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I know how hard it can be when you do not know which table tennis rubber to get when there are so many options and they all cost quite a bit. You do want to make sure to get the rubber that will fit you well so it can enhance your game and move you to the next level without holding you back. Here I made my top 5 favorite rubbers that I used and I think they do really good job with new plastic ball.
This is my number one favorite rubber that I am using these days. It has been about 4-5 month since I changed my forehand side for this rubber. I know your feeling that it has been overly advertised and cost a lot! Yes that was my feeling too when I first saw advertisements of it, but then I thought I would give it a try and it works pretty good. So this rubber is not for beginners and not intermediate players, it is advanced level rubber. If you are an offensive looper and like to counter attack this can be a good fit for you. It has good control and Butterfly Inc. finely found a good balance mixing sticky Chinese rubber style with European tension rubber. It is well balanced with stickiness for spin and still has speed in it. It is fast rubber. But it is not like Tenergy that shoots ball high and strong in trajectory. It is easy to control the ball with forehand push or touch which was sometimes quite challenging with Tenergy due to having high springiness. It makes easy to counter loop as well because I think it lets the ball sink in to the rubber longer and when you spin it back it does not overshoots with high arch as I experienced with Tenergy a lot. Because it has these tackiness it was expected to last longer, so when I bought it for $100 , I thought if it last longer may be it will pay off. I have used Dignics 09c with my Tenergy 05 on my backhand at the same time, and I can say that in 4 month my Tenergy rubber is ready to be changed and my Dignics rubber is doing pretty good and it can probably last for another month. This rubber is like Tenergy 05 +DHS Hurricane 3 mixture.
If you are interested to purchase you can buy it here.
I have been using Tenergy rubbers for about 3 years now. One of my favorite things about these rubbers was that bounciness and ease to play with the feeling of boosted rubber just like back in 90's. Aside that Tenergy 05 is one of the most favorite rubber of offensive players, it has nice high arch, good spin and speed that we all love about it. I think, it can generate good spin for loops, and you can also hit with ease strong shots like smashes. It has a big speed which makes your loops come out strong. It has good control but sometimes it can feel like too bouncy or harder to keep the ball in, for blocking, or counter looping. If you pair these rubber with the slower blade it works pretty good together. I really love the sound that it makes and the feeling of hard backhand or forehand loops that it can generate. If you are an offensive player who enjoys speed and likes to have some hard smashes to finish the points I think you will enjoy this rubber.
If you are interested to purchase Tenergy 05 here is the link.
So you like the feeling of Tenergy but the cost is too much, then the next close to Tenergy rubber is Evolution MX_P. It is high tension European rubber with a nice balance of speed and spin. It is high quality tension rubber that makes a good fit for intermediate and advanced players. I think it has a little less speed compared to Tenergy but because of that it can be easier to control the ball. But it is not slow rubber. It is fast. It is good offensive rubber that you can have a good balance with price range and getting high quality tension rubber.
You can buy it for $49.95 on megaspin.net. and here is the link.
This is an interesting rubber that I came across. I think this rubber is a really good one from beginners to advanced players. It has really good spin and it has very good control. It is not as fast as Tenergy or Evolution MX-P, I think it is slower then those rubbers. This can be really good when you are in learning process of the technics of strokes in table tennis. It can help you develop good technic without getting used to having an advantage of fast rubber that makes it easy to land balls. So this rubber has a really good control for blocking, for generating more spin on looping and keeping the ball on the table. It also comes in a really good price only for 39.99 online at megaspin.com.
This is completely different feel and different style rubber in comparison to tensions rubbers. We all know that our favorite top Chinese players play with DHS rubbers and this one is a really good one to start with and try to see if you like it.
It is very, very sticky rubber with a hard sponge. You can generate a lot of spin and gain a good control over it. You have to be always in correct position and do your strokes correctly because this rubber will not be forgiving technical errors. It helps you to get all your technic shaped well and it forces you to do always the right shot and move with your feet to get to the right position only then you can land your balls perfectly well. Because of having hard, dull feeling on the rubber a lot of people do boosting of it. I have never tried it boosted but I used these rubber about 3 month or more. I think I like the feeling of tension rubber creates (that bouncy feeling) which made it hard for me to keep using DHS Hurricane 3Neo rubber. But if you start learning with these rubber you can get really good at generating a lot of spin, you can make nice close to table touches, drop shots and flicks because it is very easy to control with this rubber. It is also easy to counter-loop with these rubber and generating some flat smashes. This rubber is good for all levels. But I would recommend it to beginners and intermediate players, because if you have been playing for a long time with tension rubbers these can be hard to switch too. So if you are just getting intermediate level player and have not decided which rubber to choose then this can be a good switch to try and see if you like it. It does not cost a lot which makes it easier to give a try. It costs only 22 dollars and here is the link for it.
I hope I could help you in your future selection of rubbers for your game. It takes time and experience to understand which one is really good for you but by giving a try you will have a better idea what is right for you. If you see someone in the club with the rubber that you are interested to play with, ask them to try their paddle and see if you like the feeling. That can help you have better idea before purchasing a new rubber. Once you choose one stick with it for a while because if you get into keep changing and buying new once that does not help you to improve your game. Only practice will help you to improve your game. Good luck!