Xiom Vega China Review: More of a Budget Dignics 09C Alternative, Less of a Boosted Hurricane 3 Neo

[victormanriquey]

Good morning all,

Finally and as promised, here is my review of the Xiom Vega China! It's been a couple months since I wanted to test it, so now I'm ready to share my findings on it, and as you can see from the title (and the sponge photo), the rubber has changed during the years to turn a bit more into an ESN hybrid like Dignics 09c and has lost the initial Hurricane replacement feeling, as we discussed before with @navuzor @belllfador @K.K. This is not per se a bad thing as I will tell you in the blog, it's just a change in philosophy from Xiom Although maybe @doppelmoral and @Kilogramme (plus others) will be disappointed

Here is the link to the full review: https://www.tabletennisequipmenthelp.com/blog/xiom-vega-china-review

And for the TL;DR table check this out:

Category	Xiom Vega China
Weight	75g uncut with protector on, 52g cut to the B2X, heavy hybrid
Sponge & Topsheet	54 degrees, very hard black sponge with visible pores (newer version), firm topsheet, tacky for modern standards, still has a bit of the boosted 'click feeling'
Speed & Gears	Medium gears, weird low gear that chokes slow balls, medium and high gears overlap, D09c-like speed (maybe a bit slower)
Spin potential	Very spinny like the spinniest ESN hybrids, a bit less than H3N and D09c
Throw angle	High, around Rakza Z level, a bit lower than D09c, higher than boosted H3N, long flight
Drives & Loops	Easy drives with plenty of catapult, loops can go long at first, opening heavy backspin is demanding, great counterloops
Serves	Great at serving with tons of spin, almost H3N and D09c level here
Flicks	Not the easiest, it's very spin sensitive with relatively low dwell, you need to commit, not so confidence inducing as Dignics 09c
Pushes	Very good pushes, short and even better long once you find the angle, you get good grip feeling on those
Blocks	Not good, very bouncy on powerloops with a low dwell feeling, better to counter instead
Flat hits	Good like some other ESN hybrids, I enjoyed the good counterhits
Boosting	Not needed but could maybe work on slower blades for more dwell, but speed is already high out of the box
Price & Durability	Half the price of a D09c (40 euros on AliExpress), tack and topsheet pretty much unchanged after 1 month, 4-6 months durability likely.

Overall I think it is an interesting budget alternative to the Dignics 09c, it has some clear tradeoffs for the price you pay, but the price and durability make it a nice rubber to consider if you want speed and can handle the firm sponge and lower gears. Probably will work better on slower blades, and perhaps even boosted, to make the initial gears a bit better.

From here I will focus on the review of the Battle 2 next (gonna compare Battle 2 blue sponge prov., Neo, and traditional orange sponge) and the Donic BlueGrip J1 & J2 plus some roundup blogs, but I may also change the order of things towards the end of the year, I'll see

Hope you all enjoy the review and let's discuss! Comments, questions, feedback always welcome, thanks a lot and take care!

Have a nice week,

Victor

 

[TTL]

I think it will be good a comparison with Rakza Z. Can you do it?

 

[Scarfed Garchomp]

I think it will be good a comparison with Rakza Z. Can you do it?

RZ is about ESN50, more comparable to RZ ExtraHard.

 

[JustANoob]

In a way it kind of sounds better than their omega and jekyll series if one is looking for that 09c alternative.

 

[victormanriquey]

I think it will be good a comparison with Rakza Z. Can you do it?

Yeah I will try one of these days yes, it is one step higher in speed and liveliness than Rakza Z for sure, like the same that D09c is similar to Rakza Z but then more of everything

 

[victormanriquey]

RZ is about ESN50, more comparable to RZ ExtraHard.

Yeah Id agree here @Scarfed Garchomp , and its also comparable to C2 and the harder Helix Hybrid

 

[victormanriquey]

In a way it kind of sounds better than their omega and jekyll series if one is looking for that 09c alternative.

@belllfador said something about J&H last time, but I have not tested J&H so I cannot say. Well I did some shots with one of them, C52.5 I think it was, but long time ago and I don't remember more than just 'it had enough catapult' haha), maybe he can say more here

 

[belllfador]

@belllfador said something about J&H last time, but I have not tested J&H so I cannot say. Well I did some shots with one of them, C52.5 I think it was, but long time ago and I don't remember more than just 'it had enough catapult' haha), maybe he can say more here

I can't speak about J&H C variants and D09C, only for Z52.5. Find it more dynamic than XVC, faster, but surprisingly easy to control for the speed level. Overall, XVC and Z52.5 have similarities. Just the last one is farther away from H3. Many people find Z52.5 similar to D05, but I tried D05 briefly and has more tensor effect and higher throw.

 

[victormanriquey]

I can't speak about J&H C variants and D09C, only for Z52.5. Find it more dynamic than XVC, faster, but surprisingly easy to control for the speed level. Overall, XVC and Z52.5 have similarities. Just the last one is farther away from H3. Many people find Z52.5 similar to D05, but I tried D05 briefly and has more tensor effect and higher throw.

Interesting will need to test at some point as well, thanks

 

[Kilogramme]

Hi @victormanriquey interesting review. My feeling of the rubber is quite different of yours indeed. It is sad they changed the formula. Or the manufacturing process, whatever change the rubber. With the older spec, it has a great place in the market. I had dwell, lower throw. But I also recognised the feeling where the rubber pushes you and rewards you for going all in. The old spec also was amazing when going full Hit-brush top spin rather than spinny loop.
Now it seems like another hybrid ESN. The fact that you had to play it BH because of the dynamism seems weird to me haha.
It is still a good rubber according to your description.
I would like to try the Tau series, which is Chinese like rubber line of rubber. Tau 3, and Tau 5. But impossible to find. I wonder if those are closer to old spec Vega China.

 

[JustANoob]

I would like to try the Tau series, which is Chinese like rubber line of rubber. Tau 3, and Tau 5. But impossible to find. I wonder if those are closer to old spec Vega China.

Tau 5 has been available on tt11 for a while.

 

[K.K]

i tried the new vega china for around 3 months now and i would agree that it’s an alternative to dignics09c in the same way a vega pro is to a tenergy05. compared to 09c it is slower overall with less catapult, but requires the same game and playstyle. again like vega pro to tenergy.

one thing that is exceptional is the durability. the sponge dies way before the topsheet does, as @victormanriquey pointed out it gets actually tackier the longer you have it and that is something unusual for an esn hybrid nowadays.

i can see this as a modern setup for students and developing intermediates paired with an ALC blade and vega pro as backhand rubber, because it is cheap, durable and has really high ball quality for what you get.

i don’t see this as a backhand rubber, if you have the technical skills to play such a hard and tacky offensive rubber on backhand, then you would be sponsered anyway (or at least would be pro enough to go for k3, d09c and such)

 

[victormanriquey]

Hi @victormanriquey interesting review. My feeling of the rubber is quite different of yours indeed. It is sad they changed the formula. Or the manufacturing process, whatever change the rubber. With the older spec, it has a great place in the market. I had dwell, lower throw. But I also recognised the feeling where the rubber pushes you and rewards you for going all in. The old spec also was amazing when going full Hit-brush top spin rather than spinny loop.
Now it seems like another hybrid ESN. The fact that you had to play it BH because of the dynamism seems weird to me haha.
It is still a good rubber according to your description.
I would like to try the Tau series, which is Chinese like rubber line of rubber. Tau 3, and Tau 5. But impossible to find. I wonder if those are closer to old spec Vega China.

Yeah agreed @Kilogramme , I was indeed expecting more the hurricane alternative and that's why I got it in black fot the forehand

And yes, too dynamic for my forehand, even on slower blades. But indeed still a good rubber, not bad but with stronger tradeoffs than other rubbers, so you compromise on some things and that is up to the player really.

There are the new taus that I think @belllfador mentioned were like the hurricanes, or maybe it was another player, will need to test and let you know, old Taus I cannot easily find either

 

[victormanriquey]

i tried the new vega china for around 3 months now and i would agree that it’s an alternative to dignics09c in the same way a vega pro is to a tenergy05. compared to 09c it is slower overall with less catapult, but requires the same game and playstyle. again like vega pro to tenergy.

one thing that is exceptional is the durability. the sponge dies way before the topsheet does, as @victormanriquey pointed out it gets actually tackier the longer you have it and that is something unusual for an esn hybrid nowadays.

i can see this as a modern setup for students and developing intermediates paired with an ALC blade and vega pro as backhand rubber, because it is cheap, durable and has really high ball quality for what you get.

i don’t see this as a backhand rubber, if you have the technical skills to play such a hard and tacky offensive rubber on backhand, then you would be sponsered anyway (or at least would be pro enough to go for k3, d09c and such)

Yeah I was surprised about the tackiness too @K.K , more often than not, esn hybrids are the contrary, they lose tackiness, so its interesting here for sure.

For me it worked better on the backhand than on the forehand (personal taste, to replace H3N BS/OS on FH is hard to me) but its not an easy BH rubber as you say, so if you can use it fully and easily on BH, then indeed you can use the other rubbers too, like D09c/K3/Helix Hybrid and such, you can probably just choose

I'd personally rather play with the Dynamic or D09c or Helix Hybrid on BH, than with the Vega China, but that again is just a personal preference.

 

[Kilogramme]

Tau 5 has been available on tt11 for a while.

In France we have a TT11 shop, so we can't order on the worldwide website. And they did not have the Tau series when I was looking for them. Now they have the 2 new Tau with the mark brand new. So. I guess they just got them. I am well equipped with the Rxton 9 for now. So I will not try them. I need to save money to go to Krakow for TTD meetup hahaha. If Victor tries them, I will read the review with great interest.

 

[belllfador]

Yeah agreed @Kilogramme , I was indeed expecting more the hurricane alternative and that's why I got it in black fot the forehand

And yes, too dynamic for my forehand, even on slower blades. But indeed still a good rubber, not bad but with stronger tradeoffs than other rubbers, so you compromise on some things and that is up to the player really.

There are the new taus that I think @belllfador mentioned were like the hurricanes, or maybe it was another player, will need to test and let you know, old Taus I cannot easily find either

Have Tau 55.5 on NSD and Goriki Super Drive. Is the closest rubber to the slightly boosted H3 BS. A bit slower than XVC but with more control and a huge range of possible play stiles - looping, choping, short, long, all is good. The funny thing Tau 55.5 requires H3 level of effort only for very fast looping. Midle speed looping is easy as with XVC or Z52.5. In comparison, Chintac 52.5 is slower and feels much softer, due to softer topsheet, similar to the red H3N OS 38°.

 

[navuzor]

Finally! @victormanriquey, cracking review as usual. I have to say that I had a very mixed first impression when I tested it. Mainly because my expectations were biased by the reviews of the original version, I got something that had nothing to do with what I read about. I agree with the throw being high, I have always struggled with medium-low throwing rubbers, and this was not the case at all with this rubber. Something that resonated with me about the review is that this rubber is for all-out attack. Very high quality when you go all out; However, if you hesitate, you get meh quality balls. I think it's a very good rubber still but I totally agree it most suitable if you are an all-out attacker, I still haven't tried Rakza Z, I have a sheet I got from a member of the forum, I hope to try it soon, but for now, I am having fun with an actual boosted H3N

 

[victormanriquey]

In France we have a TT11 shop, so we can't order on the worldwide website. And they did not have the Tau series when I was looking for them. Now they have the 2 new Tau with the mark brand new. So. I guess they just got them. I am well equipped with the Rxton 9 for now. So I will not try them. I need to save money to go to Krakow for TTD meetup hahaha. If Victor tries them, I will read the review with great interest.

haha yeah same on the money let's hope I can make it I'll review one day, no worries!

Have Tau 55.5 on NSD and Goriki Super Drive. Is the closest rubber to the slightly boosted H3 BS. A bit slower than XVC but with more control and a huge range of possible play stiles - looping, choping, short, long, all is good. The funny thing Tau 55.5 requires H3 level of effort only for very fast looping. Midle speed looping is easy as with XVC or Z52.5. In comparison, Chintac 52.5 is slower and feels much softer, due to softer topsheet, similar to the red H3N OS 38°.

Oh that is very interesting, I must test them then, I will try to have Chintac and the Taus at the same time approx so I can compare, thanks for the great info as always @belllfador !!

Finally! @victormanriquey, cracking review as usual. I have to say that I had a very mixed first impression when I tested it. Mainly because my expectations were biased by the reviews of the original version, I got something that had nothing to do with what I read about. I agree with the throw being high, I have always struggled with medium-low throwing rubbers, and this was not the case at all with this rubber. Something that resonated with me about the review is that this rubber is for all-out attack. Very high quality when you go all out; However, if you hesitate, you get meh quality balls. I think it's a very good rubber still but I totally agree it most suitable if you are an all-out attacker, I still haven't tried Rakza Z, I have a sheet I got from a member of the forum, I hope to try it soon, but for now, I am having fun with an actual boosted H3N

Thank you @navuzor ! I knew you were excited to read about this one And yeah, it's indeed not a bad rubber but like we both say, this is not for the faint hearted, the rubber wants aggresion, and if you don't give it that, the rubber doesn't do much for you

Boosted H3N is always a delight, Rakza Z also by the way, but a different rubber, more like the in between station towards the Dignics 09c haha

 

[Kilogramme]

Have Tau 55.5 on NSD and Goriki Super Drive. Is the closest rubber to the slightly boosted H3 BS. A bit slower than XVC but with more control and a huge range of possible play stiles - looping, choping, short, long, all is good. The funny thing Tau 55.5 requires H3 level of effort only for very fast looping. Midle speed looping is easy as with XVC or Z52.5. In comparison, Chintac 52.5 is slower and feels much softer, due to softer topsheet, similar to the red H3N OS 38°.

What is NSD and Goriki super Drive kind of blade. I don't know them. What is Chintac haha, new rubber I am not familiar with.

 

[belllfador]

What is NSD and Goriki super Drive kind of blade. I don't know them. What is Chintac haha, new rubber I am not familiar with.

NSD = Nittaku Shake Defence, a relatively fast and stiff defensive blade with 3+2 composition. Thick hinoki outer layers. Roughly, it can be compared with classic 7ply all wood blades in All+ category.

Goriki Super Drive is 6 ply all wood offensive blade with a bigger head 160×155mm. Walnut outer layers and hinoki inside. Stiff and fast with a hint of hinoki feel. Roughly, can be compared to outer carbon blades, Off category.

Andro Chintac is a new rubber that claims to be hybrid, but is like slightly boosted H3 OS. Find more impressions with the search function.