Donic Waldner Black Devil Carbon Balsa

A black gem in the right hands. Moved to this blade coming from Donic Epox Offensiv (5ply all wood), and what I felt upon first touch are: the blade is considerably lighter (mine weighed around 84-85g) and immensely faster, especially on flat shots/smashes. Head size is slightly smaller (about 2mm shorter than typical wood blades), and cutting/finishing is a bit rough. The Koto/balsa material is fragile, so you can put on edge tape if you want.

Just like its name, the BLACK DEVIL is a difficult blade to control. Expect a few bouncy, over the table hits when first using it. DO NOT use this blade if you just started playing table tennis. Use an all wood instead, stabilize basic strokes, and control techniques first. Only then can you move to this blade if you feel confident enough…

Personally, this blade is going to be my stepping stone to further sharpen my techniques before I decide to get an ALC blade sometime in the future.

Typically, people will suggest using medium/soft rubbers with this blade. I first put Donic Bluefire M2 and Yinhe Mercury 3 Euro Soft on FH/BH. Control is pleasant enough without compromising much speed. Close/mid distance to table plays are quick and deadly; however, a problem persisted when playing far from the table. My shots occasionally lacked power to go over the net with such setup, maybe it’s the characteristics of softer rubbers or at that point, I just simply wasn’t skilled enough to control this blade?.

After a few intense weeks of taming this little devil… I moved the M2 to BH and put Friendship (729) Battle 2 Provincial on the FH to turn the blade into a mid/far distance looping beast. Speed+super spin obliterated anyone who dared to put up their blade :)

Yes, a hard Chinese rubber on a stiff/fast blade, either I am confident enough in my skill improvement or I am an outright table tennis masochist. LOL ?.

The layer that utilizes both balsa and carbon has a reputation for being hard and stiff. However, upon using it, I experienced an unexpected level of speed. The combination with soft rubber further enhances the comfort during gameplay. Minor adjustments to the wording may be necessary for clarity.

The blade makes a “pong” sound. It is the best Balsa carbon looping blade. It is easy to reverse spin. It is really good close to the table. It is much easier to use than, say, an ALC blade.

This blade is not suitable for beginners. It’s a hard balsa + carbon blade that works better with soft rubbers. I used an Acuda Blue P2 on the forehand and had no problems with smashes and blocking, but had difficulty creating spin because of the “zero dwell time.” Serves were just okay. It’s very light, but a little small at the top of the head.

I was tired of missing the table when trying to loop and top spin, so I switched to an all-wood blade, which significantly improved my game. Perhaps it’s because I’m not an expert or professional player, but this blade is very difficult to master.

I don’t think it’s a good choice for reverse penhold players because it’s smaller than other blades, which increases the chances of the ball hitting the fingers when the player tries to make a reverse shot.

This ply is highly recommended. It offers excellent consistency to your shots. However, it is not advisable to use extremely fast rubbers with this blade. I am currently using fast rubbers, but I intend to switch to slower ones soon. This adjustment will enhance my gameplay and reduce my reliance on rubbers for speed. The blade is capable of handling the speed, making it suitable for slower rubbers. If you decide to purchase this blade, consider using slower rubbers for optimal performance.

Muita velocidade, porém um controle ruim.

Many people do not like the sound of the blade, but I love it.

I use it with Xiom Omega IV PRO on the forehand and Xiom Vega Japan on the backhand.

What I did not like about it was its face size; it is small. But you will love the sound when you hit a smash—the sound and speed are excellent. You need good control and proper strokes to use this blade.

This blade is astonishingly beautiful! Initially, it strongly appealed to me. The combination of a stiff blade with balsa for control and carbon for speed is excellent. When paired with Donic X1 Turbo Platin rubber, it produced extraordinary results and shots. The sound was impressive, but the only drawback was the face size, which wasn’t a significant concern. At its price point, I highly recommend this blade. In my opinion, it surpasses the Stiga Balsa Carbon.

Review:

This is a professional-grade table tennis blade. It is the best blade I have used so far. It is excellent for smashes, has very high speed, and I love the sound it makes.

The rubbers that suit my playstyle are: * Forehand: Donic Acuda S2 * Backhand: Stigma Airoc astro 8

This is the best combination of rubbers I have found.

Not bad. Light, good feel, and not the best for smash.

The blade is good for strong spins and smashes. It has great speed. I like the sound of the blade.

The blade is constructed of solid material, so the player will not experience vibrations even at high speeds. It provides a good balance between a hard rubber for attacking and a softer rubber with greater height control for counterblocking.

The FL handle fitting is suitable for high-acceleration rubber and feels comfortable in the hand. I tested the blade with a combination of hard and soft rubbers. My playstyle is all-around, incorporating spin attacks and counterblocks. For the forehand (FH) rubber, I selected the Andro Rasant Powergrip, which has a hard character for faster spins, and for the backhand (BH) rubber, I chose the Andro Rasant Beat, which has a soft character for counterblocking with height control and occasional backspins.

The Racket is light. Mine was about 78 grams because my bat is the pen-hold version. It is great for drives, loops, and smashes. It feels very “non-tangible” when doing backspin pushes. The consistency with drives and loops is good. Just my 2 cents…

This blade produces a slightly unusual sound, but that doesn’t take away from its quality. Overall, it’s a solid blade.

Had great hopes for this blade. After buying into carbon blades, I thought that balsa was going to save the day and give me the performance of carbon with the lightness of balsa. The one I got was 88 grams, so it was nothing like the quoted 80 grams.

This blade was probably one of the worst blades I bought. I had terrible trouble getting rubbers to stick to it. The handle was terrible, the head size is small, and the balance is slightly off.

I transferred the M1 rubbers over to it, but they were too hard and didn’t suit it at all. I did play against a guy who used this blade with T05s on both sides, and he plays brilliantly, but I couldn’t get it to work. It’s either a love or hate it blade.

Very fast with nice playing characteristics. The blade is not very handy for chops and sending “close to the net” balls.

Guaooo, en realidad es una excelente raqueta. Posee gran velocidad, es ligera y además tiene excelente control. Un poco más pequeña que la mayoría de las raquetas, el agarre cóncavo y el recto son muy agradables. Excelente si la acompañas con gomas blandas o semiblandas. Ya la he probado con Tenergy 05 y 64, buena combinación para juego de media distancia y para la mayoría, sobre todo el saque. Pero probé con unas Xiom Omega Elite y pro y me quedé con esa combinación. En realidad, muy buena madera, además se ve muy bien por el color. Recomendada 100% para jugadores ofensivos y para los allrounders también, claro está, variando a gomas más lentas.

This is a really fast, controlled, and light blade. It’s a silent black killer. If you want to feel your shots, this is not the blade for you. It’s perfect for an attacking player who’d like to place the ball quickly and accurately. Short- and long-distance attacking are incredible with this blade.

It’s not very fast. I would say OFF. It doesn’t have enough control, and there’s too much bouncing.

I’ve used this blade for a week. Initially, I exclaimed, “OMG, it’s very fast, but where is the control???”

I used Donic Acuda S1 on the forehand (FH) and Yasaka Mark V AD on the backhand (BH). To improve the control, I believe I should use softer rubber. Perhaps Donic Desto F3 on the FH and Yasaka Mark V Soft on the BH.

Overall, I like this blade very much, especially during rallies.

I love this blade! It’s fast and has great “unmeasurable” control. I adore it so much, I don’t even want to say more. I love it so much!!!!

This is the best Donic blade. It is amazing, very fast, and light. This blade has a perfect balance and provides a super feeling.

Our personal favorite is the Yinhe 981, an all-around blade with decent speed, outstanding control and great feel. The Stiga Titan Carbon is a 5-ply all-wood blade designed for attackers looking for speed and control. The Darker Speed 90 is a 7-ply all-wood blade that is best suited for advanced players who love to attack. The Yasaka Sweden Extra is a 5-ply all-wood blade with great control and feel, making it a good choice for beginners.

The Nittaku Acoustic Carbon is a 5-ply carbon blade that is known for its great control and feel. The Butterfly Timo Boll ALC is a 5-ply carbon blade that is designed for all-around play with a focus on speed and control. The Xiom Vega Pro is a 5-ply carbon blade that is best suited for attackers looking for power and spin. The Donic Appelgren Allplay is a 5-ply all-wood blade that is designed for all-around play with a focus on control and feel.

The Butterfly Mizutani Jun is a 7-ply all-wood blade that is designed for all-around play with a focus on control and spin. The Zhang Jike ALC is a 5-ply carbon blade that is designed for attackers looking for power and spin. The Andro Treiber K is a 5-ply carbon blade that is best suited for all-around play with a focus on speed and power.

This is the “Champion’s” new blade, a revolutionary design. The exuberant playing style of the master is complemented by the advanced technology of this weapon. For the first time, DONIC has combined carbon and balsa. The soft balsa core results in a blade with unbelievably good control, particularly when returning the ball. Incredible power and speed can be achieved with the hard Koto middle plies and carbon fiber of the DONIC Waldner Black Devil CB. The lightweight and enlarged sweet spot of the 7-ply high-tech product attain perfection.

Waldner’s “black devil” will delight all attacking players!

Pros:

- Blazing speed! - Surprisingly lightweight for its capabilities - Offers excellent control - Visually striking

Cons:

- Low dwell time - Prone to damage - The handle’s curvature towards the top can irritate fingers (sanding down the sharp edges could resolve this issue, but I hesitated to alter the blade).

Great Blade! As an intermediate player participating in corporate tournaments, this blade is ideal for my style. While I favor speed, blocks, and flat shots over relying heavily on spin, this blade offers exceptional control even for its fast nature.

Choosing the right rubber is crucial. Due to its stiffness and zero dwell time, brushing the ball generates minimal spin. Initially, I tried Donic Coppa JO Gold (FH) and GKI Chelonz (BH), but the combination proved ineffective due to excessive speed and lack of spin.

Subsequently, I switched to Donic Sonnex JP on BH and Joola Mambo H on FH, resulting in significant improvement. Blocks became more effective, and I gained spin on my FH. This combination provided the perfect balance of speed and control, meeting my expectations.

Furthermore, blocking against topspins became more effortless and advantageous. Fast blocks often led to points.

On the BH, Sonnex provided excellent control and served well. It enabled me to counter spin and return with ease.

Overall, this blade offers effortless shots and exceptional value for its cost, surpassing other blades I’ve used, including the Butterfly Schlager, Donic Waldner Senso, and Donic Waldner Senso Ultracarbon. It exceeds its price point.

CONS: Generating heavy topspins can be challenging due to its low dwell time.

This blade stands out in many aspects. It is very light and very fast. Compared to other carbon blades, it does not have that annoying vibration. The craftsmanship is perfect. The control might be better, but it is always a balance between weight/speed/control. Since the dwelling time is close to zero, the blade leaves very little information for the player about the ball.

To compensate for this, it is preferable to use soft or extra soft rubbers on this blade, which will add more control and consistency. I first tried this blade with Donic Platinum on FH and Platinum Soft on BH (my usual setup), and I felt that I could toss satellites in the sky. The bat was just too speedy, and I think there are very few players out there who would feel comfortable with such a setup.

Then I changed the rubbers to Stiga’s TS i max, and it was just right. The speed was almost the same, but I could control every strike and loop I made. Besides, this setup is extremely light, which adds more freedom for movements and more power in attack. I was always skeptical of all carbon and artificial substances in blades, but this one has changed my opinion. An amazing blade! Once you have played it with the right rubbers, you will be willing to play it again and again, even if your main setup is slower or different in other ways.

I’ve been playing on this blade for 2 years. It offers a lot of speed and moderate control. I used to have Tenergy 64 on it, but I didn’t like it. I put Andro Revo on it instead, and it became a deadly weapon. I love the feel of this blade!

A fantastic blade weighing 76g. Its size is slightly smaller than comparable brands like BTY, Stiga, or Yasaka, but only by 2-3mm. It boasts exceptional speed, with moderate control. Speed and control are inherently opposing attributes, so this balance is noteworthy.

This blade is ideal for aggressive attackers or speed blockers. It exhibits minimal vibration and produces a unique, higher-pitched sound due to its compact size and material composition. This sound resembles the effect of speed-gluing your rubbers.

In comparison to the Stiga Hybrid Wood, this blade offers superior speed. My forehand utilizes Tenergy 64, which pairs exceptionally well with this blade. While T05 did not resonate with me on this blade, a friend who tried it after using the Maze with T05 praised its performance with T64. This suggests that soft to medium soft rubbers are optimal for this blade.

Donic deserves high praise for producing an extraordinary blade at an affordable price point, significantly lower than competitors like BTY Maze.

Pros: - Lightweight - Extremely fast - Stiff, yet provides feedback - Comfortable handle (FL) - Excellent value for money - Stylish black design

Cons: - Control could be improved with a larger blade - Balsa material requires edge tape for durability

Wow, this blade is LIGHT. It is the lightest blade I have ever tried. When people at my club hold my racket, they are astonished by how light it is (it also helps that I have light rubbers). In terms of speed, it’s great. The control is also great. This is the perfect blade for me.

The only thing I would say could be better about it is that the handle is too short for my hand. They should have added a few centimeters to the length of the handle.

P.S. If you like blades that have a vibrant feel, then stay away from this blade. This blade is stiff and gives you no vibration at all (I like it that way, but I understand that some people like it otherwise).

I use it with the Hammond-X, and my whole school team is afraid of my smashing…lol.

This blade is absolutely everything a player could want. It’s light, incredibly speedy, and has amazing control. Even though it’s made of carbon, the balsa plies make it soft and give it a great touch for all areas of the table, near, mid, and far. I would say that with this blade, impossible is nothing.

Due to the balsa plies, it is slightly softer than other carbon blades. However, its high speed and excellent control make it an excellent choice for a lifetime main blade. Enjoy!