3 Reviews for XIOM Hibi-O

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External Review for XIOM Hibi-O on June 5, 2023

I ve got this blade 2 month ago with a SP.
The blade has got a Nice look and the hinoki wood is wonderfull. It is a blade for block and topspin close and mi-distance play !!! However 2 difficulties, I cannot serve fast and long for the moment,maybe because of the shape of the blade. Need more practice I guess. I wish xiom did a techical and how to play video on hibi o.
Secondly a short pips on this blade is a mistake, specially a Dr neubauer because the logo take to much room, so the area with pips is tiny. I will received soon nittaku G1, 47,5, 2mm and I will update my review.

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External Review for XIOM Hibi-O on August 22, 2019

As a traditional Jpen player, I am always looking for good 1 ply hinoki blades. Having played with cypresses, senkohs, Excellent As and Musashis, I have to say this is a great blade. The building quality is out of this world, in the same level of Cypresses and Nittakus. Right now, among others, I have a Cypress G-Max, so I will compare both. Even being Jpen blades, the way they approach Jpen is very different. Hibi-O is modern, specially made for the new poly ball. Maybe, that's why it is ogival, larger near the handle, whereas Cypress has a more square shape. The handle of Hibi-O has more details and it is rounder, giving it a modern and cosmopolitan look. But what matters is how they feel, right? And, my friend, they are opposites. Cypress feels more solid. It is your old dog that will never fail you. It will block, it will drive and it will obey you blindly. You know what to expect and it will deliver. Hibi-O is your new cat. It is pretty, it is nimble and it is agile. You will feel quicker, believe me. In the end, it will come to what you prefer. Both are masterpieces that will put a large smile on your face.
P. S. I used Xiom Omega Asia VII and tenergy 05 on both.

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External Review for XIOM Hibi-O on April 5, 2019

Using this blade together with Tenergy 05 for the past 6 months so, bear in mind my review is based on this combo (Hibi O + Tenergy 05)
The blade is really well constructed, has an amazing finish, a great and comfortable handle, and a good weight. Comparing both blades I have, they are almost identical, with slightly weight/balance variance, which, well, it's normal giving the fact it's 100% wood. both of them are 10mm tick (small less than half millimiter variance), so, IMHO the construction quality of this blade is really high.
I've been loving to play with this blade. It's a flexible, soft blade. I really like the feeling it has (which, well, it's a characteristic of single-ply good cypress). The weight is also great, at least it has a perfect weight for me (bear in mind I'm used to play with 10mm blades for a long time). It may feel a bit heavier if you are not used to 10mm blades though.
The back of the blade is painted on black, but it also has a strip of cork, which is really handy to support fingers and avoid the blade to slip (comparing with some blades where the back is totally painted and makes the blade slip easily).
As any Cypress blade, it is a bit fragile, so, you should expect a few marks on it when you hit the table for example, but I'd like to emphasize this is a characteristic of the Cypress wood, and not quality of the blade
For me, this blade has only one downside if I compare it with other blades I've played. The shape of the blade's head. Most of Jpen blades, if you look at the blade's head, you will see it's usually WIDER AT THE TIP of the head and NARROWER CLOSER TO THE HANDLE, which makes sense, since most of the time you will hit the ball closer to the tip of the blade.
Hibi O though is NARROWER AT THE TIP and WIDER AT THE HANDLE. There is not much difference, but the difference is still there. It doesn't make much difference for my game, comparing with my old blade, but, it is something that bothers me from time to time when I look at it

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