[EARLY ACCESS] Helios3 - Gen3 Carbon Fiber 14mm Power Paddle

I play the Alecto red paddle and have loved it. When the Early Access (EA) came out I thought I would try it. The EA is not the power paddle that is the red Alecto. But the EA is a power paddle with far more control than the red Alecto offers.

When I weighted the EA at the 10, 12 and 2 positions it immediately increased its' power without losing its' touch and feel. It is a paddle that can fool you in regard its power vs feel. I would say that it has the feel of a very good Gen 2 paddle and the power, when weighted, of a slightly above average Gen 3 paddle. It is definitely not a Joola or Gearbox paddle but it exceeds them in control and feel what it gives up to them in raw power.
Another way to look at it and how it feels, is that it plays much like a top line Gen 2 paddle, soft in feel with excellent touch with more pop and power. A good experiment is to hit with a good 16mm paddle and then try the EA 14mm core paddle. You will immediately feel and see the difference.
The one thing I would change on the paddle is the handle. I prefer a more rounded handle to this more rectangular form. but that is my own personal choice.
Lastly. for its' price how can you go wrong. Buy it and enjoy it.

I ordered the Helios 3 a few weeks back and I’ve been gaming it for about a week now. I still can’t figure out why there are no reviews for this paddle anywhere, because it has been fantastic for me. I just started playing a month ago, but have addictive personality and very athletic, so I’m already playing at a high level and this paddle has been awesome for me so far.

The other review above me is pretty much spot on so I won’t expand too much. Out of the box, it was decent but I didn’t love it. Then I added 3.75g tungsten tape from about halfway up the throat to middle of the paddle face and it completely transformed how it played. Powerful, accurate, spinny, great touch for a 14 mm, forgiving. Obviously my game is improving as I learn the fundamentals, but this paddle has also helped me to start to throttle the same players I once thought were very good. My only knock would be - the grip is kind of hard feeling, but grips can be changed/over grips added.

Overall - I can’t recommend this paddle enough. Love that half the profits go to charity and I love playing a beautiful paddle that plays as well as all the other $300 Selkirk, CRBN, etc that you see over and over in the saddles. Buy it, slap some weighted tape on it, and enjoy!

Since I am the first reviewer let me give a bit of a long-ish review. For reference I am a 4.0+ level senior (68).

So here are the salient points about this paddle:

- it is not a BOOM-BOOM paddle. You won't confuse it with the MOD TA-15. It is more of an all court leaning power paddle with moderate pop. FWIW, I cannot see why the USAP would deny certifying this paddle.

- although it is a gen 3 paddle it plays nothing like many gen 3 paddles (MOD TA-15, 3S, Pulse) in that there is no catapulting of the ball when you strike it. Performance is very linear.

- the paddle feels remarkably soft and composed for a 14 mm paddle (; I added 12 grams of perimeter weighting). There is absolutely no instability and the sweet spot seems quite large. It has the control of a 16 mm paddle.

- great control overall. After adding perimeter weighting I could simply pick up the paddle and play with it like a champ. It feels light for an elongated paddle.

However when I first unwrapped the paddle I thought I made a huge mistake. The grip felt uncomfortable. It felt like the paddle has something hard running down the sides of the grip, as if the grip and the paddle are completely integrated (, which is probably a good thing). I placed two over grips on it and it felt better. Yet when I got on the court to play ...

- the grip felt absolutely fine!! No discomfort whatsoever.

Finally, the paddle is gorgeous (I got the pink one). I had the PICKLN Alecto Blue which was a great yet boring looking paddle. However this Helios3 is a WOW!

So yeah, buy this paddle already.