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I'm a long time XIOM rubber player and use XIOM Vega Pro and Vega Japan rubbers. With the new Omega V series coming out, I had to opportunity to "test drive" an Omega V Tour.

Omega V Tour is the same sponge hardness as Vega Pro or Omega V Pro, but with a topsheet that uses a differen pimple geometrie. Pimples are a bit wider and more dense. The topsheet therefore feels more dense and compact, compared to a Vega Pro.

I played the Omega V Tour on the FH in 2.0mm (on an Adidas Fibertec Classic), keeping my Vega Pro 2.0mm on the backhand for comparison

As all XIOM rubbers is takes a couple of hours until the rubber reaches its normal characteristics (XIOM rubbers feel stiffer and harder than their really are in the first 6 hours of play, so don't be surprised).
The Omega Tour has more catapult than the Vega Pro, while maintaining the same spin. The catapult effect kicks in very late, but then is higher than with other rubbers I played before.

Short game is easy and opening loops agains backspin aren't a problem. However playing loop against block or loop becomes a challange with the OMEGA V Tour. The additional catapult of the Tour made it difficult for me to not overshoot. On the otherhand, when not playing fast and strong enough the ball would drop into the net.
The OMEGA Tour is quite delicate to play, because the window for the right amount of force and speed to hit the balls is very narrow.

Push and Short game: Easy and very spinny
Block: passive blocks are easier, active blocks are a challange (catapult effect)
Loop: on backspin OK, against block or loop to difficult for me
Drive: challenging as well, because of the catapult effect

XIOM OMEGA V Tour is an excellent rubber, with long durability (played for 3 month, without any noticable degredation), but way to advanced for me. The number of unforced errors was too huge and therefore I switched back to Vega Pro.

What’s going on guys, here’s my review on one of the most anticipated rubbers of 2015, the Butterfly Bryce Highspeed. Bryce Highspeed was released on the 21st December 2015.

Video Review: Bryce Highspeed Rubber


Written Review:

Firstly Bryce Highspeed comes in the all new packaging along with the new Butterfly logo. Butterfly have really transformed their look and feel of their latest products since the release of Tenergy 05 back in 2008.



The Bryce Highspeed rubber comes with a new technology called Micro Layer designed for the new plastic ball. This micro layer technology enables the surface to be very thin, the thinnest so far in any rubber according to Butterfly.

This allows the rubber to have longer pimples underneath for easier compression during impact. This gives a higher tension build up, as a result to give great speed. According to the Butterfly stats Bryce Highspeed is the fastest rubber in their range, faster than the popular Tenergy 05.

When pressing on the rubber, the Bryce Highspeed (bottom rubber seen below) feels slightly softer than Tenergy 05 (top rubber seen below), to be precise Bryce Highspeed is 35 degrees and Tenergy 05 is 36 degrees.



The weight of Bryce Highspeed when uncut is 38 grams. Which is reasonably light in comparison to Tenergy 05 when uncut is 46 grams.



Myself and Tom put the Bryce Highspeed to the test using the Butterfly Garaydia ZLC blade.

Speed

As the name suggests, the new Bryce rubber certainly does pack a lot of speed. The sheer amount of speed this rubber produces means that the ball really catapults of the surface of the rubber. This means that the Bryce highspeed has very little dwell time and the ball shoots off the bat quickly and with a low arc.

I found I sometimes could not generate as much pace as I would have liked as I had to brush the ball a little more to get the high trajectory required to get the ball over the net. This was especially evident on low balls if not met at the top of the bounce.

Suited better for my backhand

The Bryce Highspeed felt more suited to my backhand, and the low trajectory really helped when playing with a closed racquet angle to maintain the speed which in turn gave me lots of spin and control. With my natural technique I use for my backhand drive, when pressing forward, I was able to produce a lot of spin and speed with consistency. I was able to take advantage early on in the point with this aggressive shot.

Spin

Although the Bryce Highspeed is primarily designed, first and foremost, as an extremely fast rubber, I was still able to get a lot of spin on the ball with my backhand flick and backhand topspin. However I was unable to get the same amount of spin on my forehand side as there is less wrist involvement with this stroke. When comparing this rubber to other products in the Butterfly range I felt I had more spin in comparison to a traditional Bryce or a Bryce speed, however you can generate more spin with a Tenergy 05 but when it comes to pure speed this rubber is the fastest Butterfly have produced.

Short Game

During the short game I really struggled to adapt at the beginning due to the rebound effect as it gave little feedback. Again the rubbers high levels of speed made it hard to control until I got more used to it. I really noticed the rubbers pace again during forehand flicks. Once I adjusted I could produce some great results, in shots such as the counter topspin for instance where I found I had superb accuracy.

Away from the table

I needed to have quite an upward motion when playing away from the table, as the low arc would send the ball into the net if I didn't make this adaptation to my stroke. I found top spinning from mid distance and close to the table fantastic.

Conclusion

The new Butterfly Bryce Highspeed has definitely been created to produce vast amounts of speed on the ball. When a precise brush shot is used a decent amount of spin can also be generated. The sponge is medium to hard and springs off the bat faster than Tenergy 05 due to the thin topsheet allowing for a higher pimple placement in the sponge. For me this rubber is an excellent choice for the backhand side as I could get a good balance between spin and speed on the finer shots such as the backhand flick and topspin.

You can put your opponent under a lot of pressure with this rubber due to the speed however at times can be a little hard to control. This rubber is suited for intermediate to advanced players who like to generate a lot of speed on the ball and would be good for players who like to punch and play fast shots from close to the table. We feel that this rubber would also be well suited for a passive blocking game due to the amount of pace you can generate with little effort.

I have been a Tenergy05 player for some years, however, I was always looking for a cheaper alternative. After testing quite a lot rubbers I finally found the Rhyzm 425 with similar characteristics as the Butterfly rubber.

With good control it is easy to do both slow and fast, well-placed blocks.

Topsins at the table are no problem, even against heavy underspin players. The only thing where I liked Tenergy05 better is at counterlooping a few steps behind the table. It is no problem with Rhyzm 425 neither but the ball's feeling is slightly worse.

As the rubber is rather spinny, you can generate a lot of spin varieties with your service.

On average I play six hours a week, after three months the rubbers' characteristics decline noticeable and I buy a new one.
I use this rubber both on my forehand and backhand with JOOLA TPE Nature blade.

In conclusion, I have been playing Rhyzm 425 for two years now and for me it is a good alternative to expensive Tenergy05.

Been using this shoes since 2008 until now. Tried others, some provides better grips, more comfortable, more good looking, some are very stiff, heavy, uncomfortable. This one is the best bang for the buck in my opinion.

Not too dressy, certainly not eye catchers, but gives somewhat professional looks. Reasonably light, quite comfortable, but not a good walking shoes for long duration. Above average grips.

I tried another model with regular soles (without the white dots on the soles) but it wasn't as good. So I stick with this model instead.

One time I used a long stored pair. After a couple of use the surface got broken up/peeled off, so the shoes looked ugly, but the grip remains great. So I just put up with the ugly pairs nevertheless.

Just a couple of weeks ago used another long stored pair and after one time play, the soles peeled off on both shoes. Took it to repair shop, had the soles sawn up and been working great since.

The reason it got stored up a long time because I buy several pairs at a time. I'm not trying newer models because they are more expensive and might not be as good. Even if it's better it will certainly be more expensive so I'm sticking with this for now.

This is a rubber I found myself going back to a few times. It offers great offensive stats, and was surprisingly easy to get used to. Would definitely recommend it for people buying a new offensive rubber.

The Korbel SK7 is a very offensive bat. Its effectiveness is in its speed and control. This blade is one of the more heavier ones, but for some that might be preferred, as for myself. Compared to how much heaviness and speed is in this blade, this blade offers great control. Definitely a blade you wanna consider if you like an aggressive/offensive style.

The best blade out there for player who like to be agressiv close to the table with fast or really spinny attacks.
I started using this blade 2008 and my game stepped up immediately by 2 classes.
The durability of this blade is just incredible because the carbon makes the blade really stiff and the arylate provides that awesome feeling of control while brushing the ball thin.
It performs the best with T05. In my optinion there is no better blade in countertopsinning close to the table.
I also tryed H3 on the forehand which improved short pushing spinny attack close to the table, but lacks to much power against heavy backspin and counterspinning from half distance.
I would recommend it to agressiv players who have a really fast swing and play dominant with the forehand and like to step around.If u got that lifting Backspin is a piece of cake and the ball stays pretty low even with tons of topsin because of the low trajectory.Even though the blade still provides more than enough speed to perform great in half distance.
For me personally the only downside of this blade is controlling the backhandtopsin is a struggle,because you have to close the rackethead quite a lot.
Pushing,blocking and short recive is also not that eazy but the blade makes that up with it´s amazing offensiv capabilities.

This is simply a fantastic blade. The sound it gets is a really nice click and even though it is a fast blade it has so much control because the feedback is always the same, it feels like you hit it in the sweet spot every time. A characteristic i really like is that it has a reasonably high throw angle giving it great arc and because the response of the blade is always the same it helps you get more quality shots on keeping you in the rally. Certainly more than enough speed and then with the feedback it gives you get extremely good feeling. Possibly the best blade ive tried.

??Higgs Blade:
I got the chance to review this Table Tennis Blade I received from Nexy, I Hope you get the chance to read.
Rubbers I used are Tenergy 64, Acuda S2, Hurricane 8
(Basically hard rubber for Fh and Tensor and famous rubbers) and Nexy 3 Star Polyball 40+
Higgs
First impression:
The Packaging is totally stylish, in laymen's terms you can say its "cool". Opening the box comes at ease and can be used as an alternative batcase if you can't still afford or you come short including a case in your Budget. The Blade's craftsmanship is superb, especially at how smooth it is cut, the cutting tool used must be of some kind of high technology and delicate. Nexy Also used a Metal Emblem
The Blade:
Higgs is a 7-ply 4th Generation Blade released by Nexy, as How it is described by Nexy, they used Wenge as an outer veneer that has a characteristic of 'line". "Line" is described as a feeling of dragging.
To Test this blade, I kept in mind to use fast-high tension rubbers and a Hard rubber for Forehand, of cores at-least a poly-ball ready rubber for FH.
In Action:
Drills: Tenergy 64-FH, DHS H8-Fh, Acuda S3-BH, Tenergy-64Bh(I switch rubbers to know the compatibility w/ my game
FH:
From the first 3-4 hits, I already felt the speed of the blade and the so called "Dragging". The ball has a low trajectory and pinpoint like bounce as I was hitting it. The feeling was firm as I was hitting it, very less vibration or should i describe it as having a hard sponge hitting the ball.
BH:
I am very satisfied at how it performed well with short strokes at w/ my BH and produced fast shots
Spin:
I was able to produce reasonable amount of spin. I noticed I had to make lower angles to my shot because I'm using T64. The ball is fast and produced more spin compared to my set up before using a Rosewood NCT 5 and Acuda S2-FH. I just had to make some control adjustment since i am used to full swings when it comes to spinning, I had this trouble solved when I used the DHS H8 in my FH. I am a bit surprised that despite using a hard rubber in my FH, the speed difference was not that wide.
I ask my drill partner and friend to blocked my BH spin, I felt so much comfort and less effort of hitting the ball at a mid distance even at a close table range, the spin produced was low in arc and spiny.
Short return/flips:
When it come s to short under-spin shots, controlling the ball close to the not has no problem. Flip shots was also easy maybe because of what Nexy say as the "Line" effect.
Game Play:
3rd ball attack comes at ease, I manage to produce spiny short and long serves that allowed me to play my game since I tend to brush the ball w/ ripping BH and looping chops at its lowest point of trajectory. When it comes to succeeding balls, I can say I had a 60/40 success and error rate, this could be because of the rubber compatibility to the blade and adjustments i need for my own game.
Overall Summary:
The blade is fast, I can rate this mid Off and Off+. I recommended this to players who like short quick strokes in both FH and BH. I would suggest that this blade be used w/ a much slower Hard rubber to full swing loopers or attackers, maybe a Rising Dragon from Yasaka will do. It can fairly be played at a close table range and performed better at Mid distance. I'm also looking forward to have this compared w/ butterfly's new gen wenge wood blade(Hard draw especial wood series).
weigh: 83 g
speed: mid off and off+
plies: 7 plies( 2 wenge outer veneer)
credits to friends who let me borrowed some rubbers
I would appreciate comments and suggestions when it comes to reviewing

Very nice blade, very nice control and much gears, if you hit the ball with finess the ball go with much control and you hit the ball solid the ball is a rocket, depend how hard or soft you hit the ball, and the blade have a much dwell time than others

Very Good speed and good control. Downside is a small head size almost the same as Donic Black Devil.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.