JOOLA Perseus Pro IV vs Pro V

This is the comparison a lot of Perseus owners are running in their heads right now: keep the Pro IV, or move to the Pro V? And it is the comparison a lot of first-time Perseus buyers are running the other way: buy the discounted previous generation, or pay for the current one? Both questions have the same answer, and it depends on two changes JOOLA made and one thing it did not — the price.

Live Amazon prices for both are above; the gap between them is the most important number on this page. Units we claim to have tested: 0.Everything below is read from JOOLA's published specifications and launch material, our editorial scores and the consistent reviewer record.

Side by side

Four identical scores. That is not us being lazy — it is what happens when a brand changes the face finish and the throat geometry and leaves the core, the shape, the shell and the weight alone. The specification that decides most of a paddle's character did not move, so neither did our numbers.

What changed: the face

The visible change. The Pro IV used JOOLA's Charged carbon-fiber surface, a treated finish over the carbon designed for grip. The Pro V moves to a raw carbon-fiber texture — an unpainted, exposed weave of the kind that Six Zero, Vatic Pro and CRBN built their spin reputations on, and that anchors the top of the measured spin charts independent labs publish. JOOLA adopting it for its flagship is a meaningful signal about where the category has landed. We score both faces a 9 on spin, because both sit at the top of the range; the honest difference is feel and, arguably, wear pattern rather than peak grip. Every raw face polishes smooth with heavy play, and our grit durability guide explains why that is a cost to price in. Our best carbon fiber paddles page ranks treated and raw surfaces side by side.

What changed: the throat

The change JOOLA says mattered most. The Pro V introduces KineticFrame, a patent-pending slimmer throat built to flex on contact; JOOLA's own launch material describes the Pro IV-to-Pro V redesign as centered on restructuring the throat. In plain terms, JOOLA is trying to get more energy return and a livelier feel out of the neck of the paddle without changing the shell that surrounds the core. We cannot measure the effect ourselves, and neither can most of the people describing it; what the reviewer record consistently reports is a difference in feel rather than a step-change in pace, which is why our power score did not move.

What stayed the same

Almost everything that decides how a Perseus plays. The hybrid shape — shorter and slightly wider than a true elongated frame, with most of the reach and a lower, wider sweet spot — is unchanged, and it remains the quiet advantage of the whole line. Both generations are offered in 14mm and 16mm, and the choice between those two cores is a bigger decision than the choice between generations; our Perseus 14mm vs 16mm comparison works through it. The thermoformed unibody construction and the listed weight carry over. If you know how a Pro IV feels in your hand, you know roughly how a Pro V will, and JOOLA describes the Pro V as a refinement of that feel rather than a replacement for it.

The price, which is the actual decision

The Pro V is the most expensive paddle we cover. The Pro IV, since March, has been the previous generation — and JOOLA has discounted it on its own store since the launch, with retailers following. The gap between the two live prices at the top of this page is the number that should decide this purchase, because the specification gap is zero on our scorecard and the feel gap is a preference. When the gap is large, the Pro IV is one of the best-value flagship-grade paddles on the market. When it narrows — and it will, in the run-up to Black Friday and as Pro IV stock thins — the Pro V becomes the sensible buy for anyone who wants the newest face. Our guide to how much a paddle should cost sets out what flagship money is actually buying.

Should a Pro IV owner upgrade?

Usually not yet. If your Pro IV is in good condition, the Pro V gives you a different face finish and a redesigned throat for full flagship money — a feel change, not a performance tier. The exception is a Pro IV whose Charged surface has worn smooth: at that point you are buying a paddle anyway, and the question becomes whether you want a fresh Pro IV at a discount or a Pro V at full price, which is the same decision a first-time buyer faces. Our worn-out paddle guide explains how to tell whether the face is done or merely dirty; run that check before you spend either amount.

Who should buy which

Buy the Pro IV if you are buying a Perseus for the first time and the live price gap is meaningful; you want the paddle with the longest track record and the most stable reviewer consensus; or you prefer a treated carbon surface to a raw one. It is still our #1 pick on the best power paddles and best spin paddles roundups.

Buy the Pro V if you want a raw carbon face on a Perseus frame and would rather not wait for a Pro IV to wear out to get one; you have hit both and prefer the KineticFrame feel; or the price gap has closed to the point where the previous generation is no longer a bargain. It is the paddle JOOLA built for a player who has already decided a Perseus is right and wants the current version of it.

Buy neither if you are still working out whether you want power, spin or forgiveness first — start with how to choose a paddle — or if control is the weakness you are fixing, in which case the Scorpeus Pro IV or our JOOLA vs Six Zero comparison is the better read.

Verdict

The Pro V is the better paddle by the smallest margin we can honestly describe — a newer face and a redesigned throat, on a spec sheet that otherwise did not move — and the Pro IV is the better purchase for most people while the price gap lasts. Buy the generation the live prices point you to, not the one the number on the throat does. For the full write-ups, see our Perseus Pro IV review and our Perseus Pro V review.