70k is more head heavy and stiffer than the 90S. In terms of overall weight there’s not much in it. 70k to JS12 - similar to above. 70K with orange strings and orange grip is almost passable lol AS90 is a great racket for those who like the specs of BS12 and JS12
So first impressions from me have taken awhile. Work got in the way first then laziness got in the way second but I promised @visor last week that I'd get it out then. But I decided to take another weekend session at similar level play to really get a better idea and to make sure it wasn't new racket placebo syndrome. This is all opinion so you don't have to take my word for facts but I proudly dare to say I'm generally correct. I think we can consider this a review despite my having only about 6 hours of play on it. I've adapted that well to the racket in such a short time and consider it one I'm more than willing to use even in a competition if need be. (Also because I'm at the defence section of the review at this point in time and just realised just how much I have written already...) Warning: Prepare for my customary wall of text in 2 parts(for those that know it ). So you all know the data I shared from much earlier on what exact specs my particular 90S actually it. But to sum it up it's a 3UG5 with BGAS @ 28lbs. If I had to do a one line summary, "The BS12 we've all been waiting for." would be the appropriate line for it. Those of us on the complaining end of wanting something stiffer, trust me when I say just look away from it now. This isn't what I meant by my one liner. However those of us complaining about the power ceiling we experience with the BS12 as rec players, the ARS90S is certainly the answer. You're probably wondering what I mean by that and also "how?" or "why?". I can't confirm with any scientific data or numbers because everything is by eyeball and what I'm assuming it to be because that's what makes most sense to me. We'll start with the racket on the overall and in the ways it's similar to the BS12. First swings and molestation of the racket, it's pretty damn clear that the stiffness and the frame cross section and profile are the closest. The shaft has lost 0.2mm from the 7.0mm that the Braveswords use to rock, however this reduction combined with the new tech and materials has pretty much put it back at the same level of stiffness. But to me one of the downsides of new tech and materials is that the racket shaft feels more flexible than it actually is. This is especially apparent if you're just flexing the shaft in your hands. It feels soft and noodle like but it doesn't behave that way at all in games even when I'm hitting all out and take a shot late and under pressure. The next biggest similarity is the frame even though obviously the frame profile and cross section. My god Victor. It's about ****ing (sorry but this is the only appropriate word to use after enduring half a decade of Jetspeeds) time you got it right and answered all the prayers and requests of us BS lovers. The sharpness of the frame at ones fingertips is like caressing an old lover you've not seen for years. Everything is the same except that your lover has aged and just put on a tad more weight over time. It's close to the BS level of sharpness but there's just a bit more of bluntness on the edges, almost like they made it as sharp but took 2000 grit sand paper and gently rubbed off the edges but refined it at the same time. There's other things to describe about it but I'll go into that later when actually talking about how it plays. The last point I feel that makes the big difference in power ceiling is with the shape of the frame. Frankly I don't know how much the new frame design works into it as well despite having had some experience with it now courtesy of the JS11, ARS90K, and ARS80X. Perhaps there's truly something to having the "Energy Bow" recess channels that aids in superior repulsion but I neither have the means nor the ability to test if it actually does work. But I know one thing for sure is that right now the power ceiling I feel that I have with the ARS90X is simply now on the stiffness end. Because I'm able to flex everything up to the MX80 pretty consistently so I feel that that is the area I'm reaching a limit in now. But unlike with the BS12 it doesn't feel like a limit that is stifling and overbearing. Ok enough yapping about the wonders of the science of badminton rackets. On to real world performance! Clears High clears, deep lobs, fast punch clears, escape clears, etc. You name it, it can do it all with ease and aplomb. I've found every type of clear shot I'm capable of performing reasonably, this racket is capable of doing it without extra effort necessary. If you thought the BS12 was good at this category of shots, the ARS90S will outshine it any day and with interest. I remember the very first time I hit a clear after serving the shuttle on warm ups, I just took it with a casual relaxed swing at it with about 80% power and I blasted the shuttle from 3/4 back court to easily 3 feet out of the back line on the opposite end. Suffice to say I had to apologise and stare at my racket wondering what the hell just happened. So I ended up dialing back the power more just to keep it in. The only time I ever found trouble with getting the shuttle to the back was generally if I took the shuttle too late but that goes for practically every racket anyway XD I'm not going to touch on backhands because I honestly cannot find anything to talk about in this regard. It does them perfectly well enough. You get as much out of it as the effort you put into it which is perfectly fair. They're just nothing to write home about to me surprisingly. Part of the reason I feel this way is because I have always believed that the backhand stroke has never been one that a racket can influence deeply unlike the forehand clear. If you timing and technique are there, the shuttle will fly as far as you need it to. No miracle racket can ever fix a backhand stroke that's flawed or taken too late, and neither should one expect anything if they use any racket with a spec that is wholly inappropriate for their skills. Drives Just like its predecessor but slightly better, driving with this racket is a sheer pleasure IMO. There's a perfect amount of stiffness and flex in the shaft for driving. Be it doing drives as the attacking party or defending party, the ARS90S is capable of doing both perfectly. It isn't truly exceptional in this department but definitely excellent because its an all rounder at heart after all. The only rackets I can think of capable of outdoing this in the drive department are basically rackets with stiff and extra stiff rated shafts. But let's be honest, those rackets are just better because stiffer shafts have always lent themselves better to that short sharp stroke that involves wrist and finger power more.
Net Play The racket is more than equal at the net when compared its ancestor the BS12 so I don't really have much to say here. Response time is quick as hell. Interceptions at the net are fantastic. I've never felt like I lost power on the interception unless I dropped the ball and didn't contact the shuttle cleanly. Tight spinning net shots are easy to pull off, cross court net shots are relatively easy to perform as well but I also think it's more or less skill dependent as well. It certainly will never out perform a head heavier racket at this type of shot though, especially if you're the type that's cheekily trying to make the shuttle spin and tumble and make it catch on the tape to get a winner. If you want that I can only suggest 2 things, A. Train a lot at the spinning net shot or, B. Get a head heavier racket. I've generally felt for myself that head heavier rackets provide a very very stable platform at the net for performing tight net shots without any great effort. Defence For defence I'll be covering all shots that I consider to be defensive in nature, e.g. lifts, attacking lifts, smash returns, blocks, etc. etc. Lifts are a beauty with this racket. I cannot think of any racket better at lifting drops compared to this racket. Lifting tight drops with this racket for me was a breeze, even if I reacted and took it a split second too late, the flex in the shaft gave me the power I needed to lift it high and deep on the forehand or backhand and still be able to reach the back line. I found the ARS90S to also be above average when it came to playing attacking lifts especially when you put in a bit of deception with a 'hold and flick'. The stiffness just complements this particular shot very well I feel, it never once gave me a reason to feel or think that my shot wasn't going to land outside of where I generally wanted it to. Smash returns are effortless. The only difficulties I had with them were basically when the opponents attacks were just too good for my piss poor defence to handle. This is also a particular area I feel that the BS12 was actually not very good at. I always found myself having difficulty returning smashes high and deep because the BS12 shaft just wasn't unloading on contact with the shuttle and thus the head was lagging behind. The ARS90S fixes this issue beautifully IMHO. All the difficulties I experienced with the BS12 were virtually nonexistent and boy am I glad. I had all of the options available I needed with it be it the deep high lift, whipping it cross court deep and high, returning the smash as a drive, or even returning the smash as an attacking lift cross court. Smash blocks with the ARS90S however are sadly the one thing here I can't find anything to rave about. It gets the job done and that's it. I didn't find that any of the blocks I played were special. That's probably the fault of the racket tbh. The speed it's capable of moving at is so quick that you just have the choice of shots open to you to make on defence so it just depends on your technique in the end and how good you are at controlling the shuttle. It's just not one of those rackets where you're gonna find yourself making that block return that ends up clipping the white tape in a moment of magic. Offence This is definitely one racket that is extremely effortless in the attack department. A word of caution, do not ever expect the ARS90S to have a gigantic smash like a head heavy racket or stiff racket. Technology and material can only compensate for so much til it hits a limit. I'm very happy with it in the smash department that's for sure though. The racket was built for allowing a player to attack continuously and efficiently in the long run. There's more than enough power going for it, the accuracy is much better than the BS12 as well. One thing it has going for it better too is that the head weight distribution isn't at the T-Joint. I feel it more at the side of the frame but not super concentrated in particular areas, it's very evenly spread out. Full power smashes don't have the feeling like the shuttle is floating once it goes past the net and that's a major plus in my book. Stick smashes too, they've got great energy retention and I've never had a problem with placing them wherever I aimed them. The racket is perfectly fine at drops too. Sadly like blocking smashes on defence, playing drops with the ARS90S is nothing amazing. It does everything you want and need it to but isn't capable of anything magical. Fast drops, slow drops, stop drops, sliced drops, the racket does it all, a hallmark of a truly great all round racket IMO. Conclusion I would be hard-pressed to not recommend this racket to anyone. I think it's extremely fun to play with and easy to use, its forgiving on mistakes and mishits, and it is more than up to the task for anyone from beginner to advanced (if you like the spec) skill levels. Victor has made a winning formula again on this racket I feel. But it will never reach the success of the BS12 for the simplest of reasons, there's less marketing power and global exposure to it unlike thelat which the BS12 had. The paint finish quality is definitely improved on the sharp edges because they've been dulled just a touch. But I did find an area where the paint finish is still a bit too BS like for my liking. The Energy Bow channel at the top of the frame for my piece has 2 long thin paint chips from mishitting the shuttle at that area. This was something I didn't notice until a few days ago when I just decided to take a look to see the differences between my 3 Auraspeed rackets. I won't be entertaining any requests for comparisons with any rackets or what racket I'm using regularly. I have too many and I don't really care. I just use what I feel like using during my sessions and try my best to enjoy it. I've spent many hours on most of the rackets I have in my multiple badminton bags so I don't really have a problem adjusting midway through a session unless I've completely ignored a particular racket for over half a year. Right now I'm just happily testing rackets while I can afford to still play and just want to enjoy the game. This bloody post took nearly 90mins to compose I just realise.. WTF am I doing D8
Thank you for the review. Hopefully it will be the same results with my AS90S. Just received mine today. Cant wait for tomorrow games and compare with bs12 and bs9(gen 1)
Funny that you mentioned the BS09 Gen 1. That's what I took for a spin with the ARS90S side by side because my very last playing piece of BS12 died in the bag a couple of months ago. But I didn't see a point mentioning it because I just couldn't find anything it did that the ARS90S wasn't incapable of matching. If I ever chose to and felt the need to replace my BS12s this would simply be it. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Ya, you’re right. Just by holding ars90s it self is the same like holding a bs12. Everything is the same except the head frame. That shark tech gone and some tweak on top maybe for a little bit air resistance for the head whiping tech i think. Whats good for this frame bending imo, is we still can produce steep smash even shuttle is above our head. My friend still can do a steep overhead smash using astrox88d easily.
yes i also gt 2 more for spare and pyscho 4 frens to get them too.. highly recommend racket for those that like BS12 specs moreover this is an upgraded version
Fantastic review Ch1k0. As a fellow BS12 fan, I presume you will understand what I mean when I say the BS series has a beautiful unadulterated, unrefined, raw feel. Something that most of the Jetspeeds lacked imo. If so, I have one question for you. How would you describe the feel of the ARS90S compared to the benchmark that is the Bravesword series?
Yes I know what you mean. It's rather in between the Jetspeeds and the Braveswords IMO. Whatever they did for shock absorption is excellent. They've taken away the over directness while still retaining a pretty fantastic feedback. It's never gonna be the same but it's more than good enough for me. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
Auraspeed 80x coming soon . Brief description : The AURASPEED-80X is controlled in the speed racquet and is suitable for players with doubles defensive control. Comparing with the 90S, this is a stiffer but less head heavy ( towards even balance) so for us..this is more towards the lover of BRS-12, JS10 and JS11. Weighting at 88.4g with swing power slightly more than the 90S (1kg more, 86.5kg) definitely classify at Speed Type Racquet.
Impressive. Its powerful for what it is. Although it isn't really stiffer than the 90S IMO. It's a similar stiffness but there's a definite more head weight that gives it an incredible punch. Sent from my LG-H930 using Tapatalk
