Xiom Tau II

Weight: 74 grams (uncut weight)
Hardness: Very Hard (54-55 degrees)
Speed: OFF
Spin: Extremely High











I know that this rubber has been in the market for a few years now but I have never seen any reviews about it. I have tried Xiom Tau I
before but did not like it because the bounce was kinda dead for me and at that time rubbers that are at 54 or 55 degrees. I was not really
convinced at that time the rubber is viable for play. It was very spinny and also has some tack in it but I never paid attention to it. The
Tau I is still available even though the Tau II is already in the market too. It took me quite a while to have the red and black rubbers since this rubber is not readily available outside China. This is only sold in China and you have to order this online in order to obtain this and this is more expensive than the Vega series rubbers.

Out of the box, the rubber is sticky when you remove the plastic cover but the stickiness or tackiness of the rubber surface is less compared to typical Chinese rubbers like Hurricane 3 Neo. If I compare the tackiness of the Tau II to the Vega China, there are times I feel the Vega China is more tacky. The sponge is a black sponge that is dense and almost non-porous if compared to regular Vega or Omega rubbers. The sponge of the Tau II is more or less identical to that of the Vega China or Vega Def rubbers wherein the pores are very minute and cannot be seen unless magnified.

I glued this on to the Xiom Stradivarius with the updated handle and immediately drilled with it. I did not boost it as it seems to have factory
boosting already due to the rubber has little doming out of the box. The Tau II is very bouncy despite being tacky but i would rate it at almost
in the speed of Vega China and slightly slower than the Joola Tango. It is fast for a tacky rubber that even if you boost a Hurricane 3 Neo, the Tau II
still edges the H3 Neo by a slight margin in terms of speed. When you are hitting or driving with it, it has a hard and solid impact. The topsheet is kinda soft but due to the hard sponge, the Tau II has an overall hard feel on all shots.

For looping, I have no complaints about the Tau II. It is very spinny and is as spinny as a Hurricane 3 that is boosted especially on slow and delayed loops. It has a slightly lower arc compared to Vega China. I would rate the arc as somewhat medium to medium-low arc. One thing about the Tau II is that despite being a tacky rubber, it favors ball contact that engages or compresses the sponge more than just brushing it thinly. There were times I hit the net when re-looping blocked topspin balls if I do not hit through the sponge but when I compress the sponge more, you can appreciate the kick and the long medium arc trajectory of the ball.

The Tau II has a lot of gears! If you do drop shots with it, the rubber can feel dead and will produce very short drop shots and at the same time when hitting with it produces good amount of power and spin. It is very spinny to serve and chops good when doing defensive chops away from the table. It is produces hard push chops with minimal arm movement. It is average in terms of smashing as the tackiness can reduce the speed. In terms of blocking, it is very good and not as spin sensitive as the Hurricane 3 or Vega China.

For the drawback, the only thing I can comment against it is that the Tau II easily picks up dust. You have to clean it always because the dust easily sticks to the rubber surface but when playing in a rubberized area, this is no problem. I also see it having finger marks.