I can only comment on my personal experience. I started playing at the table tennis club in June 2021 (I am now in my early 30s). I picked up the sport again after playing semi frequently in my teenage years, but only as a garage type player (only in the club a few times. I also played regular tennis at the country club for several years as a competitive player in tournaments. I mention this because I do believe my tennis experience helped me develop a powerful forehand in table tennis last year faster than the average player.
Anyways, my first custom bat was a cheap, Chinese carbon blade with cheap Chinese rubbers (non-tacky). Not sure if you are from the USA, but the club owner started me off with an 800 rating. I dipped down to low 700s after my first several round robins. I started playing more and more and eventually made a little run to about 950 in my club (this was approx early december 2021). At this point I would say I had good mechanics in my forehand, and my athleticism helped me beat lower ranked players, but I was not consistent, and I didn't really know how to generate spin on a loop, or loop backspin balls.
I also started getting feedback from some of the more advanced players in my club that my equipment wasn't very good. One of the older players at my club wanted to help me find the right equipment by offering me all sorts of different rubbers and blades from his collection. I probably tried like 5 or 6 different paddle and rubber combinations in a period of 8 weeks.
i quickly realized that constantly changing my equipment was hindering my progress. I started doing some more serious research on blades and rubbers. I probably spent at least 10 hours just researching equipment, reading reviews and watching review videos. Ultimately, I decided that I wanted my next equipment to be something I would play with forever (or for at least the next several years)
SO, i decided to pull out all of the stops and get the top of the line equipment- a Butterfly Viscaria blade with Tenergy Rubbers. Around this same time I was able to solicit the services of a USATT certified coach. I remember on our first phone call, he asked me what equipment I had. I told him i just bought a viscaria with tenergy. He said "I wish you hadn't, but we can work with it".
The first several months with this new equipment were definitely a learning curve. I was learning how to generate more spin with my loop, and loop against the backspin pushes and chops. Probably serve return against excellent servers were the hardest thing for me to develop. But i practiced everything I could. Every match I played, I reflected and took notes on my weaknesses. I took those weaknesses to the practice sessions with both my coach and on my own open play time. I've been diligent in developing my technique. I am happy to say I am one of the most improved players at my club over the past year, and I am rated nearly 1500, and still improving every week. My coach says I have the potential to be rated 2000 in a year if I continue on this pace.
So long story short, It is possible for a beginner to use this sort of equipment, but I do 100% believe without my coach, I would not have developed at the rate I have. Cheers and good luck.