Xiom 36.5 ALXi Review

Xiom 36.5Deep Impact ALXi
Weight: 93 grams
Plies: 7 (Limba outer, Limba 2nd layer? , ALC inner, Ayous Core)
Speed: Off to Off+
Stiffness: Medium Stiff
Thickness: 5.9mm

https://imgur.com/0lwzSx7

https://imgur.com/8GeSztp

https://imgur.com/zu3vFLP

https://imgur.com/B9MOYtR

https://imgur.com/4ZfgpBS

https://imgur.com/3RRhEGN

The 36.5 ALXi is the first blade to be officially released by Xiom for the year 2022. This was already shown online the past last quarter of the year but official release this year is January or February. Some information about this has already been on XIom Korea’s website. I had the ALXi 36.5 since December but due to calamities in my homecity being hit by a super typhoon, I could not play much and test it since I had so many things to worry. Then came the surge of the Omicron variant and I had to quarantine for more than a week despite being asymptomatic. It is only now that I have finished the review. The 36.5 ALXi has the same manufacturing process with the 36.5 ALX which was release before. It undergoes the so-called “Cold Process” manufacturing by Xiom in their Korean factory. This process has been also done by other companies as an alternate way of manufacturing a blade. Xiom says it is proud of this process as it makes the gluing process more durable. I tested the blade with several rubbers. It was a bit heavy for my preference because I used the Omega 7 China Ying, Omega 5 Pro and Hurricane 3 37 Degrees. It was a bit head-heavy and this is mainly due to the Omega 7 China Ying being a know heavy and hard rubber that is high-performance with amazing amount of spin and also considered a fast rubber. I have tried several rubbers in order to check possible rubber combinations to maximize the use of the 36.5 ALXi blade.

I was surprised with the ALXi 36.5 was fast. If I compare it to the regular 36.5 ALXi before, I do not really feel the difference in speed. There are times that the ALXi feels stiffer than the regular 36.5 ALX. The regular 36.5 ALX was designed to be a softer and a bit slower Viscaria-type but I did not expect the 36.5 ALXi to be sometimes as fast or faster than the regular ALX. It might be partially due to the weight of the blade and at the same time feel head-heavy due to the heavy rubbers. Partially also due to the orange axylium carbon that it has. If I remember it right, the new versions of the AZX and AZXi blades have the orange axylium carbon which Xiom claims to be a bit thicker making it faster than regular ALC blades. They also said in the past that the orange axylium-carbon (AL-C) side of the AZX and AZXi blades are faster than the Zephylium -carbon layer on the other side. It’s hard to classify the AZXi as just an off blade but also it comes short of being a true off+ blade. Let me put it this way, the AZXi is faster than an Innerforce ALC blade but it is not faster than a Timo Boll ALC blade which felt stiffer. Sometimes the feeling of speed is muddled by the amount of control you have on the blade. In the case of the AZXi, even with the H3 37 rubber on both sides, I did not see any drastic change on the speed even at far distance. The Omega 7 China Ying was surely fast because the 60-degree sponge hardness made it very bouncy and only the minor tackiness keeps it becoming as fast the Omega 7 Hyper. Still, you can feel the great mount of speed to be there even when you do short swings using different types of rubbers. It really made me think hard how to classify its speed.

Spin-wise, Xiom has made another looping machine. It could loop almost as good as the 5 ply blades in Xiom like Xiom Offensive S and almost as good as the Hugo HAL in looping (I think the Hugo HAL is the best looping composite blade in XIom). If you can imagine the Hugo HAL being marginally faster but still maintain the good feel when looping, then you have the 36.5 ALXi. I am all praises with the ALXi because mainly, I am a looper and I never prefer blades that are too fast especially with TAMCA blades. It is controllable enough that lower level players can use it and have no problems with delicate drops shots or short pushes. It is stiff enough for smashing so never had any problems with non-spinny shots even with shots that require hitting through the sponge more.

The Omega 7 Ying was a bit too heavy and too hard for me in this setup so I would rather suggest using the Omega 7 Guang instead or the Xiom Tau 2 but despite both rubbers having the same sponge hardness, the Guang feels a bit softer due to the softer topsheet. The Omega 7 Hyper would be great for higher level players and also players who stay at far distance from the table for counter topspins all the time. For average players, the Omega 5 Pro and Euro would be sufficient. I would not say the blade is picky on rubbers but it is more of a playing style dependency that I am seeing here. The pricing is fairly affordable also if you compare it to the higher end blades in the market so it is not out of reach for most people who want a blade belonging to the other popular brands. This blade is for keeps though I think I would ask a 90-gram version of this and this will be perfect for me.. All in all, Xiom started the new year with releasing a great blade.
 
says Or is it more legit...
says Or is it more legit...
Member
Sep 2019
264
46
492
Is this the blade An Jaehyun was using? Some ppl have commented on Xiom’s post (ig/fb not sure though) and xiom replied it’s not the same. But looking at the handle, it looks really identical. The only difference is the 36.5 ALXi having a logo at the bottom of the handle and AnJH’s blade without it. Maybe the 36.5 ALXi could just be a prototype? I’m just curious.
As you’ve mentioned, for low level players I can be said as a beginner-intermediate so could I use the ALXi? Still not sure yet cuz I’m still waiting for An Jaehyun’s blade.
moreover, how’s the ALXi compare to dhs long V(W968) since both blades are inner carbon types.
Thank you in advance and would love to hear a feedback from you
 
This user has no status.
This user has no status.
Member
Dec 2020
30
3
65

Hey yogi, doesn't the regular alx also have orange axylium carbon?

 
says regularly shitposting
says regularly shitposting
Member
Jul 2019
350
215
785
Hey Yogi, can you check the second paragraph, you keep writing about AZXi, is it intended or just a one letter mistake ?

Do you feel the ALXi has some advantages over the other innerforce type blades because of the cold-dry ? Can we consider this a mid to long distance away from the table blade ?
 
says .
says .
Member
Feb 2019
241
199
457
Read 2 reviews
Just wrote an email to Xiom Europe and asked when it will be released in Europe and the answer was: it’s not fixed yet, but it will be somewhere before june…

wow! Announced for december, then january/ february and now perhaps in june. And in Korea it’s already available since october… seems like Xiom does not really care about european market
 
Just wrote an email to Xiom Europe and asked when it will be released in Europe and the answer was: it’s not fixed yet, but it will be somewhere before june…

wow! Announced for december, then january/ february and now perhaps in june. And in Korea it’s already available since october… seems like Xiom does not really care about european market

I will try to ask Xiom Korea myself and will update you.

 
Top