Six Zero Quartz Review!

Author

Chris Olson
August 04, 2024

Six Zero Quartz Review

Specs

  • Price: $89.99

  • Core thickness: 15mm

  • Shape: Standard (16×7.9”)

  • Grip size: 4.25”

  • Handle length: 5.0”

  • Face: Raw carbon fiber

  • Design: Gen 1

  • Spin: 1966 RPM

  • Warranty: 1 year

Who is this targeting?

The Quartz fills a segment of the market I was hoping someone would eventually fill. I have thought for a bit that there is a gap in the market for a <$100 performance paddle with good design aesthetics in a standard shape.

While I’m not really one to care too much about the design of a paddle, the target demographic in this price range does care.

The Quartz is targeting those players who are just getting into the game, or upgrading from their first budget paddle.

Often times this demographic has three things in mind:

  1. Price

  2. Design

  3. Good performance

The Quartz checks those boxes very well, for the most part.

It’s also a control paddle which is something that a lot of beginners need in order to help them learn the soft part of the game without the paddle making it more difficult.

Why gen 1?

The main problem I have is that they opted for a gen 1 design instead of gen 1.5.

Last year the Vatic Prism Flash made massive waves as one of the best paddles you could buy for the price, and for good reason.

It had killer performance, a great sweet spot, multiple options to choose from, and a steal of a price.

This is what I thought the Quartz was going after as well, but the gen 1 design hurts the sweet spot. When compared to the Vatic Prism Flash and 11six24 Jelly Bean, it is clear that the lack of edge foam is hurting the stability and forgiveness of those edges.

Verdict

Amongst beginners I anticipate this paddle will be a great option. Fun designs, fast in the hand, and good control. They likely won’t even notice the sweet spot because they are:

  1. Playing the game for the first time

  2. Coming from a really crappy paddle where anything is an improvement

But for advanced players, I think they will be left wanting more. If you have used gen 1.5 or gen 2 paddles, the Quartz really doesn’t do anything better or more interesting. Unless what you wanted was a control paddle with a short handle in a standard shape.

Because of this, I think the Vatic Prism and 11six24 Jelly Bean will continue to see some dominance at that $90-$100 price range for a performance budget paddle. But for those who want reasonable performance with aesthetics, they will likely choose the Quartz.

Spartus Olympus Initial Impressions

An upcoming paddle that has caught my eye is the Spartus Olympus.

I’ve put about 2 hours into the paddle so far and here are my initial impressions:

I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say about the design for now, but it’s going to require me doing some more testing to make sure it holds up and doesn’t have some of the flaws that other paddles on the market have right now.

If it does manage to pass that test, it is a really interesting paddle.

It’s a 14mm design, but the feel is closer to a 16mm.

Most people who hit it can’t even tell it is a 14mm until they are told.

It has great pop for counters, but the face feels relatively predictable and easier to use than most 14mms. I would still consider it to be a more challenging paddle to use, but nothing like a Gearbox Pro Power in terms of difficulty.

It’s a hybrid shape and is plenty fast in the hand. Enough that I would probably opt to add lead tape just to give it a hair more stability and plow through. My guess is that lead is really going to make this paddle shine.

I believe it is going to be closer to the $200 price point which is a lot more than Spartus paddles in the past, but apparently the manufacturing process for these is extremely slow at the moment.

I’ll keep testing it and share more thoughts when I have them, but this is one to keep your eye on!

I’ll be at the Kansas PPA!

Originally I wasn’t going to compete because I was a bit burnt out, but I decided since I was going to visit family in Kansas, I may as well play some singles (probably going to get destroyed again haha).

If you’re going to be there, come say hi! I should be there on Friday (Playing 4.5 singles) and Saturday (watching some friends).

🎙️ Latest podcast

If you missed it, last week we talked about our top paddles released in 2024. Will is also back from Cambodia!