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In this review, I am comparing the recently released Xiom Vega Pro H rubber and the Xiom Omega VII Guang China rubber, which I reviewed back in the fall of 2021.

Clearly, the playing style of our sport has undergone significant changes since the introduction of the 40+ mm plasticball and it continues to evolve as new generations of 40+ mm plastic balls are released. The game has become slower and less dependent on spin. This has led to longer rallies and encouraged a more physical and direct style of play. In response to these changes, companies have been developing hybrid rubbers with hard, lively sponges and sticky topsheets as alternatives to sticky but slow Chinese rubbers like the DHS Hurricane 3, or fast rubbers with non-tacky surfaces like the Tibhar Evolution MX-P.

In 2021, the South Korean brand Xiom released the Omega VII Guang China (O7GC) hybrid rubber. As I concluded in my original review (and will elaborate on here), the O7GC is a hybrid rubber that caters to advanced players who want to have Hurricane-like stability in the short game but better flat hitting characteristics.

Since then, Xiom has continued to develop and improve its manufacturing technologies and recently released the Vega Pro H (VPH) rubber, which is Made in Germany. Xiom describes the VPH as a hybrid rubber with “microtackiness” (H-touch) that combines the best elements of traditional Chinese rubbers with “full tackiness” (C-touch) which are great for spin generation in short play, and “E-touch” rubbers, which have a stronger catapult effect and greater speed potential. Xiom goes on to describe the VPH as a super-high arc rubber that maintains special controllability and is suitable for players at every playing level wishing for a sticky rubber feel. Xiom promises that theVPH will render it possible to respond to backspins with drive counterattacks and allow for controlled and strategic forward play near the table.

Xiom gives spin/speed/precision ratings of 7.4/8.4/8.2 for the VPH and 9.0/9.0/9.5 for the O7GC. Despite the ratings suggesting that the O7GC is superior to the VPH in all facets of the game, as I will explain, I don’t think that is the case.

Both rubbers arrive in eye-catching packaging. The O7GC is packaged in a glossy silver-on-yellow cardboard wrapper, which lists a wealth of technical information (see my original review for full packaging details). Meanwhile, the VPH arrives in a glossy black-on-intense-green cardboard wrapper. A short description of the rubber’s “H-touch” design philosophy is listed on the back of the wrapper.

Both rubber sheets smell sweet, leading me to believe that they are factory boosted. Visually, the sheets look quite similar. The topsheet of the O7GC is matte, ever so slightly tacky, and very grippy. The O7GC sheet feels softer tothe touch than I would expect for a rubber with a listed hardness of 55 degrees. The pimples of the O7GC are very faintly visible below the surface. The topsheet of the VPH is thin, non-translucent, sparkly, and reasonably grippy butentirely non-tacky. The VPH sheet felt harder than the listed hardness of 47.5 degrees. The VPH pimples are short. Neither rubber can lift the ball, but for a fraction of a second.

The sponges of both Xiom rubbers are intensely black with a high density of tiny pores. Both sheets (black, max)weigh ~70 grams uncut (height x width: 169 mm x 169 mm for O7GC, 170 mm x 170 mm for VPH) and 51 grams and 53 grams, respectively, when cut to the 158 mm x 151 mm test blade). This renders them significantly lighter than rubbers like the Yasaka Rakza Z Extra Hard (56 g), Donic BlueGrip C1 (61 g) and Nittaku Hurricane 3 Pro Turbo Blue (59-62 g) rubbers, and in the same weight class as the Donic BlueGrip C2 (53 g) and Tibhar Hybrid K1 European Version (51 g).

Testing procedure: I evaluated the O7GC and VPH rubbers (black, max) using one of my standard reference blades, i.e., the popular Tibhar Samsonov Force Pro Black Edition 7-ply all-wood blade with Spinlord Waran 2 short pips inmy BH. I attached the brand-new rubbers to the blade as received using two layers of the Revolution 3 normal viscosity glue. I tested the set-ups over 3-4 sessions each, playing a mix of regular and match-like drills against my regular high-level practice partner (two-winged looper), using Neottec Neoplast Pro 40+ training balls throughout thistest.

 Updated playing impressions for the O7GC – three years later:

Driving: Similar to my observations in the original review of the O7GC (which I tested on the Tibhar Szocs Signature 1blade), the rubber produces a loud click on offensive strokes, especially those that are executed using a flat (neutral) bat angle. The O7GC is slower than one would expect from the loud sound it produces, resulting in surprisingly short trajectories on FH drives when using a flat bat angle (landing approximately two-thirds of the way to the endline). The FH drive trajectories become noticeably longer when a more closed bat angle is used, as a prominent catapult is activated (shots are landing close to the endline). A new observation relative to my initial review is that the throw angle of neutral angle FH drives is erratically high, but low on closed angle FH drives. This underlines that the O7GC should be played using an aggressive, closed bat angle for maximum effectiveness.

Looping: Akin to my original observations, I was able to produce fast FH warm-up loops. My high-level practice partner was not challenged blocking these loops, since spin levels are considerably lower than with my usual FH rubber, i.e., DHS Hurricane 3 (H3). Spinnier FH loops can be produced by hitting the ball in the descending phaseand using a lot of wrist action.

The O7GC is not particularly spin sensitive, rendering it easy to produce fast FH loops against long pushes. FH loop sfeel crisp and are accompanied by a prominent click but lack power compared to H3-based FH loops, due to lower spin values. Stated differently, the FH loops are dangerous due to their reasonably high speed (low OFF level) which gives your opponent less time to react, but if they react in time, they will have an easier time blocking due to lower spin amounts. I also seemed to miss more shots when FH looping down-the-line against long pushes than normally.The throw angle on these shots (closed bat angle) is quite low, which often either resulted in the ball getting caught in the net or overshooting the table due to the strong catapult effect. My consistency improved once I began executing these shots using a more relaxed technique and softer hands,

The O7GC enables consistent high-quality FH loops in topspin-to-topspin rallies far from the table, but the shots have less bite than with equivalent H3-based shots due to lower spin levels.

Blocking: The O7GC is reasonably compliant on passive blocks executed with a neutral bat angle given the relatively hard sponge, although the shot trajectories are somewhat high, sometimes resulting in blocks that overshoot the table. As noted in my original review, active blocks and counter loops, executed with a more closed bat angle, is where the O7GC shines, resulting in fast, deep and hard-to-return shots.

Smashing: This time around, I felt as if the coupling between the blade and O7GC was incomplete on neutral angle smashes, i.e., my power was not fully transferred to smashes.

Flicking: Perhaps my technique has improved in the three years since my initial O7GC review, as I felt that the consistency of my FH flicks against short pushes was pretty good, benefitting from the rubber’s spin-insensitive nature. Sure, the FH flicks were not extremely fast, but I was able to reliably place them near the endline, with sufficient clearance over the net in most cases.

Pushing: I found the O7GC to be quite capable of producing good quality long FH pushes. I was generally able to feel the ball clearly and make good contact with it, to produce pushes with high amounts of backspin that proved challenging to attack against. But sometimes I hit the ball too directly, which resulted in a less spinny push, which my practice partner just blasted past me. Thus, it is important to use a brushing technique on pushes as the O7GC isless forgiving than a H3.

I was able to produce high-quality short FH pushes, which proved difficult to flick against. The O7GC feels quite slow and linear on these shots, which helped me to keep the shots low to the net.

Serving: My FH backspin serves were short and decently – but not outstandingly – spinny. The O7GC allows for the generation of fast topspin/sidespin serves, but the spin levels are only average compared to my usual H3 rubber.

Conclusion: The Xiom Omega 7 Guang China is a hybrid rubber that leans closer to traditional European/Japanese style rubbers than Chinese rubbers. The rubber has a strong catapult effect on closed-angle shots and produces fast but not particularly spinny topspin shots, that have a relatively low trajectory. The fact that the rubber responds differently depending on the bat angle and arm swing speed, means that it is a rubber that takes a little more time getting used. By comparison, the VPH is a far more predictable rubber. The O7GC is geared towards advanced loopers who have modern aggressive, direct playing style.

Playing impressions for the VPH:

Driving: The VPH is noticeably slower than the O7GC on FH drives, the clicking sound is less pronounced, and the throw angle is higher. As a result, my FH drives had plenty of clearance over the net but landed approximately halfway towards the endline on my opponent’s side. Accordingly, I enjoyed outstanding consistency on FH drives played with a neutral bat angle. The use of a more closed bat angle produces FH drives with a longer trajectory (shots are landing 2/3 rds of the way towards the endline) but the catapult is less pronounced than with the O7GC. The VPH also feels softer and less metallic than the O7GC and generally is more reliable and easier to play with.

Looping: I found the VPH to be fantastically consistent on FH warm-up loops, but the shots are shorter and less spinny than with the O7GC. Accordingly, my high-level practice partner had no difficulties blocking the FH warm-uploops. My efforts to significantly increase the spin levels were largely unsuccessful.

Like the O7GC, the VPH is not spin sensitive at all. This, coupled with its high throw angle and less prominent and more predictable catapult effect, rendered FH looping against long pushes extremely enjoyable. Thus, while the VPH lacks top-end speed, it offers supreme control. I was able to place my FH loops and any subsequent 5 th and 7 th ballattacks, with excellent precision and confidence. Unlike the O7GC, I was able to execute FH loops down-the-line with pinpoint accuracy, and out of reach for my practice partner. The gentler catapult effect also meant that I overshot the table far less than with the O7GC. However, don’t try to overpower the rubber. On a few occasions when I tried to execute FH loops using brute force, I could sense that the rubber did not effectively transfer my power onto the ball resulting in less controlled shots. In other words, there is an upper limit to the power coupling that might be exceeded by high level players. Moreover, I felt the ball slip on a few occasions, as it the rubber didn’t grip the (new) balls properly. Nonetheless, the VPH is one of the easiest and most enjoyable looping rubbers that I have tried. It simply encourages a more feeling-based style, rather than brute force.

The VPH is equally consistent and stable in loop-to-loop rallies far from the table, thanks in large part to the high throw angle, but like the O7GC it lacks penetrating power relative to DHS Hurricane 3.

Blocking: Passive blocking with the VPH is more predictable and controllable than with the O7GC, as the former is slower, with a more consistent throw angle. Even more so than the O7GC, the VPH absolutely shines on active blocks and counter looping, where it exhibited near-limitless capacity to convert incoming energy into dangerous shots. The VPH is easily one of the best rubbers on these shot types that I have tried.

Smashing: Given its moderate speed (OFF -) and gentle catapult, it is no surprise that the VPH isn’t the most dangerous smashing rubber. That said, smashes are controlled and reasonably fast.

Flicking: The spin-insensitive nature of the topsheet, and overall softer and slower characteristics of the VPH, mean tthat my FH flicks against short pushes were very consistent. Not particularly fast, but very consistent. And whenever my practice partner was able to return my flicks aggressively, I was able to make good use of the VPH’s counter driving characteristics and remain in control of the rally.

Pushing: The quality of my long FH pushes against short backspin serves was generally good, but spin levels were not particularly high, which allowed my practice partner to attack these pushes with relative ease. Once again, however, the VPH shines on aggressive counter drives and counter loops, and I was easily able to regain control of the rallies.

My short FH pushes against short backspin serves, were of high quality, being short and very low, and difficult to attack against. The lack of a prominent catapult is very useful in this regard.

Serving: As with the O7GC, my short FH backspin serves with the VPH were short and decent but nothing special compared to the same serves using H3. Similarly, I was able to generate consistent topspin/sidespin serves, but the spin levels were just average.

Conclusion: I found the Xiom Vega Pro H to be a supremely predictable offensive rubber. As such, I think it is suitable for a wide range of players. The very best players will probably find its power coupling characteristics to be insufficient and very high impact shots, but players using more moderate arm swing speeds, will enjoy the excellent feeling that this rubber provides. This rubber stands out as one of the top choices for intermediate and advanced offensive players, excelling in all aspects of the game, from looping and pushing to especially counter-driving. I wouldn’t be surprised if this rubber gains a reputation akin to what Yasaka Rakza 7 had in the mid 2010s, i.e., ahighly reliable offensive rubber, that enables the execution of all shot types.