Prince Raptor V2 2023

Technologies

Pros

• ✓The Carbon Flex BIBER face blends lightweight carbon with fibreglass and flexes on contact, so the ball comes off the wall deep and true even when you're stretched and rushed for arm speed

Cons

• ✗Super EVA Soft gives under a flat smash chasing the fourth-wall bounce, so you trade some bite and precision for comfort compared with a firmer EVA

The Prince Raptor V2 2023 suits intermediate players who already have a technical base and want to progress without jumping to a too-demanding paddle. Its teardrop shape shifts the sweet spot slightly upwards, striking a balance between control and power. The high balance adds weight to the swing and pushes the racket toward an offensive profile. Its 360-375g weight range places it in the medium-weight group, the most common among amateur players.

With the Prince Raptor V2 2023, Prince builds a teardrop racket weighing 360 to 375 grams, pairing a carbon-and-fibreglass face — the compound they call Carbon Flex BIBER — with a Super EVA Soft core, medium-high balance and a rough hitting surface. On paper, it's an all-round racket for intermediate players. On court, it's a racket that hands you depth for next to no effort.

Carbon Flex BIBER meets Super EVA Soft: where all that ball exit comes from

This isn't a stiff, high-modulus carbon face. Carbon Flex BIBER blends light, flexible carbon fibre with fibreglass, and that combination flexes more on impact than a rigid weave would. The ball stays on the strings a fraction longer and leaves on a high, deep trajectory without you needing to whip the arm through.

The Super EVA Soft core underneath pulls in the same direction: soft rubber, a plush feel, and vibration damping you'll appreciate deep into a two-hour match. In practice that adds up to a wide sweet spot, shifted toward the upper part of the face, that forgives off-centre contact.

There's a trade-off worth flagging: a flexible face over soft rubber sends less feedback back to your hand. On touch volleys, when you're trying to dial in a short ball at your opponent's feet, the Prince Raptor V2 simply tells you less than a hard-EVA racket would.

How does the Prince Raptor V2 play on smash, bandeja and vibora?

Short answer: the Prince Raptor V2 hits hard once you give it a full swing. With a long stroke and a high ball, the medium-high balance loads up the smash and the topspin kill shot with real ease. A flat smash aimed at the fourth wall loses some bite, though, because the soft core compresses rather than snapping the ball back crisply.

The bandeja is where this racket shines. The rough surface bites into the ball on cut shots, and the high ball exit makes it easy to send it crosscourt, deep, with the bounce hugging the side wall. The vibora follows the same pattern — spin comes on without forcing the wrist, though you need to load the body, not just the forearm, to make it truly heavy.

Defence is its strongest suit. Wall exits don't demand perfect setup or a full-length swing; even a half-swing sends the lob deep. That's exactly what an intermediate player still finding their footing in transition needs.

Where it costs you is on rushed timing. At 375 grams on the top end of the range, with mass sitting slightly forward, this racket wants you to prepare earlier than most players expect. Caught out on a rushed double-wall ball or a lob that sails over you, it arrives a beat late.

Prince Raptor V2 2023 specs

Who is this Prince padel racket built for?

The natural fit is the intermediate player who already swings long and generates arm speed but still lacks the consistency to create depth on their own. The build does half the work for them: the flexible face and soft rubber pull real weight on every ball off the back wall.

Three player profiles get the most out of it:

1. Converts from tennis who bring a long swing that stiffer rackets tend to punish.
2. Players who cover the backhand side and get to the net late, needing wall exits that buy them an extra metre of court.
3. Sensitive arms chasing pace up top without the jolt of a hard carbon face over high-density EVA.

It's not the racket for a quick-wristed player who blocks everything at net and finishes with short touch, nor for the advanced power hitter after a crisp, direct response on the flat smash. That profile wants a firmer core.

As a doubles partner, it works well on the backhand side or the drive side for a player who spreads the game and builds points. If your partner is already playing a very soft, high-exit padel racket, the pairing can come up short on finishing power up top.

Verdict: assisted power, not raw power

The Prince Raptor V2 solves a specific problem — generating depth and height without polished technique — and it solves it well through the marriage of Carbon Flex BIBER and Super EVA Soft. The wide sweet spot and the rough face round out a racket that feels comfortable from the very first set.

In exchange, it gives up surgical precision at the net and a crisp flat smash, and its 375 grams with medium-high balance demand early preparation. Anyone after a racket that punishes every high ball with maximum firmness should look toward a high-density EVA; anyone wanting to hit comfortably and defend with margin for error has a solid option here in Prince's lineup.