“…great ball control and shot release.” - Unihoc.com
I will have to preface this review with a bit of backstory. Back in the day when my old club first got sponsored by Unihoc, we got a chance to try out their sticks for free. This was coincidentally the exact same time when Exel and especially the Air blade were a trendy choice for players in Finland. Me being used to the relatively harsh touch of the Air’s MB variant, I immediately bounced off of the older Unihoc products. I simply could not get over the flimsy feeling of the older Unihoc blades and due to the lack of status for the brand in Finland, I never even considered going back to Unihoc. However, this all changed after I started diving deeper into floorball topics outside Finland in my late teens. The global reputation of Unihoc came as such a surprise to me that I had to give them another go.If the brand is this popular, there must be something good about the products, right? Right?
As most of you already know, Unilite used to be the lightest Unihoc blade. At 64 grams, Unilite feels significantly more agile than the likes of Epic without raising questions about structural integrity. Unilite is slightly smaller than the average blade. My usual hook had to be modified a bit to accommodate for this, but leaving the tip of the blade more open seemed to do the trick. I have tested one PP Titan variant and two PP variants of Unilite and can comfortably say that the build quality of this blade is great. With PP Titan you get better glide and torsional strength at the cost of touch. The main downside of the PP variant was surprisingly fast degradation of the blade material. While the touch attributes remained basically the same, my shooting inconsistencies grew over time as the blade became less rigid. The PP variant is usable but in general I would recommend everyone to choose the PP Titan. As a side note, the available colour range for Unilite is huge! I personally love the ice colours (especially the ice blue) which should be familiar to all Unihoc and Zone players.
Unilite makes succeeding in-game almost effortless. No matter which area of the game you are focused on, this blade will probably make you better. This all begins with the touch attributes. The consistent and predictable performance transfers instantly to both dribbling and passing. Thanks to the light weight, making quick give-and-go plays is extremely comfortable even in small spaces. Personally, as a defender I have found my long passes to be accurate and consistent too, but there are better alternatives available from other brands for this. While I think Unilite also lacks that final “oomph” in terms of shooting power, the accuracy is still absolutely perfect. This tradeoff of maybe 5% less power for great accuracy and touch fits my game well, but this is something you might want to keep in mind while choosing your blade.
Unilite in combination with the Max shaft has been one of the most fun floorball sticks I have ever used. Additionally to the in-game attributes, the build quality and balance of this combination is hard to beat. This is my number one recommendation from Unihoc for both defenders and attackers as I think the qualities of Unilite are suitable for any playstyle. There are, however, two scenarios where I would not pick this blade. First, if you just want power and nothing else, then you are probably better off choosing Evolite or Epic. Second, if you must have a large blade then Unilite is not for you. If I had only tested the PP variant my score would probably be closer to the Zone’s Air/One, but PP Titan Unilite is without a doubt one of the best blades available. If you have never played with Unihoc, go for this blade. It’s hard not to like.