes and loops are amazing.
Speed
9
Control
7.5
Hardness
7
Pros
  • roundness
  • durable
Cons
  • slow
I have trained with that ball for a whole week and they were most durable balls I have hit with last year. The quality was very good, roundness of all of them was perfect.
Roundness
1
Speed
1
Durability
1
Pros
  • Spin
  • Trajectory
Cons
  • Price
It is my rubber of choice for fh. My game depends pretty almost only on fh loops, counter-loops and reverse pendelum serves. I have tested many blades and almost every time I was happy with tenergy 05 on fh. You need to have decent technique to handle that monster and short game might be tricky, but I couldn't find any other rubber that suits my aggresive fh better than 05. The only disadvantage is price.
Speed
8
Spin
10
Durability
7
Control
7
Pros
  • High Controll
  • Low Weight
  • Stiff
Exceptional new blade from XIOM. High Quality craftmenship and perfect finish.

The blade combines the best of both worlds (All wood and composites). It has the touch and good feedback from an all wood blade, combined with the larger sweet spot, low weight, stiffness and lower throw of a carbon blade.
The most outstanding feature is the high controll. I never played a blade that handles linke an ALL+ in passive play (serve, block, short play), but gets into speed as soon as you start looping and driving or aggressivly pushing. It has enough speed to be played in half distance, but also huge controll, when played close to the table.

I found MY blade after nearly testing 20-30 blades over the past 6 years.
Speed
8
Control
9.5
Hardness
6.5
Durability
9.4
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what's the width x thickness (dimensions) of the handle at the base @vossi39 ?
Pros
  • Super Sweet spot
  • FAST!
  • Control! Godlike
Cons
  • none!
This blade is amazing!!! I played with the Timo Boll Spirit before this. This is what i needed. Extra power!
The control is alot bigger! The feeling is bigger and the sweet spot reminds me of the mizutani super zlc. Difference is that this is a softer blade.
Reminds the TBS but better in all aspects. Get it if you dont have it!
Speed
9.5
Control
9.5
Hardness
5
Durability
10
Pros
  • Very spinny
  • Flexy
  • Very Fast
Cons
  • low dwell time
Hi all,

This is my review of the kenta blade, i hope this shall answers some of your questions and concerns.

Kenta Blade

Weight: 92gr
FH rubber: Hurricane 3, 39 Degree
BH rubber: Ten 05 fx

Total weight: 190 gr

Benchmark against

Viscaria (old tag)

Weight: 91gr
FH Rubber: Hurricane 3, 39 Degree
BH rubber: Ten 05 fx

Total Weight: 191 gr

The build:
- The blade outer layers are very nice, aged woods, i was told they were Ayous. The rest is almost similar with the Vis.
- The handle is very tiny, feels hollow in your hand. Looks very nice indeed.

The play:
- Forehand counter hits: Extremely fast (30% faster than the Viscaria), and super low arc. Balls constantly hit top of the net for counter hitting. I had to adjust my technique to keep the ball stable.
- Forehand loops against top spin: Extremely easy, super low arc. No matter how much spin you get, you will be able to add more to it in return. For mid, and far table counter loops, this blade clearly is a winner compared to Vis, even HL3, or Clipper CR.
- Forehand loops against back spin: very easy. You can brush with ease, and the ball already on the other side of the table. However, it's difficult to produce high spinny balls due to its low arc. This blade is best for loop killing the back spin ball. Placement is very easy as well.
- Forehand block: Amazing control and placement regardless of incoming top spin level.
- Forehand short touch/push: low arc, extremely good control even with this fast blade. pretty amazing.

Forehand conclusion: Off++ (IMHO), low dwell time, shaky (vibrates alot, maybe due to the handle construction), i do not get enough feedback from the blade. I used to loop with my wrist loose for a whip lash effect, with this blade, i have to lock in my wrist to get stable shots. It's more suitable for FH looper. This blade is best for near, mid, and far table counter loops. Especially, you can easily loop the ball under the table, where you can hide your ball contact (this is the best feature i've experience so far). It allows me to do incredible shots with various spin. Cons: in regards to spin, i would categorize this blade as "Spin returner", while the Vis is more of "Spin negator and producer" (you eliminate the incoming spin, and generate your own spin). This blade gives me a feeling of uncertainty in regards to spin, which i dislike. Also, when you smash, the ball wobble!

- Backhand counter hits: too fast, lack of control, you feel like there is no dwell time at all.
- Backhand topspin: with ease, spinny, but you don't know exactly where the ball's gonna land.
- Backhand on table opening: Crazy spin when you get the ball on the other side, fast, low arc & super spinny, however, it's not consistent. And you can't do slow opening shots.
- Backhand loop vs. back spin: super easy, fast and low arc, but once again, lack of control.
- Backhand blocking: Perfect! regardless of spin, you can always put the ball on the other side with very low arc.

BH Conclusion: Off++, hard to control, perfect for blocking. Backhand opening with lots of spin and speed, but once again, not much control.

Conclusion:
Spin: Kenta > Vis
Speed: Kenta > Vis
Touch: Kenta < Vis
Control: Kenta < Vis

Recommendation:

Suitable for 1 wing looper, back hand blocker. Would not recommend for players who do not have basic strokes down. It doens't suit for explosiveness type of play. Maybe, it works with European players.

IMHO, if you want to play this blade, change the handle.

Cheers.
Speed
9
Control
8.5
Hardness
6.5
Durability
7.9
Pros
  • Feeling
  • Price
  • Look
Before using this blade, i had used the ma lin extra offensive blade. When using the ma lin extra offensive blade, the feeling was great, but as i began to develop more, i saw the blade lacked a bit of speed, so i got the extra offensive 7 blade. This blade is basically like the ma lin extra offensive blade, but a bit faster due to the carbon. The feeling and control are the same. The speed, however, is a bit faster, which is want i wanted. I would recommend this blade to anyone looking for a nice not too fast carbon blade with feeling. I only got this blade for about $34 from tabletennis.11.com
Speed
8
Control
9
Hardness
7.7
Durability
10
Pros
  • Fast
  • Good Control
  • beautiful
Cons
  • Small Head Size
I had this blade for a very long time... Very good and well made blade, the only problem with this blade is the head size, its very small. It always hit the edge of the bat thus you need to be extra careful to prevent that from happening.

If it wasn't for the head size, I wouldn't have replaced it. I just wished they made it 157x150 size.
Speed
9
Control
8.5
Hardness
9
Durability
9.5
Pros
  • Speed
  • Design
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Spin
I just got the chance to try out Butterflys new Bryce Highspeed 2.1mm. I still remember the old Bryce from the speed glue days and I was very eager to try out these rubbers. Here is a short review from my first practice with these rubbers.

I used them together with STIGAs Infinity VPS and I only played with the poly ball. First of all I think these rubbers is really fast, even faster than the Tenergy series. I got a really good pressure on my opponent a bit away from the table but since they were so fast they were also a little hard to control. This rubber is developed for the pros and I recommend it for offensive players who prefer great speed over control and spin. The spin in these rubbers were Okay but nothing special, there are other more spinner rubbers out there.

My serve and return went a little high and long in the beginning but after some adjustment I could get a good low serve. I liked them very much in my backhand flick where I could get a good spiny touch.

Overall I think this is a good rubber but nothing special. I had really high expectation but I must say that I still prefer Tenergy and Airoc every day in the week. They felt a little too fast for me but can suit some really offensive players very good I think. Like Marcin5673 wrote I think it’s mostly hype around these rubbers, (just like the new STAR WARS movie) and I think there is many cheaper rubbers out there that plays equally good, or even better. I will try them out some more and make the longer review.

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Speed
9.3
Spin
7.5
Durability
7.2
Control
7.4
Pros
  • Visual Appeal
  • Light weight
Cons
  • Hard to play
  • Not close to T05
  • Weird feel
This rubber is mostly all Butterfly Hype. I regret spending 125$ on this sort of useless product for me.
I normally play with Tenergy05 & 64 or Tibhar Evolution rubbers & this Bryce is not even close to the rubbers mentioned earlier.
This rubber looks great visually, and has a good weight. It is very fast but it has a weird feel to every stroke. It has way less spin than Tenergy.
It is hard to open up and it requires perfect stroke on every shot. I am soo disappointed with this rubber.
If you are Tenergy user do not bother spending $ on this, because you will be disappointed!!!
Speed
10
Spin
5.6
Durability
7.5
Control
5.6
These blades really super fast ... because of excessive firmness control ... therefore if one of the rubber for the backhand election might be difficult to control when returning the opponent's attack ...

After this Blades wear really tight solid material .. .. so no shakes at all ... let alone supported by Andro rubber Rasant Power Grip for (FH) and to balance I wear Butterfly Tenergy 25 FX for (BH)..
Speed
9.7
Control
6.5
Hardness
9.5
Durability
7.9
Pros
  • Fits long feet
  • size matches US
  • color pattern
Cons
  • Has bling
I wear a US size 11 and these shoes fits great. Finding the correct size via the internet is troublesome. I use them only for competition so I can't rate about their durability. Using them on rubber (competition) mats and wooden floors they hold my feet snug, fairly lightweight, and allow me to move laterally.

Their color pattern is catchy, although they could do away with the silver and just have them white/blue (that's the bling on the Cons).

I believe in spending good money on good shoes and I feel I have spent wisely.

Now if I can click my heels 3X to get into position for the ball, I'll be thrilled :)
Comfort
8.3
Grip
7.5
Durability
7.1
Weight
4.7
Pros
  • perfect balance
  • relatively light
  • very smooth
Cons
  • price
Perfect balance on spin, speed and control.

This rubber is just extremely well balanced rubber.

It seems that this rubber is not very famous even though its quite popular in Japan.
As the Top TT equipment company in Japan, Nittaku has finally made a rubber that is comparable in terms of qualities of its own.

The G-1 stands for Grip on the ball.
With that being said, the grip of this rubber is insane.
The grip make me perform backhand flick to short backspin serves extremely easily.

Although the rubber is quite straightforward rubber and it does not have its own unique trait like Hurricane 3, I would recommend players to try this rubber once.
My very personal opinion is that, this rubber makes all techniques easy to do.
Please try it and you will understand. 5 stars.
Speed
9
Spin
9.5
Durability
5
Control
9.5
For Fever in Blades
Pros
  • Block
  • Counter topspin
  • Short game
Cons
  • Serve
  • Driving
Similar to timo boll alc. Very easy to open up and counter spin. Also, chopping is easily down with it. The dwell time is Hugh so serving needs to be taking at a very low place.
Speed
8.6
Control
9.6
Hardness
6
Durability
9.7
Pros
  • Control
  • Balanced
  • Lightweight
Cons
  • Speed
This rubber is decent for beginners as it is a very controlled and balanced rubber and at a affordable price. It can allow lots of control for topspin and drive, and can handle chops and backspin well with its decent spin. It can also control the ball from medium distance. This is a very good rubber for learning all shots.

The bad part about the rubber is that it cannot produce high speed ball or not much speed.
Speed
6.2
Spin
6.6
Durability
9
Control
9
Pros
  • nice colours
  • shoe sole grip
Cons
  • fitting loose
I used the shoe because I prefer good grip shoes, the grip is really one of the best in table tennis shoes.

I like shoes with the feeling of fitting close to my foot, but here the fitting comfort was not given, I still had the feeling the shoe is not fitting, it is too loose.
I tried with a new inlay but there was no improvement.

I used it for one month than I switched back to a professional shoe brand.
Comfort
3.9
Grip
8.8
Durability
4.6
Weight
3.2
Pros
  • Very Fast
  • Hard Touch
  • Good wood
Here is my review on the Garaydia T5000 which has been released in 2015 designed for the plastic ball. The T5000 is from the Garaydia series which is Butterfly’s latest line of carbon blades.

The blade is built with 5 plies and has a excellent finish. On the underside of the blade is a holographic lense to stop counterfeit products. Watch the video review below, the rubbers used on the blade are the Butterfly Tenergy 05.


Overview

The thickness of the T5000 is the greatest out of all three Garaydia blades (ALC + ZLC) with a thickness of 7.2mm as seen below. If we compare this to a traditional carbon blade such as the Jun Mizutani Super ZLC which has a thickness of 6mm. The core of the Garaydia has been developed thicker to produce greater speed.

thicknessbutterflygaraydia.jpg


The T5000 blade uses Japanese hinoki wood as the outer layer on the blade which gives the blade a soft feel maintaining the control of the fast blade. Tamaca Carbon is the composite used.

The blade weighs 88 grams.

butterflygaraydiat5000weight.jpg


Speed

Out of all 3 blades, the Garaydia T5000 definitely felt the fastest. This is due to its thicker core and harder touch which works well for the power players playing close to the table. The blade has a lot of feel even though it’s a super fast blade and would be suited for players who like to play flat, fast shots.

Arc

This blade had the lowest arc when hitting direct shots which helped on close range play such as the flick. It doesn't have the same dwell as both the ALC and ZLC. This means that the ball really rockets of the bat and has a high rebound effect which some players may struggle to cope with, for instance players that have a more all round spinny game. Again this is designed for the more aggressive power players who want sheer power.
Speed
9.2
Control
8.8
Hardness
9
Durability
9
Pros
  • Fast
  • Controllable
  • Great feeling
Hi all, this is my review on the Garaydia ZLC which has been released in 2015 designed for the plastic ball. The ZLC is from the Garaydia series, Butterfly’s latest line of carbon blades.

The blade is of 5 plies and has a excellent finish. On the underside of the blade is a holographic lense to stop counterfeit products. Watch the video review below, the rubbers used on the blade are the Butterfly Tenergy 05.


Overview

The thickness of the ZLC is the first attribute myself and Tom noticed in comparison to other Butterfly blades. Notice how much thicker the core is in the image below. The ZLC has a thickness of 7.1mm, whereas the Jun Mizutani Super ZLC has a thickness of 6mm. The core of the Garaydia is thicker to produce greater speed.

thicknessbutterflygaraydia.jpg


The ZLC blade uses Japanese hinoki wood as the outer layer on the blade which gives the blade a soft feel maintaining the control of the fast blade. Zylon Carbon is the composite used.

The blade weighs 88 grams.

butterflygaraydiazlcweight.jpg


Speed

The Garaydia ZLC, felt fantastic and really worked well for my style of play and had similar dwell to the ALC. This dwell gave me high arc in my strokes, a feature that I really enjoyed with this blade as it allowed me to produce lots of spin and safety with my topspins.

I really noticed this safety also when playing against backspin using my backhand flick and when opening up. The ball soaked into the hinoki/Zylon Carbon and created a lot of rotation on the ball. This blade felt similar to the Butterfly Amultart and the Zhang Jike Super ZLC which we reviewed last year. When going explosive shots the the Garaydia ZLC blade felt very quick, however not as fast as the T5000 which gave me great stability in my play. I would not recommend this blade for people who are early level players/improving players, this is blade for intermediate to advanced level players who have a high level of skill.

Spin and Dwell

Although this blade is fast as it uses ZL Carbon, I found I could produce a lot of spin when playing against backspin. You get a crisp feeling and this blade gives you the ability to produce a quality shot with minimal action.

Conclusion

The soft feeling you get with the ZLC, due to the outer hinoki wood and the Zylon carbon fibres, give great spin and dwell in your shots. The hinoki wood helps absorb incoming spin which particularly helps in the serve and receive area to get good bite and zip on the ball.

The ZLC blade has a very good speed to control ratio and is extremely well balanced. This is definitely my blade of choice within the Garaydia range as it suits my style of play well, playing mid distance to the table generating spin and safety in my shots. I like how I can get a lot of power and speed whilst the control is maintained.
Speed
9
Control
9
Hardness
8.8
Durability
9
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