The Palio Expert 2 is a beginner-friendly, affordable paddle developed by Palio and Expert Table Tennis.
It is a fantastic, high-quality paddle with lots of positive reviews and even some recommendations by professional coaches. Its crown jewel is the very high control rate it features, which is incredibly useful if you are just starting out on the sport. You can check out this review for the specifics.
Note: if you are either intermediate level or above, then this paddle is not for you. It is a great beginner paddle but it will not serve you if you are trying to do more complex tricks.
What Are The Specifications Of The Palio Expert 2 Paddle?
- Paddle ratings – Speed: 6.0, Spin: 9.0, Control: 10.0
- Blade – All wood (not sure how many plies)
- Rubbers – Palio CJ8000 rubbers on both sides
- Grip – Flared
- ITTF Approved – Yes, you can use it in official tournaments
- Our rating – 9.3
What Are The Pros Of The Palio Expert 2 Paddle?
The biggest pro of the Palio Expert 2 ping pong paddle is that it has an incredibly high control rating. The higher the control rating the easier it will be for you to place the ball on the table as it slows the ball down, making it easier to control. This is ideal for beginners who are still learning their basic skills before moving on to a more professional paddle.
The handle on this paddle is flared, which means that it keeps it from slipping out of your hand during a match. This is also a shake-hand style racket (which will not be suitable if you use a pen-hold grip), meaning that you hold it the same way you would shake hands with someone.
This paddle is also ITTF (International Table Tennis Federation) approved, which means that you can use it in professional matches if you would like. It comes with a case that keeps the rubbers away from dust so you can keep them tacky and from wearing out faster.
This product also features quite good reviews on Amazon, so you can rest easy that customers are enjoying their product as they should. Finally, this is also a very affordable product, which again, if you are a beginner especially, is a fantastic pro. To sum up:
- It features a high control rating
- The handle on this paddle is flared
- It is a shake-hand style racket
- It is ITTF approved
- It comes with a case included
- It has good reviews on Amazon
- It is very affordable
What Are The Cons Of The Palio Expert 2 Paddle?
There are a few downsides to this Palio Expert 2 paddle. It is a great beginner paddle but it’s not suitable for more experienced players. This is because it features a low speed rating. While the spin rating stands at 9 and the control rating stands at 10, which are both fantastic ratings, the speed rating on this paddle stands at 6.
This is because the rubber on this paddle is tacky rubber and a soft sponge, meaning that the ball will slightly stick to it when you hit it. This has certain upsides, such as generating topspin, backspin, and sidespin when making contact, but it will also slow down your ball’s speed.
Another issue is that the Palio Expert 2 paddle can also be a little heavy, especially if you are not used to the sport yet. Finally, another thing that customers have reported is that sometimes, unfortunately the rubber can start peeling off. To sum up:
- It has a low speed rating
- It is a little heavy
- The rubber peels off
What Are Some Reviews Of The Palio Expert 2 Paddle?
It is always important to hear from real-life customers about what they think of their products, so you can be sure it matches up to what we are saying. Here, we are including a positive review as well as a negative review so you can get a wide range of opinions. Here is the positive review, below it you will find the negative one:
“If you are transitioning from being “recreational” to playing club tourneys this is a solid first bat. I like the blade quite a lot and use it with faster rubbers on a different setup. The CJ8000 rubbers are not bad. They are quick enough and just sticky enough to pull off a higher spin technique. Give it a good 6-9 months of play and see where you are at. The odds are you will want something a little faster and sticky before a year of practice/play is up. By then you’d need to replace your rubber anyway. This is probably the best ‘pre-made’ you can get.”
“Although this paddle was pretty good when i first got it, after the first month of playing, the rubber didn’t quite stick to the ball which is a very short lifetime for the rubber and after I continued to play with it, the paddle broke off from the handle, I don’t know if i received a defective product but I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.”
Final Verdict:
If you are new to the sport, or you are simply (as the review above mentioned) transitioning from playing table tennis as a hobby to doing it professionally and attending tournaments, then this is definitely the paddle for you. It is a sturdy, reliable product that is sure to fit your needs perfectly. While we would absolutely recommend this paddle for beginners, we would not do the same if you are intermediate level or above.
If you are at this level or above, then you should be looking at other (slightly more expensive) paddles that have a higher speed rating that you can use for more advanced tricks. All in all, we hope that if you are a beginner indeed, then that you definitely make use of this paddle and enjoy it for many years (or months, depending on how fast you progress) to come!
Bonus tip: Check out this video about four fantastic serves to impress your opponents!
