Li Ning N50 Review

Hi, today I will be reviewing the Li Ning N50 badminton racket. The one designed for Fu Hai Feng. This will be first in depth review of a racket I have used so it might not be as good as you might want it to be but if you have any questions, just leave me a post or message and I'll get back to you asap

To put into comparison, the rackets I have used in order are:
- Yonex MP 30 CD - stock strings and tension
- Victor Artery Tec Ti-88 - BG65 at 23lbs
- SOTX Woven 8 - BG80 at 23lbs
- Victor Power Waves 11 - BG80 at 24lbs
- Yonex AT 500 (new colour) SP - BG65 at 23lbs
- Yonex AT 300 (old colour) CD - BG65 Ti at 24lbs
- Yonex AT 600 SP - BG85 at 23lbs
- Yonex NS 9000 Type S (my child =P) SP - BG68 Ti at 24lbs

So I have used a range of rackets, although a lot do come from Yonex. The N50 I will be reviewing is one that I got in a trade so it is used and does come to me in semi-bad shape although still very much usable. Here are the specs:


- Li Ning N50
- 3U and S2
- Original grip gone, replaced with super grap and another thin yonex grip
- Balance point measured at approximately 292mm
- Gosen R4X200 at 24lbs (0.66mm)

First Impressions:
After initially warming up with it, I did find that power was definitely upgraded from my NS9000s, probably due to the head heaviness of the racket (although with the new grip, it’s not too head heavy anymore). Back hand clears were pretty effortless, smashes were decent but I feel could be much better once my timing has been corrected. Forehand clears were easy but I kept hitting it out =( Stiffness I would say was comparable to the NS9000s although at times it seemed way more flexible like during smashes (perhaps due to the head heaviness?) The only drawback I could see was the weight since my NS9000s was pretty head light.

Game Time:
Once I finished warming up, I took a few minutes to rest up before using the N50 in a game. When I played with it for real, one thing really stood out to me right away. Drops were super easy to execute. Smashes were hard but kept going into the net at first but once I felt it out a bit more, they were quick and at a nice angle, although I must say they were nothing compared to my NS9000s....yet. Jump smashes weren’t too pretty in the beginning although they got much better to look at later on XD Everything went pretty smoothly towards the end as my smashes felt on par with my NS9000s and clears both forehand and backhand remained effortless. Net shots were okay, but I personally found that they weren’t as controllable as I would like. Drives were faster but more difficult to control. The main drawback once again was the weight, as it was literally a “drag” lugging this thing around during a singles match. All issues I found are probably due to the fact that I’m going from a head light racket to a head heavy one so I feel that they will be corrected once I have more time to get acquainted with it. I really see a lot of potential in this racket with a little more work even though I can already tell it will never be as quick as the NS9000s, at least for me XD

Durability:
Like I said before, I got this racket used from a friend so it does have some wear and tear. There are some small chips near the top of the frame and one or two small ones on the sides. Now I didn’t have a chance to intentionally clash with someone just to see how the paint would fare but it seemed rather durable. I had a few mis-hits but nothing bad came out of it (I took stock of all the chips before I started using it =P).

The one BIG issue I found with it was a rather strange one. I’m not sure how my friend used this racket before I did, but the paint around the top of the cone/cap was all removed. It wasn’t a very pleasant thing to see but it did allow me to see that the paint was rather thick. I tried picking at the edges to try and rip more off but was unsuccessful so it seems rather strong but it still baffles me how that part can be damaged all around. Perhaps some other people have had this issue as well? The alarming part was that when I removed the grip my friend used (this was before I actually started using the racket), the cone/cap was able to move! I was able to rotate it and pull it out onto the shaft so that was a bit alarming to me but nothing a little super glue couldn’t fix (which probably also added to the balance point being not too head heavy). I will be looking into this problem to see if others have had the same issue.

Aesthetics:
The N50 is pretty good looking. It beats out my NS9000s hands down (although I was never truly fond of that colouring) but the N50 has to be the best looking racket I have owned so far. It really reminds of some rackets from other brands such as the Black Knight C2C NanoFire and some Victor rackets. Red, silver, white, and chrome grace this racket with red predominating. Li Ning took some time to make it look nice even paying attention to little details like on the side of the frame (please refer to pictures below). Nothing seems out of place and everything is symmetrical, except for the “TB Nano” at the 3 o’clock position. All lettering is done in chrome except for the “PCF Reinforcing Technology” phrase. Take my word for it, if you don’t mind the colour red, you will like looking at this racket.

Should you buy it?
This is rather subjective and gets asked A LOT around Badminton Central. As always, this review like all others, are based on my own experiences and might not pertain to you. Some people will pick this racket up and immediately love it, and play extremely well. Others will hate it. It is best for you to try it out before you really commit yourself to buying one since this thing is rather expensive. If you are someone like me, and your most recent go-to racket was head light, I would suggest for you to work out a bit with a head heavy racket beforehand so you can have a more accurate impression. I got this racket mostly as a backup for now but I will be playing with it more and more to get a better feel, starting this Saturday XD I might even replace the strings first to what I’m used to using.

Overall Ratings (for me, all ratings should improve with practice...except durability):
Power: 8/10
Soft Control (net shots): 6.5/10
Hard Control (drops, smashes, clears): 8/10
Quickness: 7/10
Durability: 7.5/10
Bang for your buck: If you’re just starting, go for some cheaper alternatives, personally, I don’t think it’s worth $200+ CDN but that’s just me

Most similar to: Yonex AT500, except N50 not as head heavy.

I will try to augment this review with more details as soon as I play around with it more. Please feel free to contact me with questions or suggestions on improvements.

Wallace

 

cool thanks for the info