Starvie Kenta Ultra Speed Soft 2024

Technologies

Pros

• ✓The Ultra Speed Soft core sends the ball back without you having to muscle the shot: on crosscourt bandejas and blocked volleys the ball comes out deep off a short, compact swing The round shape's generous sweet spot forgives off-center contact off the back wall, where the ball arrives tight to your body and you don't always catch it dead center The Hex Tech texture is molded straight into the face rather than printed on top, so the cutting action on your bandeja and vibora holds up over far more hours on court than a screen-printed rough finish The Noene Inside in the grip soaks up a good chunk of impact vibration — a genuine relief in long matches if you're carrying elbow or wrist niggles The Longer Handgrip adds 1.5 cm of handle: if you play a two-handed backhand, your support hand fits on properly instead of hanging off the end of the grip

Cons

• ✗With such a soft rubber and a round shape, flat smashes lose bite: the ball doesn't kick through the court much, pushing you toward the x3 or kick smash rather than a straight smash The weight range tops out at 380 g, and on the heavier units net maneuverability suffers when you're stringing together two or three quick volleys This is a control racket for advanced players: if your game is built around hitting hard, you'll find it gives back less pace than you put into your finishing shots The ultra-soft rubber feels the cold and racks up hours faster than a mid-density EVA core; the feel goes duller over time

Star Vie Kenta Ultra Speed Soft review: the soft round racket that plays off your wrist, not your shoulder

The Star Vie Kenta Ultra Speed Soft is a round control racket for advanced players, built with a double layer of 3K carbon over an Ultra Speed Soft rubber core of ultra-soft density, weighing 355 to 380 g and packing Hex Tech, Reactive Holes, Longer Handgrip and Noene Inside technologies.

That combo — a stiff carbon face over a very soft rubber core — defines everything this padel racket does on court. And everything it doesn't.

What does Ultra Speed Soft rubber offer over a standard EVA core?

Ultra Speed Soft rubber runs at an ultra-soft density that deforms more on impact and gives back more energy on its own. On court that means the ball exits without you needing to accelerate your arm, the touch feels plush, and the impact lands cushioned in your hand.

This is a deliberate design call, not an accident. Star Vie isn't chasing a racket that buries smashes here — it's chasing one that lets you play forty-shot rallies without loading up your shoulder.

The double layer of 3K carbon on the face offsets some of that softness. 3K is a comparatively flexible weave within the carbon family, and running it in two layers adds surface stiffness without turning the response dead. That's why the racket never feels lifeless: the face responds, the core forgives.

Star Vie Kenta Ultra Speed Soft: full specs

Hex Tech and Reactive Holes: rough texture that lasts, and a face that pulls its weight

Hex Tech molds a hexagonal pattern directly into the face during production. The difference versus a rough coating applied afterward comes down to durability: the texture is part of the panel itself, not a layer that gradually sands itself smooth against the ball and the glass.

That matters on two specific shots. The cut bandeja, where the slice depends on how much bite the face gets, and the vibora, where the sideways cut lives or dies in the first milliseconds of contact. With a molded surface, a season-three bandeja still bites much like it did on day one.

Reactive Holes reworks the hole layout across the face to add power and control across the board. On a racket with such a soft core, that face-level engineering is what stops the Kenta Ultra Speed Soft from falling short when you need to drive a deep ball from the back of the court.

Shot by shot: how it actually plays

Off the back wall. This is where the round shape shows most. The sweet spot is on the generous side and forgives off-center contact, exactly what happens when the ball comes back tight to your body off the glass. Catch it toward the top edge of the face and it still gets out.

Bandeja and vibora. This racket's natural home. Generous ball exit combined with the molded rough face lets you hit deep bandejas off a short swing and tight vibora cuts without needing to swing hard.

Volley. Blocking is excellent. The soft rubber soaks up incoming pace and gives it back under control, which helps with dink volleys and body volleys. On units closer to the 380 g mark, stringing together two or three fast volleys gets tougher.

Smash. The honest weak point. A flat, all-out smash with this rubber doesn't bury: the ball flattens on impact, loses penetration and bounces less than a power player expects. It works better going for the smash by 3 or a kick smash, where spin does more work than raw force.

Defense. The lob comes out easily and with minimal effort, again thanks to that natural ball exit off the core.

Who is this Star Vie racket actually for?

For the advanced player who's done fighting their racket. The profile in short:

1. **You build points rather than end them.** Bandeja, off-the-back-wall play, changes of pace, waiting for the opponent's mistake.
2. **You've dealt with joint discomfort.** The Noene Inside in the grip absorbs up to 96% of negative vibration and impact energy, and paired with an ultra-soft core behind it, the whole setup is about as forgiving as it gets on elbow and wrist.
3. **You play a two-handed backhand.** The Longer Handgrip adds 1.5 cm of handle specifically for this; if you're a one-handed player, it's a technology you won't get much out of.

As a doubles pairing, it sits well alongside a partner running a power racket who can take on the finishing smash. Two rackets with this profile on the same court make for very long rallies and few outright winners.

Verdict

The Star Vie Kenta Ultra Speed Soft does one thing really well: it gives comfort and margin for error to an advanced control player without punishing the arm. The wide sweet spot, the long-lasting rough texture and the grip's vibration dampening add up to a coherent package.

What it isn't: a racket for closing out points in one shot. If your game leans on the flat smash and high pace, this rubber will give back less than you put in, and no amount of face technology fully makes up for that.

With a 355-380 g weight range, it's also worth checking the exact weight of your unit: the low end plays like a different racket to the high end, and at the top of the range, this round shape asks a lot more of your arm at net.