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Best Chinese alternatives to D05 Tier List
What is a tier list?
This Tier List ranks readily available and low cost Chinese rubbers according to their performance in matching the standard set by Dignics 05.
Rubbers are tiered based on the following factors:
Bite on the ball - Higher ranking rubbers will bite and grip the ball very well, giving the player both control and spin potential
Dwell time - Higher ranking rubbers will provide ample dwell time to impart spin onto the ball
Catapult - The rubber should provide high catapult to produce powerful shots
Grippiness - Grippiness provides more spin potential and control
Hardness - Medium-Hardness is desirable to replicate the feeling of D05
Booster reaction - Top rubbers should react strongly to booster and improve their performance. Alternatively top rubbers should provide high performance without the need for booster
Arc and throw angle - Top rubbers should provide a healthy arc to clear over the net and land onto the table comfortably
S tier - Highest performance of Chinese rubbers matching or exceeding the standard of D05 available at acceptable cost
Friendship 729 Aurora Max - A total hidden gem, as I haven’t seen many people discuss this rubber at all. Unboosted, it is quite slow and unremarkable. But the secret to this rubber is that it has a tremendous reaction to booster. In fact, this rubber showed the greatest transformation from booster of any other rubber that I have tested. After boosting, it has tremendous catapult, high speed, and a nice feeling as well. Topsheet is nontacky and grippy, capable of very good loops and powerful punches.
Yinhe Moon 12 - Beautiful looking rubber, that also is very fun and very comfortable to use. You never get the feeling that the rubber did anything wrong as it is very balanced and easy to use. The speed is good, catapult is good, control is good, grip is good, arc is good, feeling is good, I really can’t think of any drawbacks to this rubber. Unfortunately the rubber doesn’t improve much from booster, because it already is so good. Also note that Moon 12 is part of Yinhe’s 8th generation of rubber along with Moon Speed 53, which I have also heard excellent reviews for.
A tier - Performance is considered to be very high, and are desirable as alternatives to D05 and may only have slight flaws
Palio AK47 Red - My favorite rubber to love. It is fast, powerful, catapulty, and really fun to use. Also is very light rubber. Excellent rubber for blocking and punching and powerful shots. The topsheet is grippy and matte. The topsheet is slightly less grippy than other options, so I have to put it lower on the list. In reality, it doesn’t mean you can’t hit good loops or anything, but probably it produces 5% less spin than other options because of the matte surface. The Blue and yellow sponge choices are also good, but the Red is the standout version to me.
B tier - Performance is considered to be high and mostly meet the desired criteria. May have more notable flaws that prevent a higher ranking
Yinhe Big Dipper - I recommend the H38 version with booster. It becomes a monster with high catapult, high spin, and some tackiness. Excellent for blocking, punching, looping, and all powerful shots. A couple drawbacks are that the surface is somewhat tacky, so not a perfect replication of D05. And also despite being listed as H38, it feels harder than that and feels quite a bit harder than D05. If you can get past the initial hardness, you will be rewarded. This rubber might actually be the best option for those looking for a hybrid bh rubber.
C tier - Performance is considered moderately high. These rubbers may need more technique from the user to bring out their potential or have notable flaws in meeting the criteria.
Fake Tenergy 05 - I kinda laughed when I saw this rubber and bought it as a joke because it was cheap on Aliexpress. It’s really dull unboosted, but it also has a strong reaction to booster and really becomes a very good rubber. It’s fast and catapulty, tacky and spinny, and the feeling is quite good too.
Palio HK 1997 Gold - It is somewhat tacky, and the rubber is too soft and unreliable, but it somehow still manages to play really quite well. With booster, it has good speed and is fast enough. It’s supposed to be harder than AK47, but I found it to be much softer actually. I didn’t love it at first, but came to like it after a while.
Friendship Presto Speed Max - It has a very rubbery and elastic feeling, like a Daiki made rubber. The marketing says the sponge is imported from Japan, so I guess that makes sense. It is bouncy and springy, and initially seems like it would be really good. It has good catapult and spin. But it has a few major drawbacks. Firstly, the durability is actually bad. I find the topsheet starts losing grip badly very quickly. Second, unlike other rubbers on the list, I found that the rubber starts shrinking quite a bit as well. Thirdly, when the topsheet starts fading quickly, the throw angle suffers badly and the ball tends to go into the net.
Rxton 3 Pink/Blue - Fairly fast, good rebound, quite powerful, good grip and tackiness. More like a hybrid rubber, although I think Loki initially wanted this to be a backhand option because of the color. I found the bond between sponge and topsheet to be too weak. Still, the overall performance of the rubber is high.
Loki T3 - Very fast, somewhat linear rubber. This is an excellent rubber for blocking and punching and flat shots. The speed will not disappoint you. However, it probably has the worst topsheet grip on this list. I often found it difficult to loop well with this. You really need to be in position and do a clean swing and grip the ball cleanly to execute a good loop.
D tier - Performance is considered to be average. The rubber only meets some of the criteria and has some major flaws
Rxton 3 - This rubber is initially somewhat slow, but shows a decent reaction to booster. With booster, it has fairly good speed and rebound. It also has very good grip and some tackiness. The performance on punches and flat hits is decent, but it really shots in loops and spin shots. Available at a very low price, so it may be the best choice for cheap setups.
Yinhe Moon Speed - Completely overtaken by the newer Moon 12. Moon Speed is quite a bit slower with less rebound. It also doesn’t react too much to booster. Still, if you want a more control oriented rubber, I find that it is quite fun to play with. The topsheet is rich and beautiful, it has good grip, and the speed is still acceptable.
Rxton 1 - Similar to Rxton 3, decent reaction to booster. Decent speed and rebound, and it works well for blocks and punches. I found it is a bit harder to spin. Still a good option for a cheap $5.
Reactor Ckylin Pro - Kinda like a worse version of AK47. Not as spinny, not as fast, but similar overall feeling and function to AK47.
Haifu Shark Speed - It doesn’t have a cakey, bouncy sponge. But kinda has a less dense-Chinese sponge with untacky topsheet. With booster, the speed is decent, but somehow it doesn’t feel like a very confident rubber. I sometimes hit shots into the net for no good reason.
E tier - Performance is considered to be low. Rubbers have flaws that define its performance more than its strengths
Palio Hadou 40 - I found this rubber to be quite unremarkable. It felt quite unreliable. The sponge is too soft, the topsheet seems to fade quite quickly, and nothing stood out too much.
What is a tier list?
This Tier List ranks readily available and low cost Chinese rubbers according to their performance in matching the standard set by Dignics 05.
Rubbers are tiered based on the following factors:
Bite on the ball - Higher ranking rubbers will bite and grip the ball very well, giving the player both control and spin potential
Dwell time - Higher ranking rubbers will provide ample dwell time to impart spin onto the ball
Catapult - The rubber should provide high catapult to produce powerful shots
Grippiness - Grippiness provides more spin potential and control
Hardness - Medium-Hardness is desirable to replicate the feeling of D05
Booster reaction - Top rubbers should react strongly to booster and improve their performance. Alternatively top rubbers should provide high performance without the need for booster
Arc and throw angle - Top rubbers should provide a healthy arc to clear over the net and land onto the table comfortably
S tier - Highest performance of Chinese rubbers matching or exceeding the standard of D05 available at acceptable cost
Friendship 729 Aurora Max - A total hidden gem, as I haven’t seen many people discuss this rubber at all. Unboosted, it is quite slow and unremarkable. But the secret to this rubber is that it has a tremendous reaction to booster. In fact, this rubber showed the greatest transformation from booster of any other rubber that I have tested. After boosting, it has tremendous catapult, high speed, and a nice feeling as well. Topsheet is nontacky and grippy, capable of very good loops and powerful punches.
Yinhe Moon 12 - Beautiful looking rubber, that also is very fun and very comfortable to use. You never get the feeling that the rubber did anything wrong as it is very balanced and easy to use. The speed is good, catapult is good, control is good, grip is good, arc is good, feeling is good, I really can’t think of any drawbacks to this rubber. Unfortunately the rubber doesn’t improve much from booster, because it already is so good. Also note that Moon 12 is part of Yinhe’s 8th generation of rubber along with Moon Speed 53, which I have also heard excellent reviews for.
A tier - Performance is considered to be very high, and are desirable as alternatives to D05 and may only have slight flaws
Palio AK47 Red - My favorite rubber to love. It is fast, powerful, catapulty, and really fun to use. Also is very light rubber. Excellent rubber for blocking and punching and powerful shots. The topsheet is grippy and matte. The topsheet is slightly less grippy than other options, so I have to put it lower on the list. In reality, it doesn’t mean you can’t hit good loops or anything, but probably it produces 5% less spin than other options because of the matte surface. The Blue and yellow sponge choices are also good, but the Red is the standout version to me.
B tier - Performance is considered to be high and mostly meet the desired criteria. May have more notable flaws that prevent a higher ranking
Yinhe Big Dipper - I recommend the H38 version with booster. It becomes a monster with high catapult, high spin, and some tackiness. Excellent for blocking, punching, looping, and all powerful shots. A couple drawbacks are that the surface is somewhat tacky, so not a perfect replication of D05. And also despite being listed as H38, it feels harder than that and feels quite a bit harder than D05. If you can get past the initial hardness, you will be rewarded. This rubber might actually be the best option for those looking for a hybrid bh rubber.
C tier - Performance is considered moderately high. These rubbers may need more technique from the user to bring out their potential or have notable flaws in meeting the criteria.
Fake Tenergy 05 - I kinda laughed when I saw this rubber and bought it as a joke because it was cheap on Aliexpress. It’s really dull unboosted, but it also has a strong reaction to booster and really becomes a very good rubber. It’s fast and catapulty, tacky and spinny, and the feeling is quite good too.
Palio HK 1997 Gold - It is somewhat tacky, and the rubber is too soft and unreliable, but it somehow still manages to play really quite well. With booster, it has good speed and is fast enough. It’s supposed to be harder than AK47, but I found it to be much softer actually. I didn’t love it at first, but came to like it after a while.
Friendship Presto Speed Max - It has a very rubbery and elastic feeling, like a Daiki made rubber. The marketing says the sponge is imported from Japan, so I guess that makes sense. It is bouncy and springy, and initially seems like it would be really good. It has good catapult and spin. But it has a few major drawbacks. Firstly, the durability is actually bad. I find the topsheet starts losing grip badly very quickly. Second, unlike other rubbers on the list, I found that the rubber starts shrinking quite a bit as well. Thirdly, when the topsheet starts fading quickly, the throw angle suffers badly and the ball tends to go into the net.
Rxton 3 Pink/Blue - Fairly fast, good rebound, quite powerful, good grip and tackiness. More like a hybrid rubber, although I think Loki initially wanted this to be a backhand option because of the color. I found the bond between sponge and topsheet to be too weak. Still, the overall performance of the rubber is high.
Loki T3 - Very fast, somewhat linear rubber. This is an excellent rubber for blocking and punching and flat shots. The speed will not disappoint you. However, it probably has the worst topsheet grip on this list. I often found it difficult to loop well with this. You really need to be in position and do a clean swing and grip the ball cleanly to execute a good loop.
D tier - Performance is considered to be average. The rubber only meets some of the criteria and has some major flaws
Rxton 3 - This rubber is initially somewhat slow, but shows a decent reaction to booster. With booster, it has fairly good speed and rebound. It also has very good grip and some tackiness. The performance on punches and flat hits is decent, but it really shots in loops and spin shots. Available at a very low price, so it may be the best choice for cheap setups.
Yinhe Moon Speed - Completely overtaken by the newer Moon 12. Moon Speed is quite a bit slower with less rebound. It also doesn’t react too much to booster. Still, if you want a more control oriented rubber, I find that it is quite fun to play with. The topsheet is rich and beautiful, it has good grip, and the speed is still acceptable.
Rxton 1 - Similar to Rxton 3, decent reaction to booster. Decent speed and rebound, and it works well for blocks and punches. I found it is a bit harder to spin. Still a good option for a cheap $5.
Reactor Ckylin Pro - Kinda like a worse version of AK47. Not as spinny, not as fast, but similar overall feeling and function to AK47.
Haifu Shark Speed - It doesn’t have a cakey, bouncy sponge. But kinda has a less dense-Chinese sponge with untacky topsheet. With booster, the speed is decent, but somehow it doesn’t feel like a very confident rubber. I sometimes hit shots into the net for no good reason.
E tier - Performance is considered to be low. Rubbers have flaws that define its performance more than its strengths
Palio Hadou 40 - I found this rubber to be quite unremarkable. It felt quite unreliable. The sponge is too soft, the topsheet seems to fade quite quickly, and nothing stood out too much.
