Butterfly Tenergy 05 Rubber Review

Tenergy 05 is an ideal rubber for offensive topspin strategic play. Tenergy series features the integration of modern innovation, “Spring Sponge”, and well-known “High Tension” technology, which is designed to replace speed-glue. The rubber is perfect for a modern table tennis strategy which enhancing lots of feels, spin variations, and fierce dynamics.

Table of Contents

Basic Rubber Information:

Type: offensive, super spin
Surface: medium (a little bit hard)
Density: 36
Speed: 9
Spin: 10
Control: 9

Tenergy 05 is the first product of the Tenergy series feature with the shape of the original pimples. It combines High Tension technology with the characteristics of a highly tacky rubber to maximize spin power.

Its excellent performance has been proven by a large number of professional players and scientific measurement. It is one of the best spinning rubbers produced by Butterfly.

If you are looking for this rubber, you can get it from Megaspin.

Butterfly Tenergy 05 Performance

More information about Butterfly Tenergy 05

This rubber is regarded as one of the best modern offensive table tennis rubbers in the market at a price of (USD$ 70 – 80). Its popularity has been proven by professional players year after year.

The rubber is heavy with nearly 50 g (lighter than Tenergy 25 but slightly heavier than Tenergy 64 and 80). It offers a medium to hard feelings with the new High Tension technology from Butterfly that optimizes its spin and speed.

Serve

In terms of serve, Butterfly Tenergy 05 offers quite decent side-backspin power. Even though this is a non-tacky rubber, you can still perform heavy backspin with little effort. Given that the rubbers offer you many gears, it allows you to perform a nice variation of speed and spin for your serves.

This rubber is also quite a forgiving rubber for serves, which means it allows you to make a fine serve despite some slight mistakes.

Speed

Regarding speed, Butterfly Tenergy 05 is extremely fast. Its speed power is close to the fastest rubber in the market (slightly slower than Butterfly Tenergy 80 and Butterfly Bryce Speed FX). It allows you to perform a powerful punch or smash almost effortless. It sounds like a rumble of thunder when the rubber hits on the ball.

Spin

Spin power seems to be a prominent feature of this rubber. Butterfly Tenergy 05 offers you monstrous topspin ball with relatively high throw angle (higher arc than Butterfly Tenergy 80). Its spin power is arguably more powerful than Tenergy 80 and slightly less than Butterfly Spin Art.

This rubber not only provides tremendous spin power but also help you to generate spin relatively effortless. It is a very forgiving rubber that allows you to generate decent topspin loop even with some inconsistent strokes or techniques, especially when integrated with good control blade. So this seems to be ideal for intermediate players to practice their loop.

Control

In terms of controllability, Butterfly Tenergy 05 offers a reasonable control (slightly better than Tenergy 80). It allows you to return the ball with high precision for both direction and distance. Blocking ability is second to none among offensive blades. Furthermore, this rubber reduces the sensitivity of the incoming spin ball (Thanks to the pips’ conical shape). It will significantly enhance controllability.

Overall, this blade features a very impressive mix between speed and spin. It is arguably one of the best offensive rubbers for the modern table tennis. The only con is its high price. It is highly recommended for intermediate to professional players who have a high budget.

Recommended Table Tennis Blades for Butterfly Tenergy 05

Offensive: Butterfly Jun Mizutani, Butterfly Michael Maze, Butterfly Sardius, Nittaku Tenor, Butterfly Timo Boll ALC blade.

Super Offensive: Butterfly Boll Tri Carbon

Overall Rating 4.8 / 5

Know The Difference Rubber Thickness between Tenergy 1.7, 1.9 and 2.1

The rubber is not that different from any other rubber when it comes to the thickness. In a nutshell:

Butterfly Tenergy 2.1 is the fastest, spinnies and most control for a looping.
Tenergy 1.9 is in between 2.1 and 1.7
Tenergy 1.7 is the slowest, least spinny and has the most control for less aggressive play.

You can loop with any thickness depending on your blade too. The thinner you go through, expect that you need more precision when you go for a big swing because you have less rubber to work with.

Tenergy 1.7 is quicker but not more powerful. You have less catapult, but the ball hits the blade quicker and leaves quicker, too and encourages a more drive style which can be very fast.

If you are a serious looper and want to experience the actual Butterfly ratings, they advertise to make sure you use the 2.1 as most professionals who use Tenergy use 2.1. Butterfly most probably does its test primarily at maximum thickness.

Tenergy 05 vs 05 FX

When Butterfly first released the Tenergy 05 in FX version, it created a buzz in the ping pong community, especially those who have already used Tenergy 05 were crazy in buying it.

Weight

The FX version is lighter than the original 05.

Hardness

Although Tenergy 05 has a medium-hard sponge, it is not suitable for people who love to have the ball penetrating the blade easily.

Sound

The FX version makes more sound when hitting the wood.

Durability

Like every softer product, Tenergy 05 FX is less durable compared to 05.

FX feel better on softer blades which allow more natural progression. So if you have a Timo Boll ZLF, you should keep it as the blade is made for the FX versions.

Is Tenergy 05 that expensive considering the outstanding performance and durability that it offers you? Well, although the price is high, it is well worth the money. You need to make sure that you are taking good care of it and it will last long.

The rubber has often been referred to as a separate category or even a middle category between Chinese spin and Euro speed rubbers.

Tenergy 05 is not as tacky as the Chinese rubber, but it produces more spin than the Chinese rubber. The high speed and sponge for mechanical spin put it closer to European ping pong rubbers. So you get some advantages of traditional Chinese tacky rubbers (easy spin on serves and loops), but with excellent blocking and driving ability.

The rubber can perform the offensive style very well. It is like a Euro and Chinese rubber being fused.

Boosting Butterfly Tenergy

Butterfly Tenergy 05 is already optimized to be the best looping rubber available. Even the smell of the rubber seems to have a bit of a boosted type of odor. I always have a slight kind wet chemical that tends to dry the skin a little bit to touch a new sponge. There is for sure some residue already on the sponge.

Butterfly Tenergy boosting consistency

What happens when you use speed glue even older generation rubbers lose the rubber‘s consistent play quality. Boosting Tenergy creates a similar problem. If you make the sponge too moist, the sponge can become “gluggy” like a marshmallow, which may improve spin but create unpredictable softness, which will not improve your game.

Playing with Boosted Butterfly Tenergy

I have experienced the ball dipping into the net much too early. The softening up of the sponge sometimes creates so much spin on the ball that even near the table, it doesn’t loop at the right length when you go to loop. Instead, the ball spins straight into the net. I am scared that Tenergy FX might play more like this.

The medium-hard sponge that Butterfly Tenergy comes in is what gives perfect consistency in looping.

Boosting Tenergy and the effects on the top sheet

The best thing about boosting or speed gluing Tenergy is that it makes the top sheet more elastic. The top sheet becomes softer, which means it catches and spins the ball even better. The problem with this is that it becomes even more fragile and easy to rip, tear or crumble.

Table tennis rubber that plays like Tenergy

All I am going to say is I am through trying new rubbers. I have never found anything that plays like the original Tenergy 05 on my forehand or backhand and only could bring myself to use Tenergy 64 on backhand instead.

I have spent or should say wasted so much money trying other rubbers looking for cheap alternatives and have finally decided my search is fruitless.

Tenergy 05 on my forehand gives me the confidence more than any other rubber that I can counter-attack a ball because it plays so consistently.

Tenergy 64 on backhand gives me the confidence both away and over the table in the same way. Tenergy 64 with just mild forward over the ball loop right off the bounce can almost counter loop any incoming shot from a big attack and super spin.

I am resigning from reviewing new stuff and sticking to know what plays best the way I play best. My current 05 and 64 is about 5 months old and plays better than anything else new.

Rubber for the intermediate player

We’ve talked about table tennis Tenergy rubbers for various levels elsewhere, but it seems that most of us fall in the intermediate player band. As a result, table tennis players who are out of the basement and yet at the top group wonder where they are in terms of which rubber they should use.

If your style is to spin up, then Tenergy 05 will be an excellent rubber to learn to use. But if you are not willing to put in the hours, stay away from 05 and probably the rest of them.

Tenergy 05 FX might be more typical for some. Still, I would say to use something you can just hit the ball around with, such as Sriver FX (if you love Butterfly) or go to some less spoken of a company like Joola and try out their forgotten offerings like “Topspin”, which is like Palio Thors almost. A tacky Euro rubber full of grip Euro-style producing huge spin on a harder sponge.

Don’t believe the old stuff’s hype is often as good as the new stuff, just slightly different. You will not need the best looping rubber Tenergy – if you will not do the stroke.

If you like hard, there are numerous rubbers such as Spring Thunder Palio Hadou biotech for lower than intermediate. They are only a year old in rubber making, if that means anything since nobody has come close to Tenergy. If you chop, you could use almost any deader rubber (dead = good in this situation).