Friendship/729 Bloom Power

I am using this rubber as a forehand unit since a few years. I have tried many combinations with tacky, hybrid Chinese, hybrid tacky, and European rubbers, and none were as good for fast attacks at the table as this one. This rubber is an unbelievable unit for forehand if you play aggressively at the table and use all types of strokes, even smashes are not problematic. Maybe a bit at the start when the tackiness is immense, but after two months, it’s more playable when it’s a bit used. Rotation is higher than at Tenergy 05 hard for me. Speed is obviously lower, control better especially in block. At practice, it’s really helpful to tame very spinny opponent topspins with much more control.

There’s only one drawback: on faster blades, it starts to be too fast if you have a full Chinese type of stroke. So a hard surface off with a quite semi-thick core is the best choice for this one. I bought my every unit at AliExpress, and only the first two had the effect of boost since they were vacuum packed. Now it is not noticeable; it had to evaporate. I have also boosted them with Paraffin oil, and they react moderately. Even hard boosted, they are rather too slow or not so easy to play at backhand as European tensors. Not much affected by incoming spin, 47 degrees is a bit more dead. Catapult is really noticeable at off and off+ blades. The top sheet is more elastic.

I am really recommending this rubber if you want to play with full aggression and full speed and be really powerful at forehand.

I thought this rubber was rubbish at first. I had it lying around, so I glued it to some cheap-a$$ Artengo Blade that I also had stashed. Oh my Lord, it slaps super hard. The speed is insane.

I tested it on Palio TNT-1, Stiga Allround Classic, Tibhar IV-L, and each and every time it was just poop, a complete tragedy. But on this trash blade, it’s insane. The spin and speed are out of this world.

I can smash the ball so hard, and the trajectory is just flat with decent spin, landing in the table like a rocket. I can’t believe it, really. The touch game is nice as well. The topspin is okay if you don’t mind the flat arc.

Maybe my favorite rubber. Not only is it very cheap, but it also surpasses many other Chinese FH style rubbers.

It has better speed and also very good spin compared to other Chinese rubbers. In my opinion, I like this rubber a lot more than H3. It is more bouncy and reactive than H3.

Also, the purple sponge looks very attractive.

I tried this one in 47 deg hardness on a Yinhe V-14 PRO blade, replacing my DHS H3N 40 deg Provincial 2.15mm. Really, I didn’t expect very much from this rubber, but it turned out to be one of the best forehand rubbers I’ve tested.

This one very much reminds me of a mix between H3N and Battle II Provincial. There is a very soft feeling that allows me to easier place the ball where I want, and makes it easier to do slower brushing strokes. Still when adding power when looping, the ball sets off in a speed like the fastest Hurricane rubbers. Spin feels like it’s quite close to the harder versions of H3N.

One thing I really noticed was that when receiving really heavy backspin serves on my forehand, it was easier to return them, so this feels safer for me anyway. Short game and service feels good as well.

Weight uncut/cut: 65/49g.

Bloom Power Red

On my FH (Yinhe V14 Pro blade), I’ve been using the max version of Bloom Power red. It’s my first time using a tacky rubber. It’s exceptionally spinny with ample control for short touches and decent speed for looping. Where it truly excels is in controlled looping (drive loops and brush loops) and opening up the game. It allows for precise ball placement and further curving, leading to controlled loops. There’s significant dwell time, and opponents find it difficult to block loops due to the side arc and extra spin. While serving, I haven’t been able to kick the ball significantly, but there’s ample spin potential (e.g., faking a backspin serve and brushing it at the last second for a topspin serve). It’s effective for BH flicks on serve returns.

Bloom Power is a heavy rubber that shifts the setup’s balance towards the head. It performs well at close range and a step or two away, but from further behind the table, it requires additional body and leg movement.

729 Presto Max Spin (Black)

On my BH, I’m using 729 Presto Max Spin (black). Compared to Bloom Power, Presto Spin Max offers more free power (speed). While Bloom Power excels in creating high-arc brush loops, Presto Spin Max produces low to medium-arc loops.

This review is about 729 Bloom Power, hardness 47, black. It’s like a 20% faster 729 Super-FX which doesn’t need break-in. It plays well with poly balls.

However, the sponge doesn’t react to booster (and baby oil) as much as the DHS Neo series, so it’s 15% slower than the DHS Neo rubbers.

Throw: This rubber is very similar to TG2 40 Neo: low throw, lower than TG3 Neo, higher than H2 Neo. The hardness is like DHS 40.

Compared to TG2 NEO 39, it is slower (say 15% slower), due to the sponge. However, it has a really nice grip. It works well on backhand if you need flip, wristy loop, and block. But on BH, I would also consider the 45-degree sponge, not 47.

All in all, I prefer Hurricane 2 Neo on backhand: lower throw and faster.

I use 729 Bloom Power H47 T2.2 without an ITTF logo as my forehand rubber. I tested it boosted and unboosted. It has good spin almost at Hurricane 3 Neo Commercial level, and it is faster than H3N, as fast as Sanwei Target National, especially after the break-in period.

I boosted it with my homemade booster, and it was even better, with more speed than H3N and STN. I was able to use it far from the table on counter-looping.

However, one thing I did not like is that it is not that consistent. I ordered two of these, and one was softer, even though both are labeled as H47. But I did not notice any differences in spin, speed, and control. It just felt different.

It has a medium-low throw angle, lower than STN and H3N. Sometimes my loops hit the net, but once you adjust to it, the low throw makes it difficult for the opponent to return your shots. It weighs 65g uncut, which is fine.

Great rubber. It is worth a try since it is not very expensive and is a very good alternative to H3N Commercial. Buy the one with the ITTF logo. I believe it is more consistent since it has a higher price.

Heavy tacky rubber (47 degrees 2.2mm), it plays differently than Hurricane. You can drive near the table with a lot of power using this rubber. It is recommended for the forehand. The price/performance ratio is very good!

Everything about this rubber is fantastic. However, there’s one thing that makes it a nightmare: it’s not certified by the ITTF. You won’t even see the ITTF logo on the rubber.

For serious players: Please do not train with this. It’s not a certified rubber, and you can be asked to use an alternate setup in the match or get disqualified.

Good, tough rubber suitable for medium-fast carbon-based substrates. It’s предназначен for a powerful game with topspins from the near and middle zone. From 5-7 meters you can also play powerfully, but you need to spin. For an amateur, it will be difficult to manage and use it 100%.

This rubber is perfect for near table ping-pong. It excels at attacking first balls and executing hard blocks or smashes. However, it is important to note that this rubber requires a hard blade for optimal performance.

In terms of its overall playing experience, this rubber is one of the best I have ever used. It is incredibly easy to play with, requiring minimal training time. It embodies the classic Chinese playing style.

Conclusion: This rubber demands an open hand position to generate maximum power. Due to its ease of play, it is comparable to the Hurricane 2, but with superior playability.

Very overrated. Only for die-hard 729 fans, it seems, as it has gotten bad reviews elsewhere.

I played it on a PerssonPowerplay. It is too slow and doesn’t have good spin, although it is a somewhat better quality than it used to be with 729-rubbers.

The 729 rubber is highly rated among players.

It is faster than the DHS Skyline TG3 NEO or TG2 NEO and offers more dwell time than DHS rubbers, owing to its soft and tacky top sheet. This top sheet is securely glued to the sponge, outperforming DHS rubbers in this aspect (with the TG2 and TG3 neo models developing bubbles quickly).

As a result, this rubber excels in generating overdrives. While the throw angle is slightly lower than desired, it has many other positive attributes. It is effortless to produce spin with minimal movement and exhibits low sensitivity to incoming spin.

The rubber performs well at close range but excels further from the table, where the catapult effect peaks. When the sponge is heavily engaged, it delivers exceptional speed.

Overall, the 729 rubber is a top choice, providing significant advantages over DHS TG2 and 3 NEO rubbers.

This is a tacky Chinese rubber with a moderated catapult effect. It is a fast rubber that is more linear than 729 Battle II or Palio The Way 40+. It offers easy serve return and short game, and is low sensitive to incoming spin. Flat hit is possible, making this rubber suitable for the 40mm celluloid ball.

I prefer the SPEED version, as it is lighter and the topsheet is thinner. Interestingly, the SPEED version is not faster, but it provides higher throw and more rotation for the 40+ poly ball.

Overall, the SPEED version offers similar performance to the Palio AK47, with slightly different advantages. However, the Palio HK1997 Gold remains the standard for me.

–Bloom POWER H47, red: 70g uncut weight
–Bloom SPEED H47, red: 60g uncut weight.

Tacky and elastic, even more so than Battle II, which provides good control.

Very good product from 729. It requires a good stroke to activate the sponge. For low energy strokes, the sponge feels quite dead. In the center of the table, it is easier to generate very short pushes or drives than with a tensor product.

For topspin, too, if you strike hard with a full swing, it is a nice product. It is medium tacky for me. If you try to lift the ball, it stays for 1 second (not more) in the racket after falling down.

I checked on the WeChat 729 channel that the product is original, so I suppose that the low-medium tackiness of my rubber is a production fault.

Update 5-02-2024: Tested 45 hardness for my forehand, it feels dead, too much dead for me. 47 hardness is much, much better.

Update March 2024: I no longer use this rubber. I substituted it with Battle 3 Friendship. It has the same control but much more speed, incomparably better, even if it costs more.