Specifications
Weight: 85grams
Grip: G4
Flex: "flexible" but is actually stiff
Strung with BG80 at 22x24lbs

First Impressions:
One evening at Olympic Badminton Club, the owners Nick and Mark were excitedly talking about this new racket brand that they just tried out. They were praising it's power, and now easy it was to use, and that clears were powerful etc. How can I resist trying this racket?

When I first saw it, it didn't strike me as anything. Take a look below:

It's an orange racket, for crying out loud. Orange, silver and black. In fact, it looks like an identical twin of my Chao Pai! The main difference is that the racket is iso-headed, and it had some"Opti-ridges" along the bottom part of the frame, suspiciously similar to the "bizzare power" technology of a chao pai racket that I owned a year ago.

Build quality and the quality of finish is standard Chinese, with a few bubbles in the paint, but nothing awful.

Palo-Palo impressions:
Aha! The racket indeed is a revelation! For some reason, you can hit a longer clear with this racket than average models, with less effort. In fact, I prefer hitting clears with this over my NS8000! There's something about the design of the racket that seems to help it slice thru the air and hit the s'cock harder than your usual swing. The shaft is supposed to be flexible (ironically, it's stated as extremely stiff in the website), but it doesn't feel flexible at all, not like the usual noodle-feeling cheapo flexible rackets.

The feel of the shuttle hitting the string bed is quite satisfying. There's a nice whapack sound, and you get good feedback, without being too numb or too harsh. Something unusual for a light-feeling racket. I recon
that this racket will be very stable during games.

Game time Impression:
During our regular games, this racket does not disappoint. It hits well, it feels good and it's well balanced. You get a good balance of touch when hitting net shots, and you get additional whipping action when you go for power shots. I don't know how they balanced these opposing attributes, but I'm not complaining.

You can swing the racket pretty quickly for defensive shots, making for a good all-around racket.

Smashing is not at par with the usual heavy hitters (AT series, NS8000) but it's not far off. In fact, it's easier to create shots and winning opportunities with this racket. What it loses in extreme power, you gain in control and flick-power. A small flick of the wrist can propel the shuttle over your opponent's head, landing in the back court boxes.

Maybe if I ask my smasher friends to try smashing using this racket, we'll know if this racket is good for smashing.

Even ladies will like this. My girlfriend likes this racket too, as it helps her clear the s'cock better. She actually ranks this racket at par with YY NS7000. She finds it easy to use, quick to wield and more powerful than her usual rackets. And this is a good thing.

Now the catch. Hold on to your seats.

It's an expensive racket. It retails for about Php6000.

Yup. You read that right. 6000 big ones.

Now before you blow your top, visit the Inflight site http://www.inflightsports.co.uk/ . It's a UK brand, hence the UK-level prices.

Verdict:
This is a good racket, no question about it. In fact, I use this as often as my NS8000. I love the way my clears really clear over my opponent's head, I like the control this racket gives me over my shots, I like the weight and the balance of the racket. I just can't get over the price tag.

But, for Php6000, you can't find a racket that performs as well as this. Unless of course you have a friend who's flying over the Bangkok and is willing to hunt down a nice yonex TH model racket.

Cost notwithstanding, this is a nice racket, and it really is worth considering and owning.

8.5/10

if the cost is about Php4500, i'd probably give it a 9.5