XIOM Vega Japan Review

OK, here it is finally! The Xiom Vega Japan review!!

Vega Rubbers: I have played (and still own) Vega Pro (Max) and Vega China (Max), so I will try to make comparison with the Vega Pro as I can.

I played Vega Japan in 2.0 on my BH.

Hardness: Sponge seems to be about the same as Vega Pro (around 47), but the topsheet is definitely softer and more elastic.

Weight: Uncut, around 70g, according to my memory (which is questionable )

Sound & Feel: The rubber feels softer than Vega Pro due to the softer topsheet, and the rubber has one of the nicest clicking sounds I've ever heard. Also, the rubber is super-tight, tensioned like crazy, more than Tenergy and Bluefire in my opinion. This provides a very lively bounce and incredible friction for brushing-shots. However, it doesn't feel that uncontrollable even with this tension, because the topsheet really grabs the ball and directs it with confidence.

Throw Angle:  Higher than Vega Pro, though not stupidly high like Baracuda or Tenergy. I think it's a proper throw angle, giving versatility to different strokes. Meaning, it's low enough to handle passive blocking and short game, but gives ripping loops.

Speed:  Fast! The outright speed is about as quick as Vega Pro, but the topspinning/looping speed is higher, imo. This is not a rubber for beginners, even in 2.0mm.

Topspin: I thoroughly enjoyed this. I think the gift of Vega Japan is its increased control, as you can rip loops comparable to the greatest tensors (Bluefire, EVO, Tenergy, etc.) but still maintain high control. I think the Vega Japan's specialty is looping for sure. I was very confident during my FH looping drills and did not have to struggle to adapt to the rubber, and it gave a very consistent arc. Also, I found it to be more forgiving doing loops that were not hit correctly than with Bluefire/Tenergy.....Also, since I used 2.0, this will give me more control naturally, so others might find it much different in Max. I bet it's a BEAST in Max!!

Blocking & Short Game: Ok, so the new ESN rubbers seem to be moving towards a better short game and touch than the previous generations, as exemplified with Bluefire and the new "Top Secret rubber I'm testing for Adidas (I havne't played Tibhar EVO, but I imagine they're trying to do it too ). Vega Japan is no exception in this. However, I did not find it as unreactive to spin as Bluefire in the short game, but the control is still there. I just used the extra sensitivity to do some super-fast and low, spinny pushes. However, I am confident that if I used this rubber regularly, I could capture all of it's short-game abilities in little time. Basically, if I wrote this review a month from now, I'd tell you that the spin-sensitivity is not an issue because it can be mastered. Also, it is the "nature of the beast" that grippy rubbers have some reactivity to spin, though still less than the Chinese .

FH: I played mostly BH with it because I use Chinese rubbers on my FH (currently Juic 999 Turbo in Max). I did some twiddling during my games too, to try the Vega Japan in a "match setting." I was able to make the rubber click harder on the FH and the control was still great, but the BH is where I like to keep my Euro rubbers .

Overall: Vega Japan is definitely "The Ultimatum of the Vega Series," as Xiom put it. It is from the same family as the other Vegas, but it's definitely a different animal. Do not expect this to be like a Vega Pro enhanced, it is not the same. The topsheet is truly what sets it apart. This rubber will be for the extreme offensive-minded player (basically, odd-balled spinfreaks like me ). In 2.0mm, the high rated player will probably like this on their BH, and really enjoy the extra speed/spin from a Max thickness on their FH.  Finally: IF YOU LOVED THE VEGA SERIES, BUT THOUGHT IT WAS GETTING OUT-SHINED BY OTHER TENSORS, PERHAPS IT'S TIME TO TRY IT AGAIN WITH VEGA JAPAN

Many thanks to the forum and to tabletennis11. All you guys rock! Play on!

Me too!

well....?

Sorry guys, I was able to put it on my blade for 2 hours before I had to take it off, because I had to play in the NCTTA Regionals, and then I had SPring Break. So I'm just now getting back to it this week, I will put it back on a blade and will write an in-depth review soon.

So far, here's what I can say. The rubber feels softer than the other Vega rubbers I've played with, which are Vega China and Vega Pro. However, I believe it is a softer, more elastic topsheet that makes it feel that way. THe actual sponge does not appear to be much softer than the Vega Pro, but the topsheet definitely is (the topsheet kinda reminded me of Baracuda with its high elasticity, though the rubber plays different than Baracuda). Keep in mind that I am only using 2.0mm, but even with that the rubber is very nice. It definitely produces one of the best "clicking" sounds I've heard from any tensor. I can also say that it would be a great companion on the backhand, as that is where I liked it best, since I use Chinese rubber on the FH currently.

MORE TO COME LATER.  I won't leave y'all hanging

First, I think they should have called it Vega 2 or Delta or something besides Vega Japan. It is much better than the other Vega rubbers. I think it is hands down the best $47 rubber available in the US. 

It is firmer and plays short better than the Europe. The response is more predictable and linear. When you hit hard it is faster than Vega Europe. I am using it on the Aegis blade and it works great for chop, loop, block and smash. I have great control for chop, and block, but when the ball is up, I can put it away very easily. 

 Really, I can't think of any area that Vega Japan is poor.   

Our top junior changed from the $80 rubber to this a couple months ago and his level has not dropped at all. 2 weeks ago he won the U2400 in Sacramento and last month he beat a 2600 player to win our monthly tournament. 

As I mentioned before, our kid's are sponsored by Xiom, so you might say I am biased. However, we did have offers from elsewhere. Xiom was the only product we evaluated that would enable our our kids to compete at the highest level. 

Their product really is very good. Especially the latest arrivals. 

Alphapong- Thank you! Much appreciate it. So, the Europe works well for me, except of in the fast smashes area, where I have not yet learned to do it properly. Would Vega Japan be better in this, without losing the nice looping bite?

I played with it again this week for about an hour, but mostly just training. I'll put it to a proper test tonight with games for 3 hours and probably finalize my review after that. As of right now, just to let everyone know, I am reviewing it as a BH rubber in 2.0mm (I have hit with it on the FH, but that's not where i would play it, since my FH seems to like Chinese rubbers more ).

stanton65 wrote: I was looking for this Vega japan version on the official XiomTT website but could not find it. Grateful if anyone could share thoughts on that. Cheers

It's quite new, and has not been added to the site yet... and neither have a few of the other latest rubbers.

The weighed it before I cut it, and I seem to remember it was around 70g. Doesn't seem that much lighter/heavier than other ESN rubbers.

Updated first post. The review is done!! Any questions, I will answer as best I can 

128YinYang wrote: Updated first post. The review is done!! Any questions, I will answer as best I can

What´s the uncut (or cut) weight of a Vega Japan? I´d really like to try in case it isn´t heavier than than a Tenergy 05.

Edited by Enter_Thrice - 03/31/2013 at 1:26pm

Brainstorm69 wrote: 128YinYang wrote: The weighed it before I cut it, and I seem to remember it was around 70g. Doesn't seem that much lighter/heavier than other ESN rubbers. 70 grams uncut?  That's really heavy.  Bummer....

Harder and faster? Are you sure? M3 is very soft and 128yinyang said that Vega Japan has a similar sponge hardness to Vega Pro with a softer topsheet. I've never used Vega Pro but I'm quite sure that it's harder than M3.

Vega Japan Black Max  Uncut - 66g

I weighed 6 sheets and came up with 66.41 +- .5 g.

The heaviest was within .9 grams of the lightest. That is VERY good Q.C. 

I remember having to weigh every sheet of Mark V for one of my players before, because we were routinely seeing fluctuations of 10+ grams between the light sheets and the heavy ones. 

BTW, I met with the Xiom U.S. manager and someone from product development on Saturday.

He had about 6 prototype blades that we tested and we chatted about some stuff coming down the pipeline.  He said Omega V is coming and it is very good. He also said about Vega Japan, that it was part of their higher end, high performance product line but they decided to release it as part of the Vega series so they could sell it at a lower price point and target a different part of the market. 

This would be why it seems so different from the other Vegas.

I think if I was going to sum up Vega Japan in one line it would be this, "High performance that's easy to use." 

So there I was with my notepad, pen and someone straight from product development in Korea. - SCORE!

I finally gathered enough technical information to be able to make sense of the Xiom rubbers - NOT!

Sorry, it was a big fail. I don't know if he was being evasive to protect production secrets or if he simply could not give me the info I was after. I tried to get him to compare and contrast Vega, Omega, and Sigma but  his standard reply was "The composition is different" For example he said the topsheet structure of Vega Pro and Omega Pro was identical but the "composition was different". 

I was hoping for some insight into which topsheets, had more natural rubber and which one had more synthetic and what kind of pip structures etc. Didn't happen. 

The only concrete data I got was the following sponge hardnesses for most of there rubbers:

Elite - 40, Europe 42.5, Asia and Pro 47.5. * 

* edit 4/11/13 - Received an email today with a table of sponge harness. These hardness are for Vega and Omega IV.

He said he would email me some more info. 

At the end of our meeting, as a service to table tennis players everywhere (especially all the ones in our club wearing basketball shorts) , I asked him to please make some longer shorts.

I would agree with the hardness on the package from Xiom and call Vega Japan Medium. (Why the heck did I not ask for the numbers when I had the chance?! )  

I have Omega IV Pro on my other identical blade and Omega IV is harder. But I would say Vega Japan is harder than Raksa 7 soft for sure. 

 

Edited by alphapong - 04/11/2013 at 3:11pm