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Sanwei 2020 Blades
The 2020 blades released by Sanwei this year are astounding. The quality has been improved a lot and I am quite thankful that one of my suggestions which to pre-sand the neck or wing part of the blade was added as a feature in the new blades. There are a lot of blades that will be released this end of June or early July and this is the first 6 blades that were sent to me.
Sanwei Paramid
Weight: 82 grams
Plies: 5 wood + 2 Carbon Aramid layers
Thickness: 5.66mm
Speed: Off+
The Sanwei Paramid will be replacing the Sanwei F3 Pro blade. The Paramid is a 7 ply composite blade. It has Ayous outer plies with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layer Pine or Spruce and a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] layer Carbon-Aramid with Ayous core. This is a thin blade at about 5.7mm or in my case 5.66mm. The overall construction of the blade is fine and smooth to touch. At first glance, you can see that the quality of the Paramid blade is on par with Butterfly blades or Euro blades that are also made in China. For me this is the best blade of the 6 blades that I have received as I will be explaining further. The F3 Pro is a good blade but the Paramid blade offers a softer and better feel. The feedback is one of the most pleasant among Chinese made blades in the market right now. I have not felt this blade feedback feel since Adidas table tennis stopped producing blades. Blade head size for this is 159x150mm. It is advertised as having a length of 259mm but this is because the 100mm blade length is included in the measurement.
Speed
This is an off+ blade. I have used the Tibhar MX-S and also the Gears Hyper (37, 38 & 39 degrees sponge hardness) for the test. The Paramid has a fast speed and comparable to other famous blades like Butterfly Viscaria or the new Xiom Stradivarius. The speed is fast but it is not on the level of Tamca blades. It is fast enough for offensive shots but there is a high amount of control. Imagine that the Gear Hyper rubbers are already in the level of Donic Acuda S1, S2 and S3 speeds but the Paramid remains controllable. With the Tibhar MX-S rubber, it was even faster with a lot of sponge compression at far distance from the table. I would say this is a bit slower than the Sanwei LD Light or at the level of speed with Yinhe T-11+. More or less the Paramid is also in the level of Butterfly Innerforce ALC for its speed.
Looping
Looping is the best feature that this blade performs. With the Gear Hyper rubbers and MXS, it produces a medium to medium low arc when looping underspin. The blade has a good balance of flex and rigidity but favors more on the softer side compared to pure carbon blades in the market. The partial flex that the Paramid has gives some sort of a good amount of “dwell” when brushing the ball against backspin/underspin. This was a great looping machine especially when I used the Tibhar MX-S rubber. You could feel only a minimal amount of vibration on impact and the great feel upon impact enhances your loop which gives you a good amount of control that you can sense. Overall, it feels like a 7-ply all wood blade that is rigid but offers great looping capability.
Smashing and other flat hitting strokes
The Paramid is above average for smashers and flat hitters. It could be even excellent if paired with hard rubbers which have a range of hardness of 50 degrees ESN scale and above. Punch blocks have a bit of higher arc compared to other rigid blades like the Sanwei Hynover which is better at flat drives and smashes. It is fair to say that the Paramid can perform these strokes with above higher expectations despite these strokes not being its forte. I can attribute the lesser capacity if flat drives probably due to the blade thickness and also the carbon aramid component which gives only a medium still feel.
Blocking, etc.
The Paramid is excellent in blocks and because of the great feel the blade offers, blocking is not hard on this blade. It is fairly stable when blocking fast and powerful shots. There is some vibration that you can feel when blocking very strong shots but it is minimal and does not affect play. On softer shots like drop shorts or flicks, the Paramid performs very high in my list.
Conclusion
So far this is one of the best budget blades in the market that can go toe to toe with Viscaria or Innerforce type of blade. At a lower price, it can definitely do everything those high end blades can offer even at higher levels of play. This is the blade to watch out for this year. I would recommend it especially for technical players and loopers who rely mostly on heavy spin coupled with fast and powerful speed while not sacrificing control in every shots they make.
Sanwei Hynover
Weight: 94 grams
Plies: 3 wood + 2 Carbon Kevlar layers
Thickness: 6.34mm
Speed: Off+
The Sanwei Hynover is an all out attacking blade designed by Sanwei for players who will not compromise power over anything. This blade is on the heavier side as it is advertised to have an average of 95 grams while mine is at 94 grams. This is a Hinoki outer blade with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layer Carbon-Kevlar weaving. The core looks like Ayous wood which is very thick. Its thick core is about 3.7 to 3.8mm. The blade has a crisp and medium stiff feel compared to pure carbon composite blades. I tested the Hynover with the Gear Hyper 38 degrees and Joola Dynaryz AGR just to test what it could do when paired with either Chinese or European rubber.
Speed & Control
This is the speed blade of the 2020 blades from Sanwei. This was built mainly for speed with some amount of good control but overall this is a very fast blade. Although not as stiff as pure carbon blades like Butterfly Schlager Carbon or any other Tamca blades, the Hynover is very fast in its own right. In fact, I could compare it to be nearing the speed of Butterfly Amultart. When I was using both the 38 degree Gear Hyper and the Joola Dynaryz AGR rubbers, I had to adjust my swings. Uusually I am the type of player who swings more due to being used to using rubbers that are tacky and not too fast in the forehand. Despite the Gear Hyper being a Chinese rubber, the speed of that rubber is actually equivalent to some ESN rubbers. On forehand drive drills, you have to lessen your swing wherein you only need a little movement from your arms due to the power of the blade that can be produced. When you are at middle distance, you will begin to notice the comfort of using the Hynover as I believe due to its power you would need to be at least middle distance to fully utilize its power and speed. I had to adjust my level of control on this blade near the table but starting at middle distance, you can control the blade even with full swings. Far distance from the table is where you would not need much effort using the 2 mentioned rubbers. Although being medium stiff, hard rubbers seem not an issue at middle distance so counter topspins middle to far distance from the table. In all honesty, I think it pairs well with ultra-fast rubbers if you have the skills.
Spin Drives, Smashing and Blocking
These 3 strokes are what the Hynover is best used at. If you are the type of player who likes to hit through the sponge of the rubber to get extra juice for extra power, then the Hynover is perfect for such type of play. When doing spin drives or blocking against someone using it, you can feel your blade shaken a little bit. When you know somebody who spin drives a lot or smashes a lot, you would not want to be on the receiving end when they use this blade against you. I also enjoyed smashing medium high topspin balls with the Hynover. It produces a sharp arc but easily clears the net. My smashes seem to be better with this blade compared to the Paramid blade by a huge margin. It could effectively still smash at middle distance with some reduction of threat due to the distance but still at that distance a lot of blades seem to lose power and speed already by a huge amount. Blocking on this is excellent sicne it is very stable to block with. Aside from the fact that this is a heavy blade, the combination of the different types of hardness on each layer of wood and composite material gives you a bit of a good feedback to block. When using this blade, due to its speed, active blocks and even passive blocks are already fast when being returned to your opponents.
Looping and Spinning
Despite being a fast blade, it could still loop underspin well. The hinoki outer layers and the carbon-kevlar has a bit of softness in it giving you some amount of “dwell” . It can do slow and spinny loops at delayed contact timing but I do not think this is the type of stroke that the Hynover was designed to do. It favors strong topspin strokes with emphasis on speed and power while not too much emphasis on spin. I mean this blade was made for speed, why use it on slow but spinny attacking loops. It has a low arc when looping underspin near the table. You could see that long and sharp trajectory of the blade.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend this blade for advanced level players who have the skills to do countertopspins middle distance and away from the table because this is where the blade really shines. This was made for people who have established their attacking strokes well and can control the blade when partnered with an offensive type of rubber. Overall, the Hynover is surprisingly good for its price compared to other much expensive blades with almost the same design.
Sanwei Multilayer Z
Weight: 94 grams
Plies: 10 wood + 9 Carbon layers
Thickness: 5.91mm
Speed: All+
The Multilayer Z blade is a unique and somewhat a weird blade. It has 19 layers of carbon and wood combined (9 carbon and 10 wood). Multilayer blades are not new to me since I have tried their multilayer blades before. This blade is kinda heavy at 94 grams with the weight going towards the head of the blade. The blade feels stiff with 9 layers of carbon with limba outer plies and possibly ayous inner layers). The Multilayer Z is part of the Even Series of blade which was designed to have almost even layers instead of the traditional thick core and thin outer layers. The wing or neck part of the neck is pre-sanded and overall the handle is very comfortable to hold. Like all other blades from Sanwei, the handle is 100mm long and blade head is 159mm x 150mm.
The Multilayer Z despite being rated as an All+ blade seems faster than it is rated. It feels like an Off- blade sometimes probably because of the 9 layers of carbon. I cannot find a direct equivalent of this blade in terms of speed or feel in its supposed speed class. The Butterfly Grubba Carbon which is an all+ carbon blade feels softer than the Mulatilayer Z and not as stiff. Not counting the fall and just comparing the speed, it feels like having the speed of a slightly slower Yasaka Malin Carbon. The Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon is an off- to off blade which has a softer feel than Multilayer Z. Sometimes I can even feel that they are at almost the same level of speed due to the hard rebound of the Multilayer Z. I used the Sanwei Gear Hyper, Yasaka Rakza Z and Sanwei DZ Long Pips for the test. When I was using the M-Z blade with the Gear Hyper, it can already be considered fast near the table and feels like you are already using a fast ESN rubber on a medium fast blade. It is not blazingly fast but fast enough to give enough speed for your shots near the table. With the Rakza Z as a forehand rubber, the Multilayer Z can go toe to toe with counterloops effective at middle distance and to some extend maybe far distance but there is some reduction of power. I think the weight also contributed to the power since it is a heavy blade. Loops are actually very good. Despite the stiff feel, the M-Z blade can actually loop well. Both Gear Hyper and Rakza Z rubbers produced a medium to medium low arc with the M-Z blade. The M-Z is very stable in loops, counter loops and smashing. Overall, it is more of a loop driving blade and a pure spinny looping blade. If you like a slow but spinny loop, the M-Z is best at doing this stroke. Despite the stiffness, it is surprising that the M-Z is an excellent looping blade. It is stiff but despite the stiff feel, it has a sort of mixture of soft feel on impact. Sanwei attributes this to the even layers of the blade that offers “bending or flex”. If you are more of a smashing player, the M-Z is good close to the table on all attacks. Punch blocking and active blocking are also very stable with this blade. I came to like the M-Z with the DZ long pips. Sanwei released the DZ pips (updated version) and I opted to glue it with the M-Z. It felt good wherein I can partially chop with the DZ ox but it is better as an attacking or blocking blade using long pimples. The M-Z is a multi-styled blade wherein you can be an offensive player or a defensive non-chopping player pimpled player with this blade.
Overall, I would recommend this to players who want carbon blades that are not too fast but offers a balance of control and speed near the table. This can also be a transition blade from an all wood blade to a composite carbon blade.
Sanwei Multilayer 1
Weight: 78 grams
Plies: 4 wood + 3 Carbon layers
Thickness: 6.39mm
Speed: All
This is the pink blade of the series and also the “slowest” among the new blades. It has limba outer plies with a carbon core. The 2 thick inner wood layers are even in thickness and takes a different route when talking about blade design. This blade is pretty straight forward and does not need too much information to describe. It is basically a slow blade than has been upgraded with 3 carbon layers resulting to an increase in speed and stiffness but still limit the speed to ALL to ALL+ range. I tested this using the Gear Hyper 39 degrees and a Tibhar MX-S rubber. Both of the mentioned test rubbers are proven at Off+ speed and they complement with the Multilayer 1’s slower aspect. It has 3 layers of carbon increasing the speed and stiffness by a small fraction only. I suspect they are using a UD carbon here which is softer than the 3k or 4k carbon layers that are normally being used in faster known blades in the market. I could say the speed is equal to that of the Grubba Carbon but feels a bit stiffer due to the 3 carbon layers and also the thickness of the Multilayer 1’s design. It has a great compromise on speed and control even if you place very fast rubbers on it as what I have experienced with the MX-S and Gear Hyper 39 degrees. I still can feel a fractional amount of power and speed despite the blade’s speed rating of only ALL to All+. If I compare it to the Multilayer Z, the Multilayer 1 is definitely slower and has more flex on loops. It is advised that you would need to have a harder rubber on this blade. It has a very good effect on loops. This is a looping blade and you can loop with this blade all day with lesser amount of errors compared to faster blades. Loops have a high arc when looping against underspin with both mentioned test rubbers. Despite a triple carbon blade, a beginner can use this provided that it is paired with entry level Chinese rubbers such as Sanwei Ultraspin or Taiji. It can be effective too when using long pips such as the Sanwei DZ which produces a very troubling effect.
Overall this is an excellent entry level blade or a carbon blade which an intermediate level player can shift to coming from an all wood blade.
Sanwei Ping Pang Star
Weight: 82 grams
Plies: 5 wood + 2 Carbon layers
Thickness: 6.5mm
Speed: Off+
The Ping Pang Star is an offensive type inner-carbon blade. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 layers looked like they are fused into a single and thick layer but upon closer inspection it is consist of 2 layers of wood before the LD carbon. Outer ply looks like ayous with kiri or balsa core. At first look you can actually think that it has the same handle design with the previous Sanwei Two Face but it is where it ends. These is a pure offensive carbon blade, This is faster than the previous LD Light Balsa Carbon by Sanwei. The LD blade was thicker but felt a little bit softer than the Ping Pang Star. It feels more solid than the LD light blade and this one hits a little better. Sometimes I felt that the LD Light blade felt hollow when you are hitting or smashing balls. The solid feel of the Ping Pang Star is actually more pleasant to have compared to that of the LD Light blade. To compare the speed with known carbon blades in the market, the Ping Pang Star is somewhat faster than the Yinhe T-11 or T-11+ but slower than a Samsonov Carbon blade by a large margin. It is probably the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] fastest blade among the 6 blades introduced by Sanwei this year. It has a very low and sharp arc. Its long sharp trajectory is observed when looping or loop driving. This is especially excellent far from the table and middle distance from the table. It has minimal vibrations upon impact and still offers a good feedback despite being medium stiff. I tested this using the Gear Hyper 38 degrees both backhand and forehand and it was an excellent far distance looping and counter looping blade. I would recommend this to players who loves hitting and whacking the ball starting at middle distance. They would also love the loud sound it produces especially if it is paired with a soft ESN rubber.
Sanwei C &C
Weight: 89 grams
Plies: 3 wood + 2 Carbon layers
Thickness: 5.91mm
Speed: Off
This is the best feeling blade of the 6 blades introduced by Sanwei this year and no, this is not named after the RTS computer game of the 90’s. This took me 2 days longer to test since I really love the feeling of this blade on all strokes. This has one of the best hand feedback feeling in the market that I have tested right now. It feels like an Azalea with Carbon. The purple handle did not help for me to think that this was an Azalea with carbon layers. This is a 5 ply blade with limba outers and possible ayous core. It has a medium stiffness feel when you bounce the ball on the bare blade with a medium height of about 4-6 inches. I used several rubbers for this blade test. I used the Joola Dynaryz AGR, Tibhar MX-S, Gear Hyper 38 degrees and Xiom Omega 7 China Guang. For its speed comparison, I will place it as slower than Ping Pang Star or for other brands, slower than a Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon but a bit faster than Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon.
I can never have enough emphasis on the way this blade feels. It’s like it has one characteristic of the other 5 blades mentioned above and then combine it altogether for this blade. It has excellent speed, minimal vibration, semi soft feel, good flex and excellent control. It feels like it is almost good in every
stroke which will attract the attention of All-Around play style. You can basically chop, block, smash and loop with the C&C. It is not picky with the rubbers you are putting on it. Be it an inverted ESN rubber or a fast attacking Chinese rubber like Gear Hyper and even an LP like Sanwei DZ. The blade has it all basically and it excels almost in all aspects mentioned. It has a medium high arc when looping and is very easy to loop underspin balls. The C&C is fit up until middle distance from the table. Farther from that then you would need very fast rubbers like the Dyanryz AGR or Xiom Omega 7 China. The Gear Hyper 38 degrees did not lose any speed up to middle distance from the table. This is good starting at intermediate level of play. I still think this would be too fast for beginners even with slower Chinese rubbers like Sanwei Taiji or Ultraspin. This is also cheap at 40USD.
Sanwei HD 40+ Ball
After multiple urgings from players who use the ABS Pro before, Sanwei finally unveiled the new HD ABS ball for the public. This is good since it shows that Sanwei listens to its customers. The balls looks to have a better and higher quality, it does not feel as rough as the ABS Pro Ball and has a finer grain on its surface. The quality control on the roundness of each HD Ball was greatly improved by Sanwei by having a better selection process. When I was playing with the HD Ball with a friend, I did a blind test for him using the ABS Pro and HD balls. I did not tell him I change the ball occasionally in my pocket keeping one at a time then switching the ball while playing. He immediately noticed the ball feel after a few hits alternating with the ABS Pro. We both agreed that the ball has a better and balanced feel of hardness and softness. This is only about a dollar more expense per box of 3 so price for this ball is never a problem. It felt like I am using a much more expensive ball. It felt better than a higher priced Nexy ball but does not feel as hard when hitting or smashing the ball.
Sanwei DZ
Type: Long Pimples
Sponge: OX only
I tested this amazing long pips with the Multilayer Z blade. I was not expecting much from this at first but seem to get impressed the longer I used it. I shared the black OX DZ to my friend who has been a long time LP user while I used the DZ red OX for us both to test the capabilities of the said LP. Despite using the Multilayer Z with the OX DZ, I thought it was not possible to chop but a friend of mine showed me despite this bouncy blade which is a bit stiffness, he was able to chop the ball both against underspin and topspin. The pimple structure is has a wider space compared to that of the TSP Curl P-1R with more or less the same pimple softness. I could say it is softer than the RITC 755 but a bit harder than the Saviga 77 Monster LP. It has excellent trouble or wobble effect compared to the P-1R Curl and almost the same trouble effect with Dr. Neubauer Desperado 2. I could also say it is more durable than the Saviga 77 Monster as that LP has very soft pimple structure and when I tested it it seem to last only a month and then there is pimple breakage. Overall, this is more of a blocking or attacking pimples that gives very troubling effect but less effective in terms of heavy chopping against topspin attacks.
The 2020 blades released by Sanwei this year are astounding. The quality has been improved a lot and I am quite thankful that one of my suggestions which to pre-sand the neck or wing part of the blade was added as a feature in the new blades. There are a lot of blades that will be released this end of June or early July and this is the first 6 blades that were sent to me.
Sanwei Paramid
Weight: 82 grams
Plies: 5 wood + 2 Carbon Aramid layers
Thickness: 5.66mm
Speed: Off+
The Sanwei Paramid will be replacing the Sanwei F3 Pro blade. The Paramid is a 7 ply composite blade. It has Ayous outer plies with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layer Pine or Spruce and a 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] layer Carbon-Aramid with Ayous core. This is a thin blade at about 5.7mm or in my case 5.66mm. The overall construction of the blade is fine and smooth to touch. At first glance, you can see that the quality of the Paramid blade is on par with Butterfly blades or Euro blades that are also made in China. For me this is the best blade of the 6 blades that I have received as I will be explaining further. The F3 Pro is a good blade but the Paramid blade offers a softer and better feel. The feedback is one of the most pleasant among Chinese made blades in the market right now. I have not felt this blade feedback feel since Adidas table tennis stopped producing blades. Blade head size for this is 159x150mm. It is advertised as having a length of 259mm but this is because the 100mm blade length is included in the measurement.
Speed
This is an off+ blade. I have used the Tibhar MX-S and also the Gears Hyper (37, 38 & 39 degrees sponge hardness) for the test. The Paramid has a fast speed and comparable to other famous blades like Butterfly Viscaria or the new Xiom Stradivarius. The speed is fast but it is not on the level of Tamca blades. It is fast enough for offensive shots but there is a high amount of control. Imagine that the Gear Hyper rubbers are already in the level of Donic Acuda S1, S2 and S3 speeds but the Paramid remains controllable. With the Tibhar MX-S rubber, it was even faster with a lot of sponge compression at far distance from the table. I would say this is a bit slower than the Sanwei LD Light or at the level of speed with Yinhe T-11+. More or less the Paramid is also in the level of Butterfly Innerforce ALC for its speed.
Looping
Looping is the best feature that this blade performs. With the Gear Hyper rubbers and MXS, it produces a medium to medium low arc when looping underspin. The blade has a good balance of flex and rigidity but favors more on the softer side compared to pure carbon blades in the market. The partial flex that the Paramid has gives some sort of a good amount of “dwell” when brushing the ball against backspin/underspin. This was a great looping machine especially when I used the Tibhar MX-S rubber. You could feel only a minimal amount of vibration on impact and the great feel upon impact enhances your loop which gives you a good amount of control that you can sense. Overall, it feels like a 7-ply all wood blade that is rigid but offers great looping capability.
Smashing and other flat hitting strokes
The Paramid is above average for smashers and flat hitters. It could be even excellent if paired with hard rubbers which have a range of hardness of 50 degrees ESN scale and above. Punch blocks have a bit of higher arc compared to other rigid blades like the Sanwei Hynover which is better at flat drives and smashes. It is fair to say that the Paramid can perform these strokes with above higher expectations despite these strokes not being its forte. I can attribute the lesser capacity if flat drives probably due to the blade thickness and also the carbon aramid component which gives only a medium still feel.
Blocking, etc.
The Paramid is excellent in blocks and because of the great feel the blade offers, blocking is not hard on this blade. It is fairly stable when blocking fast and powerful shots. There is some vibration that you can feel when blocking very strong shots but it is minimal and does not affect play. On softer shots like drop shorts or flicks, the Paramid performs very high in my list.
Conclusion
So far this is one of the best budget blades in the market that can go toe to toe with Viscaria or Innerforce type of blade. At a lower price, it can definitely do everything those high end blades can offer even at higher levels of play. This is the blade to watch out for this year. I would recommend it especially for technical players and loopers who rely mostly on heavy spin coupled with fast and powerful speed while not sacrificing control in every shots they make.
Sanwei Hynover
Weight: 94 grams
Plies: 3 wood + 2 Carbon Kevlar layers
Thickness: 6.34mm
Speed: Off+
The Sanwei Hynover is an all out attacking blade designed by Sanwei for players who will not compromise power over anything. This blade is on the heavier side as it is advertised to have an average of 95 grams while mine is at 94 grams. This is a Hinoki outer blade with 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] layer Carbon-Kevlar weaving. The core looks like Ayous wood which is very thick. Its thick core is about 3.7 to 3.8mm. The blade has a crisp and medium stiff feel compared to pure carbon composite blades. I tested the Hynover with the Gear Hyper 38 degrees and Joola Dynaryz AGR just to test what it could do when paired with either Chinese or European rubber.
Speed & Control
This is the speed blade of the 2020 blades from Sanwei. This was built mainly for speed with some amount of good control but overall this is a very fast blade. Although not as stiff as pure carbon blades like Butterfly Schlager Carbon or any other Tamca blades, the Hynover is very fast in its own right. In fact, I could compare it to be nearing the speed of Butterfly Amultart. When I was using both the 38 degree Gear Hyper and the Joola Dynaryz AGR rubbers, I had to adjust my swings. Uusually I am the type of player who swings more due to being used to using rubbers that are tacky and not too fast in the forehand. Despite the Gear Hyper being a Chinese rubber, the speed of that rubber is actually equivalent to some ESN rubbers. On forehand drive drills, you have to lessen your swing wherein you only need a little movement from your arms due to the power of the blade that can be produced. When you are at middle distance, you will begin to notice the comfort of using the Hynover as I believe due to its power you would need to be at least middle distance to fully utilize its power and speed. I had to adjust my level of control on this blade near the table but starting at middle distance, you can control the blade even with full swings. Far distance from the table is where you would not need much effort using the 2 mentioned rubbers. Although being medium stiff, hard rubbers seem not an issue at middle distance so counter topspins middle to far distance from the table. In all honesty, I think it pairs well with ultra-fast rubbers if you have the skills.
Spin Drives, Smashing and Blocking
These 3 strokes are what the Hynover is best used at. If you are the type of player who likes to hit through the sponge of the rubber to get extra juice for extra power, then the Hynover is perfect for such type of play. When doing spin drives or blocking against someone using it, you can feel your blade shaken a little bit. When you know somebody who spin drives a lot or smashes a lot, you would not want to be on the receiving end when they use this blade against you. I also enjoyed smashing medium high topspin balls with the Hynover. It produces a sharp arc but easily clears the net. My smashes seem to be better with this blade compared to the Paramid blade by a huge margin. It could effectively still smash at middle distance with some reduction of threat due to the distance but still at that distance a lot of blades seem to lose power and speed already by a huge amount. Blocking on this is excellent sicne it is very stable to block with. Aside from the fact that this is a heavy blade, the combination of the different types of hardness on each layer of wood and composite material gives you a bit of a good feedback to block. When using this blade, due to its speed, active blocks and even passive blocks are already fast when being returned to your opponents.
Looping and Spinning
Despite being a fast blade, it could still loop underspin well. The hinoki outer layers and the carbon-kevlar has a bit of softness in it giving you some amount of “dwell” . It can do slow and spinny loops at delayed contact timing but I do not think this is the type of stroke that the Hynover was designed to do. It favors strong topspin strokes with emphasis on speed and power while not too much emphasis on spin. I mean this blade was made for speed, why use it on slow but spinny attacking loops. It has a low arc when looping underspin near the table. You could see that long and sharp trajectory of the blade.
Conclusion
I would highly recommend this blade for advanced level players who have the skills to do countertopspins middle distance and away from the table because this is where the blade really shines. This was made for people who have established their attacking strokes well and can control the blade when partnered with an offensive type of rubber. Overall, the Hynover is surprisingly good for its price compared to other much expensive blades with almost the same design.
Sanwei Multilayer Z
Weight: 94 grams
Plies: 10 wood + 9 Carbon layers
Thickness: 5.91mm
Speed: All+
The Multilayer Z blade is a unique and somewhat a weird blade. It has 19 layers of carbon and wood combined (9 carbon and 10 wood). Multilayer blades are not new to me since I have tried their multilayer blades before. This blade is kinda heavy at 94 grams with the weight going towards the head of the blade. The blade feels stiff with 9 layers of carbon with limba outer plies and possibly ayous inner layers). The Multilayer Z is part of the Even Series of blade which was designed to have almost even layers instead of the traditional thick core and thin outer layers. The wing or neck part of the neck is pre-sanded and overall the handle is very comfortable to hold. Like all other blades from Sanwei, the handle is 100mm long and blade head is 159mm x 150mm.
The Multilayer Z despite being rated as an All+ blade seems faster than it is rated. It feels like an Off- blade sometimes probably because of the 9 layers of carbon. I cannot find a direct equivalent of this blade in terms of speed or feel in its supposed speed class. The Butterfly Grubba Carbon which is an all+ carbon blade feels softer than the Mulatilayer Z and not as stiff. Not counting the fall and just comparing the speed, it feels like having the speed of a slightly slower Yasaka Malin Carbon. The Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon is an off- to off blade which has a softer feel than Multilayer Z. Sometimes I can even feel that they are at almost the same level of speed due to the hard rebound of the Multilayer Z. I used the Sanwei Gear Hyper, Yasaka Rakza Z and Sanwei DZ Long Pips for the test. When I was using the M-Z blade with the Gear Hyper, it can already be considered fast near the table and feels like you are already using a fast ESN rubber on a medium fast blade. It is not blazingly fast but fast enough to give enough speed for your shots near the table. With the Rakza Z as a forehand rubber, the Multilayer Z can go toe to toe with counterloops effective at middle distance and to some extend maybe far distance but there is some reduction of power. I think the weight also contributed to the power since it is a heavy blade. Loops are actually very good. Despite the stiff feel, the M-Z blade can actually loop well. Both Gear Hyper and Rakza Z rubbers produced a medium to medium low arc with the M-Z blade. The M-Z is very stable in loops, counter loops and smashing. Overall, it is more of a loop driving blade and a pure spinny looping blade. If you like a slow but spinny loop, the M-Z is best at doing this stroke. Despite the stiffness, it is surprising that the M-Z is an excellent looping blade. It is stiff but despite the stiff feel, it has a sort of mixture of soft feel on impact. Sanwei attributes this to the even layers of the blade that offers “bending or flex”. If you are more of a smashing player, the M-Z is good close to the table on all attacks. Punch blocking and active blocking are also very stable with this blade. I came to like the M-Z with the DZ long pips. Sanwei released the DZ pips (updated version) and I opted to glue it with the M-Z. It felt good wherein I can partially chop with the DZ ox but it is better as an attacking or blocking blade using long pimples. The M-Z is a multi-styled blade wherein you can be an offensive player or a defensive non-chopping player pimpled player with this blade.
Overall, I would recommend this to players who want carbon blades that are not too fast but offers a balance of control and speed near the table. This can also be a transition blade from an all wood blade to a composite carbon blade.
Sanwei Multilayer 1
Weight: 78 grams
Plies: 4 wood + 3 Carbon layers
Thickness: 6.39mm
Speed: All
This is the pink blade of the series and also the “slowest” among the new blades. It has limba outer plies with a carbon core. The 2 thick inner wood layers are even in thickness and takes a different route when talking about blade design. This blade is pretty straight forward and does not need too much information to describe. It is basically a slow blade than has been upgraded with 3 carbon layers resulting to an increase in speed and stiffness but still limit the speed to ALL to ALL+ range. I tested this using the Gear Hyper 39 degrees and a Tibhar MX-S rubber. Both of the mentioned test rubbers are proven at Off+ speed and they complement with the Multilayer 1’s slower aspect. It has 3 layers of carbon increasing the speed and stiffness by a small fraction only. I suspect they are using a UD carbon here which is softer than the 3k or 4k carbon layers that are normally being used in faster known blades in the market. I could say the speed is equal to that of the Grubba Carbon but feels a bit stiffer due to the 3 carbon layers and also the thickness of the Multilayer 1’s design. It has a great compromise on speed and control even if you place very fast rubbers on it as what I have experienced with the MX-S and Gear Hyper 39 degrees. I still can feel a fractional amount of power and speed despite the blade’s speed rating of only ALL to All+. If I compare it to the Multilayer Z, the Multilayer 1 is definitely slower and has more flex on loops. It is advised that you would need to have a harder rubber on this blade. It has a very good effect on loops. This is a looping blade and you can loop with this blade all day with lesser amount of errors compared to faster blades. Loops have a high arc when looping against underspin with both mentioned test rubbers. Despite a triple carbon blade, a beginner can use this provided that it is paired with entry level Chinese rubbers such as Sanwei Ultraspin or Taiji. It can be effective too when using long pips such as the Sanwei DZ which produces a very troubling effect.
Overall this is an excellent entry level blade or a carbon blade which an intermediate level player can shift to coming from an all wood blade.
Sanwei Ping Pang Star
Weight: 82 grams
Plies: 5 wood + 2 Carbon layers
Thickness: 6.5mm
Speed: Off+
The Ping Pang Star is an offensive type inner-carbon blade. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] 2 layers looked like they are fused into a single and thick layer but upon closer inspection it is consist of 2 layers of wood before the LD carbon. Outer ply looks like ayous with kiri or balsa core. At first look you can actually think that it has the same handle design with the previous Sanwei Two Face but it is where it ends. These is a pure offensive carbon blade, This is faster than the previous LD Light Balsa Carbon by Sanwei. The LD blade was thicker but felt a little bit softer than the Ping Pang Star. It feels more solid than the LD light blade and this one hits a little better. Sometimes I felt that the LD Light blade felt hollow when you are hitting or smashing balls. The solid feel of the Ping Pang Star is actually more pleasant to have compared to that of the LD Light blade. To compare the speed with known carbon blades in the market, the Ping Pang Star is somewhat faster than the Yinhe T-11 or T-11+ but slower than a Samsonov Carbon blade by a large margin. It is probably the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] fastest blade among the 6 blades introduced by Sanwei this year. It has a very low and sharp arc. Its long sharp trajectory is observed when looping or loop driving. This is especially excellent far from the table and middle distance from the table. It has minimal vibrations upon impact and still offers a good feedback despite being medium stiff. I tested this using the Gear Hyper 38 degrees both backhand and forehand and it was an excellent far distance looping and counter looping blade. I would recommend this to players who loves hitting and whacking the ball starting at middle distance. They would also love the loud sound it produces especially if it is paired with a soft ESN rubber.
Sanwei C &C
Weight: 89 grams
Plies: 3 wood + 2 Carbon layers
Thickness: 5.91mm
Speed: Off
This is the best feeling blade of the 6 blades introduced by Sanwei this year and no, this is not named after the RTS computer game of the 90’s. This took me 2 days longer to test since I really love the feeling of this blade on all strokes. This has one of the best hand feedback feeling in the market that I have tested right now. It feels like an Azalea with Carbon. The purple handle did not help for me to think that this was an Azalea with carbon layers. This is a 5 ply blade with limba outers and possible ayous core. It has a medium stiffness feel when you bounce the ball on the bare blade with a medium height of about 4-6 inches. I used several rubbers for this blade test. I used the Joola Dynaryz AGR, Tibhar MX-S, Gear Hyper 38 degrees and Xiom Omega 7 China Guang. For its speed comparison, I will place it as slower than Ping Pang Star or for other brands, slower than a Yasaka Ma Lin Carbon but a bit faster than Yasaka Ma Lin Soft Carbon.
I can never have enough emphasis on the way this blade feels. It’s like it has one characteristic of the other 5 blades mentioned above and then combine it altogether for this blade. It has excellent speed, minimal vibration, semi soft feel, good flex and excellent control. It feels like it is almost good in every
stroke which will attract the attention of All-Around play style. You can basically chop, block, smash and loop with the C&C. It is not picky with the rubbers you are putting on it. Be it an inverted ESN rubber or a fast attacking Chinese rubber like Gear Hyper and even an LP like Sanwei DZ. The blade has it all basically and it excels almost in all aspects mentioned. It has a medium high arc when looping and is very easy to loop underspin balls. The C&C is fit up until middle distance from the table. Farther from that then you would need very fast rubbers like the Dyanryz AGR or Xiom Omega 7 China. The Gear Hyper 38 degrees did not lose any speed up to middle distance from the table. This is good starting at intermediate level of play. I still think this would be too fast for beginners even with slower Chinese rubbers like Sanwei Taiji or Ultraspin. This is also cheap at 40USD.
Sanwei HD 40+ Ball
After multiple urgings from players who use the ABS Pro before, Sanwei finally unveiled the new HD ABS ball for the public. This is good since it shows that Sanwei listens to its customers. The balls looks to have a better and higher quality, it does not feel as rough as the ABS Pro Ball and has a finer grain on its surface. The quality control on the roundness of each HD Ball was greatly improved by Sanwei by having a better selection process. When I was playing with the HD Ball with a friend, I did a blind test for him using the ABS Pro and HD balls. I did not tell him I change the ball occasionally in my pocket keeping one at a time then switching the ball while playing. He immediately noticed the ball feel after a few hits alternating with the ABS Pro. We both agreed that the ball has a better and balanced feel of hardness and softness. This is only about a dollar more expense per box of 3 so price for this ball is never a problem. It felt like I am using a much more expensive ball. It felt better than a higher priced Nexy ball but does not feel as hard when hitting or smashing the ball.
Sanwei DZ
Type: Long Pimples
Sponge: OX only
I tested this amazing long pips with the Multilayer Z blade. I was not expecting much from this at first but seem to get impressed the longer I used it. I shared the black OX DZ to my friend who has been a long time LP user while I used the DZ red OX for us both to test the capabilities of the said LP. Despite using the Multilayer Z with the OX DZ, I thought it was not possible to chop but a friend of mine showed me despite this bouncy blade which is a bit stiffness, he was able to chop the ball both against underspin and topspin. The pimple structure is has a wider space compared to that of the TSP Curl P-1R with more or less the same pimple softness. I could say it is softer than the RITC 755 but a bit harder than the Saviga 77 Monster LP. It has excellent trouble or wobble effect compared to the P-1R Curl and almost the same trouble effect with Dr. Neubauer Desperado 2. I could also say it is more durable than the Saviga 77 Monster as that LP has very soft pimple structure and when I tested it it seem to last only a month and then there is pimple breakage. Overall, this is more of a blocking or attacking pimples that gives very troubling effect but less effective in terms of heavy chopping against topspin attacks.
