“Palio-ETT”, is a joint venture between, Palio, an established Chinese table tennis equipment manufacturing company, and the famous “Expert Table Tennis”, an online table tennis community. This company started production in the year 2013 to provide quality pre-made rackets at a very reasonable rate. These “Palio Expert” series (Expert, Master, and Legend) rackets are excellent options for gaining skills and experience before handling customized rackets combined with high-quality blades and rubbers.
But which one is for you? Is it Expert 2, Master 2, or Legend 2? What are the extra added features in the newly released Expert 3, Master 3, and Legend 3? You may fall into a dilemma about selecting the right one for you. Your playing experience may also be badly affected by any type of wrong selection. This write-up “Palio Expert Vs Master Vs Legend” compares the constructional features and performances of all the 3 models to pinpoint the differences so that you can easily select the right one according to your needs for better performance.
Palio Expert 2 Vs Master 2 Vs Legend 2: Comparison Chart
At present, two variants of each model are available in the market, the 2 and 3 series. To present the topic easily, the comparison is segmented into two parts. It starts with a detailed evaluation of the Expert 2, Master 2, and Legend 2 series and ends with extra modifications in the newly released 3 series.
| Category | Palio Expert 2 | Palio Master 2 | Palio Legend 3 |
| Blade | Shakehand, All-wood | Shakehand, All-wood | Shakehand, All-wood |
| Rubber | CJ8000 | CJ8000 | Palio Hadou |
| Rubber Type | Tacky, Inverted | Tacky, Inverted | Tacky, Inverted |
| Handle | Flared | Flared | Flared |
| Speed | 6/10 | 8/10 | 10/10 |
| Spin | 9/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 |
| Control | 10/10 | 8/10 | 6/10 |
| Weight | 0.44 lbs | 0.5 lbs | 0.57 lbs |
| ITTF Approval | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Racket Case | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Price | $39.99 | $49.99 | $54.99 |
| Best For | Beginner | Intermediate | Advanced |
Palio Expert 2 Vs Master 2 Vs Legend 2: Comparative Analysis
A table tennis racket is a combination of a blade and rubbers pasted on both sides of the blade. The performance (Speed, Spin, and Control) of a racket depends on the blade and rubber characteristics.
Blade
All the 3 models have 100% wooden blades. No composite materials like carbon have been used in the composition to make blades superfast with the sacrifice of control. The only difference between the three different wooden blades is the stiffness of the blade used. While the Palio Legend 2.0 uses the hardest wood, the Master 2.0 has a stiffer wooden blade than the Expert 2.0.
All three have flared (FL) types of handles. Flared handles are slightly enlarged at the end which not only fits well in hands but also prevents them from slipping out of your hands.
Rubber
Palio Expert 2 and Master 2 consist of the same CJ8000 rubber with a tacky topsheet, which is a common feature in Chinese rubbers. Due to the tackiness, the rubber holds the ball for a longer time which helps generate a high amount of spin in soft strokes like in serves.
The Legend 3 uses the Palio Hadou rubber which is also very tacky with a sponge hardness higher than the CJ8000 rubber. The harder sponge is excellent for producing higher speed and spins in your loop shots, while the tacky topsheet helps to create more spin in your serves.
Both CJ8000 and Hadou are approved by the International Table Tennis Federation for playing in tournaments.
Performance
Speed, Spin, and Control are the three attributes for judging the nature of a racket, i.e. offensive, defensive, or all-rounder.
| Name | Speed | Spin | Control |
| Expert 2.0 | 6/10 | 9/10 | 10/10 |
| Master 2.0 | 8/10 | 9/10 | 8/10 |
| Legend 2.0 | 10/10 | 9/10 | 6/10 |
Palio Legend 2 has a very high rating in terms of speed (10/10). The stiff blade doesn’t absorb much energy during impact and rebounds the ball at a higher speed. Also due to the high hardness of the sponge, the ball penetrates less into the sponge during impact which promotes high speed. Again, control is inversely proportional to speed. The higher the speed, the less amount of control the racket exhibits which is evident by the control rating (6/10) of Legend 2.0.
In reverse, Expert 2.0 shows a high rating on control (10/10) but lacks speed (6/10) due to the relatively soft nature of the sponge and wooden blade.
The stiffness of the wooden blade of the Palio Master 2.0 lies between the other two. This racket is equally good in terms of speed and control.
In another angle, momentum is proportional to weight. Due to the higher weight of 0.57 lbs, the Legend generates more momentum/ speed than the Master (0.5 lbs) or Expert (0.44 lbs).
Due to the high tackiness of the top sheet, all three are capable of generating a high amount of spin which is evident by the spin rating (9/10).
Palio Expert 2: Pros & Cons
Palio Expert 2 is a premade Shakehand-style racket that consists of an all-wood blade and CJ8ooo inverted tacky rubbers. The racket exhibits very high authority in control with a sacrifice over speed which is an ideal combination for beginners for the development of skill at the early stages. Moreover, Expert 2.0 is available at a very lucrative price of $39.99.
Pros
- Exceptional control
- Great spin
- Excellent for beginners
- ITTF approved
- Nice caring case
- Value for money
Cons
- Not suitable for offensive players
Palio Master 2: Pros & Cons
Master 2 is also a premade Shakehand-style racket with a relatively harder wooden blade and CJ8ooo rubbers. The racket has a good even balanced combination of speed, spin, and control which suits players who rely on both offensive and defensive play.
Pros
- Equally good for speed and control
- Great spin
- Great for all-rounders
- ITTF approved
- Nice caring case
- Value for money
Cons
- Due to its sticky nature, the rubber gets dirty in quick time
Palio Legend 2: Pros & Cons
Palio Legend 2 consists of a stiff wooden blade pasted with hard tacky Hadou rubbers on both sides. This is an offensive plus category racket that gives lethal speed and massive spin but doesn’t possess high command over control. With a very attractive price of $54.99, the Legend 2.0 is the best bet for aggressive attackers.
Pros
- Exceptional speed
- Massive spin
- Great for advanced players
- ITTF approved
- Nice caring case
- Value for money
Cons
- Not easy to control
- Not suitable for beginners
What About the Palio Expert 3.0, Master 3.0, & Legend 3.0
Expert 3.0, Master 3.0, and Legend 3.0 are the latest rackets of the Palio-ETT series with slight modifications against the above-mentioned previous series.
- The new rackets have a wider side edge tape to protect rubbers in a better way.
- The grip is also slightly redesigned to make the racket more effective.
- The latest model has also included a newly designed carrying case (The color of the previous case cover looks more appealing to me).
Palio Expert Vs Master Vs Legend: Final Verdict
All three, the Palio Expert, Master, and Legend are great performers and have an excellent price-performance ratio. But there is a constraint. Each racket is specifically designed for a certain level of players. Others may not benefit from using it, rather it stands against the development of techniques.
At an early stage, beginners need rackets that help them to place the ball on the table consistently. A speedy racket not only blows the ball away from the table, but it is also hard to tackle the incoming spin with high speed. The Palio Expert with a high control (10/10) and a speed rating of 6/10 (Not as slow as the cheap premade rackets available in the market) is perfect for beginners for the development of their basic skills.
In reverse, the Legend is for intermediates and advanced players with good techniques to handle the offensive nature of the racket. For a few days, they may feel it difficult to manage, but once they get accustomed, this offensive+ racket will be a lethal weapon to dominate their opponents with devastating loops and smashes.
The Master is equally good for speed, spin, and control. This balanced combination perfectly fits intermediates who have gathered a decent amount of skills to control the ball and are on the verge of learning advanced techniques.
Thanks for continuing till the end. If you have any questions, please leave a quick comment below.
I am playing in a league,I’m 68 but very fit,I’ve been back to table tennis for 18 months,I used to play squash tennis and over the last 20 years badminton,I’m okay with most aspects of table tennis ie position reading the the game ,but I have been playing some div one and premier players more recently in a tournament my bat at present give’s good control but with an opponent with high skills in spin and technique I now need a better bat I can’t make up my mind between a Palio master or legend.
It’s better to start with the Palio Master 3.0. It’s an all-rounder, good control, speed, and spin. After playing around 6-12 months, if you desire to play more aggressively, you may switch over to the Legand 3.0. You may also try for a customized racket. STIGA Clipper alongwith Yasaka Mark V is a great option to start with.
Thanks