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These days, with the newer versions of H3, I am not sure that the performance differs from red to black. But DHS does NOT make blue sponge in red and most of the top CNT players use blue sponge. Therefore, if they choose blue sponge, they have to have black for FH. So this may be one of the reasons the top CNT players will use black. They don't really have any other choice.
These days, with technological advancements, certainly from a manufacturing standpoint, there should be no reason any of the top companies cannot make red and black perform 99.9% the same.
For sure, with non-Chinese manufacturers and companies, there is absolutely no issue for them to make red and black perform the more than 99.9% the same. So, players using Butterfly, ESN or other catapult sponge rubbers with what used to get called a built in speed glue effect, if they are using black as FH here are a few theories for why that might be:
1) The best players are CNT players and that is what all the top CNT players use (I explained at least one reason above), and so, perhaps they are copying what the best do.
2) These days where you are not supposed to hide your serves, black actually makes it just slightly harder to see the precise angle of contact on the serve.
3) Personal preference.
4) Wives tales and folklore about the two being different.
Personally, I just like black on FH. Black is just, urm.....I don't know....darker....black knight, black riders, the dark lord....I personally like how people associate evil with my FH.
There was a time when Chinese tacky rubbers were clearly different red to black. If there are brands where that is still the case, it is not because production companies cannot figure that out. I am not so sure DHS is one of those companies who has not sorted that out. But DHS still sells a huge percentage more black H3 than red: a guess would be something like 50 to 1. That may even be generous. So, sometimes when you try to buy a Red H3 it has been sitting on a shelf for years and so, does not play as good as an H3 that just came off the press.
But these issues really don't matter to me. However, since it sounds like it matters to you, why not do some testing: choose a rubber and get the same rubber red and black and keep flipping back and forth without looking at which one you are using. See if you can tell when you are playing. Try it with brand new H3, Tenergy, MXP, any rubber you like. Tell us which rubbers you were able to feel a difference with. Tell us if there are any where you cannot feel a difference.
One detail to note. Since DHS sells so many more Black H3 than Red H3, the red you get may be older if you get from a seller that does not sell a lot of H3. But it is still worth testing.
I seem to remember that Zhou Yu (CNT) was using black H3 on BH and red on FH during 2017 Swedish Open (check out the QF match between him and FZD). Being a fan of CNT players, I know that Zhou Yu generally uses black H3 on forehand and red rubber on BH. Maybe he was testing new equipment, or maybe the color really doesn't matter (he might've just had the reverse colored rubbers for FH and BH that day).
