Dinks and resets that sit up, and a two-handed backhand? Then the 11SIX24 Vapor Jelly Bean 2 is my pick. Its spin score is tied for the best I've recorded. Where it falls short is a fast hands battle at the kitchen line. It's $169.99, or $159.99 with the code STSPICKLEBALL.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Among 16mm hybrids with a grit or coated surface, only the Ultré Jelly Bean 2, its flat-top sibling, ties its control.
- It's $40 less than the Vapor Power 2, in the identical 16.25 by 7.75 inch shape.
Cons
- It swings heavy, and the face adds little on a counter.
- Power is clearly below a typical hybrid's, and most of the paddles I've tested hit harder. Pop is a little below a typical hybrid's too.
- It's UPA-A only, which rules it out for USA Pickleball sanctioned events.
- For the same $169.99, the Ultré Jelly Bean 2 hits a little harder and swings a little lighter.
Quick answers
Vapor Jelly Bean 2 or Pegasus Jelly Bean 2?
Same price and power, with about the same spin. The Pegasus widebody has a far bigger sweet spot, clearly more control and a lighter swing, but at 15.8 inches long it gives up almost half an inch of reach to the Vapor. Mishit a lot? Take the Pegasus.
What is HexGrit, and how well does it hold up?
It's 11SIX24's own grit, embedded right in the peel-ply face. Volair licenses it for its CMD Hybrid. 11SIX24 claims it spins on day 100 like on day one. I track games, not days, and after 75 games mine had lost about 1% of its spin.
What changed from the 2025 Vapor Jelly Bean?
The original is a $99.99 honeycomb paddle with a raw peel-ply face and USA Pickleball approval. The Jelly Bean 2 went to full foam, HexGrit and UPA-A only, for $70 more. It spins far more and has a little more pop for a little less control, and the original feels a little stiffer.
Soft and dense, with less feel in your hand than a J2FC+
The Vapor Jelly Bean 2 is soft and dense at contact, and it's quiet. There's no loud sound, and very little of the hit comes back into your hand, which some players will call dead. The 16mm Honolulu J2FC+ hybrid lets you feel more of the ball, and so does the Engage X2 Elongated.
Coming from a poppy paddle, your dinks and resets will come up short at first.
Strongest at the kitchen, slow once the hands battle starts
How its spin stacks up against other hybrids you can buy
Only one hybrid you can buy spins more, 127 RPM above the average
The top three for spin
- 1Honolulu J2CR Long Handle Crystal Blue2,467
- 211SIX24 Vapor Jelly Bean 22,40364 RPM behind
- 311SIX24 Ultré Jelly Bean 22,39770 RPM behind
Dinks, drops, resets and blocks
Dinks are its best shot, even deep into a long dink exchange. Drops and drive-drops aren't far behind.
Resets off a hard drive stay low. Next to a bouncier hybrid like the raw carbon Honolulu J2CR, which has clearly more pop, you'll add more of your own push. That's great for a player whose resets pop up, and not so great for one who likes to hold the paddle out and let it bounce the ball back.
Blocks are just as strong. Somebody speeds one up at your hip, and the face takes most of the pace off it.
Counters and speed-ups
Counters and speed-ups get very little from the face, and only one hybrid I've tested swings heavier.
Full drives, serves and spin
On a full drive from the baseline, the heavy swing weight pays off, and the paddle plows through the ball. Serves and returns need that full swing too. 11SIX24 says flat out it isn't a power paddle, and my 63 power score agrees.
Then there's the spin. I measured 2,403 RPM, far more than a typical hybrid.
How it feels in your hand next to other hybrids you can buy
Heavier in your hands, steadier than most when you miss the middle
How heavy the paddle feels when you swing it. A lower number swings quicker.
The heaviest swing of any hybrid you can buy.
How much the paddle fights twisting when you miss the middle. A higher number is steadier.
Steadier than most hybrids.
How its sweet spot stacks up against other hybrids you can buy
An average-size sweet spot for a hybrid
Both rings are sized to their score.
Full foam, with scores that land where a honeycomb hybrid's do
11SIX24 lists 114 to 117 for swing weight and 6.6 to 6.9 for twist weight, and mine read 116.8 for swing weight and 6.69 for twist weight. Both inside, which doesn't always happen. Under the HexGrit it's raw Toray T700 carbon on both sides of a fiberglass layer, over an EMA foam center with an EVA ring and edge foam, thermoformed at 16mm.
On paper it's full foam. On my scores it comes out about even with a typical 16mm honeycomb hybrid on power, pop and control, while a typical 16mm full foam hybrid hits clearly harder, with clearly more pop and a little less control.
Five owner reports praise the control, and three want more pace
11SIX24 released it on August 21, 2026, eight days after I tested it on August 13, 2026. By September 30, 2026, five owner reports had praised the control and the spin. They like that they can take a full swing without the ball sailing long, and that their topspin drops and dinks dip and grab. Three other owner reports from August and September 2026 asked for more power and pop, its two lowest scores on my numbers.
As of my September 2026 check, about a month after it first shipped, I hadn't found any defect that three or more owners reported. It was in stock at $169.99 when I checked on October 14, 2026. That's a month of reports, enough to show the themes are real but not how widespread they are.
Should you get the Vapor Jelly Bean 2 or the Vapor Power 2?
The Vapor Power 2 is $209.99, or $199.99 with the code STSPICKLEBALL, $40 more either way. The main build difference is the center foam, MPP in the Power 2 and EMA here.
The Power 2 hits far harder, with far more pop, and swings lighter, with a swing weight of 110.6 to this one's 116.8. The Jelly Bean 2 is the clearly more controllable one, with the higher twist weight, and spin is about the same.
At the same $169.99, the Ultré is the pick for one-handed backhands
11SIX24's own FAQ names the Vapor and the Ultré the best all-rounders of the four shapes. The Ultré Jelly Bean 2 is the flat-top one, at 16.3 by 7.7 inches. It has a little more power and a slightly lighter swing. Control and twist weight are identical, and pop, spin and sweet spot are about the same.
The Ultré's 5.35 inch handle is tight for two hands. The Vapor's handle is 5.5 inches.
Three that hit harder, and two are USA Pickleball approved
Two paddles you might pick instead
How it stacks up against the MPP Turbo ArmorGrit Hybrid and the Zen S+
A paddle only wins a score when it leads by 5 points or more.
Vapor Jelly Bean 2Hybrid · $159.99
MPP Turbo ArmorGrit HybridHybrid · $99.99The Vapor Jelly Bean 2 spins more and is more controllable. The MPP Turbo ArmorGrit hits harder, has more pop and a bigger sweet spot. The MPP Turbo ArmorGrit costs about $60 less.
Vapor Jelly Bean 2Hybrid · $159.99
Zen S+Hybrid · $169.99The Vapor Jelly Bean 2 spins more and is more controllable. The Zen S+ hits harder, has more pop and a bigger sweet spot. The Zen S+ costs about $10 more.
Enhance MPP Turbo ArmorGrit Hybrid
It lists at $119.99, and STSPICKLEBALL takes $20 off here instead of $10, down to $99.99. That's $50 less at list and $60 less with the codes, with USA Pickleball approval. It hits far harder with far more pop, a little bigger sweet spot and a lighter swing, for about the same spin and a little less control. The warranty covers only the core, for one year.
Pickleball Apes Zen S+
Decide you want power after all, and need USA Pickleball approval? This is the one. When I checked on October 14, 2026, Pickleball Apes listed it at $188.88, and STSPICKLEBALL takes 10% off, to $169.99. So it's $18.89 more at list and $10 more with the codes. You get far more power and pop, a clearly bigger sweet spot and a much lighter swing. It spins less, though, and gives up a little control.
Honolulu J2CR Long Handle Crystal Blue
It's $195.00, or $175.50 with the code STS10. That's $25.01 more at list, $15.51 more with the codes. It reads 2,467 RPM, and nothing I've measured spins more. Against the Vapor it's far ahead on power and pop, with a clearly bigger sweet spot, a lighter swing and a 6 inch handle. You lose a little control, and it's UPA-A only too.
Buy it for the soft game, with two hands on the backhand
Hit a two-handed backhand and live in long dink rallies? Buy it. With my code it's $159.99.
Testing details
- Tested
- August 13, 2026
- Power and pop
- 20 full serves for power and 20 punch volleys for pop, every ball speed read on a Stalker radar gun.
- Spin
- 20 more serves on the radar. I drop the outliers and average the rest, which gave this paddle 2,403 RPM.
- Swing and twist weight
- Measured on a Briffidi SW1 swing weight machine.
- Sweet spot and control
- The same dinks, drops, resets and drives off a Titan ONE ball machine, for every paddle.
- The scores
- Out of 100, with the same tests for every paddle. The top paddles I've tested score 100.
- Published
- Scores from
- My database, updated October 15, 2026. How I test
No. 3
No. 1
No. 2
