The Power FX is JOOLA's first all-foam paddle, and it's one of the most anticipated launches of the year. The brand has spent years building its lineup around honeycomb, including the Pro IV and Pro V that most of its pros still play, while players kept asking when JOOLA would finally deliver a foam option. When the Power FX was announced out of the blue, it quickly took over pickleball podcasts and social feeds, with everyone eager to see what the sport's biggest paddle brand would do with foam. 

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The Power FX  is a 16mm Perseus that retails for $179.95 and comes in a green and teal colorway called Daydream. It uses an EPP foam core inside a carbon fiber frame, but the notable piece is JOOLA's Adaptive Propulsion Core, which extends further into the throat than earlier versions and includes two small air gaps near the top of the head. Austin Kim, JOOLA's director of product, told All Drive No Drop that the design is meant to counter foam's muted feel by adding flex, sound, and a sense of the ball sinking into the face. In the launch press release, he described it as "the first one where both power and the feel showed up in the same paddle." 

JOOLA also reworked its surface for the Power FX. Instead of embedded particles, it uses a revised weave and resin that JOOLA says is grittier and longer lasting than its previous surfaces, taking advantage of the room USAP's new spin standard allows. Kim said he has been playing his own Power FX for several months and it still feels gritty to him. Early testers back that up. John Kew found it grittier than both the Pro IV and Pro V out of the box, and Pickleball Studio measured it at roughly 30 to 40 percent rougher than a standard JOOLA surface. It isn't as rough as the most aggressive surfaces on the market, but Pickleball Studio had no trouble shaping the ball and said it may be the best spin paddle in JOOLA's current lineup.

Check out John Kew's First Look Below

On power, Kim says the Power FX outpaces the Pro V, and Kew agrees it is very much a power paddle, though not as explosive as the Boomstik. The feel is where it really separates itself. Kew described it as stiff and hollow, an unusual combination in a foam market that mostly leans soft and plush, and Pickleball Studio called it the stiffest foam paddle they had hit. They also described a much quicker response than Kim's "sinking in" description suggests, with the ball leaving the face almost as soon as it arrives. That firmness cuts both ways. Counters come off crisp and hot and drives feel strong, but the paddle is lively enough at the kitchen to pop up dinks and drops, and off-center hits are very noticeable.

The JOOLA FX comes in at an average of 8oz. with an extended handle length of 5.5", and Pickleball Studio measured two stock units at 114 and 118 swingweight, low to average for an elongated performance paddle. Their main complaint was the handle, which they found flat and blocky, with short bevels that make it feel more rectangular than round. The paddle is USAP and UPA-A approved, and Kim said it went through JOOLA's accelerated break-in testing in its own lab to make sure performance stays consistent over time. Quantities are limited for now, and a Kosmos version may follow next year.

For now, the Power FX looks like a paddle worth keeping an eye on, since it fits a unique slot in the paddle market, but we still expect a more significant update from JOOLA in early 2027. The Power FX isn't meant to replace the Pro V, and it isn't the most powerful foam paddle available. Pickleball Studio expects it to be polarizing, because it plays so differently from other foam paddles that players will likely either love it or move on quickly. Still, one of the hosts said that if he were spending his own money, he would take the Power FX over a Pro V that costs well over $300. What it offers is foam pop with a firmer feel than most of the category and a grittier surface than JOOLA has offered before, at a price well below its flagship. Since JOOLA paddles are easy to find at facilities and retailers, it should also be an easy paddle to demo before you commit.

Shop the JOOLA Power FX