RPM Q2 Review: This Might Be a Better Boomstik

RPM seemingly came out of nowhere and took over the pickleball market by essentially upgrading a Joola Pro IV.

With it being Gen 3, they weren’t the most durable—but we have the new RPM Q2 here, which is their new Gen 4 paddle.

Let’s see if the new Q2 can live up to the Friction Pro’s success.

My name is Pickle Li. I'm a 5.0 pickleball player and have reviewed over 40 paddles. I created MyPickleList, which does community driven paddle ratings, and there are currently over 760 ratings.

Caveats & Disclosures

Reminder: This is a first impressions review, not a full review. I played with this for 2 long days, so I can’t speak on long-term durability.

I’ll be rating this paddle on my website MyPickleList at the end so stay tuned for that.

If you do decide to buy one, use code PICKLELI for 15% off. The pre-order link should have dropped by the time you’re reading this.

Shout out to RPM for sending this over!

Quick Specs Overview

The RPM Q2 is a Gen 4 paddle, so it shouldn’t core crush like the Friction Pros.

RPM is using their two shapes: elongated and widebody. Their new core is an EPP foam core with molded groove channels. They also added internal weight at 3 and 9 o’clock, similar to the Boomstik.

Both options come in 14mm and 16mm. For this review, I tried the 14mm widebody.

Apparently the grit should last longer than the Boomstik and Loco as well. The grit itself feels very gritty—definitely one of the grittier ones out there. The Boomstik’s Infinigrit doesn’t seem that much better than average, and the Loco is normal carbon fiber I believe, so I don’t think it’s competing with 11six24 or Spartus longevity, but maybe more grit than normal faces and hopefully it lasts longer. Can’t tell right now with 2 days of sessions.

My paddle weighed in at 7.72 oz. Even after adding a setup, it weighed less than 8 oz, which is pretty crazy.

On-Court First Impressions

Pop

This paddle will instantly remind you of a Boomstik in terms of pop and even sound. The ball seems to pop off the face instantly and quite a bit.

I think counters and flicks are really good—probably as good as you’ll get. On par with all the poppiest paddles out there.

Control & Feel

Hitting it back to back with a Boomstik widebody is probably the best comparison. Similar sound, similar pop off the face. I never had enough games with the widebody in particular for a full comparison, but I’ll say they’re in the same realm.

They both have hollow, poppy feels—toward the most hollow and poppy of the paddles I’ve tried. The RPM is probably just a tad denser, and I think I could feel the ball a bit more. I also feel like the ball sinks in a bit more than the Boomstik, at least from my memory of the Boomstik.

The control of this paddle is better than I anticipated. It has a big sweet spot that allowed everything to go over basically. The only issue is probably dialing in the height, since it does have a lot of pop.

Although it’s poppy, I felt like I knew where the ball was going, which made it easier to control. I never really got caught off guard by how far the ball went.

I was also able to instantly play well and shape my shots. The 14mm feels very light overall. The paddle is quick for hands battles, and when you hit, it’s responsive yet the ball bounces off the face effortlessly.

It’s already good in stock form, though some people will say it’s light. I did try adding 3g at 3 and 9, and that made everything even better—shots were hitting harder, spinning more, everything more consistent. I’d recommend that weight or a setup you like if you can handle it.

Overall it has a light, crisp feel similar to a Boomstik but with a bit more dwell time in my opinion. I enjoyed the feel quite a bit. It was intuitive and I could tell where the ball was going to go every shot, and the spin was great.

This paddle isn’t as easy to control as lower-tier power paddles or all-court paddles in terms of resets, but I still think it does a pretty good job and is probably worth the tradeoff for firepower if you can handle it.

Power

I would say this paddle is a high-tier power paddle. It hits very hard and you’ll feel it right away. The pop is Boomstik-like, and it hits basically just as hard.

My serves are probably one of the weakest parts of my game, and this definitely made all my serves way more powerful and deep. Putaways hit really hard, especially after the slight weight at 3 and 9. Still light enough that you can swing it fast, but the extra weight made serves and returns hit really hard.

Early Verdict

Now let me rate this on MyPickleList.

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Back to the review.

With the RPM Friction Pro, James Ignatowich took the Pro IV’s and made them better in a lot of people’s opinions. With the new Q2, he took the Boomstik—which he stated was his favorite Gen 4 paddle—and made it better. (Well, technically not sure how much of the insight was from James, the R&D people, or John Kew, but it worked.)

The Q2 provides top-tier power and pop, yet I didn’t have too much trouble controlling it. I could tell where the ball was going, and it had really good spin.

I can’t speak on grit durability as it’s been 2 days, but hopefully RPM delivers on lasting longer than the Boomstik and Loco.

I’m on the borderline of giving this a 10/10 but still on the fence. The highest ratings I’ve given out so far are 9/10’s. If you look at MyPickleList, I do think this has the biggest upside of all the paddles at the top of my list.

The Gherkin Draco and 11six I played really well with overall—they provided really good control for the amount of power they had. That said, I wasn’t able to dial in my drives for whatever reason, which doesn’t matter too much in doubles but was still something lacking for me personally.

Compared to the Inferno, which I liked as well, this shape was just better for me especially for the sweet spot. The Loco is also a good one, but I think the sweet spots are both good—this one just has extra aggressiveness and spin without giving up too much control in my opinion (albeit the Loco I tried was not brand new).

Finally, compared to the RPM Friction Pros: first, I think the longevity of these should be better given they’re Gen 4. RPM Friction Pros do core crush. I also felt like, comparing the widebody ones at least, the Q2 has a slightly bigger sweet spot, hits harder, and the spin is better, which made it easier to control in some aspects.

All that said, I’m giving this my first 10/10.

Really impressed with this paddle—felt like they did a really good job. For what it is, a high-tier power paddle, I don’t think there’s anything bad to comment on. The only thing you can really say is that it may be harder to control because of the pop, or maybe some subjective feel preferences.

That said, I have a softer, more finesse playstyle, so I can control stuff pretty well and don’t overhit too much. If you struggle keeping stuff in, you may want to look elsewhere in general—and not at any high-tier power paddles.

I don’t think it’s 10/10 no matter what skill level and preferences; it’s a 10/10 for me and how I play and what it provides. That said, this can very well help you even more if you’re a banger given its spin and firepower.

This paddle is for you if you want a high-tier power paddle, especially in a widebody shape. If you don’t want or need the power yet, other paddles can probably give you more control. Also if you like lighter paddles, this is probably one of your best options—7.7 oz is extremely light, and it had a good sweet spot and hit really hard. And if you don’t need it that light, there’s lots of extra room to customize given its starting weight.

Overall, very surprised by how well this played. It looks like RPM continued their success by taking inspiration from another very popular, good paddle. I predict this will be one of the more popular paddles once they release. The RPM’s became relatively popular in my area, and this just seems like more power and more grit—which the majority of people gravitate toward—plus the added durability of the grit and core if it all works out.

Thanks for reading.

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