You all saw how Ong Yew Sin smashed his way into the men's doubles finals at the Badminton Asian Championships, right? Well, he’s playing with this incredible-looking Li Ning BladeX 900 Max Sun edition badminton racket!
There are 2 racket models from the BladeX 900 Max, the first one is this ‘Sun’ model and the second is the ‘Moon’. At the time of writing, I was unable to get hold of the ‘moon’ edition racket, so we'll focus on the Sun edition today! Both rackets on paper appear to have similar specs but should have a slightly different feel.
Also, let's address what's going on with the naming convention for these rackets. It's fine when you add one phrase after the racket model number, but 2 separate descriptors is a lot! For example, BladeX 800 and BladeX 900 sounds fine. Add one extra descriptor after the model number such as BladeX 900 Max or BladeX 900 Sun is still pretty good. But BladeX 900 Sun Max or BladeX 900 Max Sun is just too much in my opinion! Of course, this doesn't affect the performance of the racket, but it's worth mentioning.
I posted my review of the BladeX 800 previously and was pretty disappointed with its performance, feel, and even looks. I personally couldn't get on with it at all, especially as a flagship racket model. You can check out my full, in-depth review of the BladeX 800 here.
However, when we compare this BladeX 900 Max to the 800, it seems like a lot has changed as there are differences with the frame, shaft, looks, grip size, and even the butt cap has been updated to Li Ning’s current generation ones.
Before we get into it, I want to say my customary thank you to Li Ning Studio for letting me test this BladeX 900 Max so remember to use my code ‘CKYEW’ for additional discounts if you’re shopping with them!
Review of Appearance & Materials Of Li-Ning BladeX 900 Max Sun Badminton Racket
The first thing you immediately see is the difference between the racket decal design from the 900 Sun Max to the 800. This 900 Sun Max looks so much more premium off the eye when compared next to the 800. It feels like there’s a different team of designers at work here comparing both of the rackets together. It's just night and day in terms of quality and looks.
My favourite section of the racket is the 12 o'clock area where there’s a cool-looking sun shining back. The matte gold finish matches the racket design perfectly and the whole racket just feels like I'm in a Transformers movie with an Egyptian twist! Very cool indeed.
In terms of the racket frame, the 900 Sun Max had a more recessed profile area compared to the 800. The 900 Sun Max had approximately 60% of the sides of its frame in a recessed profile whilst the 800 only had about half. Also, I noticed 3 different grommet types were used in this 900 Sun Max.
First off is Li Ning’s very premium and thick-looking grommets which were also present on the 800. They normally sport 2 Li Ning logos on each side of the grommet. Next up was Li Ning’s newer type of grommet which I first came across on my Li Ning Halbertec 8000 racket review. They also sport 2 of Li Ning’s logos but have more of a rounded curve on the grommet edges. Less premium looking in my opinion. And the third version of the grommet which so far is only present on shared hole grommets, have a single Li Ning logo and the Li Ning wording underneath it. The design is similar to the first one so I do like it.
Remember to protect your precious badminton rackets from chips and scratches with the Premium Racket Protection Tape with free delivery worldwide on ckyew.com/shop. We also have some super limited edition player signed prints too!
Specifications & Measurements Of Li-Ning BladeX 900 Max Sun Badminton Racket
For the racket specs, the BladeX 900 Sun Max has a frame thickness of 10.1mm which is thinner compared to the 800 which came in at 10.3mm. Frame heights and width were almost identical at 24cm in height and 18.5cm in width. As mentioned before, the 900 Sun Max has about 10% more recessed frame profile against the 800 at 60% recessed area.
The racket shaft on the 900 Sun Max is pretty thin, coming in at only 6.8mm. This makes it the second thinnest shaft I’ve ever measured on a Li Ning racket. The thinnest shaft for Li Ning came from the AxForce 90 Max’s, which I've also done reviews on here.
Besides the thin shaft, the BladeX 900 Sun Max also has a 21cm shaft length which is shorter than the 800 by half a cm. The shaft is connected to a handle of 17cm, which again is shorter compared to the 800 by half a cm. So in essence, the 900 Sun Max has a thinner shaft, thinner frame, shorter shaft and shorter handle compared to the 800. All signs are pointing towards a smoother and faster-swinging racket thus far!
The cone is also the same which is a pretty bland-looking cone cap but certainly effective enough as I grip my rackets over them anyway. The BladeX 900 Sun Max now comes in a G6 grip size for 4U models, which is what I have and it feels very good for me. Stringing-wise, the 900 Sun Max is rated up to 30 lbs for a 4U model and 31 lbs for a 3U. I had no issues stringing them with my usual Yonex Aerobite (UK here) string at 27 by 29 lbs.
Playing Feel & Performance Of Li-Ning BladeX 900 Max Sun Badminton Racket
In terms of racket feel, I felt dry racket swings were already a step up compared to the BladeX 800. This 900 Sun Max definitely had more head weight compared to the 800 when swinging and it also felt more comfortable during hitting too.
I think this is aided by the slightly more head weight, helping to transfer a little more of that energy through the racket strings onto the shuttle compared to the 800 which I never felt I had too much control over at times.
For direct head weight comparisons, I think it's similar to a Yonex Arcsaber 11 Pro (UK here, review here) although the hitting feel is slightly different. The hitting feeling coming from the shuttle was actually pretty good, the nice combination of decent head weight paired with what I felt was a relatively whippy shaft makes an interesting experience. This behaviour from the racket did remind me a little of the old-school Yonex Voltric 80 from many years ago which certainly had more head weight compared to this 900 Sun Max from memory but the racket response felt somewhat similar.
Additionally, I was also testing this Blade X 900 Sun Max alongside the Li Ning Halbertec 8000 and I was able to feel this 900 Sun Max had a softer and flexier or slightly laggier response compared to the Halbertec 8000.
In terms of pure racket swinging speed, I don’t think the 900 Sun Max swings faster than the BladeX 800 simply because the 900 Sun Max had more head weight. But it’s not far behind in terms of speed because of the slightly thinner frame and shaft alongside a more recessed frame profile. Up to this point, I felt it was already a big step up compared to my previous BladeX 800 experience.
As the Blade X racket series isn't the most compliant or user-friendly, especially under pressure in defence, the 900 Sun Max made a big step forward in this regard compared to the 800. It’s still not as nice or as easy to play with say the Arcsaber 11 Pro, but it’s a step in the right direction for Li Ning with this Blade X series. I was certainly caught a few times under pressure and wasn’t able to get out of jail as well as the Arcsaber 11 Pro.
In the power department, this 900 Sun Max is pretty decent at that as it's got a slight head heaviness to it so power generation was relatively straightforward. If you liked the power from an Arcsaber 11 Pro, you’ll be fine with this one. Big power smashes like the one you see from Ong Yew Sin felt pretty good when you catch them right so no problem there.
In a nutshell, this 900 Sun Max is a big step up from the 800 in my experience. A good even to slightly head-heavy balance, more power, more control, better feel, almost as fast and looks so much nicer. I can’t wait to test out the 900 Moon Max too! If you like whippy rackets with a slightly head-heavy feel, this will be up your alley. It might not be the most complaint racket in the world but you’ll enjoy the feel of this one!
I did a full breakdown of the different Li Ning badminton racket series including who each series is suited for, which you can check out here. Until then, I’ll see you in the next one!