Review: Xiom Vega Pro

Color: Red
Thickness: MAX
Weight: 69 g (uncut) for 169 mm x 169 mm square (density: 0.24158818 g/cm^2)
Tackiness: none
Quality: very high (didn't want to cut it, so lovely it felt under my thumb)
Sponge: carbo-black but doesn't feel very hard when pressed; as you can see from the photos, pips are positioned rather densely.

First impression (pre-play):

Hardness seems to be about the same as Gambler Outlaw (which was glued onto the other side of the same blade, 729 V-6). Feels a bit softer than Tenergy, for instance. I'll find out more about that when my friend with a durometer measures the hardness for me.

Bouncing the ball on both sides shows that Outlaw is bouncier, reaction on Vega Pro side is for now kinda muffled compared to Outlaw - but it could be the well-known "just glued it on" effect. We'll see

Actual review to follow...

I just received my Vega Pro, thanks Alex! I have a tournament in Dallas so I will not review it until after Saturday.

Jeff(ATTC)

Well... I got some first impressions after hitting with Vega Pro for about 10 minutes.

Basically, here is the main one - this is a slightly "tensorized" and non-tacky 729-08. And it costs 3 times more.

Speed is good on fast hits and counters but not superfast like Tenergy or Outlaw. However when you try short gentle shots it feels dead as if it were a heavily tacky 729-08 and pushes the balls into the net.

Topsheet is relatively soft, and you can feel the tension in there. Sponge is harder, closer to T-05.

Spin hasn't impressed me so far - it's above average but not great. Serve is so-so.

One positive distinction from 729-08 - you can certainly use Vega on your backhand. 729-08 is too tacky to be a good backhand rubber but Vega Pro doesn't have that quality and so it plays BH rather reliably and basically the same way it does FH.

I will pair it up with Tenergy 05 on the same blade (putting T-05 instead of Outlaw there) and will do some more direct comparison. Perhaps Vega just needs some time to settle down, we'll see...

I have Vega Pro black max on a Donic EPox PowerCarbon blade.

To me the rubber feels as if it were a blue sponged Friendship 729FX, only harder and faster. Unfortunately there were only two thin layers of traditional glue beneath the rubber so it didnt stick to the blade properly and many of my shots went long and I wasnt as satisfied with it as I had hoped.

To be frank the PowerCarbon blade is not too hard for a carbon blade and we had much better results with the Epox Off which is truely a very good blade and clearly heavier then the PC. I would say they are the same speed but the EO brings better things out of rubbers than the Epox PC.

As a preliminary remark, I sort of detest any of the Tenergy rubbers ....

So far it turned out that Vega Pro has a lower and healthier throw than either T64 or 05. It is a a bit softer than T05 but my be a wee bit harder than 64.

It differs from Hexer and the likes in that it generates spin more from the topsheet and not so much the sponge. It could be described as a chinese rubber that is soft(er) and playable for a euro rubber player.

Speed could be higher than T05 but I will test it today and tomorrow and will put it on Epox Off to see how they work together.

Short game is good, spin on loops is maybe a bit less than Hexer but its faster and holds the ball for a little shorter time than Hexer.

These are my impressions so far but I suppose it will get better when it sticks to the blade properly.

bogeyhunter wrote: Used for 2 hrs, not enough to review this but here are what I experienced in 2 hrs. Equipment : Nittaku Ludeak Power Pro + Prasidha Long A 1.1 mm + Xiom Vega pro 2.0 mm Reviewer : Attacking chopper. Rated 2217.   1. First 5 minutes in warm up FH counter, missed most shots.....it's super fast. Faster than Blast - Renanos bright hard. Hitting horizontal way, not spinning it) and soft will make the ball jump out of the rubber fast. 2. Looping. Brush loop - ball curved over the net well and hooked down very quick. I never used Tenergy so can't compare but a friend, rated 2390, told me it had low throw like Chinese rubber and very spinny. A 2450 really loves the curve - hook thing. It allows him to hit harder. 3. Serve, push. Very bouncy. Couldn't control it for 5 mins then tried to push/flip kind of brush it and not let sponge comes in play. I controlled it better after that. 4. IMO - This rubber is designed for players with good technique and footwork. Without those, balls fly like bullets without curve and will likely go long)  Great in counter looping. I got the "grab" - "bite" and "release" feeling clearly when counter looping. 5. Have enough grip but not great when pushing over the table. 6. VERY difficult to chop with it. Even harder to "fish" or some call "guide"(See what Chen WX likes to do with his FH). The Tension topsheet makes it very difficult to control height and lenght of my "guide" 7. If  have to pick what to use again NOW. I'd go with a little softer, a bit slower speed plus more tacky topsheet. Maybe Vega Asia?   Not bacause I'm a chopper but because I'm not skilled enough to make the most of it, see #4.   Will do more testings and will record some videos.

My answer would be B, I suppose, if the two players' level is that "close". I definitely take your point, with gratitude. I hope you don't think my comment was being sarcastic. I truly was surprised to hear a 2200 level player say that they didn't think their technique was up to par for using Vega Pro. I suppose such honest self-appraisal and humility is a positive factor in reaching a 2200 rating.

I wouldn't say it's a self destructive weapon.

black sponge always looks cool to me

Would be interesting to see how many of people who bought this rubber ,will stick to it after testing.

I also do not think this is a speed demon. Its relative hardness can put off people who are very used to faster and much softer rubbers- so it looks like it is less forgiving and less controlling.

However, my experience with Tenergy and Outlaw shows that a relatively advanced player (2000) can adjust his technique and still play with it pretty well - especially on attack.

When it comes to controlled pushes, placement shots etc - bogeyhunter is right that this kind of rubber is worse at it than softer ones but that's where you have to adjust.

Also, as I am playing this rubber on a very soft (yet offensive) blade, that definitiely helps me to control it better in short game.

Will say more once I give it a longer testing - on Monday, I hope.

Here's my impression on this rubber.....


Equipment Used: TBS-fh/Vega Pro Max. bh/tuned sriver EL
Rubbers used b4: Tenergy05(its been awhile), IQUL, Outlaw,bryce, nimbus, SriverEL, Yasaka,

Initial Impression:
Sponge feels very hard, maybe not as hard as T05 but definitely harder than others i've played with.  Its fast!! not to a point where you cant control, but fast in a controlable way. 

Serves:
i couldn't tell it was spinny but, but opponent was keep hitting the net on my backspin serves. so i guess its pretty spinny.  nothing special though

Short Game:
I thought it was very good...it was producing a lot of backspin on my pushes.  its funny because, it wasnt affected by opponents spinny serves but your able return with good amount of spin.....weird...

Looping/Counter Looping
Very good....Highlight of this Rubber.  heavy spin on loops and counter loops.  you just have to make sure you have good strokes. need to go through the ball with good follow through.  my opponents block was going over the table cuz of heavy spin.
lifting/looping a backspin ball was the best part of this rubber for me.
this is how i made most of the points, they could not keep it on the table because of the tremendous amount of spin. Serve a Backspin, wait for opponent to push back, and loop that ball back - end of point.   counter loop/drives were very good with a lot of speed. (if my memory serves me correctly, T05 was a tad spinnier. but not 16 more dollars worth of spin).

Smash:Very good ...fast and stable. i thought it was better than T05


i am definitely loving this rubber.  still need some adjusting to do bcuz its faster than my previous rubber(TUNED IQUL).  But the adjustments are making my forehand more consistent and deadlier.   im able to swing all out like MaLong and keep it on the table!!!! this will surely stay on my FH.
Very good rubber for $36.  Recommand this for ppl wanting heavy spin, on a lower budget. 

Next...want to try Euro for backhand...

loopool wrote: Here's my impression on this rubber..... Equipment Used: TBS-fh/Vega Pro Max. bh/tuned sriver EL Rubbers used b4: Tenergy05(its been awhile), IQUL, Outlaw,bryce, nimbus, SriverEL, Yasaka, Initial Impression: Sponge feels very hard, maybe not as hard as T05 but definitely harder than others i've played with.  Its fast!! not to a point where you cant control, but fast in a controlable way.  Serves: i couldn't tell it was spinny but, but opponent was keep hitting the net on my backspin serves. so i guess its pretty spinny.  nothing special though Short Game: I thought it was very good...it was producing a lot of backspin on my pushes.  its funny because, it wasnt affected by opponents spinny serves but your able return with good amount of spin.....weird... Looping/Counter Looping Very good....Highlight of this Rubber.  heavy spin on loops and counter loops.  you just have to make sure you have good strokes. need to go through the ball with good follow through.  my opponents block was going over the table cuz of heavy spin. lifting/looping a backspin ball was the best part of this rubber for me. this is how i made most of the points, they could not keep it on the table because of the tremendous amount of spin. Serve a Backspin, wait for opponent to push back, and loop that ball back - end of point.   counter loop/drives were very good with a lot of speed. (if my memory serves me correctly, T05 was a tad spinnier. but not 16 more dollars worth of spin). Smash:Very good ...fast and stable. i thought it was better than T05 i am definitely loving this rubber.  still need some adjusting to do bcuz its faster than my previous rubber(TUNED IQUL).  But the adjustments are making my forehand more consistent and deadlier.   im able to swing all out like MaLong and keep it on the table!!!! this will surely stay on my FH. Very good rubber for $36.  Recommand this for ppl wanting heavy spin, on a lower budget.  Next...want to try Euro for backhand...

After two more hours of trying I decided to take it off my blade and put Hexer back.

I lost so many points using Vega Pro that I could hardly beat people whom I usually beat 11-4.

I wouldnt recommend it to anyone.... But the good thing is that Vega Europa is very good and I am curious to try VEga Asia because if it is consistently stiff on all shots and can produce the same speed as VEga Pro then it could be a promising rubber.

Jeff(ATTC) wrote: Initial Impressions Set up: Avalox P700 ST FH: DHS H3 NEO Black 2.2 BH: Xiom Vega Pro Red MAX Serve The natural rubber topsheet is very grippy and allows for serves to be low. The harder sponge allows the topsheet to do more of the work. Nice spinney serves. Push This rubber is good for pushing. When I�m going for the long flat and fast pushes, they land and they do so with speed and spin. Block Blocking with this rubber is better than Vega Euro. The harder sponge on Pro has more kick than Euro to send the ball over. Loop When looping Vega Pro produces loops with a lower throw than Vega Euro; it almost looks like the arch of my H3 Neo. Loops go deep onto the table and have good pace. When looping against backspin I can really load the ball up since the nice grippy topsheet can grab the ball, and the firm sponge will pop it back out. Jeff(ATTC)

I also think it is pretty good on BH. It's so-so on FH, spinny and all that but nothing impressive that separates it from many others. On BH however it plays consistently good, better than average pricey post-glue-era rubber.

My Vega Pro and Asia both 2.0 just arrived. Will post a review when I have tried it.