This racket series came in with hype in Thailand, after 2-3 days of release it's out of stock till September. So I got my hands on Tiger 4U version since I like a less head heavy racket for ease of play and I like faster pace rallies which I probably will struggle with Dragon. Decided to drop the ranking since it's super tedious to do. Specs ( ) / ➡️Weight/Grip: 4U/G5 ➡️Racket weight: 86 (85-87) g ➡️Balance point: 300 (300-302) mm ➡️Swing weight: 85.5 (84.5-86.5) kg.cm2 ➡️Flex: Medium ➡️Max.Tension: ≦30 Lbs Mine strung with VBS 66 Nano 27 Lbs (usual tension for all of my rackets) I got small hands so I removed the original grip and wrap electrical tape + cushion + Yonex AC 102 EX Overall weight (racket + string + grip + cushion etc.) : 87.8 grams My Current Racket 2X Victor Hypersonic 4U 1X Venson Krissword K6R 4U 1X Felet Woven TJ Power 4U 1X Lining Axforce 90 Tiger 4U Initial Impression The paint job is good as expected of Lining, I really like black and red theme which suits my taste. Dry swinging felt "whippy" and medium flex. My feeling were a bit more flex than medium flex. All of my racket are on the stiffer side and felt a bit head heavy but not much. The frame is noticeably tiny (Same as 100ZZ I guess). Overall good looking racket. Clears (Overhead, Backhand and off-centered) "Effortless" is the word that comes to mind. You only need to use minimal power to generate enough power to clear backcourt to backcourt. I would say I use less power on clears than my main Hypersonic. The help could be from the shaft which felt "springy" and does felt too flexible on clears. You see the shaft help from backhand clears, I normally don't do high backhand clears since this shot requires good timing and good power generation to do it perfectly so I normally do backhand drives or drops. But using this rackets makes backhand shots 20-30% easier. By easier I mean I don't really need to excert a lot of force to push the shuttle but with the small racket head, you will still need to hit the sweet spot to do it efficiently. Drives Drives are good with this racket if you got the timing right. Because of medium flex shaft you will definitely felt the racket head lagging behind a bit. Because I'm used to stiffer shaft I need 1 hr to adjust the timing. This racket excels are mid-back court drives, the power I can generate is insane. I only need to put 70-80% of the power to get the shuttle speed of 100% of my Hypersonic which is unbelievable. Front court drive however is just meh. Boxed frame design + head heavy + flexy shaft = slow in front court. Front court drive or fast exchange are not this racket strong suits which are reasonable. It's usable but I don't really recommend predominantly using this racket because you will feel sluggish from the shaft and heavy head. But I would say this racket is one of the best if not the best at mid-back court drives. Control This racket control is *chef kiss* the best I've ever used by far. The touch you get from this racket is the best. Drops and slices are super easy to judge. The racket head are super steady and once you got used to the shaft action, you can basically play darts with this racket. Anywhere I wanted the shuttle to land, it landed right at the spot I aimed at or super close to it. Cross court reverse slice, Watanabe deceptive smash drop you name it. it's possible with this racket and I felt it's easier to pull of than other racket I've used so far. Smash To be honest on the first day of use, this racket got super weak smash. But after 2-3 days of use, my smash got 1-2 steps better but the smash still not at the level of 88D Pro or TK-F but it's good enough to get by and put pressure on opponent. You probably wont get 1 hit kill with this racket but you won't be tired easily smashing with this racket either. My full smash power are close to my hypersonic which is good for me but as a head heavy racket, it's not gonna wow anyone. But this racket shines in half and stick smash. This is where the medium flex shaft comes into play. When I go for a full smash, sometimes the racket head lagged behind a bit so I decided to lower my power output to 70-80% which to my surprise the power and shuttle speed are exactly the same as my full smash. So anyone that are physically strong or like to go 100% everytime they smash, this is not the racket for you. Stick smash is amazing and half smash felt solid and super reliable. My goto with Tiger is now cross court or down the line half smash into mid court kill. If the shaft is stiffer, this racket will be the best all-round racket in the market. Sadly it's medium flex. Defense Now this is where medium flex shaft goes to shine. Because the "springy" shaft, defense is a breeze. Lift, drive, counter attack you name it, this racket can do it all. Because this racket is reasonably light, moving the racket around to defend is easy. Normally on lift defense sometimes you power generation is not enough to lift to backcourt but not this racket. just a simple flick will push the shuttle to back court easily and you will feel like LYD sometimes lol. Overall good racket for all-round control player that are looking for an easy racket to play with. But the price will probably will put people off this racket. In my honest opinion, I would suggest ppl go test this racket out first before buying or go for a 2nd hand one first because buying 1st hand since this racket is kinda hit-or-miss because of the shaft.
Great review @Zoap San. I was lucky to try dragon and tiger in 4U. Both were strung with Gtone 5, 25lbs. Tiger - completely agree with your review. I think people who used lining flexible racquets they can quickly adapt to this one. I have N9ii, my learning curve was just few hours. Dragon - not an 100zz for sure. But smashes felt good, steep and accurate, probably because of slightly stiffer shaft. Compared to 88D pro, it slightly lacks raw power and feel. Will i buy them? Nope. Reason - price is damn high. I am enjoying my racquet setup - 88D pro, TKF enhanced and N9ii.
Thanks for the input. It sounds like AX90 Tiger is not far different from AX80. How would the stiffness and smash compare assuming same weight?
Never got a chance to play with Ax80 before so I cannot compare. But from my friend who used both 80 and 90 tiger, he said Ax80 is atad bit stiffer and not as whippy as Ax90 tiger. He likes Ax90 a lot more than Ax80 tho since Ax90 is easier to play with and he said Ax90 felt better.
Thanks Zoap San for the detailed review. Just one question: Is it really 4U (W2) because you wrote 86g ?
mine was 85.8 gram without strings and with the original grip. Because it's around 85 grams it could still considered 4U I think? I found mine to be a bit too heavy since I'm more of a mid court player, so I removed original grip and replace it with a lighter grip instead to get the desired weight. So my total weight (racket + string + grip + cushion etc.) was 87.8 grams which are similar to my Hypersonic which are around 87.2-87.5 grams
I am trying to string tiger with bg 80 26 lbs for more power .... If that doesn't solve the weak issue , I will sell off the racket at discount ..... I am a stiff yy man unfortunately
Since you also have a N9-II: How would you compare both the Tiger and the Dragon to the N9-II in terms of stiffness, head heaviness, power and ease of play? I recently broke my N9-II and might consider either the Tiger or Dragon as a replacement Besides that: Does anybody knows, when the AxForce90 will come out in Europe and what the price point will be? I'm from Germany and haven't found a single shop (neither in store nor online) that sells the racket
Axforce90 probably begin of next year? Halbertec 8000 is coming out in 1-2 months so should look at that first.
Well, that would certainly be a bummer. I was hoping to get some Black Friday or Christmas Deals for my new racket
I asked li-ning.dk and they said end of november/beginning of december they will start selling it, so maybe you'll be in luck!
If you like N9II, then Ax90 tiger feels similar (not entirely). Stiffness - both felt same, medium stiff, Head heaviness and power - Dragon for sure, Ease of play and quick defence - N9II. Ax90 tiger is more of an offensive racquet while N9II is even balanced. You can pick another N9II, TC75 or 75ex they are still available in market.
Thanks, that's very helpful. I think, I'd like the Tiger version a bit more. And yes, I know that TC75 and N9-II is still on the market. It's just that I liked the control and speed of the N9-II, but sometimes I wished it would have a lil more oomph. Based on your description and the reviews I've read soo far, the AX90 Tiger could be exactly what I'm looking for: A slightly heavier punch without sacrificing *too* much in terms of control and quickness.
Cool, but still it would be better to try the racket out before buying if possible. The shaft is flexible + springy so that might put you off if you like stiff racket.
I bought the AX90 Tiger 4u, it is whippy and control is there. Clears and smash are effortless but power is limited due to the flexy shaft and I need to get used to the timing. Now I wonder if AX90 Dragon will have better power and not too stiff?
Li-ning.dk just posted on their instagram that Axforce 90 Max (Both dragon and tiger) is releasing this evening at 18, CET. So you might be getting an early christmas present!
Thanks for sharing that information. Just checked, 280€ or 306€ with stringing Highest price I have seen for any newly launched racket within Europe so far...