Friday Aura Pro vs Ronbus Ripple V2 R1.14: Two Under-RM800 Foam-Core Elongated Paddles Picked Apart
Everyone in pickleball YouTube has spent the last month arguing about paddles that cost more than RM1,000. The Selkirk Omni, the JOOLA Perseus Pro V, the CRBN⁴ TruFoam - all excellent, all reviewed here on the Picklefox blog in the last few weeks. But if you actually walked into a Malaysian public court this weekend, most of the paddles in bags cost under RM800. And in that bracket, two foam-core elongated paddles quietly deserve more attention than they get.
The Friday Aura Pro Elongated at RM729 and the Ronbus Ripple V2 R1.14 at RM800 land in almost the same slot on paper: 16.5" x 7.5" elongated shape, 5.5" handles, foam-core builds engineered for players who drive first and dink second. YouTube reviewers have flagged both as legitimate contenders in the value-power bracket. But once you actually swing them, they are two very different paddles asking two very different things of you.
Why sub-RM800 foam-core is the sweet spot right now
The paddle market split into three tiers in 2026. Under RM500 is entry level, mostly honeycomb cores with carbon or fibreglass faces. RM900 and up is flagship territory: Selkirk Omni, Six Zero Coral, JOOLA Perseus Pro V, Honolulu J2CR. The interesting fight is in the middle - RM600 to RM800, where foam-core tech has trickled down and the paddles are genuinely tournament-capable.
For a Malaysian 3.5 to 4.5 player who wants to upgrade from a honeycomb paddle without spending flagship money, this bracket is where the value is. Both the Aura Pro and the Ripple V2 sit here, and both have USA Pickleball certification for sanctioned play. The question is which one fits your game.
The specs, side by side
Here is where the paddles actually differ:
| Spec | Friday Aura Pro Elongated | Ronbus Ripple V2 R1.14 |
|---|---|---|
| Price at Picklefox | RM729 | RM800 |
| Core | Gen 4 dual-foam, fully-floating | FIRE Core: 3D carbon lattice + EVA foam |
| Thickness | 16mm | 14mm |
| Face | 45° T700 raw carbon, double-thermoformed | Raw Toray T700 carbon, textured |
| Weight | 8.0oz ± 0.18oz | 8.2oz ± 0.2oz |
| Swing weight | 116 | 124 |
| Twist weight | 6.15 | 5.89 |
| Grip circumference | 4.25" | 4.125" |
| Perimeter tech | ElasTECH internal weighting | Foamed edge, no honeycomb |
Numbers matter for elongated paddles because there is nowhere to hide. On a widebody you can miss the middle and still catch enough sweet spot to survive. On a 16.5" x 7.5" head, off-centre hits get punished. That is why twist weight and swing weight are the two specs to actually pay attention to here.
Swing weight and twist weight: what these numbers mean in the hand
Swing weight is how heavy the paddle feels when you swing it, and it drives plow-through. Twist weight is the paddle's resistance to rotating on off-centre hits, and it drives forgiveness.
The Ripple V2 R1.14 sits at 124 swing weight and 5.89 twist weight. That is a head-heavy paddle with a tighter sweet spot. When you catch a Ripple clean in the middle of the face, the ball leaves the strings fast and heavy. When you catch it off-centre, the paddle twists in your hand and the shot dies. Ronbus have owned this trade-off from day one: the Ripple V2 is a paddle for players who can already hit their spots.
The Aura Pro Elongated goes the other direction. 116 swing weight is meaningfully faster in the hands - about 7% quicker to accelerate - and the 6.15 twist weight is nearly half a point higher, which shows up as a bigger, more forgiving sweet spot. Friday's ElasTECH perimeter weighting is the reason. It is an internal band sitting between the foam and the honeycomb that redistributes mass outward, so you get elongated reach without an elongated paddle's usual weakness.
For most Malaysian intermediates in the 3.5 to 4.0 range, that difference is decisive. You will mis-hit. You will catch balls near the throat on hurried resets and near the tip on stretched-out fifth shots. The Aura Pro forgives those. The Ripple doesn't.
Feel: two very different personalities
Foam-core doesn't mean one thing anymore. The Ripple's FIRE core (Ronbus's name for a 3D carbon fibre lattice fused with EVA foam) is stiff, especially in the first 10 hours. Reviewers consistently note a "tingy" break-in period before the paddle softens. Once broken in, it plays firm and direct - short dwell, immediate energy return, and a very defined power ceiling that punishes players who don't stay on top of the ball.
The Aura Pro's dual-foam Gen 4 build behaves the opposite. There is a distinct dwell time on contact - the ball sits on the face for a beat longer, which sounds bad for a power paddle but actually makes it easier to shape shots. The overall feel is muted and quiet, described as "buttery" in most of the YouTube reviews we've seen. You get power on full swings but you don't feel the paddle punish you on soft touches at the kitchen line.
In blunt terms: the Ripple rewards precision, the Aura Pro rewards commitment. If you are a driver who plays low-percentage speed-ups and lives on transition drives, the Ripple will let you paint corners at real pace. If you are a driver who mixes rolls, resets, and third-shot drops into the same rally, the Aura Pro is the more useful paddle across the full range of shots.
What YouTube reviewers are actually saying
Independent reviewers have been kinder to both paddles than to some of the flagship releases this year. The Aura Pro Elongated has picked up ratings in the 4.5-out-of-5 range from major reviewers, with one testing panel scoring it "9 out of 10 across the board" and calling it advanced-level tournament-viable at a mid-range price. Friday, a brand that started as a viral-video shop before pivoting to real performance builds, has genuinely become a paddle brand worth taking seriously in 2026.
The Ripple V2 R1.14 has a more polarised reception. Reviewers who love it point to the pure power ceiling and the fact that Ronbus is the only brand at this price point using an actual carbon fibre lattice fused into the foam. Reviewers who don't get on with it call out the harder feel and the demand it places on your ball-striking. It sits at "top tier, but not for everyone" - which is fair.
Which one should you buy
If you are already comfortable with elongated paddles, hit clean in the middle of the face more than 70% of the time, and want the closest thing to a flagship power paddle at RM800 or under, the Ronbus Ripple V2 R1.14 is the paddle. Its ceiling is high, the FIRE core does something structurally different from every other foam paddle in this price band, and the plow-through on drives is legitimately best-in-class for the money. Just accept the 10-hour break-in and the tighter sweet spot.
If you are upgrading from a honeycomb paddle, want to try an elongated shape without giving up forgiveness, or you play the modern hybrid style where drives, rolls, and resets all show up in the same rally, the Friday Aura Pro Elongated is the smarter buy. It is RM70 cheaper, faster in the hands, meaningfully more forgiving, and it does not require you to be in perfect form to look competent with it.
For players with slightly bigger hands or who add overgrips, note that the Aura Pro's 4.25" grip circumference runs a touch chunkier than the Ripple's 4.125". Most Malaysian players size 4.125" comfortably, and adding an overgrip on the Aura Pro can push it into 4.5" territory - worth thinking about at the till.
One aesthetic aside: the Metallic Series
Friday dropped a Limited Metallic Series of the Aura Pro Elongated at the end of June in Vice Metal and Blue Metal at RM769, and it landed at Picklefox last week. Same paddle underneath, same specs, same performance. Small production run and it is not restocking. If you were going to buy the Aura Pro anyway and the colourway matters to you, the RM40 upcharge over the standard version is the entire cost. Clear edge-guard tape is recommended - the metallic finish scuffs.
The short version
Both paddles are under RM800, both are USA Pickleball approved, and both are far better than the paddles most players actually use at this price. The Ronbus Ripple V2 R1.14 is the pure power play for consistent ball strikers. The Friday Aura Pro Elongated is the more useful all-round paddle for developing players and the one we'd hand to most people asking for a foam-core upgrade this month. Neither will make headlines the way the Selkirk Omni does. Both will do more for your game than the RM1,200 flagship you can't quite justify.
Stock on both is genuinely limited - 13 Ripples and single-digit units on most Aura Pro colourways at time of writing. If you are between paddles going into July, this is a good week to make the call.