Butterflyâ€s Tenergy range is the most iconic rubber line in the history of table tennis.
Released in the year 2008, the Butterfly Tenergy range has been dominating the sport for more than 15 years, and it doesnâ€t look like itâ€s stopping anytime soon.
Ever since the first Tenergy rubber was released, all of the other manufacturers have been working on how to get near their level.
More than 15 years later, the Tenergy series rubbers are still immensely popular, and theyâ€re arguably much better rubbers than the vast majority of modern offensive offerings from other brands.
In this article, we will compare all of the Tenergies and give our recommendations based on your level and playing style. These are the Tenergy 05, 05 Hard, 19, 25, 64, 80, and their respective FX counterparts.
Also, if you haven’t seen them, make sure to check out our full reviews for the Tenergy 05, the Tenergy 19, the Tenergy 64, and the Tenergy 80.
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Speed Comparison
In terms of speed, all of the Tenergy rubbers feel clicky and reactive. All of them are very fast and offensive in nature, but there are very noticeable differences between them.
The fastest Tenergies available are the Tenergy 05 Hard and the Tenergy 64. Both of these rubbers are as fast as it gets.
With the right technique, both of these rubbers are absolute weapons. They are made for hitting powerloops past opponents with ease. With these rubbers, chances are that if you contact the ball right, the point will be yours.
All of this sounds amazing, but, because of their tremendous speed, both of these rubbers suffer from some control issues.
The speed of a rubber is inversely proportional to its dwell time. This means that as soon as the ball contacts the rubber, it shoots right out very violently.
If you contact the ball just right, youâ€ll get very high shot quality, but if you had your racket angle slightly off at the moment of impact, youâ€ll probably miss.
Hence, both the Tenergy 05 Hard and the Tenergy 64 are rubbers made strictly for the advanced player. If youâ€re a developing player, Iâ€d recommend you choose a slightly slower Tenergy or a different rubber altogether.
The Tenergy 80 and the Tenergy 25 both lie a step below the 64 and the 05 Hard, but theyâ€re still very fast, offensive rubbers.
Both of these rubbers are at the level of the Tibhar MX-P in terms of speed, for example, and theyâ€re also for advanced players.
However, their dwell time is slightly higher than that of the 05 Hard and the 64, so both of these rubbers are a bit more controllable.
The second slowest Tenergy is the most popular of all, the Tenergy 05.
I believe that the Tenergy 05â€s speed is one of the attributes that make it such a special rubber. It is very fast, yes, but you can get away with using it if youâ€re an upper intermediate player, or even if youâ€re an intermediate player and you want to use fast equipment.
With the Tenergy 05 Hard and the Tenergy 64, sometimes Iâ€d hit the ball and not know why I missed. The dwell time of these rubbers is so low that sometimes youâ€d feel like you hit the ball correctly and still missed. This doesnâ€t happen with the Tenergy 05.
The Tenergy 05 is a very fast rubber but it has a safe, high arc (more on that later), and a relatively manageable speed, so we recommend it for upper intermediate and advanced players.
Finally, the slowest Tenergy out of the non-FX Tenergies is the Tenergy 19. The Tenergy 19 is just a notch slower than the Tenergy 05.
When I tested the Tenergy 19, I concluded that itâ€s a slightly toned-down version of the Tenergy 05 in every aspect. Itâ€s slightly slower and lower throwing, so itâ€s suitable for the forehand side of intermediate and advanced players, and for the backhand side of advanced players as well.
As for the FX versions, all of them are slower than all the normal versions, and theyâ€re a lot more controllable. The fastest is the 64 FX, followed by the 80 FX and the 25 FX, and lastly, the 05 FX.
Tenergy Speed Comparisons
Spin Comparison
In terms of spin, the Tenergy 05, the 05 Hard, and the Tenergy 19 are the spinniest Tenergies available.
However, even if their topsheet grip is the same, their arc and dwell time are very different. This means the amount of spin you can get on various strokes is also different.
Because the Tenergy 05 Hard is very fast, even if its topsheet is very spinny, you wonâ€t get as much spin if you donâ€t catch the ball right because of its little dwell time.
The Tenergy 05 and the Tenergy 19 make it a lot easier to spin the ball because the ball stays on the racket longer, so, in practice, youâ€ll likely get more spin with these rubbers if you arenâ€t a high-level player.
As for the Tenergy 05, because of its high and short arc, the ball drops and kicks violently, making it seem like itâ€s the spinniest of the Tenergies. The Tenergy 19 has a tamer arc, but it has the same spin as the 05.
A step below these 3 rubbers are the Tenergy 80 and 25.
Both the Tenergy 80 and 25 are still very spinny rubbers, but they produce noticeably lower rotation than the 05, 05 Hard, and 19, especially when serving or when performing open-ups.
The rubber with the least spin is the Tenergy 64. Again, the Tenergy 64 is still a very spinny rubber, but not as much as the other Tenergies.
The Tenergy 64â€s comparative lack of spin is one of its strengths, though. The Tenergy 64 was historically used as a backhand rubber, and, because it doesnâ€t have as much spin as the other Tenergies, it also absorbed less incoming spin.
This higher spin insensitivity made it a lot easier to block and play counters close to the table, two of the most important strokes commonly played from the backhand side.
In terms of spin, again, all of the FX versions are less spinny than the normal offerings because of their soft sponges, which make them have a lesser maximum spin. However, their sponges also make it very easy to spin the ball, since you have a lot of dwell time.
The Tenergy 05 FX is the spinniest out of the FX versions, followed by the 80 FX, then the 25 FX, and finally, the 64 FX.
Tenergy Spin Comparisons
Control Comparison
In terms of control, the control of each of the rubbers is inversely proportional to their speed.
However, there is one outlier in this equation: Tenergy 05.
The Tenergy 05, together with the Tenergy 19, is the most controllable of the Tenergies.
The high and shallow arc of the Tenergy 05, coupled with its relatively manageable speed, makes it a very safe rubber for attacking because the ball has a high margin of clearance over the net.
The Tenergy 05 also has a very violent arc in the sense that the ball travels very high but then dips violently, so you get the high clearance over the net without as much danger of overshooting the table.
In terms of control, the Tenergy 19 and the 05 are the most controllable, followed by the 25 and 80, and then the 64 and the 05 Hard are the least controllable, only recommended for advanced players because of their nearly non-existent dwell time.
As for the FX versions, the 05 FX is the most controllable, followed by the 80 FX, then the 25 FX, and finally, the 64 FX.
We havenâ€t given the Tenergies maximum ratings for control because all of them are extremely fast rubbers.
Tenergy Control Comparisons
Arc Comparison
All of the Tenergy rubbers tend to be high-arcing.
The rubber with the highest and shortest arc is the Tenergy 05. The trajectory the Tenergy 05 creates on loops makes it a very special rubber because it gives the player using it a sense of safety when attacking.
A step below the Tenergy 05 comes the Tenergy 19 and the Tenergy 80. These rubbers are also quite high-throwing, but not to the level of the Tenergy 05.
Then we have the Tenergy 25 and the Tenergy 05 Hard. Both of these rubbers still produce medium-high arcs, but they are noticeably more direct.
Lastly, the Tenergy 64 is the most direct of the bunch. This means that shots played with it travel closer to the net and often threaten to overshoot the table.
In terms of the FX versions, the highest throwing is the 05 FX, followed by the 80 FX, 25 FX, and lastly, the 64 FX.
In the following chart, a higher number means that the arc is higher. Note that a higher arc isnâ€t necessarily better, as lower throwing rubbers are better for blocking, punching, and flat hitting, for example.
Tenergy Arc Comparisons
Conclusion and Recommendations
To sum up, this is our official comparison chart in its entirety:
Overall Tenergy Comparison Chart
Given these attributes, Iâ€ll now share our recommendations for which rubber you should get depending on your needs:
Tenergy 05
We recommend the Tenergy 05if you want a safe, high-arcing rubber, primarily for looping with tons of speed and spin.
The Tenergy 05 is the most popular Tenergy because it’s the most special rubber for looping with speed, spin, and with good clearance over the net.
We recommend it for upper intermediate and advanced offensive players. Suitable for The Controller and The Aggressor playing styles.
Better for: Forehand / Backhand / Both
Tenergy 05 Hard
We recommend the Tenergy 05 Hard if you want a very hard rubber that is completely uncompromising on both speed and spin. It has the spin of the Tenergy 05 paired with the speed of the Tenergy 64 (and even more speed than the Tenergy 64 on the top gears!).
It is also a very special rubber because it has the highest speed and spin attributes out of all the Tenergies. It even features a lower, more direct arc, with a much harder sponge. Everything is geared towards hitting outright winners.
This rubber was made with power loopers and 3rd ball attackers in mind. It doesn’t have the best control, far from it, so we only recommend it for advanced offensive players. Perfect for The Aggressor playing style.
Better for: Forehand/ Backhand / Both
Tenergy 19
We recommend the Tenergy 19 for players who want the speed and spin of the Tenergies and the highest control and dwell time possible.
The Tenergy 19 is essentially a slightly toned-down Tenergy 05, both in terms of speed and arc.
It is a superbly balanced high-performance rubber, and I really enjoyed it on my backhand side. It’s also the backhand rubber of choice of USA #1 Kanak Jha. However, it’s also really good on the forehand side.
Because of its more controllable nature, it’s a better rubber for rally play rather than 3rd ball attacking. We recommend it for intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced offensive players. Suitable for The Controller and The Aggressor playing styles.
Better for: Forehand / Backhand/ Both
Tenergy 25
The Tenergy 25 is the least popular Tenergy there is. Something about it made it so that it never became a best-seller, but it’s still a very good rubber.
The Tenergy 25 is a very balanced offensive rubber. It has very good speed and spin attributes. It sits right in the middle of all the Tenergies in that sense.
It’s a very good rubber both for 3rd ball attacks and rally play. We recommend it for upper intermediate and advanced offensive players. Suitable for The Controller and The Aggressor playing styles.
Better for: Forehand / Backhand / Both
Tenergy 64
The Tenergy 64, together with the 05 Hard, is the fastest and most direct of the series.
The main attributes of the Tenergy 64 are its relative insensitivity to incoming spin, its speed, and its medium, direct arc. The Tenergy 64 is ideal for blocking, flat-hitting, and countering.
It works for rally play just as well as it does for 3rd ball attacks. Because of its uncompromising speed, we only recommend it for advanced offensive players. Suitable for The Aggressor playing style.
Better for: Forehand / Backhand/ Both
Tenergy 80
The Tenergy 80 is one of my favorites. It combines a high speed and a high spin attribute with a high arc.
The Tenergy 80 is a slightly lower throwing, faster, and slightly less spinny Tenergy 05. It is a slightly faster, more direct version of the Tenergy 05, in a sense.
Even though it excels at rally play, it’s also very good for 3rd ball attacks. We recommend it for upper intermediate and advanced offensive players. Suitable for The Aggressor and The Controller playing styles.
Better for: Forehand / Backhand / Both
Alvaroâ€s a qualified ITTF Level 1 Coach who’s been playing Table Tennis since he was 15 and is now ranked within the top 50 in his native Argentina. He loves to compete in provincial tournaments and is always looking for ways to improve. Alvaro made his favorite memories with a racket in hand, and he joined the RacketInsight team to share his passion with other players!
Blade: Butterfly Fan Zhendong ALC | Forehand: Butterfly Dignics 09c | Backhand: Butterfly Tenergy 19
Playstyle: The Controller
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