Xiom Vivid Blade Review

Xiom Vivid Blade

Weight: 89 grams
Thickness: 6.8 mm
Plies: 5 (Kiso Hinoki Outer with Kiri core + 2 carbon layers)
Hardness: Stiff
Speed: Off+

The Vivid Blade is the most colorful blade in the market having 9 color variants. It comes with the colors of pink, red, orange, yellow, light purple, purple, blue, black and brown. I was fortunate enough to receive all 9 colors. Most of the pastel colors would attract female players. There are some neutral colors such as blue, black and brown which are also good and are much more fit for male players. The blade surface is semi-smooth and treatments on the surface of the blade is noticeable when you rub your fingers against the surface. The coating feels like a thin NCT coating of another brand. The blade head is a standard-sized head of 157mm x 150mm. The handle shape is similar to the newer blades of Xiom such as the 36.5 ALX or the flared handles of the redesigned Novus blades. Both the 36.5 ALX and the Vivid blade have the same cold-press technology wherein the process of bonding the wood and composite layers does not use a heat press. The beautifully crafted Swarovski crystal embedded in the handle is just icing on the cake but it will turn heads especially with the lady players.

I tested several Vega Switch rubbers and also the Sigma 3, 4 and 5 rubbers with the Vivid blades (Yes, I used more than one color). I used at first 2.0mm versions of the Vega Europe and Asia Switch rubbers. This is in order to test the speed of the blade using a thinner sponged rubber. At first, I already have a rough idea how fast it is since the thickness of the blade at about 6.8 mm was a tell-tale sign of being an ultra-fast blade. The carbon it used is similar to pure stiff carbon layers from other classic carbon blades of other brands which when combined with the thickness of the blade, gives a very fast combination. I would place it is between the speed of the Xiom Ignito and Xiom Axelo. I think Xiom Axelo is still the fastest Xiom blade while the Vivid is a close second. The Vivid blade is more or less similar to the Primorac Carbon’s (black tagged)
speed and performance but with the Primorac Carbon having more speed and lesser amount of control. I have tried the newer silver tagged PC’s but they are not as crisp and stiff as the older versions. When I used the 2.0mm Vega Switch Euro and Asia rubbers, the speed is still there despite the thinner 2.0mm sponges. The combination was far from being slow. You can feel and see the rebound of the ball the moment you hit through the sponge and even when you do loop drives away from the table. It was funny hitting with a pink blade away from the table with the power and speed of a brute. I was standing and hitting at about 8 – 10 feet away from the table and still the shots were still strong producing a long medium to medium low trajectory. When I removed the 2.0mm rubbers and replace them with the Vega Pro Switch max and Europe Max rubbers, I had to adjust my arm swing this time because the speed difference is just big. Ideally, advanced players will just laugh at this since long time users of hard and fast carbon blades will just be able to adjust to the blade combination easily but me as a long time tacky rubber user for my forehand, it may be a bit too much for me as I rely more on my arm swing rather then the blade’s power and speed. I would like also top add the fact that the Vivid’s blade surface was designed to accommodate Switch rubbers built in glue in the sponge and to prevent delamination or removal of wood fibers from the surface of the blade when changing or removing rubbers. I will cover this on my Vega Switch reviews more.

In terms of spinning the ball, the Vivid blade has some softness on ball impact due to the hinoki layers but overall, it is quite stiff. You can actually still effectively spin the ball but the more effective shots would be loop drives, smashes and countering away from the table or at mid-distance. You can loop the ball at late contact or when the ball begins to come down but the rebound of the ball on contact is a bit fast so brushing it thinly using mostly topsheet of the rubber is not as strong as when using a slower blade. In my opinion, the Vivid blade is best suited for power shots rather than those slow, spinny loops at late contact due to its speed and power. For short strokes like drop shots or short pushes, some adjustments on the contact has to be made but overall if you are an advanced level player, it will not be a problem. I also used Xiom Tau II on this blade and had not had any problems with the control.

Xiom recommends this to intermediate level players who always smash or hit the ball through the sponge. I would agree on some extent if they use soft and thin rubbers for more control but the Vivid will greatly benefit advance level players more if they are looking for a fast carbon blade with the feel of a classic carbon blade from the 90’s. Overall, this is a mid-range priced blade and is much affordable compared to other more expensive Tamca blades in the market. Do not let the colors fool you into thinking the Vivid blade is a softie, it is quite the opposite!
 
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just finished reading your review

shame the blade is too fast for me, was hoping it would be like the 36.5 ALX because I like the colors lol
 
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What Do you think of the option to chose a color of your liking? First time any brand have done this? Will it increase sales?
 
What Do you think of the option to chose a color of your liking? First time any brand have done this? Will it increase sales?

I have not seen a brand with 9 colors for 1 blade and at this price. Xiom hopes to attract female players with these blades.

 

What would you like? Stiffness: Stiff?? Lol

Of course.
Stiffness: Stiff would be OK.

You may describe Stiffness as very flexy, some flex, mid stiff, stiff, very stiff, fry pan, etc.
You may describe Hardness as very soft, soft, mid hard, hard, very hard, Tefal, etc.



 
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