Donic Crest AR+

The inner fiber blade tends to feel slightly head heavy when paired with medium-hard rubbers. However, it offers excellent control and speed. Despite its AR+ classification, the blade plays more like an OFF- to OFF blade.

The construction is of high quality, and the handle provides a comfortable grip. Visually, the blade is aesthetically pleasing.

Very nice blade that offers speed with good control. Blocking and ball placement comes easy. I am very impressed with the handle of how it sits in your hand very comfortably and the handle lens on both sides makes the handle stand out.

What a great blade! The blade is quite fast, making it effective for hitting the ball 2 to 3 meters from the table. Despite its speed, it is very controllable. You can still block the ball from heavy topspin without pressing down on the blade. I have not played with another blade that is as fast with so much control. This blade is not the fastest I have ever played with, but it strikes the perfect balance between speed, control, and stiffness. I would recommend this blade to players of all levels, from intermediate to professional, who enjoy long rallies.

As a side note, I paid 890 HK dollars, which is about 115 US dollars, for this blade. To me, this is a great value, especially when compared to top Butterfly blades I have played with, such as the Zhang Jike ZLC and Timo Boll ZLF. I am not saying that these blades are better or worse, but I tested both blades for about 2 hours. In Hong Kong, these blades cost almost twice as much as I paid for the Donic Crest AR+, which is comparable to the other two blades.

The blade is a bit bigger, which gives you a larger sweet spot and better control, but it also makes it a bit heavier. It is not recommended for female players, players with wrist problems, or young children. My blade weighs 92 grams, not 85 grams as Donic claims on its website.

This blade is similar to Waldner Senso Carbon (speed 8+). However, the thicker 2-carbon layers make it faster while maintaining good feedback vibration. It is not an AR+ class as the model name suggests, but Donic categorizes it as a speed 8, which surprised me as I believe it should be a speed 9.

First up, there is a lot of incorrect info around about this blade. Even Donic’s own website has several things wrong. Here is the actual construction of the Crest AR+

Outer veneer Limba 0,8 mm 2+8 Limba 0,8mm 3+7 Carbon ZF 4+6 Carbon fleece Middle veneer Ayous 2,8 mm And the head size is 158×152.

The quality of this blade is top-notch, as good or better than anything Butterfly makes. I suspect the Crest blades are made by SoulSpin in Germany. The wood selection looks exceptional, the wings are sanded down, and the handle is super comfortable (if a bit flatter than some of Donic’s more beefy handles). The head size is a bit large, so the blade will become head-heavy, especially with heavier rubbers.

It’s definitely not an all-round blade, so don’t let the AR+ in the name confuse you. I came to this blade from the Waldner Senso Carbon, and it plays one notch faster than that. It has a wonderful limba feel from the top ply, giving a sense of “grab” on the ball. It also feels very solid on contact, with none of the hollow feel you get with lighter WSC blades (for example). The sweet spot is very large, but the feel remains quite woody. It is pretty stiff though, so possibly not a good option for lovers of loopy, very flexy blades, but it can do a job from distance. Throw is medium, reliable, consistent.

Pairs well with every rubber I’ve thrown at it.

As I said before, I was using the WSC prior to this, but since the plastic ball arrived, I’ve been looking for something with a similar feel but a touch more power and solidity. This is that blade. I’ve used many blades over the years, but I’ve never found something that excels in every area for my game until the Crest AR+. It’s a bit expensive (shop around though — you can get them for well under the retail price), but worth every penny. I really can’t imagine using anything else.