Reviews

Xamsa PXT 110 review:

I’ve been using the Xamsa PXT racquet for about 4 weeks now and am highly impressed. The lightweight, evenly balanced frame offers a tremendous versatility allowing for both great power (even with a short racquet prep) and finesse. Even when stretched forward in the front corners, reaching for the ball, I’m finding it comfortable to quickly snap a quick drive or crosscourt – while at the same time, I’m finding it comfortable for cutting the ball into the front corners off the ground or volley with an accuracy that’s not a given with many other frames. Further, despite its lightweight, the frame has held up excellently thus far – no cracks or snaps – which makes me quite sure I’ll be using the racquet for a long time to come. I believe the PXT marks a significant upgrade in what the company has to offer: an elite level racquet.

Bernard Reid, McGill Varsity team captain/coach, Montreal, Quebec
Nov 15, 2016

The CNT135 is really well balanced, I enjoy its playability as well as its power. There is no vibration which is a big plus. The grip is perfect. 

With Xamsa philosophy to encourage squash players of all levels, the racquet is extremely affordable and a must own! 

Joffre Godin, member of Club Sportif MAA, Montreal, 

2016 Quebec Masters 40+ champion.

Ranked #21 in Quebec as of November 16, 2016

Xamsa CNT135 review:

I am Reiko Peter currently no. 88 in the world and I just recently changed to the Xamsa Racket. I have played a smaller head size for quite a long time and I wanted to try a bigger head size for quite some time. I was not very happy with most of the rackets I tested. Because most of the times they felt too heavy or not as accurate when I was hitting the ball.

When I tried the CNT 135 for the first time I immediately liked it a lot because the bigger head size is a lot more ‘forgiving’, if you don’t hit the ball exactly in the middle.

I don’t really like that the grip of the Racket is short. I have quite big hands and think the grip of the Racket should go further up. I had quite some time to get used to it. Now I am fine with it though.

My favorite things about the Xamsa Rackets are the weight and the balance. It feels so light but it still has some weight to gain power in your strike. I have a lot of touch with it because of these two things.

Since I have been using the Racket I climbed to world ranking better than ever… I guess that has to mean something :D

Reiko Peter
March 30, 2015

I have been using the XAMSA CNT 135 since August 2014. When I first tried it I felt that the racket gives me a better control in the front of the court. It helps me getting more precise shots. Furthermore this powerful racket helps you not to put too much strength to get the right length when playing from the back court. It is well balanced and easy to hold.

The best shots I can do with the CNT 135 are powerful straight lengths. In my opinion it suits very well for fast playing players who need a good feeling in the front and the power from the back. It’s perfect for an offensive type of game.

Since I’m playing with Xamsa my European U17 ranking improved from N° 17 to N°2. I won my first international Super Series Junior Open in Czechia in January 2015 and was runner up in the Super Series German Open in March 2015. I love this racket, try it!

Roman Allinckx, ranked #1 U17 in Switzerland and #2 in Europe
March 29, 2015

I've been known to take squash "too seriously". I would never sacrifice even 1% of racket quality, even if you paid me. I'm also not a big fan of change, and had been playing with the same top brand racket for 10 years. So I was a bit reluctant to try out Xamsa, especially given its low price, which I assumed meant it must be lower quality. But I decided to have a hit with it (CNT 135), just out of curiosity. At first it felt ok, but it wasn't identical to my previous racket, so it felt a bit off. But after about an hour of solo drill I really started to like it. I decided to try it out in a match. Long story short, it felt great and I've been a loyal Xamsa user for a month now. Strongly recommend.

Vadim Di Pietro, Club Sportif MAA
Ranked #17 in Quebec as of Feb 21, 2015
Feb 21, 2015

Here is my attempt at giving back to the community: a review of the Technifibre Carboflex 125, Xamsa VBO135, and Dunlop Revelation 135. I’ve purchased all three rackets and have hit with them solo as well as playing in a matches with them. If you don't want to read, here is a chart:

Here is a picture of all three rackets (Carboflex, VBO, and Revelation). While all tear drops, they have different head shapes and string patterns. The Carboflex is the most traditional with its string pattern and the Revelation has the longest average main string length with VBO somewhere in between. This plays a lot into the rackets’ consistency and feel. From a looks standpoint it’s to each his own… Although the Carboflex to me seems the best… The design elements that stand out on the Carboflex is the use of clear coat that lets carbon show through and the really nice shaft. The one thing that’s annoying is that the Carboflex has “305+: designed and manufactured in france”. I’m assuming this is for the string only because the racket has “Made in China” on the handle.

One last note: the Carboflex has the stock 305+ while the Revelation and VBO were restrung with 305. So let’s get stuck in:

Balance/Feel/Maneuverability

With stock strings the Revelation is sort of head heavy. After being restrung with 305 the swing weight came down a bit and the overall feel is better. The Carboflex is very lightweight and very head light. The VBO is right in between. To me the balance of the VBO is perfect. It feels great hitting the ball past your opponent or taking volleys. The Carboflex is SO maneuverable it allowed me to make shots while recovering more than I could with the other rackets. The other cool thing about the Carboflex is that I had to shorten up my swing which really helped with over swinging and getting back to the tee a bit quicker. The added head weight of the Revelation makes it a major bruiser. Unfortunately it made me a bit “stabby” on my volleys. Again, the VBO was right in-between and really felt like Goldilocks for me in this department.

The Revalation was the only racket with a proper grip length in my opinion. I have medium sized hands and the grips on the Carboflex and VBO were too short. This is a petty problem and easily fixable. As far as the actual shape of the handle goes, the VBO was the hands down winner. It had a nice racket feel (sort of octagonal). The Revelation was a little round for me, and the Carboflex was even rounder and even fatter. The fat round grip of the Carboflex just never felt quite right for me.

The other cool thing about the VBO is that the handle has built in vibration reduction. Without the dampener, the VBO feels awesome, the Revelation is a bit pingy (much less so with 305 strings) and the Carboflex is really pingy (not Head pingy, but still pretty annoying)

Power

I think my single most powerful shots came from the Carboflex, but the Revelation was far more consistently powerful. The longer main strings as well as the wider head makes the sweet spot on Revelation feel huge in comparison. It begs you to hit the ball past your opponent. Here the weight of the Carboflex is a double edged sword. Its light weight lets you really generate some head speed. The flip side of the weight is that itreally twists in your hands on off center hits. I feel like it may be magnified by the big round grip. Again, the VBO isn’t the most powerful nor does it have the biggest sweet spot, but it just seems to do things well across the board. At no time did it feel like a disadvantage in the power department. It just plain does everything you ask of it as well as give you a bit of forgiveness to boot.

Court Control

This is where the Revelation feels a bit too powerful. VBO and Carboflex with their balance and string pattern seem to do a bit better. I could really hold the head light rackets off for a bit more deception and put the ball where I wanted it. As long as I found center face, the Carboflex had amazing touch. My best drops were with the Carboflex, but if I missed, they were dead. Again the VBO was Goldilocks with a bit of forgiveness and still enough control to take what you need to off the ball.

Volleying/Taking the Ball Early

I felt like I had to swing the Revelation a lot more. The weight and balance of the VBO and Carboflex seemed to be less reliant on timing and let me wait in the ball a bit more. For me the Carboflex didn’t have quite enough mass to be great at volleying. The VBO with a little more sweet spot and weight seemed to be perfect here.

Who is the Winner? I think it depends. If you like smashing the ball, it’s hands down the Revelation. If you have the timing and find the center of the racket often, maybe it’s the Carboflex. For me, the VBO had the balance, power, and feel to make it my winner. All that together added with the best customer service I’ve seen, I’m going to be buying my second Xamsa. Let me know if anyone has any questions. Again, here is a chart to help visualize the review.

You can also see this review and the comments on:
http://www.reddit.com/r/squash/comments/2u93he/my_review_of_technifibre_carboflex_125_xamsa/

Perry Gill, Harbor Square club, Edmonds, WA
Feb 05, 2015

For the last several months, I've been playing squash with the Xamsa VBO and CNT 140 racquets exclusively. I initially found out about Xamsa from the squash subreddit ( http://www.reddit.com/r/squash) and given the price point, I figured these racquets would be well worth trying out. For me, I'm a casual club player, making it to the courts about 3 days a week or so and have been experimenting with a number of bats for the last couple years.

The VBO is a neutral balanced 135 gram (frame and grommet weight, 155 grams with strings and grip) teardrop shaped racquet made of carbon fiber. With a price point of just CDN$100, it's a bargain in comparison to others in its class. For me, this racquet offers excellent power, and the balance is phenomenal, which certainly aids in better ball control than some others I've played with (feels quite a bit lighter than it is as well). I've noticed that typically with teardrop shape racquets, you often times trade power for control, but I feel the VBO does a great job delivering both.

The CNT 140 is a neutral balanced bridged racquet; this one weighing in at 140 grams with the frame and grommets (160 grams with strings and grip) and is my favorite between the two. The CNT 140 is noticeably heavier than the VBO, but for me, I find I get significantly more control over the ball while only giving up a small amount of power.

Both racquets by default come pre-strung with Xamsa branded strings and their own grips, both of which work decently, but I'm not particularly fond of either. Then again, at this price point, you're not going to go wrong with them. All of the Xamsa racquets also come with a vibration dampening system, and I've noticed very little (if any) vibration on my shots. Typically I chalk these sorts of dampening systems as being a bit of a gimmick, but I can't help but believe they work in this case.

One service I'm a huge fan of (and one I've used on my most recent CNT-140 purchase) is the ability to have the racquet restrung in your choice of brand and gauge of string. For me, having the CNT-140 shipped to my door for CAD$125 with 17 gauge Technifibre 305 strings was an absolute bargain. They also allow you to customize your grip options as well for another small up-charge (I personally use Karakal PU Supergrips on all of mine, which is an available choice).

Another thing about Xamsa as a company is they spend part of the profits to help promote squash across Canada which I think is fantastic. It'd be great to see this become a catalyst for improving awareness of the sport across North America.

Pros:

• Cost - You're simply not going to find a better racquet for the price point anywhere in North America
• Excellent Control
• Excellent Power
• Very little (if any) vibration
• Portions of the profits go to promote squash in Canada
• Excellent customer service

Cons:

• Strings are just "ok" and while they do the job fine, I prefer Technifibre 305 strings
• Grips offer very little padding and they are a bit thinner and slightly less grippy than some others on the market
• Xamsa being a relatively new company has limited distribution, and as such, shipping times to the US are a bit longer than buying domestically (which you'd expect).

As I mentioned above, you're simply not going to find a better racquet anywhere for the money. Period. In fact, I prefer my Xamsa racquets to others costing nearly twice as much, and they've become my go-to brand. I'd expect nothing less than them getting even better as the company grows.

You can also see this review and the comments on:
http://www.reddit.com/r/squash/comments/2uj2ok/my_xamsa_reviews/

Steve Bordeleau, Concourse Athletic Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Feb 05, 2015

This has been my experience with the Xamsa Racquet CNT 140 that I bought earlier this year.

1. The racquet is very balanced with regard to weight. I find this gives me the proper balance during play for power drives and control for making good shots.
2. Talking about feeling your racquet, I really like the feel of the CNT 140. It is almost like an extension of my arms during play such that I can get into a grove while playing the high intensity attacking game. Only a few gives me that feel.
3. Best of all, the performance of the CNT 140 does not necessarily mean paying a premium. I find I played better with the CNT 140 than some very expensive racquets I have had in time past. Excellent racquet for an excellent price!

Viano Oghenekevwe, Club CDL member, Montreal
Dec 12, 2014

I've been playing with the Xamsa CNT 135 for 4 weeks, and I'm extremely pleased with the racket, as well as my game.

The way I could best describe the racket is that that it just "feels right". It's light, compact, has a great feel to it with the perfect amount of power needed for my game. My control of the ball has tremendously improved since I switched to Xamsa, partially due to the large size of the frame, as well as due to the fact that I feel that some of the weight is slightly more dispersed towards the head, making for great control of the ball. Maybe this is because I put a bumper protection tape which might have added a few grams.

I highly recommend it to any squash player.

Patrick Aramouni, member of Club Sportif Maa, Montreal
Dec 10, 2014