The XIOM Vega Pro has been around since 2009 but it still stands as one of the top-notch rubbers for attacking players in today’s table tennis environment. What makes Vega Pro special is its remarkable speed and spin due to its maximum tension feel and perfect balance of springiness and control.
It has become a go-to choice for players who want to dominate their opponents with powerful shots – be it loops, top spins, or smashes. Even though it was released 10 years ago, this rubber has stayed ahead of its time due to constant improvements from XIOM’s research team.
Actually, XIOM Vega Pro has always been regarded as an ideal alternative to the legendary rubber Butterfly Tenergy 05 due to its affordability. So in this blog, we shall have a look at this rubber.
What country is xiom from?
Who is XIOM Vega Pro for?
The XIOM Vega Pro rubber is an excellent choice for both all-round and offensive who play near or at a mid-distance from the table. Players can do consistent loops with lots of gears and generate fast and spinny strokes. It’s recommended to use this rubber on the backhand.
Review of XIOM Vega Pro
Appearance and construction
According to the official statement of XIOM Company, Vega pro features 3 core technology that is: Tensor technology, Hyper Elasto technology, and Carbo Sponge Technology.
Carbo Sponge Technology increases the potential efficiency of the sponge and the rubber as well, which can generate more power while hitting the ball. Hyper Elasto is based on Tensor technology, which means the inner pimples are closely and densely displayed and it also increases the built-in tension of the rubber.
It could be felt that the rubber is a little hard when we touch it. However, the overall hardness is less than Tenergy or Dignics series. But what attracted me most is its black sponge. To be honest, it was the first time to see a black sponge for me, while before there were always orange and blue sponges.
Speed
I tested the rubber on the Nittaku Acoustic blade, which we made a review about in our previous blog(click the link to read the review). The overall feeling after the first several strokes of this rubber can be described in one word: linear. XIOM Vega Pro has lots of gears but it’s a linear rubber.
It’s super comfortable to do loops or flash hits close to the table, especially at a lower gear. Those intermediate players can gain huge confidence from the practice. The balls have a great initial speed as the hard rubber is quite tense but it’s totally controllable. You can predict the speed and hit the ball as you want.
Especially when I turn to the backhand test, I found that this might be the best rubber for the backhand. It is a little bit bouncier, but with great control. No matter whether backhand drive, loops, or flicks, we can get a clear feel and hit the ball with great speed.
However, after taking several steps back and adjusting to higher gears with more effort, I get a little bit dead feel of the rubber. So in the topspin rallies, I could feel the ball lacks sufficient power and I have to move forward a little bit or hit the ball with more forward movement.
The speed of XIOM Vega is great when playing close or mid-distance to the table, but it has only 80% to 85% of Butterfly Tenergy 05.
Spin
The overall feeling of the spin is almost the same as the speed. The rubber is able to grab the ball perfectly when we play near the table, especially we brush or loop at a lower gear. The overall feeling is comfortable and stable.
Also, the rubber has a high throw so it guarantees that the ball has a higher arc. This makes the loopers play with more confidence. From this point of view, XIOM Vega Pro is very Tenergy-like.
But the problem with this rubber is that it lacks sufficient catapult effect, especially compared with those top spin-oriented rubber such as Donic Bluefire m2, Tibhar Evolution MX-P, not to mention Tenegy 05.
So the loops far away from the table might frustrate you if you are already used to the top fast-speed and spinny rubbers. So that’s why I say that this rubber is more proper to use on the backhand, as the majority don’t do the backhand loops at such a far distance.
Control
Though categorized as a medium speed, XIOM Vega Pro offers unparalleled control that surpasses even that of the incredibly popular Tenergy 05. the linear speed delivery and high arch make it a truly reliable addition to your table tennis arsenal. I can also be sure to count on a predictable and stable bounce from every top sheet.
The overall sense of safety provided in each shot is undeniable. This is the biggest advantage of XIOM Vega Pro. I tried to do several drop shots with both forehand and backhand, and all of them are located at the desired place with proper height. Sometimes with hard rubber, the ball can be located at the net zone but becomes slightly high, which leaves the opponent a great chance to attack.
But such occasions have never happened with XIOM Vega Pro. Also, the close-to-table loops, drives, or even push has great precision and the control performance is quite satisfying.
Defense
The defense performance has to be discussed according to the different situations. I feel that the topsheet of the rubber is a little bit rigid, thick, and not so elastic. What’s more, XIOM Vega Pro is not a spin-insensitive rubber.
So faced with super powerful and spinny topspin, it’s a little bit complicated to block the ball, and many times we got overshot. The rubber gives us little error tolerance so players have to find the exact perfect time to do the block and adjust the angle.
I would suggest that players close the angle of the racket when blocking the great topspin balls. But it seems it’s much easier to block with the backhand as we tend to hit the ball with a small angle.
Anyway, for some normal balls without strong spin, we can do passive or active blocks as we want and adjust the placement to move our opponents. It would be perfect if the surface could be more grainy. As loads of new rubbers nowadays have better topsheet and surfaces, such as the Nittaku Fastarc series, even though they are quite similar.
Topspin and Backspin
As mentioned before, XIOM Vega Pro has great close-to-table topspin performance. The rubber has great control and decent speed as well as spin. But the far-distance topspin lacks power.
When it comes to the backspin, I could feel that it’s easy to lift up the backspin ball due to its high throw. Players can easily open up with both backhand and forehand. However, it should be noticed that sometimes it’s easy to miss the ball if the angle is too acute.
XIOM Vega Pro vs Rakza 7
XIOM Vega Pro and Yasaka Rakza 7 are two rubbers that are quite similar. They have almost the same spin but a little bit different style.
Vega Pro has a higher throw but it has a dead feel. On the other hand, Rakza 7 is more dynamic but a low throw. Besides, the surface of Rakza 7 is much better and more grainy with a better catapult effect.
So Rakza 7 is much better to do loops or counter loops at a far distance from the table. The rubber is more spin-insensitive so players can do blocks effectively. Vega Pro has more tensor effect and it’s more suitable for players who hit the ball at a close distance to the table and the speed mainly depends on your effort.
This is also the characteristic of linear rubbers. It means if you want faster speed, then you should hit the ball with more effort. But Rakza 7 might only need less effort to generate the same speed and spin. This can be both a good and bad thing, just depends on the preference of the players.
Normally speaking, I would recommend players use Yasaka Rakza 7 on the forehand to do powerful loops and offensive strokes and Vega Pro on the backhand to do effective close-to-table shots.
Conclusion
XIOM Vega Pro is not the best rubber in the market but it’s sufficient for most players. Its superior grip on the ball, combined with its ability to swiftly adjust pace and spin without compromising power, gives you maximum precision in your shots.
Its adjustable gears allow you to make changes accordingly on the fly. Moreover, this table tennis rubber is durable and can be used in all conditions. It serves as an ideal alternative to Tenergy 05 and they are quite similar. Despite that, the Vega Pro has only 80% of the speed and spin of T05.
If you find Tenergy 05 is too hard or too fast to control, then probably you could try XIOM Vega Pro, especially on your backhand.
