0:00
Today we have another small milestone on the channel
0:02
I'll be talking about my experience and review of the Victor Aura Speed 100X
0:07
which is the favorite racket of one half of the daddies, Muhammad Assan. Victor, right now? What racket
0:12
I'm Truster X. The racket Aura Speed 100X. The racket 3U or 4U? Uh..
0:22
I think 4U or 4U. G6. Oh wow, G6. All one. Thank you
0:28
and also Wang Ziwei. This will be the first Victor racket I review on my channel
0:32
and it's been a while from the days where I had the legendary blue Brave Sword 12
0:37
as well as its black cousin too. For those who are unfamiliar with Victor's racket series
0:42
the Aura Speed models are part of Victor's Speed series, whereas the Drive X models are more of an all-round racket type
0:49
for players wanting precision and control. The ultra popular Thrusters series are part of Victor's Power Series rackets
0:56
superstar players such as Lee Zijia and Dai Ziyin using them. Here is a racket matrix from Victor
1:02
and the 100X looks like it's nicely balanced although it's slightly leaning towards the
1:08
headlight category of rackets as well. Also looking from the matrix does Victor not make
1:12
any headlight rackets as it's fairly empty down there in the headlight section. Let me know in the
1:17
comment section below if you've had a headlight rackets. In any case let's start with the aesthetics
1:22
of the 100X. I was pretty excited when I first saw the frame as it looked pretty thin, which means
1:28
it is going to be fast. Excitement level two. However, upon closer inspection of his design and
1:34
color scheme, I was pretty disappointed with how the 100X turned out. You all know I have a thing
1:39
for matte rackets, but after looking at lots of super cool leaning rackets designs, as well as
1:45
paint job, this 100X just felt very normal and couldn't really compete on that looks scale
1:52
It is unable to reflect its status as a top tier flagship racket for Victor The design and decals around the frame area was fine It actually the shaft that made it look pretty basic At segment level back down to one at this point I then also noticed Victor sight that the cone and the butt cap of the 100X was semi
2:11
but the one I had wasn't. I was pretty sad with that as it would have been very cool to have a semi-transparent cone and butt cap on the racket
2:19
as well as the ability to see inside and into the power ring that Victor was promoting for this 100X
2:25
Victor's site stated that it's 100X as 100XH But the sticker on my 100X handle says it's SE
2:33
And some stores online said that's a special edition one As it had mom Ahsan's signature on the cone
2:39
Sorry Ahsan, I have lots of love for you But I would have preferred a semi-transparent cone and boot cap
2:44
And your signature on the shaft-der racket itself Another key feature for the 100X was Victor's free core technology
2:50
Which essentially moves away from the traditional wooden handles and employs a hollow transparent plastic handle to allow for more shaft movement within it
3:00
My first experience of playing with a free core racket was when I visited Greg and Jenny from Badminton Insight last year when I played with Jenny's racket
3:06
and she was playing with a Thruster F Enhanced Edition. One big plus point I found on my way to getting to the plastic handle
3:13
was actually the glue, or lack of, that Victor uses on its stock grips
3:17
The stock grips came off incredibly easy without leaving any glue residue at all
3:21
which was helpful while only having some double-sided tape at the base of the stock grip and the butt cap section
3:28
This means for the first time I didn't have to tape my racket handle to prevent sweat from seeping through the grip as it's a plastic handle
3:35
Additionally, for those who are wondering, yes, I did try and remove that butt cap
3:39
In terms of measurements, the 100X's handle is 17cm long and has a 21cm shaft length, as well as a diameter of 7.1cm
3:48
In terms of frame, it had a 24cm frame height as well as a 18.7cm width
3:55
Pretty standard on that front. I also measured a frame thickness of 10 which surprised me a little as I thought it would have been thinner than that judging by the looks It certainly not the thinnest but nowhere near thick Another key consideration that I always do when reviewing rackets is observing how much recessed frame profile a racket has
4:14
And the 100X certainly is a unique one in that sense. It certainly only has its top half recessed but upon closer inspection it actually has less than half as the 3 and 9 o'clock section aren't recessed
4:26
So I'm calling the 100X's frame 40% recess in that instance. Other frame-related features would include four sets of single pass grommets around the 10 and 2 o'clock sections of the racket
4:36
and a slight recess found in the inside of the racket frame around the 3 and 9 o'clock section, featuring Victor's dynamic sword frame design
4:45
For stringing it, as this 100X is a 4U G5 model, it was rated to £28 in tension
4:50
but stringing it with my usual £27 by £29 in aerobytes was no issue whatsoever at all
4:56
The 100X could happily go higher although you might void your warranty. And as soon as you start swinging this racket around you will immediately notice this thing swings fast and pretty smooth at the same time
5:06
Remember the decals on the frame saying continuous attack? It certainly felt very good as the 100X was very easy to play with and its ability to change shuttle angles for me was great
5:15
So certainly capable of continuous attack in that sense. I find I was able to get the shuttle down pretty steeply as well as being able to get good cross court angles as well
5:25
In terms of power, it had a decent amount of power for your 4U headlight racket
5:29
I wouldn't say it has as much power as my usual Astrox 88D Pro, but good easy power nonetheless
5:36
A good indicator for power, often for me, was when you are caught and had to do a dig-out shot from the rear of the court
5:42
and the 100X made these getting-out-of-jail power shots a lot easier than many other rackets
5:48
Racket face stability is also pretty good on the 100X2. it. Maneuverability is also another great feature of the 100X, which is marketed as an
5:58
attacking racket which aims at pinging off and rebounding every incoming shuttle as quickly as possible I had no issues with the 100X defensively and was able to change shuttle direction very easily and happily
6:11
at the same time. The 100X's hitting feel is pretty crisp and it feels lovely for me. It did remind me a
6:17
little of Yonex's Asterok's 100ZZ although they don't feel identical. The 100ZZ feels
6:22
stiffer and much more head heavy. The little gauge showing the 100X's stiffness level
6:28
on the shaft is certainly spot on. It certainly doesn't feel like it has a lot of hold time like
6:33
Yonex's Arc Sabres or even the Astrox 99 Pro, but this 100X is certainly focused on repulsion
6:39
big time. This is certainly a great doubles racket, although it will certainly play well too
6:44
in singles. For those who are looking for a bit more punch, perhaps that 3U option might have been
6:49
better in that instance. I've been very impressed with the 100X and most notably it's actually down
6:55
to how easy it is to play with. I historically have been recommending Yonex's Asterux 88S
7:00
Pro and the Nanoflare 800 for incredible ease of play, and this 100X would also go on that
7:06
list. Easy to play rackets are incredibly underrated. I also want to touch a bit more
7:12
on the hitting feeling side of things. I traditionally find Victor rackets have a slightly more hollow
7:16
hitting feeling, coming from the generation of Brave Swords and Mature rackets compared
7:21
to Yonex or leaning rackets. With the Freecore technology that Victor has employed in its current
7:26
generation rackets, I certainly feel that Victor has made an improvement towards providing better
7:30
feel and feedback with every shot we play, and well done to them. I'm certainly a fan of new
7:35
innovation like these, but would like to hear if anyone out there has any issues with their Freecore
7:40
Victor rackets. I've seen broken wooden handles, but have yet to hear of broken plastic handles
7:46
Let me know in the comment section below if you do. What do you think about the 100X? I'll see you
