The Luxilon Eco Power 1.25 tested by Mike. This string is made of 100% recycled materials (according to Luxilon old polyester tennis strings) and plays surprisingly accessible. Next season Luxilon will expand this series with a Rough variant (already available) and a Spin version. But first attention for this 'regular' Eco Power!
Intro
First of all, kudos to Luxilon for this 'green' step. Their claim to be the very first to market a fully recycled string is a bit daring: Isospeed has apparently been doing this for a while and Velocity is also doing well in this area. But of course a super good development by the Belgian manufacturer. I tested this Eco Power 1.25 in the Wilson Ultra Pro V4 16x19 at 23 kg. The string is hexagonal, without being extremely sharp. Stringing the string was relatively easy; the string does not give a lot of friction or anything.
Baseline
From the baseline, the Eco Power 1.25 (perhaps) comes into its own the most. The string plays nicely directly, without feeling too stiff. The spin potential is solid, but not exaggerated. Still, this is still nice: you get a little more margin in your strokes, comparable to the Diadem Pro X 16L I tested earlier, which however has a somewhat shorter and sharper ball/string contact like a Luxilon Alu Power. According to Luxilon, this Eco Power is more in the corner of the Savage, but I have to be honest that it has been a while since I tested that string.
The Eco Power plays very predictable and lively, but with a nice bit of additional control. I never had the idea of losing control over the ball, not even on the fast carpet here in the winter months. Other assets are the decent spin potential, without the ball trajectory becoming too 'loopy'/high and the above average comfort.
Durability and voltage retention
The Eco Power 1.25 is not the most wear-resistant string, but for me personally this is not a problem. If you are a real spin monster and/or play with a racket with a relatively open stringing pattern, then it may not be the best option for you in terms of lifespan. I also found it striking that I enjoyed playing the string more the more hours I spent with it. The sweet spot opened up noticeably and I liked the feel of the string even more. So the next time I string it, I will immediately go a little lower in kilos. I would call the tension retention average for this string and that is just fine for co-polyester standards.
Ball feel and comfort
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with Luxilon and the comfort of the different strings. I find the 4G much too stiff, the Alu Power wonderfully fresh from the machine, but it is a bit stiffer/spicier on the arm. The Element scores well in terms of comfort, but it doesn't last very long. I still have to test the new Element Soft, as well as the Eco Power Rough and the (to be released next year) Eco Power Spin. And it's been too long since I really put the Savage through the test, so I'm not considering it this round. If I had to choose now, the Eco Power 1.25 is my favorite Luxilon string at the moment. The ball feel and the predictability of the string are just nice. For example, I've hit a few wonderful stop volleys with this string, so it's not just power that counts. The comfort is perhaps the biggest surprise of all for me. The combination with the foam filled Ultra Pro V4 16x19 (not the easiest racket on the market) was excellent. Not a cent of pain on the arm/shoulder! However, I would immediately lose a kilo the next round and go to 22 kg, then the string is immediately spot-on.
Review Luxilon Eco Power 1.25
- Durability: 7
- Voltage retention/consistency: 7.5
- Spin/slice: 8
- Ball feel: 7.5
- Power: 8.5
- Control: 8
- Comfort/arm friendliness: 8