My Personal Guide to Rubbers on Aliexpress

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Over the past 12 months, I have sought to find and test the best rubbers available on Aliexpress. I wanted to write this personal Guide to the best rubbers on Aliexpress so everybody else can buy the rubbers easily. Most of the rubbers are available for under $15. I will categorize the rubbers as FH and BH rubbers, and will rank them by my opinion of their overall quality. These are just my opinions, and I am heavily biased towards a topspin offensive style emphasizing spin and power. I also gave preference to rubbers that don't need booster.

FH Rubbers

Friendship Bloom Power - Bought for $11, but price has risen to $17 now. This is my favorite rubber and has great speed and great spin, but also feels controlled. It is very tacky, and can pick up a ball for a few moments. Unlike many Chinese rubbers, this does not have that dead feeling, and it is bouncy and fast. While being fast, it still feels like a Chinese rubber. It doesn’t suffer at all in the short game. Also, the purple sponge looks very nice. Overall, outstanding rubber that I cannot praise enough.

Yinhe Big Dipper - $14. Another amazing rubber, with outstanding speed and spin. It is a hybrid rubber and has a very innovative and modern look and feel to it. Less controlled than Bloom, and feels more tensor. It has a clicky speed glue feeling. This rubber will give you overwhelming topspin loops. Short game control is much better than tensors, but a tad less control than Bloom. This is a rubber that I recommend to everybody that I play with.

Yinhe Jupiter 3 - $15. I’ve read that Jupiter 2 was supposed to be Yinhe’s version of H3 and that Jupiter 3 is a big upgrade on Jupiter 2. Actually, I think this rubber is closer to Big Dipper than H3. It is about the same tackiness as BD, and less tacky than H3. But it is bouncier and faster than H3, probably because its factory boosted. Probably has a denser and more traditional feel than BD, whereas BD has a more clicky feel. Excellent choice for a FH rubber, capable of strong spin and speed.

Loki Rxton 5 - $11. This is another rubber quite similar to H3. The sponge feels very hard and dense. It has a somewhat traditional Chinese dense feeling, but bouncier and faster than H3. It has a quality looking grippy topsheet, but maybe a tad less grippy than H3 and Target. It’s not factory boosted, so out of package it is a little harder and more difficult to use than BD or J3.

Friendship Battle 2 - $24. I think this is quite similar to Bloom. Very tacky and spinny topsheet, with a faster bouncier sponge than H3. It is more expensive than Bloom though, so I would personally just recommend Bloom. If you don't mind the extra cost though, this is everything you want in a fast and spinny FH rubber.

DHS Hurricane 3 Neo - $23. The spinniest rubber, with excellent grip. However, it is very very slow, with an extremely dead feeling. I can’t recommend this rubber unless you plan to boost it. If you do boost it, and if you can generate enough power on your own, this rubber can produce extremely overwhelming topspin loops. And of course the short game control is world beating.

Reactor Thunder - $11. Bought this rubber because there were some positive reviews on TTD. Quite light and somehow “modern” looking with a quality looking black sponge. Topsheet is tacky and grippy, but the rubber itself is slow without booster. I can’t recommend this rubber without booster, but with booster, this would be a fine choice for producing powerful FH loops.

Target 90 - $11. I think of this rubber as a mini H3 or a H3 lite. It shares many traits of H3 with high spin and high short game control. It is semi-tacky (hence the 90). Despite being semi-tacky, the topsheet grip is superb. This is a very spinny rubber, and keeps the grip for a long time. Even after weeks of play, the topsheet still looks very grippy and new. The sponge does have a somewhat dead feeling. But because it's less tacky than H3, it doesn’t feel as dead as H3. The red sponge on the black topsheet looks very luxurious though, so that can be appealing for some. Overall slightly less demanding than H3, but shares many traits.

Loki GTX - $23. Bought this rubber based on another review, and the idea of a tacky topsheet on a porous sponge sounded very interesting. But this is a very disappointing rubber. Topsheet really isn’t very tacky, and lacks grip. The sponge feels rather dead out of the package, and has a very strange, dull, and unappealing feeling when hitting. With booster, the rubber transforms and increases in speed dramatically. But still the rubber feels uncomfortable with the lack of dwell time and arc. Loops have a tendency to either go into the net or go long, due to the lack of dwell/arc of this rubber. Unlike HK1997 though, at least the rubber is hard as advertised. Update: After applying booster, I applied a light layer of baby oil. This seems to have fixed many of the initial problems and greatly increase the dwell time and control. With the combination of booster and baby oil, speed and dwell/arc are added to the rubber, and it becomes very similar to a boosted Hurricane.

Reactor Tornado V5 - $7. This is probably the best rubber for $7. Quite a high quality topsheet, and it feels very grippy. Sponge is not super fast, but because of the high spin, you can produce high quality topspin loops. For the price, it feels like quite a bargain. With booster, it performs a lot better.

Palio HK 1997 Gold - $12. Rubber is marketed with the AK47 line, but actually it is completely different. Topsheet is on the low side of medium tacky. Sponge is porous, but not very hard. Sponge is much softer than advertised (49d but feels more like 39-40d). Rubber is slow and dead without booster, so I wouldn’t recommend it out of the package. It’s still a pretty cheap price though. With booster, it has some decent speed, but it lacks power on the top end. The sponge is way too soft and tops out very quickly.

Loki Arthur Asia - $30. Medium fast rubber with medium tack. The tack goes away quite quickly, and the speed just doesn’t live up to the price. Much better options for half the price. Also, this rubber is the heaviest rubber I have seen, so it can be quite uncomfortable to use. The higher price is probably due to being made in Germany, but its not worth it. The rubber itself isn't bad, but it just feels overpriced.

BH Rubbers

Palio AK47 - $13. This is the best Chinese made BH rubber overall. Light, fast, bouncy, elastic. Matte topsheet look. Not a perfect replacement for tensor rubbers, but very close. Red is the fastest, but yellow and blue are also similarly fast and bouncy. Topsheet grip is quite good as well and produces surprisingly good spin. Overall very good value for money and my best recommended BH rubber on Ali.

Friendship Presto Speed Max - $22. Presto Speed is actually a little faster and more elastic than the AK47. The sponge is supposedly made in Japan. This is a very good alternative to the more expensive tensor rubbers. Sponge is quite soft. Topsheet is grippy as well. It does cost more than AK47 though, so for most people I would just recommend AK47. But if you don’t mind spending a little more money, Presto is a little higher quality. Half price compared to most ESN rubbers, and the speed/spin is similar to ESN.

Yinhe Moon Speed - $13. A good alternative to AK47. I think it has slightly less speed, and slightly more spin than AK47, but it's basically a substitute. Topsheet has a more attractive, richer color than AK47. Also, I think the sponge is the same as Big Dipper, so I think this rubber would react very well to booster. Overall, I highly recommend this rubber. Also because the rubber looks so nice, I enjoy having this on my blade and playing with it.

Loki T3 - $17. A little more expensive than other popular rubbers. Comes with a black sponge, and is quite fast. Also, it has little placement marks on the topsheet to show you where to cut the rubber and how to line it up with the wings of your blade. These little placement marks and even the packaging gives the rubber a fairly premium feeling. Matte looking topsheet rather than the richer/flush look of Moon Speed. I think it's basically the same speed as AK47 (and slightly faster than moon speed) and is a very good option for BH. AK47 has a slightly more light and “airy” feeling, while T3 has a more solid feeling. I don’t think it's worse than AK47 or Moon Speed, and in fact it has a slightly premium look and feel to it. But I don’t think it's necessarily worth the extra $4, hence its slightly lower on the list.

Palio Hadou 40+ - $12. Medium soft porous sponge with a medium tacky topsheet is a interesting combination. The spin and arc is good, but it is slow out of package. This rubber probably needs booster if you plan to use it.

Friendship Aurora Max - $12. Similar look and feel to Moon Speed with a rich red topsheet color and nice looking red sponge as well. Maybe slightly slower than Moon Speed, but I’m not certain. A fine option, but feels less dynamic than the others on the list.

Reactor Ckylin Pro - $11. This is Reactor’s attempt to clone Donic Bluefire, so it has a similar look. It’s slightly slower than AK47, but easier to control. However, the biggest downside is that the topsheet is significantly smoother and less grippy than AK47l. Not bad by any means, so if you really want to save an extra dollar or two you can go for it. But it feels slightly less dynamic than other rubbers on this list. Probably makes sense if you aren’t ready to unlock the potential of the higher rubbers on this list.

Loki Rxton 1 - Bought this for $5, but price has now risen to $7. A good all-around rubber that can do a little bit of everything. Feels like very good quality for the money. The look of the rubber does not look like $7, but feels quite high quality. It’s not very fast, but not slow either. Maybe slightly faster than H3, but some may find it lacking in speed for BH. Still, enough speed and spin for most people.

Yinhe Mercury 3 - $15. Some revspin users called this a true tensor, so I was curious about this rubber. It's very disappointing, because it is not very fast. It has a soft and user-friendly feeling. But it just doesn’t have enough speed and rebound to be a great BH rubber.

Loki Arthur Europe - $30. Similar to Arthur Asia, but less tacky. Medium fast rubber, with decent grip. Not as heavy as Arthur Asia, but there are just better options for a cheaper price. The higher price is probably due to being made in Germany, but its not worth it.

 
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Nice summary!

If you want to build up some muscle on the cheap, get the rather heavy Sanwei Target National 💪. Heavy hybrid rubber, so no need to boost, with very controlled speed to spin ratio. Makes a nice cracking sound when you loop drive, drive, or smash. I actually use it on both sides (!) and really like it (39 deg BH, 40 deg FH).
 
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Nice summary!

If you want to build up some muscle on the cheap, get the rather heavy Sanwei Target National 💪. Heavy hybrid rubber, so no need to boost, with very controlled speed to spin ratio. Makes a nice cracking sound when you loop drive, drive, or smash. I actually use it on both sides (!) and really like it (39 deg BH, 40 deg FH).

Yeah I've been interested in Target National for a while, but i'm conflicted. Some people say its just a slow/Chineese rubber like H3. Some say its better than H3. So I don't really know. As I mentioned, Target 90 is very similar to H3.

Also, Target series seems to come out with new rubbers all the time, with Pro blue, Pro 3, etc. I don't like it when there are too many rubbers and I can't figure out what role each rubber is supposed to play.

 
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STN is a definitely different type of rubber than H3. The main allure for STN is that you can play it without booster as the sponge gives you speed when you what it. I have used a sheet for 4 months, 10-15hr/week and it still has its speed. STN tacky topsheet has that really nice controlled feel you get from tacky rubbers. It is not as spinny as H3, but that being said, it is still really spinny, producing really good "kick" when it hits the table. Certainly spinny enough to overwhelm players up to ~2000usatt and otherwise put a really good quality ball on the table.

It also does not have the same top speed as H3, but that is also its strength: the speed to spin ratio is such that it feels incredibly controlled. If you execute a good stroke, the ball will land on the opposing side. Counter topspin is superb with this rubber. During training, I can out counter topspin players well above my actual match level.

I think it is a great rubber to improve on fast (as I think harder tacky rubbers in general are, for me anyways), so long as you don't mind the extra weight. Several people I know who use this rubber have improved at a really dramatic rate, and I certainly am too. I used to play with Fastarc G-1, but I much prefer the STN, from my personal opinion.

That being said, I have not tried Big Dipper, Jupiter, Battle II Prov, Bloom etc, so I can't compare it to those... You should get one to try out and can give us your opinion on it.

One more thing: I used to use Tenergy 05 on the backhand, and it didn't jive well with my technique: it had really short dwell time and I couldn't hit the ball hard enough to get good compression. Weirdly, I not only get much more control and spin with STN, I can actually get more speed with it too (!). Maybe it was the PG-7 I was using that did not work with the Tenergy.
 
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Over the past 12 months, I have sought to find and test the best rubbers available on Aliexpress. I wanted to write this personal Guide to the best rubbers on Aliexpress so everybody else can buy the rubbers easily. Most of the rubbers are available for under $15. I will categorize the rubbers as FH and BH rubbers, and will rank them by my opinion of their overall quality. These are just my opinions, and I am heavily biased towards a topspin offensive style emphasizing spin and power. I also gave preference to rubbers that don't need booster.

FH Rubbers

Friendship Bloom Power - Bought for $11, but price has risen to $17 now. This is my favorite rubber and has great speed and great spin, but also feels controlled. It is very tacky, and can pick up a ball for a few moments. Unlike many Chinese rubbers, this does not have that dead feeling, and it is bouncy and fast. While being fast, it still feels like a Chinese rubber. It doesn’t suffer at all in the short game. Also, the purple sponge looks very nice. Overall, outstanding rubber that I cannot praise enough.

Yinhe Big Dipper - $14. Another amazing rubber, with outstanding speed and spin. It is a hybrid rubber and has a very innovative and modern look and feel to it. Less controlled than Bloom, and feels more tensor. It has a clicky speed glue feeling. This rubber will give you overwhelming topspin loops. Short game control is much better than tensors, but a tad less control than Bloom. This is a rubber that I recommend to everybody that I play with.

Yinhe Jupiter 3 - $15. I’ve read that Jupiter 2 was supposed to be Yinhe’s version of H3 and that Jupiter 3 is a big upgrade on Jupiter 2. Actually, I think this rubber is closer to Big Dipper than H3. It is about the same tackiness as BD, and less tacky than H3. But it is bouncier and faster than H3, probably because its factory boosted. Probably has a denser and more traditional feel than BD, whereas BD has a more clicky feel. Excellent choice for a FH rubber, capable of strong spin and speed.

Loki Rxton 5 - $11. This is another rubber quite similar to H3. The sponge feels very hard and dense. It has a somewhat traditional Chinese dense feeling, but bouncier and faster than H3. It has a quality looking grippy topsheet, but maybe a tad less grippy than H3 and Target. It’s not factory boosted, so out of package it is a little harder and more difficult to use than BD or J3.

Friendship Battle 2 - $24. I think this is quite similar to Bloom. Very tacky and spinny topsheet, with a faster bouncier sponge than H3. It is more expensive than Bloom though, so I would personally just recommend Bloom.

DHS Hurricane 3 Neo - $23. The spinniest rubber, with excellent grip. However, it is very very slow, with an extremely dead feeling. I can’t recommend this rubber unless you plan to boost it. If you do boost it, and if you can generate enough power on your own, this rubber can produce extremely overwhelming topspin loops. And of course the short game control is world beating.

Reactor Thunder - $11. Bought this rubber because there were some positive reviews on TTD. Quite light and somehow “modern” looking with a quality looking black sponge. Topsheet is tacky and grippy, but the rubber itself is slow without booster. I can’t recommend this rubber without booster, but with booster, this would be a fine choice for producing powerful FH loops.

Target 90 - $11. I think of this rubber as a mini H3 or a H3 lite. It shares many traits of H3 with high spin and high short game control. It is semi-tacky (hence the 90). Despite being semi-tacky, the topsheet grip is superb. This is a very spinny rubber, and keeps the grip for a long time. Even after weeks of play, the topsheet still looks very grippy and new. The sponge does have a somewhat dead feeling. But because it's less tacky than H3, it doesn’t feel as dead as H3. The red sponge on the black topsheet looks very luxurious though, so that can be appealing for some. Overall slightly less demanding than H3, but shares many traits.

Reactor Tornado V5 - $7. This is probably the best rubber for $7. Quite a high quality topsheet, and it feels very grippy. Sponge is not super fast, but because of the high spin, you can produce high quality topspin loops. For the price, it feels like quite a bargain. With booster, it performs a lot better.

Palio HK 1997 Gold - $12. Rubber is marketed with the AK47 line, but actually it is completely different. Topsheet is on the low side of medium tacky. Sponge is porous, but not very hard. Sponge is much softer than advertised (49d but feels more like 42d). Rubber is slow and dead without booster, so I wouldn’t recommend it out of the package. It’s still a pretty cheap price though.

Loki GTX - $23. Bought this rubber based on another review, and the idea of a tacky topsheet on a porous sponge sounded very interesting. But this is a very disappointing rubber. Topsheet really isn’t very tacky, and lacks grip. The sponge feels rather dead out of the package, and has a very strange, dull, and unappealing feeling when hitting. With booster, the rubber transforms and increases in speed dramatically. But still the rubber feels uncomfortable with the lack of grip. Loops have a tendency to either go into the net or go long, due to the lack of grip and spin of this rubber. Unlike HK1997 though, at least the rubber is hard as advertised.

Loki Arthur Asia - $30. Medium fast rubber with medium tack. The tack goes away quite quickly, and the speed just doesn’t live up to the price. Much better options for half the price. Also, this rubber is the heaviest rubber I have seen, so it can be quite uncomfortable to use. The higher price is probably due to being made in Germany, but its not worth it.

BH Rubbers

Palio AK47 - $13. This is the best Chinese made BH rubber overall. Light, fast, bouncy, elastic. Matte topsheet look. Not a perfect replacement for tensor rubbers, but very close. Red is the fastest, but yellow and blue are also similarly fast and bouncy. Topsheet grip is quite good as well and produces surprisingly good spin. Overall very good value for money and my best recommended BH rubber on Ali.

Friendship Presto Speed Max - $22. Presto Speed is actually a little faster and more elastic than the AK47. The sponge is supposedly made in Japan. This is a very good alternative to the more expensive tensor rubbers. Sponge is quite soft. Topsheet is grippy as well. It does cost more than AK47 though, so for most people I would just recommend AK47. But if you don’t mind spending a little more money, Presto is a little higher quality. Half price compared to most ESN rubbers, and the speed/spin is similar to ESN.

Yinhe Moon Speed - $13. A good alternative to AK47. I think it has slightly less speed, and slightly more spin than AK47, but it's basically a substitute. Topsheet has a more attractive, richer color than AK47. Also, I think the sponge is the same as Big Dipper, so I think this rubber would react very well to booster. Overall, I highly recommend this rubber. Also because the rubber looks so nice, I enjoy having this on my blade and playing with it.

Loki T3 - $17. A little more expensive than other popular rubbers. Comes with a black sponge, and is quite fast. Also, it has little placement marks on the topsheet to show you where to cut the rubber and how to line it up with the wings of your blade. These little placement marks and even the packaging gives the rubber a fairly premium feeling. Matte looking topsheet rather than the richer/flush look of Moon Speed. I think it's basically the same speed as AK47 (and slightly faster than moon speed) and is a very good option for BH. AK47 has a slightly more light and “airy” feeling, while T3 has a more solid feeling. I don’t think it's worse than AK47 or Moon Speed, and in fact it has a slightly premium look and feel to it. But I don’t think it's necessarily worth the extra $4, hence its slightly lower on the list.

Palio Hadou 40+ - $12. Medium soft porous sponge with a medium tacky topsheet is a interesting combination. The spin and arc is good, but it is slow out of package. This rubber probably needs booster if you plan to use it.

Friendship Aurora Max - $12. Similar look and feel to Moon Speed with a rich red topsheet color and nice looking red sponge as well. Maybe slightly slower than Moon Speed, but I’m not certain. A fine option, but feels less dynamic than the others on the list.

Reactor Ckylin Pro - $11. This is Reactor’s attempt to clone Donic Bluefire, so it has a similar look. It’s slightly slower than AK47, but easier to control. However, the biggest downside is that the topsheet is significantly smoother and less grippy than AK47l. Not bad by any means, so if you really want to save an extra dollar or two you can go for it. But it feels slightly less dynamic than other rubbers on this list. Probably makes sense if you aren’t ready to unlock the potential of the higher rubbers on this list.

Loki Rxton 1 - Bought this for $5, but price has now risen to $7. A good all-around rubber that can do a little bit of everything. Feels like very good quality for the money. The look of the rubber does not look like $7, but feels quite high quality. It’s not very fast, but not slow either. Maybe slightly faster than H3, but some may find it lacking in speed for BH. Still, enough speed and spin for most people.

Yinhe Mercury 3 - $15. Some revspin users called this a true tensor, so I was curious about this rubber. It's very disappointing, because it is not very fast. It has a soft and user-friendly feeling. But it just doesn’t have enough speed and rebound to be a great BH rubber.

Loki Arthur Europe - $30. Similar to Arthur Asia, but less tacky. Medium fast rubber, with decent grip. Not as heavy as Arthur Asia, but there are just better options for a cheaper price. The higher price is probably due to being made in Germany, but its not worth it.

Thanks.Did you try the Friendship B2 unboosted? If so what hardness? How was the sponge ? Any catapult or more on the dead side?

 
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Yes I tried B2 unboosted. I think 39 or 40 hardness. Sponge was classic dense-hard Chinese type sponge. Definitely not a catapult effect, but bouncier and faster than H3.

If you want a tacky rubber with catapult effect, then Big Dipper probably is your best bet. Bloom Power and Jupiter 3 are also fast and tacky, but a more classic feel.
 
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Yes I tried B2 unboosted. I think 39 or 40 hardness. Sponge was classic dense-hard Chinese type sponge. Definitely not a catapult effect, but bouncier and faster than H3.

If you want a tacky rubber with catapult effect, then Big Dipper probably is your best bet. Bloom Power and Jupiter 3 are also fast and tacky, but a more classic feel.

Ah ok thx.I used bloom power for a while.Its good and like you I liked the purple sponge lol. Tried the big dipper for a couple weeks but didnt fancy it too much.Have been using the Jupiter 2 for a while which I like.It has some catapult without getting to the point of a hybrid,which is the feel I prefer.

 
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Most important thing... where did u buy them? because we all know a lot of stores can sell fake rubbers.
And another question if u dont mind, You didnt try the H3 NEO hard version right? or the 37" soft? because im thinking of these two for my first racket hhaha but good list tho. Im gonna look into the ak47 to see if i may get it instead of the h3 soft
 
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I bought them from various reputable sellers on Aliexpress. I'm quite sure that they are not fake.

I tried H3Neo 40d. It's a classic forehand rubber.

I've hit around a little with H3 on the backhand (I borrowed a guy's racket). But it doesn't make much sense to me without booster. I think AK47 is a better BH rubber than H3 unboosted.
 
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Good selection. I have often used this setup. Actually there is a new Moon Speed 53 which appears to be an upgrade over moon speed.
 
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Havent tried TG, but i imagine they are largely similar to hurricane.

Focus snipe 3 is quite old, and not as bouncy as the more modern grippy chinese rubbers such as moon speed or ak47 or T3. Theres really no reason to consider it imo.

Havent tried mercury 2, but i imagine is similar to mercury 3.
 
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I just tried Big Dipper and Moon Speed on my return board, in training and in match. I'm very impressed by the performance VS price. I don't know about the durability but for the price i won't shed a tear when i remove them.
 
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THe only China factory did adopted tensored rubber technology similar to ESNs. The Chinese products proved to play much the same at lower cost.
I dont feel like opening marketing tradenames of those products, I dislike wasting my havings without any payback. Any job deserves some payback, is it ?
 
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