Xiom Ice Cream AZX PRO

Hello table tennis friends!

     This time, I am evaluating the Xiom Ice Cream AZX PRO (AZXP), a 5+2 inner composite blade that was designed for the South Korean star player, Jeoung Young Sik. The AZXP is unique inasmuch as different composite materials are used on the FH and BH sides. Thus, an 'Axylium + X-Carbon' layer is used on the FH side, while a 'Zephylium + X-Carbon' layer is used on the BH side (I will subsequently refer to the two sides as the “A-” and “Z-sides”, respectively). According to Xiom, the A-side has a softer and springier feel with good ball drag, while the Z-side has a harder feel, enabling excellent control and ball rotation.  

    As someone who normally uses DHS Hurricane 3 (H3) on my FH and Spinlord Waran II (W2) short pips on my BH, I have to compromise when choosing a blade. Do I go for a softer, slightly flexible blade that suits the looping capabilities of H3 better, or do I go for a harder, stiffer blade that better suits the blocking and hitting capabilities of the W2 short pips? A combination blade like the AZXP offers the promise of not having to compromise. 

    Xiom rates the Korean-made AZXP as follows in the catapult, ball grab, repulsion, and precision categories: 8.5/7.8/8.0/8.7. For comparison, other top-end Xiom blades have the following corresponding scores: Ice Cream AZX Pro (9.7/8.3/8.3/7.7), Cho Daeseong TMX PRO (CD-TMXP, 9.3/7.6/8.3/9.0), and An Jaehyun TMXi Pro (AJH-TMXiP, 9.4/7.9/8.2/9.1). This suggests that the AZXP will be less bouncy and slightly slower than the other blades, which should favor a more spin-offensive game style. 

    The AZXP is packaged in a modern-looking, trapezoid-shaped, purple and metallic orange cardboard box. Apart from the blade name being listed on the front lip, no other text is displayed on the box. 

    The AZXP has a dark, straw-colored playing surface with light-brown vertical wood grain typical of limba. The A-side features the blade name and logo, Jung Youngsik’s name and signature, and a description of the blade. The Z-side also features the blade name and logo, along with a brief description of the Axylium (power spin) and Zephylium (control spin) materials. The A- and Z-sides of the handle are identical except for the color scheme. Thus, the A-side is dark grey with a salmon-red rectangular border, while the Z-side is dark grey with a purple rectangular border. Primarily red (A-side) and purple (Z-side) - but otherwise identical - metallic lenses are embedded into the handle on both sides. The bottom of the handle features a purple metallic rectangular Xiom tag that lists the blade name. The playing surfaces and edges are exceptionally smooth. The blade is minimally sanded on one side (i.e., assuming a right-handed player uses the A-side as their FH side). 

    The AZXP has limba outer plies and a medium-thick kiri core. The ‘Axylium + X-Carbon' layer surrounding the kiri core on one side is thick, whereas the 'Zephylium + X-Carbon' layer that surrounds the kiri core on the other side is thin. The playing surface of the blade is above average with the following dimensions (height x width x thickness): 158 mm x 153 mm x 5.7 mm. The ST handle, which is of a hybrid SQST/RST style, has the following dimensions (length x width x height): 101.3 mm, 28.2 mm, and 22.5-22.8 mm. My sample weighed 88 grams. Bouncing a ball on the naked blade produced a resonance frequency of ~1359 Hz (no difference between the “A” or “Z” side), which is similar to the AJH-TMXiP with the inner ply TMX construction (1371 Hz) but lower than the CD-TMXP with outer TMX construction (1523 Hz). These numbers suggest that the AZXP is in the high OFF- range. Unsurprisingly, given the larger head size, the center of gravity is tilted towards the top, being ~3.7 cm from the top of the handle. 

Testing Procedure

     I evaluated the blade using well-used sheets of DHS Hurricane 3 (black, 2.15 mm, 40-degree) and Spinlord Waran II (red, 2.0 mm) short pips as my FH and BH rubbers, respectively. I first tested the blade with the H3 and W2 on the A- and Z-sides, respectively (i.e., “regular orientation”). I then re-tested the blade in reverse orientation, i.e., H3 on the Z-side and W2 on the A-side. I attached the rubbers using one layer of the Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue on both the rubber and the blade. I tested the setups over several sessions, playing a mix of regular and match-like drills against my regular high-level practice partner (two-winged looper) and practice matches against intermediate-level club members, using Neottec Neoplast Pro 40+ training balls throughout this test.

Playing Impressions – Regular Orientation (H3 on A-side, W2 on Z-side)

Initial Impressions

     The AZXP felt light and nimble during gameplay with a nice, slightly top-tilted balance. The ST grip was comfortable, though slightly on the thin side. Players with very large hands might want to use grip tape.  

Driving

     The AZXP produces a relatively soft feeling on medium-impact FH drives, whereas higher-impact FH drives produce a slight cracking sensation. The blade is fast, but not tremendously so (high OFF-). The throw angle is relatively high (medium to medium-high), which gave me plenty of net clearance and excellent FH drive consistency. BH drives, played using the softer W2, produced a sharper, cracking sensation. The throw angle was slightly flatter (~medium), resulting in slightly shallower and longer trajectories (as it turns out, the lower throw angle is due to the W2, not the AZXP’s Z-side, more on that later).  

Looping

     The H3/AZXP combination worked well on FH warm-up loops. The medium dwell time results in respectable spin generation and comfortable trajectories over the net. Third ball FH loops against long pushes were easy to execute, and I was able to place the shots with excellent accuracy. The loops were neither the fastest nor the spinniest that I have ever produced, but the overall power level and consistency won me many points. FH loop-to-loop rallies from afar were facilitated by the stable nature of the blade and the relatively high throw angle. The FH side felt quite linear, and as a result, I rarely overshot the table. 

    BH short pip fishing shots from afar felt great, thanks to the faster and sharper feeling of the Z-side when using the W2. The blade gave me the confidence to rip through the ball. Third ball attacks against long pushes with my BH short pips proved more challenging due to the shorter dwell time and flatter throw angle. Many of my shots got hung up at the top of my net and/or went long.    

Blocking

    The AZXP feels very controllable on warm-up blocks since it is not exceptionally fast, quite linear, and has a high enough throw angle for the shots to clear the net. The AZXP felt similarly reliable during more randomized blocking drills. I enjoyed excellent control of ball placement, yet the shots were sufficiently fast to be out of reach for my practice partner.      

Smashing

    While not a flat hitter’s blade, the AZXP is easily fast and stable enough to finish off points competently. 

Flicking

    The AZXP is sufficiently stiff to enable effective, moderately fast pancake-type FH flicks, yet soft and high-throwing enough to allow you to lift pushes over the net using mini-loop type strokes. BH flicks, executed with the softer W2, felt sharper and were faster.   

Pushing

    The moderate speed and extended dwell time of AZXP’s A-side enabled me to play viciously spinny long FH pushes that my practice partner struggled to attack. The manageable speed of the blade gave me the confidence to engage the ball aggressively without fear of overshooting the table.

    The linear nature of the AZXP allowed me to play short and flat FH pushes with good consistency.    

Playing Impressions – Reverse Orientation (H3 on Z-side, W2 on A-side)

Driving

    FH drives using the H3 on the Z-side felt slightly softer and bouncier than in the regular orientation. Also, the sound produced was slightly more muted. Although the softer feeling gave the impression that the Z-side was slightly slower, its slightly bouncier nature resulted in longer trajectories. The throw angle of the Z-side seemed minimally higher (medium to medium-high), which gave me even more net clearance and even greater FH drive consistency. BH drives with the W2 felt minimally sharper in this orientation compared to the “regular” orientation, but the differences felt less pronounced than with the FH. 

Looping

    FH loops using the H3 on the Z-side seemed slightly spinnier and more consistent compared to using the A-side, but were also a little slower. Third ball FH attacks against long pushes were quite effective, although the slightly bouncier nature of the Z-side meant I had a slightly greater tendency to overshoot the table when looping down-the-line compared to when using H3 on the A-side. The reverse orientation also felt a little bouncier on FH loop-to-loop rallies from afar. Thus, I had more shots go long. However, consistency was excellent provided I moderated my input power and allowed the blade and its high throw angle to do most of the work.  

    Using the W2 on the A-side for BH fishing shots far from the table resulted in a slightly sharper feeling compared to the W2/Z-side set-up, but the differences felt more minor than for the H3. I enjoyed improved consistency on my BH 3rd ball attacks against long pushes with the W2 short pips on the A-side vis-à-vis the Z-side. I credit the more linear nature and sharper feeling of the A-side for this.    

Blocking

    Once again, the AZXP felt controllable and reliable on FH and BH warm-up blocks, although FH blocks were slightly livelier due to the softer and bouncier nature of the Z-side. I made similar observations during more randomized blocking drills.     

Smashing

    Like my observations when using the AZXP in the regular orientation, this blade is not a flat hitter’s blade, even though plenty fast enough to finish off points. My FH smashes felt slightly softer and bouncier, whereas BH smashes were slightly sharper. 

Flicking

    My FH flicks felt slightly softer, slower, and safer when using the H3 on the Z-side as compared to using it on the A-side. As such, I found myself using mini-loop style flicks more often than pancake-type power flicks. BH flicks were minimally faster and sharper with the W2 on the A-side compared to using W2 on the Z-side.  

Pushing

    The softer feeling of the H3 on the Z-side meant that I was able to play good-quality long FH pushes, although the slightly bouncier nature of the Z-side meant that I occasionally overshot the table.      

    I enjoyed the soft feeling and tempo of the H3 on the Z-side for short FH pushes, which were of high quality, low, and spinny. 

Overall Conclusion

    The Xiom Ice Cream AZX PRO is a high-quality 5+2 inner ply composite blade. It is reasonably fast, controllable, and has a relatively woody feeling as far as composite blades go. The fact that two different composite materials are used on each side allows for fine-tuning of setups. In my opinion, the ‘Axylium + X-Carbon' side produces a slightly sharper and more direct feeling, which lends itself towards being paired with soft to middle-hard rubbers, whereas the slightly softer and bouncier 'Zephylium + X-Carbon' side can be combined with harder rubbers. This is a blade that enables a modern spin-offensive game style for players of many different levels, ranging from intermediate to professional. 

About the Reviewer