36.5 Deep Impact ALX Blade

Weight: 85 grams (approximate)

Thickness: 5.72mm

Plies: 7 (Koto with Carbon-Axylium composite and possibly Kiri core)

Speed: Offensive Plus

This is the blade of the series and possibly the blade I prefer among all Xiom blades that I have own and still own. I have the Stradivarius and is still one of my favorites but the 36.5 Deep Impact ALX blade has caught my attention since I have been an ALC blade user ever since. Xiom states that the process they have used for constructing the blade is different and the first in the industry. Xiom’s Cold Process is different from the usual way of removing moisture from the wood layers. The traditional ways are letting the wood plies dry under the sun or using a heating kiln to eliminate moisture. The Cold Process is different because it takes longer to dry and press the wood plies compared to the high temperature process wherein it dries the wood plies quickly. The purpose of the Cold Process is to preserve the original characteristics of the wood plies. This blade, like the Ice Cream blades and Hugo SAL, is made

in Korea. The high quality construction is very obvious the moment you lay your eyes on the blade. The surface is semi-smooth and no way rough. The handle shape is identical to that of the AZX and AZXi blades with a 100mm x 25mm dimensions. If people like the Stradivarius blade, the 36.5 Deep Impact ALX Blade is the blade to get if they are looking for something that is similar in performance with a certain famous ALC blade in the market. This might be the least priced blade compared to the other 3 new blades of Xiom but in my opinion this is the best blade from Xiom yet.

Speed

The 36.5 ALX is an OFF+ blade with an oustanding level of control. The 36.5’s speed is comparable with other famous blades in the market. The 36.5 blade’s speed is faster than the Xiom Hugo SAL and the new Xiom Stradivarius. The 36.5 blade is slower than the old Stradivarius, more or less equal speed than the Viscaria, slower than Stiga Dynasty and slower than the Xiom AXi Ice Cream blade. The ball has a medium high bounce when bouncing against the bare blade with a medium high pitch.  I used a Xiom Tau II rubber for the forehand and Xiom Omega 7 China Ying for the backhand. I also switched the forehand and backhand rubbers just to check the effects of using a rubber that has characteristics of a Chinese rubber. The 36.5 Blade has a medium-high speed. I did not find it too fast. The speed is typical

to the current ALC blades in the market. It is safe to say that the control and speed of the 36.5 far exceeded my expectation. As I have theorized before, Xiom now has emphasized more on the feel and

control of the blade due to the fact that their rubbers are very fast especially on the recent release of their Omega 7 Hyper rubbers.

Looping or spinning

The 36.5 Deep Impact ALX is the 2^nd best looping blade in the series after the Hugo SAL blade. Both have a good “dwell” with a more profound feel that goes for the Hugo SAL. It is a one good looping machine but can loop farther away from the table compared to the Hugo SAL due to the faster speed and greater amount of force it can produce for the ball. It is also excellent at middle distance and long distance counter looping from the table. I have observed that the ball with both Tau II and Xioom Omega 7 as having medium arc when looping. I would say that the accuracy of my loops with the 36.5 5 are as good as my loops when I am using the new Stradivarius as both have this medium-soft feel when looping.

Feel

The biggest selling point of both the Hugo Sal and 36.5 Deep Impact ALX is that both have outstanding feel. The 36.5 DE ALX has this medium soft feel compared to the harder feel of the Viscaria or Timo Boll ALC. Despite having almost similar wood plies and construction, the 36.5 DE ALX has a more or less woody feel. It kinda felt softer than the mentioned ALC blades. For me, TB ALC feels the hardest follow by Viscaria and then the 36.5 DE ALX is the softest of the 3. The newly re-released Stradivarius has a somewhat equal feel to the 36.5 DE ALX. Adding to that, the handle is very comfortable to the hand. Its ergonomic feel reminds me of those discontinued Adidas blades.

Control and Usability

The 36.5 DE ALX is a very forgiving blade. Since the feel is topnotch and the speed above average, it can be used by anybody within the intermediate level provided the rubbers are not too fast. The power is subtle. It looks like it is not fast but once you start attacking with it, you can feel the great balance of the speed and control. Overall, this is a great blade to invest with since it has a better feel and ball feedback to the hand compared to other popular blades of the same design.

Hugo HAL/SAL

Weight: 85 grams

Thickness: 5.81mm

Plies: 7 (Koto outer with Axylium composite and possibly Kiri core)

Speed: Off

The Hugo SAL blade is the first non-carbon composite blade made by Xiom if memory serves me right.

Composite blades with only arylate layers are few in the market. The last time I remember a blade like this was when the Moonbeam was still produced or when the Friendship Zebra transformer blade was still considered new many years ago. In my opinion, Xiom designed this blade that maximizes feel but with consideration also for speed. The construction is different from what you have seen before that was posted online. The previous version had a blue axylium composite layer while the newer one has the orange-colored axylium. The ones you have seen online posted before and tested by several forumers are the old version blades. This is the reason why I deferred the chance to review the blade when it first came out and also just waited for the final version to be sent to me. When I was checking the blade, the axylium layer was very obscure and very hard to see. It is almost invisible to the eye but upon closer inspection you will see the composite layer on the 2^nd layer of the blade.

Speed

When I was bouncing the ball onto the bare blade, I was surprised to see that the bounce is lower than  the 36.5 and has a much lower pitch when basing on the ball bounce sound. I used the Xiom Tau II, Omega 7 Asia and Omega 7 China Ying for this test just to check exactly how fast it is. I would say the speed is not a true OFF+ nor it is exactly an OFF blade. If there is a level of speed existing between the 2 speed levels, that is where I will place the speed of the Hugo SAL. When I tried drilling with the Hugo SAL, I noticed that it is not slow. It maybe be slower than other carbon-composite blades but it is nowhere in the level of OFF- blades. I would say the speed is faster than the usual 7 ply limba all wood blades but slower than Xiom Stradivarius. If compared to other brands, this is slower than TB ALC or Viscaria for comparison purposes.

Looping and blade feel

The Hugo SAL blade was designed to have the best feel maximized for players who want a good ball feedback to the hand. First and foremost, due to the very thin layer of axylium in the plies, the blade almost feels like an all wood blade. It has this very fine woody feel. It feels medium soft with some flex on the blade. The flex is almost similar to a 7 ply all wood blade. When I used the Xiom Tau II and a Chinese rubber on it, it felt so great looping underspin balls. Close to the table, hands down, this is the best looping blade Xiom has right now that is not an all wood blade. It loops really well like the Offensive S which is a slower 5 ply all wood blade. I think both the looping and feel characteristics are 2 of the best

Hugo SAL blade properties that you would really love. I would place this as a close to the table looping blade. If intermediate players who have developed a somewhat fair attacking strokes would be able to use this with no difficulty whatsoever. For advanced players, this is a great looping machine that will enable you to do precise, strong spinny loops near the table. If partnered with a super fast rubber like the Xiom Omega 7 Hyper, you can even counter loop away from the table. I think this was made to complement the hard and fast attacking rubbers of Xiom. The medium soft feel of the Hugo SAL is perfect to combine with rubbers having hardness of 50 degrees and above. Even the Omega 7 China Guang which is 60 degrees does not feel as hard as when placed on to other blades.you want to go back farther from the table, the Omega 7 China Ying/Guang and the Omega  7 Asia are both enough for the Hugo SAL not to lose speed farther from the table.

Control and Usability

The blade has a high level of control comparable to a 7ply all wood blade. I would even go further by saying that people who wants to transition from an all wood blade but are hesitant to use a fast carbon blade can greatly benefit from just choosing the Hugo SAL. The blade is very forgiving and high controllable that