I'm new to pickleball as of about 4 months ago, but am not new to racket sports, having played a decent amount of tennis and table tennis, along with dabbling with recketball and badminton. When I first was trying out the sport, I got a sub $50 paddle off of Amazon. Some of my buddies had recently upgraded to $200-$300 paddles and I couldn't match their power, spin, or control, but I wasn't willing to put that kind of $$ down on a sport I'm still new to. Looking for something with similar build technologies at a more affordable price, I landed on Vatic. My $100 paddle immediately evened the field for me. The greater pop from a much larger sweet spot was awesome, but my favorite thing is the spin! All of a sudden I could move the ball like I was playing table tennis! My serve started dropping in halfway to the back of the court, allowing/forcing me to serve harder, and my backhand got a little nasty. It surprised me how much an equipment upgrade could have an immediate impact on my game.
My buddies and I are quite truthfully somewhere in the 3.0-3.5 range. We have some power and control but need to work on learning the nuances and finesse of this game. I cannot speak to how well this racket holds up to $300+ alternatives or how it would do at a more competitive level, but do find it to be an amazing fit for me as I continue to progress.