Unbiased review: Wilson (K) Factor Lite (another new toy)

Today (27 Nov. 2008), I went to collect ANOTHER new toy of mine with Donald - The Wilson (K) Factor Lite. Donald and I agreed to purchase it after we tested both, our earlier (K) Factor Blaze at Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara. The Blaze handles the shuttlecock well. It's a perfect all rounder racket, meaning to say, not too light, not heavy, perfect weight distribution, not too powerful and not too weak to propel the shuttlecocks.

Donald wanted to buy the additional racket so that his girlfriend can use it whenever she comes back to Malaysia for a visit. He told me that the (K) Factor Lite is really light and good for her.

Thinking that the promotion is still on, I accompanied Donald for the purchase (Buy 1 free 1). My reason is to have another backup racket just in case if I feel too tired to play with Blaze after an hour of game.

This time, we paid more as (K) Factor Lite costs another RM20 more! Maybe it could be the complexity of the racket's lightweight construction. Once settled, we went back to office to continue our work as usual. When the time reached 1700hrs, we (Donald, Peter and myself) went for a tea break as we needed fuel(for the body) for the 2-hour badminton game (1900 - 2100hrs). We left office @ 1830hrs sharp to the stadium. Too anxious to test the new toy!

The (K) Factor Lite test @ Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara:
Warming up with the lightweight racket is not energy consuming, very light and my hand can respond to shuttlecocks quickly and easily. Knowing that this racket is not a powerful one, I have tested it few times near the net.

After some time, I manage to get the hang out of it. The racket is very nice for frontal assault. My bad, LOL. I love playing at the front section with this racket, but I did not have much chance because my partner mostly covered front today.

Whenever I cover the rear section, I have to spend slightly more energy to swing the racket in order to propel the shuttlecock to the opposite court. It is more advisable to drop the shuttlecock when you are at rear than spending more energy to hit towards the rear section of the opposite court.

I can conclude that Wilson has the know-how expertise to design and manufacture good quality rackets like (K) Factor series. Every single cent spent for both my (K) Factor rackets is really worth it. No joke for the nano-technologically constructed rackets! I really love them! They're so different!

The (K) Factor Lite:


The bag:


Pros:
- More control!
- Good for net tricks!
- Very swift respond!
- Good for frontal attacks!
- Nice bag (comes together with the racket)
- Feather weight toy @ 78grams [+/- 2g]

Cons:
- Less powerful for playing @ rear section
- New unit does not come with string
- Silver coloured graphics is too bright and less classy

Source:
http://www.badmintonavenue.com/Wilson-K-Lite-Badminton-Racket-p/k-lite.htm

Unbiased review: Wilson (K) Factor Blaze

I have been using Wilson X-TECH 2.4 for almost a year by now since I was in Thailand. I bought it through Supersports' buy 1 free 1 promotion @ CentralWorld, Bangkok. It is a very nice racquet due to the fact that it weighs only around 82grams without string and grip.

The Thai guy then recommended me to strung it @ 18lbs of tension. I agree with him since it's a light racquet but the actual fact is this racquet can be strung up to 24lbs. I bought it for the price of 1900.00 baht which was approximately RM190.00 for 2 racquets!

My current Wilson X-TECH 2.4...


I bought it simply because this racquet is mainly for beginner and the price is cheap. I shared (the cost) the other piece with Bayu Indra a colleague of mine from Indonesia @ BKK office.

I am quite active playing badminton now after returning back to Malaysia thanks to the company's sports club for organizing 2 games per week (Monday & Thursday) @ Stadium Juara Bukit Kiara situated less than 3km from office.

Besides the Wilson X-TECH 2.4 racquet, I still have another racquet given by my dad. It's the Yonex carbonex 20 Special. I prefer X-TECH 2.4 over it because the Carbonex is slightly heavier and the frame design is not so aerodynamic. Sorry to Yonex.

Two weeks back, I was discussing about the possibility of getting another racquet for the weekly games. The reason is because I need a racquet which is an all-rounder racquet with higher string tension capabililty. Since the X-TECH 2.4 is my all time favourite and benchmark, I didn't bother to look for other brands. So I stick to Wilson.

Looking at Wilson's range of 2008 ... you can only notice 2 product lines. They are the "nCode" & "(K) Factor" series. I was eyeing on the (K) Factor Blaze due to its functionality as an all-rounder racquet.

Why I choose (K) Factor Blaze? Because it's a racquet with almost perfect balance...

The construction:

The carrying bag:


The deal:

After a badminton game on Monday17th Nov 2008, I came home for dinner and my wife told me that the racquet shop @ Bangsar Village was having "buy 1 free 1" sale. I then contacted Donald (my colleague) to see if he needs to find a replacement racquet for his ten year-old Carlton racquet.

Donald suggested that we should take a look during lunch time on next day (Tuesday). I went with Donald to Stringers @ Bangsar Village. We spotted few models like (K) Factor Blaze, Blade, Tour, Strike, Pro, & Lite. The lower range racquet like xLoop was also displayed on the rack.

The price for (K) Factor Blaze was RM315.00 for 2 units inclusive of carrying bags. We also chose the yonex string for RM 27.00 each and also ProAce grip at the price of RM7.00. I asked the Filipino sales guy called Norway to give more discounts and he told me he will give FOC for 1 string and one grip. The whole package costed @ RM349.00 for 2 ready-to-play racquets! We paid and left the place.

The test @ Bangsar Sports Complex:
I got home from office around seven and I walked straight to Stringers again to see if the racquets are ready for collection. I saw Norway and he told me that both racquets can be collected. He strung both racquets at 25lbs. I checked both and left home for a quick dinner.

It was almost 9 when I reached the Bangsar Sports Complex. I tested few strokes with Blaze and it was amazing! I could do more powerful back-hand than the older X-TECH 2.4! Normally, I can't really return back-hand stroke properly even with Carbonex 20 Special. I could control the ball easily when I manage to hit the ball using the Blaze's sweet spot.

One thing which I do not recommend myself to do is NOT to hit hard whenever I am near the net due to the higher string tension.

Pros:

- Capable of having string tension of 20-30 lbs!

- Improved my back-hand stroke

- Nice bag (comes together with the racket)

- Nice classy graphics (black and white)

Cons:
- Slightly heavier than X-TECH 2.4(Blaze is approximately 86g [+/- 2g])

- New unit does not come with string

source:

http://www.badmintonavenue.com/Wilson-K-Blaze-Badminton-Racket-p/k-blaze.htm

http://www.badmintoncentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51995

http://www.wilson.com/wilson/racquet/index.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=10134198673996700&bmLocale=en