Yonex Astrox Nextage Badminton Racket Review Video

I’m not going to go into all the detail of frame construction, etc, etc, etc.. that others may do, as you know by now, I’m more interested in how a racket plays, how it feels, who is it going to be for, and a little bit more direct in that respect.

I don’t need to go into all the minute detail but let’s, let’s just go through one or two bits and pieces for you anyway.

So first of all, this has got a lovely matt black finish and green decals and looks absolutely superb.

They’ve used a sort of clear grommets in the sort of throat positions here in the U grommets, again just a little finishing touch looks really, really nice.

This is a 4U G5 and as you would expect from the name of the racket, it’s going to be head heavy falls under the Astrox range, which is always head heavy, it’s all about power but there’s a nice sort of medium flex in there as well.

There are quite a few things that are worth noting with this racket though, that are very sort of different. When stringing it additional single pass grommets down here, rather than the sort of doubles that we tend to see.

Following on from the Astrox 88 sort of wider pass grommets have been included again, which I think is good for stability this is also got the sort of two loop stringing pattern which is familiar on the Nanoflare 700 for instance, and you can see very quickly that there’s a denser string bed here at the centre, which is exactly what you want, and a little bit more space towards the outside of the frame, which is great for aerodynamic purposes and and a great feel on the shuttle as well, because this is where your sweet spot going to be.

So from that perspective, all is really really good G5 grip really happy with that on the basis that there’s a lot of players out there who need to build grips up and it’s always better to start small and be able to build from there.

And especially because there’s a lot of kids playing as well and therefore that smaller grip will suit being in their hand as well rather than the sort of larger grips.

So I’m a massive fan of the fact that Yonex are bringing in the smaller grip sizes more often these days.

Usually, as you probably know by now with Yonex, they they have numbers with their with their rackets, so when they bring out a racket with just a name, then it’s going to be slightly different, whether it be a special edition or this is going to be the next stage in the evolvement of the Yonex ranges, we’ll have to wait and see.

But this is not made in Japan. It is not a high end racket in terms of the fact it’smade in the factories in Japan. This is made in Taiwan and it’s a really, really good job, so don’t let that put you off at all.

This is a great feeling racket, very much aimed at an intermediate to advanced player.

Recommended tension, highest recommended tension is 28lbs which is exactly what I strung this at with no problems whatsoever in terms of the stringing and plays really, really nice.

As you can imagine, you get the usual sort of great stiffness in the frame this way, which is a trademark of Yonex that if you hit slightly off centre, then it’s not going to have too much of an impact on your shot.

So I always like that about Yonex and the fact that they make such sturdy frames.

But with this it’s also got it’s also got that feeling of of a little bit more hold vibration dampening is is part of their selling point and you know usually I don’t bother with any of the sort of gimmicky stuff but I’ve been using this for quite some time now.

I’ve hit a lot of shuttles with it, whether I’m feeding or warming up a player. And it’s been a pleasure to play with.

When I first played with it, I thought it was quite a stiff frame. Noticed the head heavy straight away, which is something that I like but I thought it was a stiff flex and I was quite surprised when I actually started to test it and found out that there’s a lot more flex in this than I gave it credit for, so I got that one wrong initially.

But hey, that’s okay. I’m human.

What is nice about this, there’s a different sound that comes off this racket when you hit the shot power shots from the back, then there is a completely different sound to it. Sounds really good.

Feels really good, lovely feel on the string bed itself.

So that was a I wouldn’t say pleasant surprise. It’s always good to have that and when I’m usually using something like 100 ZZ, then this is a great comparison for it.

I would also say that it was quick.

It was quick in terms of coming forward hitting around the net.

It was quick in defense, but obviously not going to be as fast as something like an Arcsaber 7 Pro, which is an even balance super great racket, which I will talk about on another review.

But for this I really enjoyed the feel of it. As I said before it kind of tips its head to the Lin Dan Force and sort of also gives a nod to the Z Force II so any Z Force II users out there you might actually quite enjoy this racket in terms of maybe not quite as much head weight, but it’s certainly got that feel of it and not quite as stiff, so it’s a little bit more forgiving than the Z Force II ever was and it might just suit you that little bit better.

The fact that this is not a top end Japanese made racket as well means it’s going to coming into more the budget, mid mid-budget range and I think that’s going to be superb value for money for for most players.

So if you’re playing league badminton when you’re playing to a good standard, you’re looking for a maybe a next stage racket, something that’s going to deliver good power but you don’t want to spend the top money on on the sort of Astrox 88 Pro or the 100 ZZ something like that then this is going to be absolutely spot on for you.

The price is going to be, I would say just over half the price of something like a ZZ.

For me, in terms of great hitting this racket delivered superbly well, very, very pleased with it indeed. It’s quick. There’s got enough aerodynamics in here to make it quick considering it’s head heavy and it’s one that I’m going to keep in my bag for some time.

I already have other players that have tested it and one or two have already bought
it off the tests I’ve dealt with them, which is fantastic.

That’s what it’s all about.

When when I do demo sessions, get to play with the racket feel it first hand and you know whether you’re going to like it and you’re not wasting your money then because you’ve already got that feeling and understanding of the racket.

So there we go.

This is the Yonex Astrox Nextage, been a pleasure to test with this so thanks to Yonex for sending me this to demo it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this video.

I hope you actually get to test this racket and find what I have that it is a brilliant racket and great value for money.

And I’ll see you on another video.