Nittaku 3-Star Nexcel 40+ Orange Ball

The bounce is different than Butterfly and a typical ITTF quality.

- Mallik, VA

They have a nice bounce that is somewhere between the weight of a D40+ and the spin of a Nittaku poly. That said, these things break way too easily.

- Leeman Harrington, FL

I tried one box. All three balls were broken within a week, about 6-10 hours playing time.

- Mark, CA

Balls are of nice quality. Been playing with a ball for 5 weeks now and still plays well. The orange Nexcel Balls are equal to the white Premium Balls. Same bounce, same roundness, more visible. No complaints here. Try them you will like them.

- Tom, OH

So glad to finally have the orange balls! Great quality, good bounce, consistent, plays like it should. If you want orange, this is the very best ball on the market.

I purchased these balls because I wanted a good quality 3 start orange ball. Prior to plastic balls, many club players preferred Orange over White balls, despite what the ball manufacturers are saying today. Regardless, these Nittaku Nexcel Orange balls are consistent, I've gone through about a dozen of them, none of them were eggy. They all had a very nice bounce and easy to see (due to orange color). They are not as hard (feeling when hitting the paddle) as the Premium Nittaku of course but very close. Many club players immediately showed interest in this Orange ball and asked me to order some for them, which I gladly did. All the club players enjoyed playing me with this ball and nobody had anything negative to say (some of the players I normally hit with are very picky about balls and I was pleased they had nothing negative to say). I evaluated these balls for about 2 or 3 weeks until I ran out. USATT Level of players evaluating this ball during this period was roughly 2000 thru 2250 (mostly closer 2150). The playing characteristic of this ball is very nice. My biggest complaint, and this is quite important, is that they break after about 2-3 hours of play at that level. They naturally break even without hitting the edge of the blade. They just begin to crack, you can see a white line forming which gets bigger until eventually you can hear the ball is broken. This happened for all the balls and they lasted about the same number of hours. None of the balls (during my evaluation) broke from hitting an edge of the blade, unlike some other plastic balls I've used. So I am disappointed that these nice looking balls do not last longer. If they were priced at $1 per ball, I might accept this longevity, but for a ball at this price point (over $2/ball), it should last at least 3-5 hours (at my style and level of play). In summary, I do highly recommend this ball for anyone looking for a good bouncing, good feeling, Orange ball, but make no expectation of having them lasting long. For players below 2000 that do not regularly swing hard, these balls will likely last much longer than my observation above and I would highly recommend them. I hope Nittaku reads my review and improves the durability of this ball.

Alex F

Just tried these out a couple nights of play for a few hours. So far, the first two we've played with have performed well. They feel very similar to the white 3-star Nittaku 40+, but even slightly harder, and with a strong bounce. It might not be to everyone's liking but I give it high marks for playability and consistency. And depending on the lighting and table color, these provide very nice contrast and are easy to follow.

Justin