Hello, I use the Rasant PowerGrip and it's one of the rubbers I actually kept. It has disadvantages like anything else but it's enjoyable for me. I will mention the things that bothered me at first and the things I learned to enjoy. First I started using it on my forehand but I changed few things in my play style and it ended up on my backhand. It's a hard sponge, you will never bottom out on fast shots, it feels very true and gives linear shots due to this reason. Ball bounces really high, almost as much as your M2. The top sheet feels a little plasticy and maybe for this reason there isn't much feel. Never the less the spin it produces during loops is perfect, even in serves. Keep in mind this is a medium throw rubber so your shots fly with less arc and you may feel that you are not producing enough spin. You may also miss the table for this reason as it has a lot of speed. I like the fact that when I hit the ball it always travels the same and I don't get the odd shot like I did with my M2 where it will high arc for no reason and miss the table. I think this is what I mean when I said it's more of a true rubber. I kept having this problem with Bluefire M2 due to the high throw and medium sponge. Sometimes it will high arc, sometimes it will give a nice spiny low shot depending on how much the sponge engaged. I did not get this problem with Rasant Powergrip and it eventually ended on my backhand for this very reason. The speed is great, especially off the table, but I could never learn to slow loop with this thing no matter how much I try. So you will always prefer to be in control, playing fast and eventually away from the table. Yet at the same time because of the spin it produces, making banana flicks return is absolutely fine. It's great at saving low balls too. I've had a lot of comments from opponents saying "oh this is too fast for me" once they buckle under the pressure on a great rally just returning over and over again.
I will put some short list of advantages and disadvantages for the Rasant based on my findings:
- Sometimes when you fine brush it will spit the ball to the ground (but it too has happened with Bluefire M2)
- It's medium throw rubber so the arc is less than your M2, you will always be playing on the edge of the table and pushing your opponent away.
- It's hard to slow loop with this thing due to the plasticy top sheet, not much feel and high bounce
- It requires good body mechanics to produce the best results so no lazy style or late adjustments
- Chopping and pushing for me wasn't very good
- It's about 50g weight
- It's better for european style loops
- There was speed and spin loss after 1 month of play when the factory tune dried
+ Great speed, you will be dictating the pace in the match
+ The rubber feels like it does the work for you with minimal movement
+ Good spin, you can really put the power down, good enough for serves (not as spiny as M2)
+ Medium arc helps with putting the shots more accurately especially when you power it down the line (just remember the fine line between missing the table and hitting the top of the net)
+ Hard sponge helps with accuracy as well, you won't bottom out like I could with M2
+ Plays really well when boosted and restores the spin back to original from the first week you bought it
+ This rubber at first you love it, somewhere in between you hate it, but after a while you love it again
Regarding the Grip, I think that rubber is basically a medium sponge hardness, but instead of high arching it's now even lower throw and it has more spin. The surface is a few ratings less tacky. There is 2 way to go with this. You can either have the Rasant PowerGrip on your forehand, or have the softer, more spiny Grip with low throw on the forehand and something more punchy on the backhand. This is where it becomes a player preference. I find I play better with hard sponges on my backhand to deliver the final shots. Some people like rubber like Nittaku Hammond Beta which is super soft, super grippy and probably easy to play with on a lower level (slow) type of game.
I hope this info helps you. If you have questions let me know.
