Electrum Model E 13mm Review
The Electrum Model E is probably Electrum's most popular paddle they make. Personally, it's one of my all-time favorite paddles, so I'm excited that they finally made a thinner version of it because my primary issue with the 16mm was that it was just too soft sometimes.
Specs:
Weight: 7.7oz
Shape: Elongated
Thickness: 13mm
Grip: 4.5" (octagon, unlike the 16mm, which is an oval)
Grip length: 5.25"
Swing weight: 111 (down from 117 on the Model E 16mm)
Spin:
Spin is great as you would expect from raw carbon fiber paddles. I saw a result of 1664 RPM which is very good and puts it ahead of many top paddles on the market.
Power & Control
Almost everything about the Model E 13mm is the same, so the primary difference should be the power. I can say that the power is noticeably increased from the original. As it stands right now, I find that the 13mm Model E is in between the Electrum Pro II and the 16mm Model E in terms of power. The Pro II hits like a tank, but you sacrifice stability and control. Resetting certain shots on the 13mm was a little bit harder, but I didn't find it nearly as hard as the Pro II. Drives, counter punches, and putaways all felt like they had great pace.
Usually, when I try a thinner paddle, the first thing I have issues with are dinking and resets. However, with the 13mm Model E, I never found either of those to be a big issue. Resets were a bit harder, but I attribute that primarily to thinner paddles feeling less forgiving. So, when I was off on the sweet spot, I felt like the ball died a little bit faster than the 16mm Model E.
Feel
The original Model E was very soft, plush, and dampened. With the 13mm, you definitely lose a bit of that feel. The paddle vibrates more and isn’t as muted feeling as the 16mm. The ball feels like it wants to come off of the face faster, but to be honest, that is about what you would expect from any paddle as it becomes thinner.
Swing weight:
The original 16mm Model E had a swing weight of 117. My 13mm came in at 111. While not a drastic reduction, I do find that if you pick up the 16mm, it does feel a bit heftier. Most of this can probably be attributed to the weight difference between them. My 16mm weighs 8.1oz, while the 13mm weighs 7.7oz. So as far as hands battles goes, this paddle probably won't be an issue for most people. 111 is about average or just below average for most elongated paddles.
Sweet spot:
The sweet spot feels just a little bit worse than the 16mm to me. Not by much, though. I would say it's what you would expect when using a 13mm paddle. I find them less forgiving and a bit more clunky when the ball is hit just outside the sweet spot. I would probably put the sweet spot ever so slightly below the 16mm.
Durability:
Since I have only had one play session with the paddle, I haven't encountered any issues yet. That said, Electrum has been known to be on the lower end of durability compared to most brands. This is especially evident by their very short 3 month warranty. Few companies in the industry use a warranty that short right now, and I think it's because Electrum realizes the durability of their paddles isn't great. So take that for what it is worth to you.
The handle:
One thing I found very interesting is that the 13mm uses an octagon grip while the 16mm uses an oval. I find octagon handles superior to oval, and I can't figure out why Electrum would opt to make it different between the two.
Model E 16mm. You can see the side is rounded and has no extra bevel.
Model E 13mm. You can see the extra bevel to make it an octagon
Something else that makes this just a bit more complicated is that on the 13mm when you push down on the top of the grip, you can feel the exposed polymer, but it’s covered by a very thin fabric. On the 16mm, it feels much more solid, and I don't feel the polymer. It appears that on the 16mm it’s covered by a hard piece of plastic. I find the differences between the handles very odd but I thought it would be worth mentioning. Even though I dislike oval handles, the 16mm handle feels much more solid in my opinion.
Finally, this one is very small, but I noticed that they wrapped the over grip higher on the 13mm than they did on the 16mm. The actual dimensions of the paddle are the same, it was just wrapped higher.
13mm left, 16mm right
Closing thoughts:
While I don't believe the Model E 13mm will be changing the game, I do think it was great for Electrum to release and round out their lineup of paddles even more. For myself, I think I still prefer the 16mm because I love how dampened the ball feels when it hits the paddle. I find that resetting the ball feels more pleasant on the 16mm.
As mentioned in the beginning, the biggest complaint with the 16mm is that it is too soft. So, if you loved the Model E but didn't like how soft it was, now you have a thinner option to give you more power.