Donic Burn Aratox

5/25/15 Update

I have since switched rubbers and found my perfect combination:

Andro REVOfire - 2.1 blk-FH Andro Impuls powerspongs 2.0 red - BH

Loops are fantastic, blocks great, and easily flicks. It’s everything I wanted in a bat. Now, to find some extra blades and stock up. With the above setup, it’s OFF to OFF-.

Original review below

This is a nice semi-flexy AR blade. Due to Donic having three similar (Burn) models that look similar, I think it confuses consumers as to what they’re buying. It did me as I wanted the AR version (not OF).

This blade is softer and flexible, making it a nice AR blade. The sweet spot is large, and the only minor point is it doesn’t impart much spin (remember, there are rubbers attached that could be blamed).

It’s head-heavy (my ST blade weighed 86g) and has good power at a mid-table distance. It’s not a powerhouse as I play an all-round game. The build quality is good, with some glue oozing out on this side (easily fixed with light sanding).

My ST blade weighed 89g.

Tested with Palio CJ8000 2-Side (FH) and 729 Trans. Cream (BH), it has better control as I can place the ball well. I like playing with this blade.

The ST handle has an oval shape and is comfortable in my large hands (see my Joola Medium Falcon review if you have large hands).

Here are some dimensions:

Donic Burn Aratox (ST) L= 102mm W= 30.25mm CS= 29.75mm head 151mm x 156.5mm

I’m surprised that nobody has reviewed this blade.

My blade has an AN handle and weighs 92g. The handle is thick, which is comfortable for me. The blade area is a bit large, increasing the overall racket weight (190g). I have been using it for about a month with Andro Rasant 2.2mm on the forehand (FH) and DHS Memo 2 2.2mm on the backhand (BH).

This assembly is OFF-/OFF, not all-round (AR).

FH topspin: Very good, with good arc and velocity. Lands easily on the table.

FH smash: The ball doesn’t fly as an arrow (or as with my Yasaka Dynamix 17, which often smashes off the table), but it is enough to kill the point.

Control and push/chop: Very good; even with the aggressive FH Rasant, pushes and over-the-table chops are easy to land. The increased weight of the assembly helps in building a solid platform to rebound the ball and absorb incoming energy and effect.

Blocks: Excellent, both FH and BH; despite having quite different rubbers, blocking is awesome. Perhaps the best quality of this assembly.

BH topspin and lift: Not as good as FH, the arc is not so good, but Memo 2 is not a Rasant. A more flexible blade could help here in creating nicer arcs.

BH flat-ball rallies: Very good; more than enough for keeping the rally alive until a strong BH stroke can be applied. The very good control rules in BH rallies.

FH and BH flicks: The weight of the racket slows somewhat fast arm movements; don’t expect to be doing amazingly fast flicks.

Regarding flex, I think it doesn’t have the amount of flex claimed by other reviewers; it is more a low “stiffy” blade.

To conclude, I don’t give a higher score to the blade because (mainly) of the somewhat heavy overall weight (a smaller blade area was tolerable and could alleviate the issue, as well as gymnasium training for increasing your arm power and strength) and the lack of more quality on BH aggressive strokes. Given this, the Donic Burn Aratox is a solid weapon for developing a secure-controlled-allround game. It is a pity that it is being discontinued (mine was bought in a 35% sale).

As chuckjordan2 stated in his review, I can’t understand why there aren’t more reviews for this blade here. And I can understand even less why Donic is discontinuing this blade.

It is a very good all+ blade with excellent feel and huge control. There’s also enough power to generate good speed, and spin is excellent too. Even though I hate vibrations in my table tennis blades, the slight flex of this blade is not disturbing at all. It contributes to the good feel and touch. It’s hard to think of a downside to this blade. For the time being, I can’t think of any.