The Pearl is the Real Deviant!

First Impressions
The DV8 Deviant Pearl seems so much more ball than the original Deviant was, is this really in the same family?? The original Deviant is “reserved” compared to this one.

Our Tester:
Greg Ostrander
RPM: 550 rpm
PAP: 5 1/2 & 1/2 up
Axis tilt: low
Axis rotation: medium
Grudge Hybrid Pin up: 65 x 5.25 x 55
Grudge Hybrid Pin down: 55 x 5.25 x 65

Greg Ostrander has recently joined DV8 National Pro Staff as is on the Vise Staff as well. He’s been bowling on tour for 5 years now and has 3 regional 2nd place finishes.

Thanks to Jeffrey Smith of Pure It Pro Shop, Lebanon, PA, our partner for ball reviews.
Thanks to Limerick Bowl in Limerick, PA.

Keep in mind that coverstock accounts for 70% of ball reaction, but the core creates the dynamic shape of the reaction. Your driller will alter the shape to suit your game.

Test Pattern:
40ft THS, 22ml, 10:1 ratio

Value
8.5/10
The DV8 Deviant Pearl is moderately priced ball but it seems like it really offers a solid value proposition. The Pearl looks like it will be a pretty versatile ball for the lighter to medium conditions.

Specs
The Deviant Pearl uses a coverstock known as Composite Pearl finished at 500/Royal Compound paired with the Deviant Medium RG Symmetric core. Core specs are 2.56 RG and .050 diff.

Overall
8.5/10
After having previously tested the Deviant, it was a little bit of a surprise to see the Deviant Pearl reaction. Upon closer inspection, it starts to make sense. The two balls do underlyingly have the same core motion characteristics but in this case the cover really overshadows that. So the pearl of course adds length but the original Deviant also had decent amount of length due to both balls having an identical out of box finish. However, the Pearl allows for more stored energy so there’s distinctly more pop down lane. It really doesn’t stand up too hard but really scatters pins a ton. We tested all the new balls from DV8 and when Greg got to this one, pins really started to fly. Instead of straight back, the Deviant Pearl sends pins left to right which helped clear the deck several times. It just finishes differently than the Vandal Smash and Grudge Hybrid, and even the Freakshow for that matter.

Pin up vs pin down didn’t play very differently. They had almost identical board coverage but the pin up had a slightly sharper reaction with slightly less energy retention at the pins. I mean I am being very picky here. In addition, the Deviant Pearl can be wheeled and has enough energy retention that the outside misses faired better than inside misses.

In the end, it’s hard to say that the Deviant and Deviant Pearl are a strong 1-2 as a pair, but I think if you bowl on light to medium house shots, you could probably get more mileage out of the Deviant Pearl, even first out of the bag.

Digitrax


Above is the CATS info for the Deviant Pearl pin up and pin down.  Can you tell the difference??  The biggest difference was the entry angle created by the pin up ball over the pin down.  But you have to watch the actual ball motion to catch the subtlety I mentioned earlier in the review.