Joola Maxxx 500 Review

Joola Maxxx 500

weight: 71-72 grams

hardness: hard

speed: off

test blade: 7 ply all wood blade with limba and ayous plies (adidas strike wood 7)

After being given a Joola Maxxx 450 by my friend Philip last year, I was given a Joola Maxxx 500 for me to review. I really liked the  450 version because it was medium and spinny with good attacking speed. I was intrigued with the 500 version because this is the hardest ESN rubber I have ever tried. I like medium chinese hard rubbers for my forehand and so I opted to try this.

The red rubber above is the 450 version and the black one is the 500 version. Take note that both have identical sponges despite the difference in color. The 450 has a white cream sponge and the 

500 has the orange sponge. They seem to have similar pore sizes and even identical topsheets. The topsheet has a grainy and very grippy surface.

When I was pressing the 500 against my fingers it felt very hard but the topsheet is medium soft. The hardness reminds me of a 38-39 degree DHS Neo H3. It's like a bouncy Palio Thors minus the tackiness and with a softer topsheet. It seems upon observation that the spacing of the pimples on all the Maxxx rubber series have the same spacing and sizes. 

I was expecting the Maxxx 500 to be very fast when I was drilling using fh and bh drives with it but suprisingly I would rate it only as an off rubber instead of off+ which is a good thing because it's more forgiving. It felt bouncy and fast but the hardness of the sponge seem to prevent me from making the ball faster unless I swing harder. In terms of speed, the 500 version is a tad slower than the 450 when I was driving, smashing and spin driving the rubber. You can feel less compression on the sponge of the 500 and more on the 450 version and somehow it has it's own perks and downsides which i'm gonna explain a lil bit more.

I think the Maxxx 500 was designed for specific players with specific styles and not for all around players. It's properties can be both a blessing or a minus depending on your style. It felt very hard that if you closed your eyes you can easily mistook it as a chinese rubber especially when driving or smashing. Also, I felt the 500 wasn't designed far from the table. The 450 version has a longer trajectory and is easier to spin with on loops. On blocking, both passive and active, you will need to adjust 

I think there will be a split between players on whether they will love or hate this rubber. On the plus side, if you are used to a chinese rubber especially on the forehand like palio thors or the hurricane and skyline series, you will surely love the maxxx 500. The hard sponge combined with the medium or medium soft topsheet bites the ball very well even without the tackiness like that of the H3 the 500 is very spinny. I think it almost felt like a hybrid rubber when I was looping or spin driving with it but with more speed and almost the same level of spin. The 500 excels in brush loops or thin contact on the ball. This is the very ideal stroke for the rubber because it needs a Chinese style of brush or contact on its topsheet. On the 500 topsheet you can compress the ball better despite the hard sponge, on the Neo H3 you can compress the ball less but because of its tackiness you can brush and spin the ball well. The 500 produces a spinny and medium to high arc on loops. The 450 is spinnier if you compress the ball harder on the sponge whiel the 500 is spinnier if you brush like it's a chinese rubber. It's good attacking especially near or above the table depending on your timing. Again, it spins like a chinese rubber minus the tackiness. 

On other things like serving and pushing, I don't have any problems using it in fact I felt it is easy to serve with spinny serves and pushing was also very good because IMO hard rubbers push better and serve better as long as your contact is good. However on more delicate strokes like a drop shot you would need to adjust more to control the ball since without the tackiness 

Overall, the Maxxx 500 is very good you just not to have the skills to fully utilize its potential and also have some sort of specific style that will enable you to brush the ball properly. 

@yogi : How would you compare this with Donic Bluefire JP01 ? 

Now that I think about it i also disagree that Maxx feels like chinese rubber. The sponge is too springy. If you know a chinese rubber with such catapult I am willing to test it immediately. Perhaps other users of Maxx can weigh in, but i think its still a rather lively rubber. Especially for me, since I make almost perpendicular impact and sink the ball in the sponge as much as I can. It was rather jumpy if you manage to compress that tough sponge. 

I sold my Maxx500 though.. even on TBS i couldn't make it go straight. It is best for ZJK opening loops, picks up very easy. 

can you recommend blades which would suit the maxxx 500?

Best rubbers nowadays, 1Q Xd, 5Q, MAXXX500 and MAXXX 450 IMO