Six Zero Quartz - pickleball paddle review

Are you looking for a premium paddle at an affordable price? That's exactly what Six Zero is trying to offer with the Quartz, which is an $89.99 raw carbon fiber paddle.

Straight out of the box, the Quartz looks and feels great for the price, with a nice texture on the face. The handle is on the short side but with its square shape, I'm expecting this paddle to have good control and a large sweet spot. If it plays like a budget Six Zero Double Black Diamond Control, then you're in for a treat.

Read my Six Zero Quartz review to see how it performs on the courts.

Before we get into the positives, let me just say: if you're looking for a good amount of pop and power, the Six Zero Quartz isn't the one. Try the budget-friendly Six Zero Sapphire or pay a bit more for the mid-range Bread & Butter Filth.

While I wasn't expecting much power, I did hope for more forgiveness. It has a surprisingly small sweet spot for a square shape and it does feel like a "discount" paddle when the ball hits near the edges. This affects consistency—some of my shots move with the power and speed I'm looking for, while others fall flat because I don't hit the ball perfectly.

Check out my initial thoughts on the Quartz:

What you're getting here is a cheap paddle with really good spin. Surprisingly, I can get a lot of topspin on my serves and drives from the baseline, and a good slice on dinks at the kitchen. The 15 mm core also helps me manipulate the ball with more control, helping me generate more spin.

If you're looking for a control paddle, you'll also like the Quartz. It almost feels as good as the Selkirk LUXX Control on touch shots, at less than half the price. I also like the speed it gives me with its standard shape, and I feel fast at the kitchen line in hand battles.

Switching between forehand and backhand is much smoother than with paddles with a higher swingweight like the Six Zero DBD and Paddletek Bantam TKO-C.

I haven't played with a $90 paddle since the ONIX Z5 Graphite maybe three years ago, and the Six Zero Quartz is much better. I'm shocked by the level of touch and spin I can get with it considering the price.

While I don't like the Quartz as much as the last paddle I reviewed (the Ronbus R2 PULSAR FX), you get about 75% of the performance of that paddle at half the price. That's great if you're shopping on a budget, making this a top pickleball paddle for new players and early intermediates.

The Six Zero Quartz feels really premium for the price point. It looks great too and comes in six cool colors. Like with any dark paddle, it does get dusty so I would recommend a paddle cleaner or resetter if you care about how your paddle looks.

Let's see what features Six Zero put into this budget paddle.

This T300 carbon is lower quality than the more premium type you'll find on the Six Zero DBD Control, which you'd expect for the price—though the Vatic Pro PRISM Flash ($100) uses good-quality raw T700 carbon fiber.

For a $90 paddle to have raw carbon fiber with a strong texture is great and it makes the spin generation so much better than old generation cheap pickleball paddles. We're seeing this more and more from paddles like the Friday Original and it's an exciting development for pickleball.

The core thickness is between the more common 14 mm and 16 mm sizes. It's not thermoformed like the DBD Control and doesn't have the "carbon fusion edge tech", which is why its sweet spot doesn't extend to the edges.

Ultimately, it's a good control paddle for $90. However, it doesn't have the control and consistency of premium paddles with more tech.

The standard square shape (16 x 7.9") gives you a faster swing speed compared to an elongated or hybrid paddle. In fact, the Quartz's 108 swing speed puts it in the top 10% for paddles, so it moves fast during hand battles.

I don't personally love the shorter 5" handle that comes with square paddles. However, since the throat is narrow, I can still fit two hands on for backhands. I'm 5'7" and my hands aren't the biggest, though, so keep this in mind if you have larger hands.

You can take advantage of the extra control and swing speed that the shorter handle gives you too, so it's a pro or con depending on what you like.

This is where the Quartz mostly feels like a $90 paddle. It doesn't generate consistent power from the backline. You also can't put away pop-ups if you're playing against higher-level players who are good on defense.

I struggle to put overhead shots away. It's even harder to put balls away during hand battles. I have to swing more at the kitchen, which tires out my arm and affects my reaction time if the ball comes back to me.

This is why I'm recommending this paddle to beginners and intermediates who won't be playing against higher-level players.

The good news is this paddle has great control, especially for the price. I'm consistently able to dink at the kitchen, hit third-shot drops, and reset balls into the kitchen when being pressured by my opponent. I'm scoring this paddle just below the $180 Ronbus R2 PULSAR FX, but not by much.

The 15 mm thickness gives the paddle an absorbing feel with the ball. I feel like I'm pushing it back over the net, which helps me to regain some consistency. This can really help beginner/intermediate players learn how to dink and slow the game down.

You can generate about 75% of the spin that you get with higher-quality carbon fiber paddles like the Six Zero Infinity and ProXR Zane Navratil Signature. The Quartz is at least half the price of those.

I'm able to generate good topspin and backspin, as well as sidespin when I need to curve the ball around the post (ATP). Since the paddle has good touch, I can grab the ball to hit aggressively dipping drop shots and drives to catch my opponents off guard.

I wish the sweet spot were a little larger. When I hit the ball true, the paddle has great control and spin. However, any shots that are off-center can very inconsistent.

I'm not confident that every shot is going to go in like I am when playing with the Bread & Butter Loco and the Double Black Diamond Control.

The weighting is pretty neutral. The paddle face and shape make it so the swingweight is really low, but everything else feels pretty normal in terms of weight.

If this were my main paddle, I would add some lead tape to the sides and top to increase forgiveness and pop.

This has a pretty standard grip. It doesn't get sweaty or uncomfortable, even when playing indoors and the humidity starts increasing.

While this is a budget offering, the Six Zero Quartz feels like it will last. I don't see any reason to think it will delaminate or break down in any way.

The Quartz has a great swing speed and plays fast at the kitchen line. I like how you can quickly switch from backhand to forehand.

Rating:

This is 100% great value for money at $89.99. Even better, we have a 10% discount for Pickleheads readers from the guys at Six Zero. That makes it just $81—a great price for a paddle from one of the top brands in the sport.

The Quartz is a great deal for beginner/intermediate players who are looking for something with more touch and spin and don't want to spend over $150 on a paddle. It's a top upgrade if you're moving on from a more basic beginner paddle and want a step-up intermediate paddle.

I had a few beginner players play with it and they couldn't tell the difference in control from the $250 Selkirk LUXX, which is one of the best control paddles ever made.

This paddle is not for advanced players as they'll require more consistency and power than the Quartz offers. It's a serviceable paddle for higher level play but, as a 5.0 level player, I'd rather spend the extra $100 and get the Double Black Diamond.

Not going with the Six Zero Quartz? Here are some other paddles I recommend you check out:

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