Who? Whoever heard of JNice? I hadn’t either, but as you will read in this review, I’m so glad I gutted it up and tried them out!
For reference, I’ve owned a Victor V4000 WaveTech, Yonex Armortec 700, Victor Thruster K9000, Li Ning 75i, HL Gold Dragon, and played extensively with Yonex Astrox 22, Victor Thruster K Falcon, and Li Ning 70i rackets. I strongly believe in lighter (sub 80 gram) rackets now, because they are much faster to maneuver making it easier to get to any shot, defend with (especially smashes), and are much easier on the arm making it able to play all day. They are less powerful making smashes, but I never had the strength for a good smash anyway, and the lighter weight allows me to swing faster for more speed to make up for that, and the increased defensive benefits outweighs the smash potential.
I was previously playing with the HL Gold Dragon, (78 g), but wanted a racket with less head torque and flex for more accuracy. This JNice Elastics Air 73 (77 grams strung, with grip tape) is perfect for what I want. I’ve played with it now for about 12 hours, and I can’t find one flaw with it. That includes the string, grip size, and tape that came on it. I previously used Yonex Super Grap grip tape and either LN #1, Yonex BG80 Power, or BG 66 Ultimax string, but this JNice string at 25 pounds performs very well. I just wish it wasn’t pink, but I’m getting used to it, and it looks okay since the entire racket is white. The only disappointment I had was the cloth cover sent with it. Although very nicely designed, I would have preferred a padded stiff zippered case, and a racket this nice deserves one.
This racket is excellent in every area, drives, clears, serves, net play, maneuverability, control, and yes, even smashes. For comparison besides the Gold Dragon, the Li Ning Turbocharged 70i is a little stiffer and heavier with more head weight making it cumbersome to move around quickly. This racket is balanced perfectly for me (310mm).
All of the other rackets I’ve owned were bought from reviews on Youtube, Badminton Central, or by borrowing from a friend to try out. Even then it’s funny how you may have liked a racket during your hour or so of trying it out, only to find that there was something you didn’t like about it after you bought one and put more time into it. This time I decided to use Badminton Racket Review, and spent many hours researching all of their test data and comparing with other sources. I narrowed my list down slowly but surely, then with the final 4 or so choices, had to really zone in on what mattered the most to me, my play style, and what I expected the racket to do.
I am not disappointed in the least, and now that BRR is free to join, I can’t imagine why anyone would not investigate all of the time and effort they have put into their site. Rob and Jag were a real pleasure to deal with, and although the tracking info for the shipment said it would take a couple of months to get here, it took only 2 weeks. I did buy it from Badminton Racket Review.
The packaging was fabulous, just like I would do it. There was an outer box labeled GLASS, a thick, strong inner box, and inside that was the racket inside a plastic sleeve, inside its black bag, with a protective sheet of white styrofoam around the head, cradled securely in a form-fitting cardboard frame that held the shaft and head in place so it wouldn’t move around during shipping. I have never seen another racket packed so well from any other company.
As you can tell, I am completely delighted and satisfied with this purchase, even though I was initially wondering if I was nuts for buying a racket from a brand I had never heard of, or from BRR. But I took the chance, and man, was it worth it! With all of my other rackets there was always that niggling little voice in the back of my head asking “Well, if my racket only did so and so (whatever) better, then I could play better.” I don’t hear that voice anymore. This racket is easily as good as any other racket I have owned. If this one ever broke, I would instantly buy another one. Although the video review for the JNice Elastics Air 73 has not come out yet, see the review for the JNice Black Panther to get an idea of the quality of the brand.