Selkirk Omni vs JOOLA Perseus Pro V: 2026's Premium Paddle Showdown
Two paddles have eaten almost all of the YouTube oxygen since the start of June 2026. The first is the Selkirk Omni, which shipped globally on 2 June and just landed in our Mothership stockroom. The second is the JOOLA Perseus Pro V, Ben Johns's 2026 weapon, which has been quietly stealing pros off other rosters since February. Both sit in the RM1,200-1,300 bracket. Both claim to be the all-court paddle that finally makes you stop swapping paddles every month. They are not the same paddle.
We have been hitting with both for the last week and reading every review thread we can find. Here is the honest read on which one belongs in your bag.
The quick answer
If you are an aggressive driver who wants the modern soft-on-touch, firm-on-drive feel and you like the idea of tuning the paddle yourself, the Selkirk Omni Elongated or the Omni Widebody at RM1,220 is the more interesting paddle in 2026. It does something almost nothing else at this price does, which we will get to.
If you want the most-played, most-tested elongated raw carbon paddle in the world right now, with a known-quantity feel and a face that bites the ball harder than anything else on the market, the JOOLA Perseus Pro V at RM1,299 is still the safer pick.
The deeper answer is more interesting.
What the Omni is actually doing under the hood
The Omni is Selkirk's attempt to solve the foam-vs-honeycomb argument by refusing to pick. Inside the core there is a three-layer stack: an outer EVA ring around the perimeter, and a softer foam centre that is not bonded to the ring. The centre floats. On a soft dink or a reset, that floating centre is what your hand reads, and the paddle feels muted and forgiving. On a drive or a counter, the outer ring engages and you get the pop of a stiffer thermoformed face. It is the closest thing we have seen to a paddle that genuinely behaves like two paddles depending on swing speed.
The other clever bit is the MOI tuning system. The paddle ships with removable weights at the throat and the head, and Selkirk has actually published the swing weight and twist weight numbers stock and weighted. The elongated comes in at a 122.3 swing weight and a 6.9 twist weight stock. The widebody is friendlier at 113.7 swing weight with a 7.75 twist weight, which is a notably stable number for a non-extended-shape paddle. You can dial these up if you want a hammer, or strip them down for a faster, gentler feel. Most reviewers we trust are landing on "stock with the throat weights left in" as the sweet spot for advanced players, and "weights removed" for 3.5 to 4.0 level players who need the paddle to feel less aggressive.
If you want one Omni for both you and your doubles partner, the widebody is the easier paddle for almost everyone. The elongated is the move if you already know you like a reachy frame and you play a lot of singles or you are tall.
What the Pro V is actually doing under the hood
The Pro V is the 2026 evolution of the Perseus line. It is still the elongated, slightly rounded-corner shape that Ben Johns has been playing since the original Hyperion days, but the construction has been rebuilt on JOOLA's plush 3S-derived core with a new raw carbon face that is the grippiest surface we have measured on any paddle this year. Independent reviewers keep using the same word: "biting." The ball does not slide on this face. If your game is built around heavy topspin drives and biting third-shot rolls, very little else feels like this.
Two important caveats. First, the 14mm is genuinely stiff at the edges out of the box. The sweet spot is narrower than older JOOLA 14mm paddles, and contact toward the frame is harsh until you add weight. If you are going 14mm, plan on buying tungsten tape or silicone tape and adding 3 to 6 grams at the perimeter. We carry both at the shop, but factor that into the decision. The 16mm is more forgiving stock and is the version we would recommend to anyone who is not specifically chasing a quick-handed counterpuncher's feel.
Second, the Pro V is a power paddle dressed as an all-court paddle. The marketing calls it plush, and it is plush by JOOLA standards, but next to the Omni it still plays firmer and more direct. That is not a flaw. It is what people who switch to JOOLA from Selkirk are usually after.
Head to head, by playstyle
If you are a 4.0+ doubles player who lives at the kitchen and gets attacked a lot, the Omni Widebody is the call. The twist weight number is the spec to look at, and at 7.75 stock the Omni Widebody is one of the most rotation-stable paddles in this price bracket. Off-centre blocks do not twist the face. Resets land where you intended them to.
If you are a singles player or a banger who wants reach and an attacking face, the Pro V 14mm is the more rewarding paddle, with the asterisk that you will weight it up. The Omni Elongated is also strong here, but at a 122.3 swing weight stock it already feels like a paddle that has been weighted, which some players love and some find heavy through long matches in Malaysian humidity.
If you are a 3.5 player upgrading from your first paddle, neither of these is obviously the right answer. The Omni Widebody with the weights removed is the most forgiving option of the two, but at RM1,220 you might be better served by something a level down in the Selkirk family. The Vanguard Pro Invikta at RM1,104 or the Luxx Control Air Invikta InfiniGrit at RM899 will get you 90 percent of the feel for less.
If you are an existing Joola Pro IV owner asking whether to upgrade, the honest answer from most independent testing is: not yet. The Pro V is a real refinement, but it is not a generational leap. If your Pro IV face still has its grit, ride it out.
The foam-curious side note
One paddle we keep getting asked about in the same conversation is the Selkirk LABS Project 008 16mm at RM1,382. It is Selkirk's full PureFoam build, and it sits in a slightly different category from the Omni. The Omni is a hybrid construction tuned for variability. The 008 is a true foam paddle tuned for muted control and resets. If your top complaint about your current paddle is "I cannot reset against bangers," 008 is the paddle to demo. If your top complaint is "I want one paddle that does everything well," the Omni is the better answer.
The bottom line
2026 is the year the paddle conversation stopped being about raw materials and started being about tuning. The Omni won the launch month because it ships as a tunable system rather than a fixed feel. The Pro V is still the standard a lot of pros measure against, and that face grit is unmatched. Both deserve their spots in your demo session.
If you are in KL, come hit with both at Mothership. We have demo units of the Omni Elongated, the Omni Widebody, and the Pro V on the rack, and you will know within two games which one matches the way you actually play. That answer is more useful than any review on the internet, including this one.
Stock note as of 13 June 2026: Omni Elongated and Omni Widebody are in stock at picklefox.com. The Perseus Pro V 14mm is in low stock; the 16mm is on its way back in. If you want one held aside for a demo, message us on Instagram.