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The Xiom Hayabusa Series are blades that that were designed for various levels and playing styles. These are very light blades even with the Pro blades that have a slightly bigger blade head size. The quality of these blades is top-notch with almost smooth handles. The flared handles have the bulk to be held comfortably and the handles are very comfortable to grip. These blades also are considered one of the most attractive mid-ranged priced blades in the market. The handle designs of the blades are very eye-catching and aside from having very comfortable handles, the overall design of the visual side of the blades are not only radical but also very pleasing to the eyes. All the Hayabusa blades in this series are made in China. This review marks a milestone in terms of the number of blades I have owned. I think I have reached my 300th blade when I received this. I have been playing for 36 years now and coaching for about 20 years and I am an EJ in denial.
Hayabusa ARX
Weight: 82 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with Carbon – Aramid layer)
Blade head size: 157 x 150
Speed: Off
The Hayabusa ARX is my favorite blade among the Hayabusa series. The H. ARX characteristics are it offers a light weight, medium stiffness and balanced amount of speed and control.
Let me discuss each characteristic of the H. ARX one by one. At 82 grams, the Hayabusa ARX is considered very light among modern blades in the market. It is common for blades nowadays to weigh not less than 92 grams in the market. I have asked around several Chinese manufacturers about their blade weights and in the Chinese market, it is common occurrence that stores or distributors tend to favor blades that are about 90-95 grams. In other parts of the world including my place, players would favor blades that are lighter and the weights are about 87 grams or lower. Not all players have the same weight preference but if players are looking for lighter blades, then the Hayabusa Series blades should be in their options since the weight is reduced dramatically. I guess the lighter blades also compliment the heavy ESN-made rubbers from Germany nowadays since it is fairly common to have rubbers that are at least 72 grams in weight at their uncut state.
The Hayabusa ARX has a medium-stiff feel. Mostly, while using it with the hard Jekyll & Hyde C55 and the very soft Vega Hybrid Europe rubbers, I feel the blade is not too soft nor too hard. The feel is evident and good as you can feel the ball at every shot due to its nature of not being too stiff like a hard carbon blade. When looping the ball against underspin, I observed medium to high throw loops. The H. ARX also feels not as stiff compared to many Carbon – ALC blades despite the aramid part of the composite layers are a bit harder than the regular ALC blades in the market.
In terms of speed and control, the Hayabusa ARX is an OFF blade not an OFF+ one. It is fast enough for power loops and drives but not as fast a pure carbon blades that lessens the control and feel on every shot. It is not as fast as a Viscaria or the Xiom Stradivarius but fast enough that you can do fast counter topspins far from the table. I have tested this blade a lot of times and enjoyed using this far from the table especially when training counter topspins away from the table but this is more of a middle-distance blade, if you play close to the table, it is also very good.
Hayabusa HX Pro
https://imgur.com/Zuhd2zl
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 6.5 mm
Plies: 5 (Hinoki outer with X Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: Off++
The Hayabusa HX Pro is the fastest blade among the Hayabusa blades. This is a no non-sense offensive blade. Built with a Kiso-Hinoki outer ply partnered with the Xiom X-Carbon layer for maximized speed without sacrificing too much the control of the blade. This blade is for all-out offensive players.
Despite having a 6.4mm thickness, this Hinoki-carbon blade is light at 85 grams. The usual weight of blades not having a balsa wood core is about 90 to 92 grams according to my experience with off+ carbon blades. The weight distribution is partially towards the blade head since the head size is bigger by 1mm compared to 157x150mm blades in the market.
I felt the blade to be stiff due to its 6.4mm thickness and of course because of the Carbon X layer for the composite part. The Kiso Hinoki outer plies provide some sort of softness to balance the stiff and hard characteristics of the other blade layer combinations. I did not feel it was not as stiff as the Xiom Axelo or Butterfly Primorac Carbon.
The Hayabusa HX Pro is an all-out attacking blade. It is built for speed. Good thing Xiom adapted the speed rating of OFF++ since most companies rate their fastest blades as off+ only. I believe there should be a distinction between offensive type blades because you cannot categories an off+ blade like Xiom Stradivarius (a carbon-aramid blade) and a Xiom Axelo (a pure carbon blade) in just 1 single category of off+ because the speed distinction between the 2 blades is very obvious and has a bit of gap between their speeds. I would rate the Xiom Axelo as an OFF+++ blade which when compared to blades outside of Xiom, it is more or less equal to that of the Primorac Carbon or Gergely Alpha. The speed of the Hayabusa HX Pro is slightly slower and pardon my theory on this. I believe Xiom is not designing blades that are too fast anymore since the Xiom rubbers in the market now are already considered very fast when compared to regular rubbers in the market. Despite the ball change, achieving speed was never a problem for manufacturers because speed can be achieved by having a fast blade or it can be achieved by having very fast rubbers. Please take note that the sponge hardness and springiness of rubbers nowadays are much higher compared to the rubbers 5 years ago. The problem is more of balancing the amount of control, feel and ability to produce spin for a racket.
Since this is a speed and power type of blade, I felt the slower loops are not best suited for the Hayabusa HX Pro. I used Chinese rubbers as part of the test and of course the C55 and the Vega Hybrid rubbers also which I felt would be wasted if you are using slow and delayed loops against underspin. The rebound is strong when you contact the ball and I felt that if you want to loop of spin with the HX Pro, you might as well go all out when contacting the ball hitting through the sponge mostly to full utilize the speed. Also, this blade enjoys mostly far from the table. That distance is favored by the HX Pro even if you use Chinese rubbers that are slower compared to ESN rubbers.
Hayabusa ZL Pro
https://imgur.com/TgizSEY
https://imgur.com/p9mFG7U
https://imgur.com/sWO1V6b
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with Inner ZL Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: Off
What can I say about the Hayabusa ZL Pro? It’s one beautifully crafted blade especially with its good-looking handle. The blade is perfectly balanced in terms of speed and control and is suited for different types of attacking styles.
The Hayabusa ZL Pro’s feel and stiffness is the most unique among all newer Hayabusa Blades. It felt as if it is medium-stiff but the presence of softness when the ball impacts the blade is there. The Koto outer plies provide semi-hard feel on impact and also adds to the stiffness of the blade but due to the thickness of the blade of 5.6mm, there is flex with this blade. Among the composite blades in the Hayabusa series, the H. ZL Pro has the most flex when you hit the ball. I felt this is the best looping blade among the 4 composite blades in the Hayabusa blades because it has just the right amount of flex for the ball to “dwell” but also the right amount of hardness in order not to lose speed when you need extra power with your shots. It felt having a woody feel due to the inner ZL carbon layers next to the core wood.
The speed is still fast enough for attacks near and middle distance from the table. The Hayabusa ZL pro felt as fast as like Inner-ZLC blades in the market only difference is that the H. ZL Pro has more flex and control. The ZL-Carbon layers of the H. ZL Pro gives enough speed that it is still an offensive type of blade but players will appreciate the amount of control this blade has. I would say that the H. ZL Pro’s speed is slightly slower than a lot of ZLC blades in the market. The speed can be compensated by using faster and harder rubbers so speed is not really an issue on this blade.
Hayabusa ZLX
https://imgur.com/pQWedZz
https://imgur.com/MHZVYbq
https://imgur.com/Cv1XX6O
Weight: 82 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with ZL Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 157 x 150 mm
Speed: Off+
It is safe to say that the Hayabusa ZLX blade is the flagship blade of the Hayabusa series. This is also the most beautiful blade among them. The blade is finely crafted taking into account the way the blade looks, the blade is a piece of art. It does not look overly designed for aesthetics but every line and color compliments each other to form a beautiful design. The quality is better than most Chinese-made blades and you could mistake it for Japan or Korean-made blade.
The Hayabusa ZLX is best attacking blade in the series as it is designed to be as good or better with present-day ZLC blades in the market. The speed is fast as it is rated off+ but the medium stiffness of the blade ensures you can spin the ball with confidence as the ball rebound is not too much compared to other ZLC blades in the market. The speed and power of the Hayabusa ZLX is good on all distances from the table. It has a good amount of control to play it near the table but also has enough power away from the table. I think this is the only blade in the Hayabusa series that can play all distances effectively with most blades in the series that are only good near and mid-distance from the table. The speed is equal or greater than that of the Viscaria or FZD ALC as I have tried all 3 rubbers at the same time for comparison while using the Vega Hybrid Asia on all 3 blades.
The stiffness is medium-stiff as there is a tough of softness brought about by the overall construction of blade and stiffness brought about by the ZL Carbon layers. The H. ZLX did not feel soft but at the same time it did not feel too hard for a koto-ZL carbon blade. The amount of vibration in this blade is minimal. It feels hard enough for hard-hitting strokes but the right amount of fell is still present to have a better, indirect control with your shots due to the balanced stiffness/softness in the blade. This blade can spin the ball great from the slow and delayed loops to the high-powered shots away from the table in which you compressed the sponge to the fullest while brushing the ball in order for you to do power counters away from the table.
In my opinion, the Hayabusa ZLX is the blade of choice for most intermediate and advanced level players who rely on attacking and technical skills near and far from the table.
Hayabusa OFF Pro
https://imgur.com/D30EE71
https://imgur.com/xV5MSSC
https://imgur.com/ms7Uvd9
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 6 mm
Plies: 5 (Limba outer and ayous core)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: All+ to Off-
The Hayabusa Off Pro is the only all-wood blade in the Hayabusa Series. This has a simple construction of Limba and ayous wood layers. Tested this with several Vega Hybrid rubbers and with the Vega SPO short pips. The Hayabusa Off Pro is a good all-around blade in terms of playing styles. It can be used as controlled-attacking blade but also would excel with both long and short pips rubbers if you would a combination blade.
The Hayabusa Off Pro despite being an all-wood blade has a medium stiffness feel. This is probably due to its 6.0mm thickness. Most blades of its category in the market falls under the 5.7 or 5.8mm thickness while the Hayabusa Off Pro has a thickness of 6.0mm. The blade is excellent for players that are not looking for too much speed or players who are just learning the strokes as this can be set up to be slower with beginner rubbers like Vega Intro. The speed of the Hayabusa Off Pro is comparable to the Peter Korbel but with a slightly softer feel. This is a close to the table blade and even with more advanced rubbers like the Jekyll & Hyde C55 rubbers, the blade still has tons of control. I have used it with both long and short pips rubbers. It has the flex to fully accommodate a long pip rubber without sponge so that you can do you chop-blocks effectively but also at the same time when strapping it with a short pimples rubber like the Vega SPO, it has some stiffness to allow a player to fully use a short pimples rubber. I usually use a 7-ply blade like the Xiom Solo or Zeta Off if I use a short pimples rubber because it requires some stiffness but I made an exception with the Hayabusa Off Pro since it has enough balanced stiffness for sp rubbers. The flex and control are the best characteristics of this blade. If you are learning how to loop as a beginner to being an advanced player that has executes loops, blocks and other technical strokes like flicking or doing drop shots, the Hayabusa Off Pro will not fail you.
Hayabusa ARX
Weight: 82 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with Carbon – Aramid layer)
Blade head size: 157 x 150
Speed: Off
The Hayabusa ARX is my favorite blade among the Hayabusa series. The H. ARX characteristics are it offers a light weight, medium stiffness and balanced amount of speed and control.
Let me discuss each characteristic of the H. ARX one by one. At 82 grams, the Hayabusa ARX is considered very light among modern blades in the market. It is common for blades nowadays to weigh not less than 92 grams in the market. I have asked around several Chinese manufacturers about their blade weights and in the Chinese market, it is common occurrence that stores or distributors tend to favor blades that are about 90-95 grams. In other parts of the world including my place, players would favor blades that are lighter and the weights are about 87 grams or lower. Not all players have the same weight preference but if players are looking for lighter blades, then the Hayabusa Series blades should be in their options since the weight is reduced dramatically. I guess the lighter blades also compliment the heavy ESN-made rubbers from Germany nowadays since it is fairly common to have rubbers that are at least 72 grams in weight at their uncut state.
The Hayabusa ARX has a medium-stiff feel. Mostly, while using it with the hard Jekyll & Hyde C55 and the very soft Vega Hybrid Europe rubbers, I feel the blade is not too soft nor too hard. The feel is evident and good as you can feel the ball at every shot due to its nature of not being too stiff like a hard carbon blade. When looping the ball against underspin, I observed medium to high throw loops. The H. ARX also feels not as stiff compared to many Carbon – ALC blades despite the aramid part of the composite layers are a bit harder than the regular ALC blades in the market.
In terms of speed and control, the Hayabusa ARX is an OFF blade not an OFF+ one. It is fast enough for power loops and drives but not as fast a pure carbon blades that lessens the control and feel on every shot. It is not as fast as a Viscaria or the Xiom Stradivarius but fast enough that you can do fast counter topspins far from the table. I have tested this blade a lot of times and enjoyed using this far from the table especially when training counter topspins away from the table but this is more of a middle-distance blade, if you play close to the table, it is also very good.
Hayabusa HX Pro
https://imgur.com/Zuhd2zl
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 6.5 mm
Plies: 5 (Hinoki outer with X Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: Off++
The Hayabusa HX Pro is the fastest blade among the Hayabusa blades. This is a no non-sense offensive blade. Built with a Kiso-Hinoki outer ply partnered with the Xiom X-Carbon layer for maximized speed without sacrificing too much the control of the blade. This blade is for all-out offensive players.
Despite having a 6.4mm thickness, this Hinoki-carbon blade is light at 85 grams. The usual weight of blades not having a balsa wood core is about 90 to 92 grams according to my experience with off+ carbon blades. The weight distribution is partially towards the blade head since the head size is bigger by 1mm compared to 157x150mm blades in the market.
I felt the blade to be stiff due to its 6.4mm thickness and of course because of the Carbon X layer for the composite part. The Kiso Hinoki outer plies provide some sort of softness to balance the stiff and hard characteristics of the other blade layer combinations. I did not feel it was not as stiff as the Xiom Axelo or Butterfly Primorac Carbon.
The Hayabusa HX Pro is an all-out attacking blade. It is built for speed. Good thing Xiom adapted the speed rating of OFF++ since most companies rate their fastest blades as off+ only. I believe there should be a distinction between offensive type blades because you cannot categories an off+ blade like Xiom Stradivarius (a carbon-aramid blade) and a Xiom Axelo (a pure carbon blade) in just 1 single category of off+ because the speed distinction between the 2 blades is very obvious and has a bit of gap between their speeds. I would rate the Xiom Axelo as an OFF+++ blade which when compared to blades outside of Xiom, it is more or less equal to that of the Primorac Carbon or Gergely Alpha. The speed of the Hayabusa HX Pro is slightly slower and pardon my theory on this. I believe Xiom is not designing blades that are too fast anymore since the Xiom rubbers in the market now are already considered very fast when compared to regular rubbers in the market. Despite the ball change, achieving speed was never a problem for manufacturers because speed can be achieved by having a fast blade or it can be achieved by having very fast rubbers. Please take note that the sponge hardness and springiness of rubbers nowadays are much higher compared to the rubbers 5 years ago. The problem is more of balancing the amount of control, feel and ability to produce spin for a racket.
Since this is a speed and power type of blade, I felt the slower loops are not best suited for the Hayabusa HX Pro. I used Chinese rubbers as part of the test and of course the C55 and the Vega Hybrid rubbers also which I felt would be wasted if you are using slow and delayed loops against underspin. The rebound is strong when you contact the ball and I felt that if you want to loop of spin with the HX Pro, you might as well go all out when contacting the ball hitting through the sponge mostly to full utilize the speed. Also, this blade enjoys mostly far from the table. That distance is favored by the HX Pro even if you use Chinese rubbers that are slower compared to ESN rubbers.
Hayabusa ZL Pro
https://imgur.com/TgizSEY
https://imgur.com/p9mFG7U
https://imgur.com/sWO1V6b
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with Inner ZL Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: Off
What can I say about the Hayabusa ZL Pro? It’s one beautifully crafted blade especially with its good-looking handle. The blade is perfectly balanced in terms of speed and control and is suited for different types of attacking styles.
The Hayabusa ZL Pro’s feel and stiffness is the most unique among all newer Hayabusa Blades. It felt as if it is medium-stiff but the presence of softness when the ball impacts the blade is there. The Koto outer plies provide semi-hard feel on impact and also adds to the stiffness of the blade but due to the thickness of the blade of 5.6mm, there is flex with this blade. Among the composite blades in the Hayabusa series, the H. ZL Pro has the most flex when you hit the ball. I felt this is the best looping blade among the 4 composite blades in the Hayabusa blades because it has just the right amount of flex for the ball to “dwell” but also the right amount of hardness in order not to lose speed when you need extra power with your shots. It felt having a woody feel due to the inner ZL carbon layers next to the core wood.
The speed is still fast enough for attacks near and middle distance from the table. The Hayabusa ZL pro felt as fast as like Inner-ZLC blades in the market only difference is that the H. ZL Pro has more flex and control. The ZL-Carbon layers of the H. ZL Pro gives enough speed that it is still an offensive type of blade but players will appreciate the amount of control this blade has. I would say that the H. ZL Pro’s speed is slightly slower than a lot of ZLC blades in the market. The speed can be compensated by using faster and harder rubbers so speed is not really an issue on this blade.
Hayabusa ZLX
https://imgur.com/pQWedZz
https://imgur.com/MHZVYbq
https://imgur.com/Cv1XX6O
Weight: 82 grams
Thickness: 5.7 mm
Plies: 7 (Koto outer with ZL Carbon layers)
Blade head size: 157 x 150 mm
Speed: Off+
It is safe to say that the Hayabusa ZLX blade is the flagship blade of the Hayabusa series. This is also the most beautiful blade among them. The blade is finely crafted taking into account the way the blade looks, the blade is a piece of art. It does not look overly designed for aesthetics but every line and color compliments each other to form a beautiful design. The quality is better than most Chinese-made blades and you could mistake it for Japan or Korean-made blade.
The Hayabusa ZLX is best attacking blade in the series as it is designed to be as good or better with present-day ZLC blades in the market. The speed is fast as it is rated off+ but the medium stiffness of the blade ensures you can spin the ball with confidence as the ball rebound is not too much compared to other ZLC blades in the market. The speed and power of the Hayabusa ZLX is good on all distances from the table. It has a good amount of control to play it near the table but also has enough power away from the table. I think this is the only blade in the Hayabusa series that can play all distances effectively with most blades in the series that are only good near and mid-distance from the table. The speed is equal or greater than that of the Viscaria or FZD ALC as I have tried all 3 rubbers at the same time for comparison while using the Vega Hybrid Asia on all 3 blades.
The stiffness is medium-stiff as there is a tough of softness brought about by the overall construction of blade and stiffness brought about by the ZL Carbon layers. The H. ZLX did not feel soft but at the same time it did not feel too hard for a koto-ZL carbon blade. The amount of vibration in this blade is minimal. It feels hard enough for hard-hitting strokes but the right amount of fell is still present to have a better, indirect control with your shots due to the balanced stiffness/softness in the blade. This blade can spin the ball great from the slow and delayed loops to the high-powered shots away from the table in which you compressed the sponge to the fullest while brushing the ball in order for you to do power counters away from the table.
In my opinion, the Hayabusa ZLX is the blade of choice for most intermediate and advanced level players who rely on attacking and technical skills near and far from the table.
Hayabusa OFF Pro
https://imgur.com/D30EE71
https://imgur.com/xV5MSSC
https://imgur.com/ms7Uvd9
Weight: 85 grams
Thickness: 6 mm
Plies: 5 (Limba outer and ayous core)
Blade head size: 158 x 150 mm
Speed: All+ to Off-
The Hayabusa Off Pro is the only all-wood blade in the Hayabusa Series. This has a simple construction of Limba and ayous wood layers. Tested this with several Vega Hybrid rubbers and with the Vega SPO short pips. The Hayabusa Off Pro is a good all-around blade in terms of playing styles. It can be used as controlled-attacking blade but also would excel with both long and short pips rubbers if you would a combination blade.
The Hayabusa Off Pro despite being an all-wood blade has a medium stiffness feel. This is probably due to its 6.0mm thickness. Most blades of its category in the market falls under the 5.7 or 5.8mm thickness while the Hayabusa Off Pro has a thickness of 6.0mm. The blade is excellent for players that are not looking for too much speed or players who are just learning the strokes as this can be set up to be slower with beginner rubbers like Vega Intro. The speed of the Hayabusa Off Pro is comparable to the Peter Korbel but with a slightly softer feel. This is a close to the table blade and even with more advanced rubbers like the Jekyll & Hyde C55 rubbers, the blade still has tons of control. I have used it with both long and short pips rubbers. It has the flex to fully accommodate a long pip rubber without sponge so that you can do you chop-blocks effectively but also at the same time when strapping it with a short pimples rubber like the Vega SPO, it has some stiffness to allow a player to fully use a short pimples rubber. I usually use a 7-ply blade like the Xiom Solo or Zeta Off if I use a short pimples rubber because it requires some stiffness but I made an exception with the Hayabusa Off Pro since it has enough balanced stiffness for sp rubbers. The flex and control are the best characteristics of this blade. If you are learning how to loop as a beginner to being an advanced player that has executes loops, blocks and other technical strokes like flicking or doing drop shots, the Hayabusa Off Pro will not fail you.
