Ultré Power 2 Hybrid 16mm Pickleball Paddle Review

Where It Fits in the Power 2 Lineup

11SIX24 launched the Power 2 line with three shapes — the Vapor (hybrid), the Hurache (elongated), and the Pegasus (widebody) — all sharing the same MPP (multi-polymer polymer) foam core, the same thermoformed carbon-fiber face, and the same HexGrit surface texture. The Ultré is the fourth member of that family. The build hasn't changed. The geometry has.

Hybrid shape, 16.25-inch length, 16mm core, 7.9 oz on the spec sheet (more on that in a moment). The interesting thing isn't the shape on its own. The interesting thing is what a different silhouette does to the Power 2 build. Short answer: it tames it. The Vapor is poppy. The Ultré is plush. Same core, same face, and the paddle plays like a different category.

First Pickup

Pick it up and it reads heavy. The Ultré is listed at 7.9 oz, but the weight distribution makes it feel closer to 8.2 in the hand — most of the mass sits forward of the throat, which gives the swing weight (114) its drive but also what makes you notice it on fast hand exchanges. Players coming off something light (the Aireo Cyclone, the Friday Aura) will feel the jump. Players coming from another foam-core paddle in this weight class won't.

HexGrit is the first thing you feel at contact. It's aggressive from swing one — you can hear and feel the grit bite into the ball on any brushed contact. 11SIX24 quotes 98% spin retention on the surface (they're claiming the grit doesn't wear down like standard peel-ply does), and on a first session that's hard to verify, but the grit is at least as coarse as anything else in the foam-core category. Brushing motions on serves and topspin drives generate real shape on the ball without needing a full cut.

Contact feel is the surprise. The Vapor and Hurache play crisp and bright — fast off the face, lots of feedback, a touch hollow on dead-center hits. The Ultré sits noticeably plusher. Same MPP foam, same 16mm thickness, but the hybrid geometry seems to distribute the contact energy differently. The thump at contact is deeper, the dwell time feels longer, and the ball comes off softer than it has any right to given the power on tap.

Played-In Feel

Power from the baseline is the headline. Topspin drives off either wing leave the paddle with the kind of pace where good technique is non-negotiable — if you swing flat and don't brush up, you're going long, every time. Brush up and the ball stays in. There's no middle ground; the paddle rewards the players who already have the topspin mechanics dialed and punishes the ones who don't.

Control is where the Ultré separates from its Power 2 siblings. Drops, resets, and dinks come off the face soft and short rather than hot and long. The Vapor leaves balls high on resets pretty consistently — its pop is part of the build, not a tuning choice. The Ultré doesn't do that. The same swing that pops on the Vapor lands flat and short on the Ultré. For a paddle in the power category, that's a meaningful difference. Touch shots that should be 50/50 become genuinely repeatable.

Sweet spot sits higher on the face than the Vapor's — aim contact toward the upper third rather than dead center. The first session of mishits on resets usually clears up once you adjust where you're targeting on the face; once you do, the paddle stays out of your way. Twist weight of 6.36 is solid but not stellar — off-center hits aren't disastrous, but you'll feel them more than on a widebody.

Sound is a small detail with a real signal. The Ultré comes off the face with a deeper pitch than the Vapor — that lower-pitched thump is consistent with how it plays, which is more settled, less explosive. If you spend any time around foam-core paddles, you learn to read pitch as a proxy for how poppy a build is. The Ultré's tone matches its on-court behavior.

Where It Falls Short

It is not a beginner paddle. The power on tap requires built-in technique. If you don't brush up on drives, you'll send most of them long, and the lessons in pace control will be expensive ones. The Ultré rewards a player who can already keep a Power 2 in the court — it does not teach you how to.

It is not light. Modifications via lead tape at 3 and 9 (or 4 and 8) are theoretically on the table, but in practice the Ultré already plays heavy enough that adding mass overshoots the maneuverability budget. If you like to tinker with weight, this paddle starts at the ceiling instead of the floor.

It is not a touch-first paddle. The control is real, but it's the kind of control that emerges from a power build rather than the kind built into a soft-foam control paddle from the ground up. Players whose game runs through dinks and resets rather than drives will be happier with something purpose-built for that style.

It is not USAP-approved at launch. It carries UPA-A approval — fine for casual play and most rec leagues — but if your calendar includes USAP-sanctioned tournaments, that matters.

Head-to-Head

Who Should Buy It

• High-intermediate and advanced players whose drives already stay in without conscious effort.
• Players already on the Vapor or Hurache who wanted the same build with more touch on resets and drops.
• Power players moving up in level who need a paddle that lets them put balls away without giving up the kitchen game.
• Players who use a two-handed backhand — the 5.5-inch handle covers it without modification.
• Players who keep a paddle long-term and care about spin retention — the HexGrit holds its bite further into the season than peel-ply.

Who it isn't for: beginners working on consistency, finesse-first players whose game runs through the kitchen rather than the baseline, and players who weight their paddles up aggressively — the Ultré starts heavy enough that there's no room left for lead.

Final Verdict

The Ultré Power 2 is the first paddle in the Power 2 family I'd recommend without an asterisk. The Vapor is great for drive-heavy players who can tolerate the pop on touch. The Hurache and Pegasus serve their niches. The Ultré does what the other three couldn't: it delivers the Power 2 firepower in a shape that doesn't punish the soft game.

At $209.99 it's not a budget pick, but 11SIX24 didn't charge a premium over the rest of the lineup for the new shape, which is the right call. If you've been on the Vapor and the pop on resets has been costing you points, the Ultré is the upgrade. If you've been waiting for a Power 2 hybrid that plays softer than the Vapor without giving up the firepower, this is it.