Joola Energon, Nobilis, Zelebro and Quattro Carbon Blades

Energon PBO
Speed: Off+
Weight: 92 grams
Thickness: 5.65mm
Plies: 7(koto-ZL carbon - limba -kiri)

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The Joola Energon is the last blade in the PBO Series that I have tested. I saved the best for last since this is the flagship blade of the brand. It has a 7 ply construction with the following materials used – koto, zl carbon, limba and kiri core. The Energon has a stiff feel. Both the Koto outer layers and the ZL carbon give a stiff feel when bouncing the ball on the bare blade. The blade feels stiff even with the rubbers on it. Joola stated that the ZL carbon weaving for the Energon is tighter than the usual weaving and this is the reason why the blades gives a high rebound effect when hitting and also gives a very fast speed. I can say the quality is very high and it feels and plays like a Super ZJK blade due to similarities in constructions. The handle is comfortable to the hand and the blade’s construction is top notch for its quality.
The Energon is very fast. It is a stiff and high-rebound blade that is solely for attacks. This blade was designed for speed that is needed by every offensive player but the level of speed that is has is slower than hinoki carbon blades with pure carbon weaving. This blade is rated a true off+ blade. The ZL carbon on the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layers of composite carbon ensures that you will have more than enough power even at far distance from the table. I tested the blade with Rhyzer 50 and the 2 Golden Tango rubbers – vanilla and PS versions. The combination of any rubber stated above provides amazing amount of speed without sacrificing too much control. The Energon has a large sweetspot at about 1 to 1.5 inches from the sides of the blade. At least with the huge sweetspot, you will not have to worry about maximizing your hit on the middle part of the blade only. The Energon has some weight on it and when you pair it with medium heavy rubbers like Rhyzer 50, the momentum and power output of your swing seem very strong despite middle half swings far from the table. The Rhyzer 50 is a hard rubber and when combined with the Energon’s stiff construction, even at far distance from the table, half swing for a stroke easily clears the net towards the other side but there is still some power on your shots. At full swing, you can really feel the amount of speed the blade has.
The Energon is better suited for fast offensive shots. You can do slow loops with it but I do not think the offensive capabilities of the Energon is best suited for strong offensive shots. The Energon produces a medium arc when looping. I felt that the Energon is a better blade for loops drives or for a pure smashing blade due to its stiffness. Active blocking or punch blocking is better than just soft and passive blocking.
How is the blade’s feel compared to other known blades? I can surely say that it has some feel of the Viscaria but on a harder sense but on a marginally faster speed. It is what it is and the closest blade I can compare it to is the Super ZJK blade. It is basically the lower priced version of the said blade. I do not think of any other blade I can compare it but the Super ZJK blade. The blade has a good amount of control even at high speeds but again like the Zelebro blade, the Energon is best used with a particular set of skills and this is not a beginner’s blade. The Energon has a good amount of feel and control. It has control that you can actually easily do touch type shots like drop shots and flicks.
The blade is a bit expensive compared to the usual composite blades. At 269 USD, it is not a joke for the price but compared to the Super ZJK ZLC, the Energon is a very good bargain. You get a blade which is as good as the more expensive blade but with a much lower price. You will get a high performance blade at a reasonable price.



Zelebro PBO
Speed: OFF+
Weight: 92 grams
Thickness: 5.83mm
Plies: 7 (limba-ZL carbon - koto - Kiri)

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The Zelebro is surprisingly the fastest PBO blade in the Joola POB series. I thought it was the Energon which is the fastest but it is the Zelebro PBO. The blade has limba outer plies with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layer PBO (zl carbon) , koto and middle core which is kiri. The blade like its Nobilis brother has also a high quality and smooth finish even in its top limba ply. The Zelebro blade feels stiff when I was hitting my fingers against the bare blade. A ball bounce on the bare blade also yielded a medium-high to high bounce with no effort. The Zelebro has a semi high-pitched sound on the ball bounce test.
The blade is very fast. It is not on the level of OFF++ like Schlager carbon or Sardius but it has the speed that you cannot ask for more. You can feel the great rebound of the ball everytime you hit the ball with either a drive or even just an active block. Compared to the speed of other blades, the Zelebro is in the level of Jun Mizutani blade, It also an almost similar construction but they feel different. I have used both blades and I can say they do not feel the same but the speed is more or less on the same level. You can appreciate the kick of the ball when you do your forehand drills like drives and topspins. It was more than fast enough for me and most players. The power of the blade is amazing middle or far distance from the table, you can feel the great gap in power when compared to the Nobilis blade. For most players, certain adjustments needed to be made. I was just using short strokes even at middle distance because I am not used to that amount of speed and power. I used the Golden Tango and PS version with the Rhyzer 50 rubbers. The amount of speed and power are already there that you would just need 2.0mm rubber thickness for this blade. I recommend this kind of thickness especially if you are just intermediate level. Man, this is no beginner blade. This is not the blade that you should be learning your basic strokes rather this is the blade that you can increase your speed provided you are at a better level, say an advanced level because it needs a higher level of skill to fully use its great potential.
Despite being a very fast blade, the Zelebro has an amazing level of slow brushing topspins or your more powerful loop drive. Despite using the Rhyzer 50 which is already a very fast rubber, the Zelebro can let you topspin the ball on a slow but very spinny kind of loop. It produces a medium high arc when looping. In my opinion, it favors faster strokes because of its speed. When you take the ball on the rise, there is some level of control that lets you easily hit the ball to loop heavy underspin balls either as a service receive/attack or half long underspin serves. You could feel the large area of sweetspot the blade has and I think this has some contribution on giving you power when you do not hit the ball exactly at the inner middle part of the blade. For strong shots, I can say the level of control is above average since this blade is more on the offensive side.
Just a bit of caution on sensitive shots or shots made above the table, it needs a certain level to fully use the Zelebro. Doing long, spinny underspin pushes are not a problem but you have to have the right touch and feel on the Zelebro to do drop shots or very short push because with faster rubbers like Rhyzer 50 or 48, the ball can sometimes pop because f the raw power the blade has. With advanced level of players, this blade’s control is already above on what is expected on a ZL carbon blade. I would recommend using medium soft or soft rubbers like Rhyzm Tech or Joola Rhyzer 43 to have good amounts of control. Since this is a limba outer ply blade, using Hurricane 3 is very ideal or better yet just the Joola Tango PS. The vanilla Tango can be a little fast for intermediate level players so I advocate for a more controllable tacky type of rubber in the forehand and also has a softer feel than the Tango. Overall, a very good advanced level blade.



Nobilis PBO
Speed: off to off+
Weight: 80 grams
Thickness: 7mm
Plies: 5 (hinoki - ZL carbon - kiri)

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Joola Nobilis PBO blade
This is one of the first few Joola blades I have gotten to review for a very long time - this and the other PBO blades. The Nobilis is the only hinoki outer ply blade in the series and it is also the most controllable blade. I thought this was the fastest since it has the typical hinoko-zl carbon composition. It is very light and the handle is very comfortable. The hinoki on its outer plies is kinda think at 1.2mm and its quality is almost as good as a kiso hinoki. The blade has a smooth but not slippery surface. Let me also add that the shape of the head is like a semi-egg shape blade head. The shape is not as profound as some of the old Waldner blades that are egg shaped but the end of the head is somehow tapered.
On the bounce test, the ball does not bounce that high and also the sound has a lower pitch indicating this is a controlled blade. It has a *thok* sound which has a middle high pitch. I thought this was the fastest blade in the PBO series but I was wrong. This is more like a controlled looping blade as indicated by its medium height bounce. When I first got the chance to hit with it I was surprised because it was not too bouncy. I would put the blade’s speed somewhat in the level of Michael Maze. It has ZL carbon on it but the speed was just enough. In fact, the speed is there but you will not expect something like that of the super ZJK or Amultart. It is fast enough but the control of the blade is the one that overwhelms your sensation that you can sometimes mistake it as an OFF blade and not an OFF+ blade because of its control. I am not a fan of hinoki blades but the Nobilis is one hinoki blade that I can make an exception. A lot of people I know do not like using a Chinese rubber on a hinoki blade but with the Nobilis
The blade is overwhelms you with good hand feedback or feel. You will not mind the above average speed because of the feel that it gives you is so pleasant. You cannot feel any bad vibrations on the blade. The blade is very light at 80 grams and every swing is easy to do even with a heavy rubber like Rhyzer 50 on one side and Golden Tango on the other side. The blade when combined with the Tango and Rhyzer 50 gives you a long trajectory with a medium arc. The blade’s performance is best at close to the table and middle distance. At far distance, you could feel the power diminish if you just use above averaged speed rubbers. If you want to go on that distance, you would need very fast rubbers like Rhyzer 48. To most people the Nobilis is more than enough since the speed is still above average but with a well compensated good feel and control. The Energon and Zelebro blades are much faster than the Nobilis but control and performance are much better for a lot of non professional players. For most of the players, I think I can safely say this is the one to choose because f its high level of control.


Quattro Carbon
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 7.6mm
Plies: 9 (limba-carbon-balsa??-carbon-ayous or kiri?? carbon - balsa?? - carbon - limba)
Speed: OFF+

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The Joola Quattro blade is the only 4 carbon ply blade among the carbon blades in its line. The is one of the few 4 carbon layers I have extensively used. It is composed of out limba plies that are about 0.8mm thick + unidirectional carbon + balsa + UD carbon + ayous core. The 2 balsa plies are about 2.0mm each and the core is about 1.3mm. Due to the number of plies that the Quattro blade has, the inner plies and especially the core are designed not to be thick. Anyway, it is the Yinhe T4 blade that I can compare the Quattro and I think this is the closest blade I have tried in terms of construction but playwise , blade really plays differently. Also, the Quattro has the softness despite having 4 carbon layers. I thought at first that this is an over powered blade that is just pure speed and raw power but it offers more than just speed. The blade is does not feel too stiff. The Yinhe T4 on the other hand is really stiff with 4 carbon layers that it feels hitting with a rock on your blade. The similarities (almost) end at the 4 carbon layers. Speedwise, I could say the Quattro has a faster rebound on the ball when hitting hard. The only difference is that it has balsa layers to make the impact a lot less harder. The Quattro is a unique off+ blade because despite of the 4 unidirectional carbon layers, it has the softness to give you the feel that you need when controlling your shots. I would compare the speed probably to the level of Gergely or with modern blades, it is faster than TB ALC and in the level of Amultart. I cannot say it is in the level of Schlager Carbon because it seems a notch slower but the control is very much there. You can a4ctually feel the fast speed even with just a short stroke but because of the partial softness in the feel, I could control this better than the Zelebro or Energon.
I was surprised it can spin the ball with a good amount of control. I could even slow loop an underspin ball with the Quattro. I tried looping the ball at the level wherein it is going down already to produce a slow but very spinny loop. It is still better if you take the ball on the peak and also on the rise because it is where it really excels. With 4 carbon layers, I do not think you would opt for slow loops. It has plenty of speed and power because at middle distance, I would still need to shorten my swings or make strokes more compact in order to compensate for the high amount of speed. Even with Chinese rubbers that are tacky, the blade will give you a balanced attacking style with high amount of speed but has also tons of spin. I gave this friend to a friend of mine, Gatz, who is also a forum member here and in mytt. She loved this blade when she was using short pips for her forehand. She said it is stiff enough for the speed and power that when paired with an SP rubber, you would still have the good feel that is not too stiff and also gives you a good amount of control. I assume this will be also good for attacking LP players in the backhand and also for LP blockers that need some sort of extra power on their blocks against strong topspins.
Overall, the Quattro is a fairly unique blade with a rare type of construction. It is not every day you would encounter a 4 carbon layered blade but at the same time will give you some softness in your shots. For speed demons, I would recommend to try this blade.
 
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Yup because it acts as an off + and an off blade at times.

Hi yogi, yes I had understood what you meant with that rating, my post was to underline the fact that the market is crazy at the moment: four new blades and you can only choose between fast and rocket fast. I know the ball has to do with that and the whole rating system could do with an improvement, but still.
 
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Many thanks for the review, yogi_bear.
I'm into buying a new blade and I wonder how the Nobilis would be compared to the Nittaku Acoustic Carbon. My coach let my tried his Acoustic C. and I really liked the general feeling (I usually play with a Stiga Infinity VPS) but someone told me about the Nobilis as it's a relatively new blade and the Acoustic is an older and "classic" model. I know the blade's composition are completely different, but what I really like of the Acoustic compared to the Infinity is that it has way more speed and control, smashes are amazing and, also the "feel" and sound of the blade (Infinity feels "hole" to me). Any thoughts comparing Nobilis to Acoustic C? Many thanks.
 
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Read 5 reviews
I have nobilis and Zelebro and Nobilis is faster blade.
A lot of Young players from Joola use Zelebro.
Older players use nobilis or Energon.
I had 87 grams, 90 grams, 91 and 93 Zelebro and 82, 86 nobilis and
for me the biggest difference from my perspective is variation of the weight balance.
 
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