Prince Phantom O3 100X Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 79

With the Phantom O3 100X, the distinct O3 feel was apparent from the baseline, where supreme comfort and high levels of spin were highlights. A former O3 Speedport and EXO3 Black player, Brittany is no stranger to Prince racquets, but she is new to the Phantom line. She explained, "Almost all the specs were in my wheelhouse, but this is one of the thinner beamed racquets I have playtested. I did have a short adjustment period (about one hour of hitting) before I started to really groove with the racquet. It is lower powered than my Yonex EZONE 100 300, so I found myself needing to swing faster to get the pace and depth I wanted. Since the racquet offered plenty of control and precision, I was able to fully swing out without fear of overhitting. According to my PlaySight data, this allowed me to actually hit the ball a few mph faster. From the baseline, I was most impressed with the slice. I was able to consistently hit low, penetrating slice backhands, which is not normally my strength. I even found myself hitting some offensive slices."

Kristen enjoyed the arm-friendly nature of the racquet, but she struggled to find a rhythm from the baseline. She said, "The first thing that jumped out at me when hitting with this racquet was how comfortable it was. The open 16x18 string pattern provided a big spin window, and it felt very stable on contact. The racquet had decent maneuverability, and although the opportunity for generating pace is there, it overall felt lowered powered, so I definitely had to work a little harder for it. During point play, I struggled to find good consistency from the back of the court. When I was under pressure I just wasn't getting enough depth on my shots to stay effective. When I had time to set up on slower paced balls, I felt like I had to swing big to really get the racquet moving for sufficient pace and depth, and when I did I would often overcompensate and my balls would soar long. I think another contributing factor to this was the very muted feel on contact. I often struggled to know where the ball was going to land after it left my racquet, so I just wasn't feeling very connected to my shots."

Tiffani felt the Phantom O3 complemented her game. She explained, "Historically, I've preferred Prince's racquets without the O3 technology, but I was happily surprised that I found my groove rather quickly with this racquet. The Phantom O3 100X really handled stiff string setups well, and the O3 technology, along with the lower stiffness rating, kept it feeling comfortable at all times. This racquet swings quickly for its weight, and it swung more like my 305-gram Textreme Tour 100P than something with a 310-gram unstrung weight. I didn't find a ton of free power, but fast swings were rewarded with good spin. I liked how I played with this racquet, and since I'm not usually looking to hit winners, I didn't miss the firepower. Instead, I liked to tap into my angled shots to pull my opponents off the court with spin, and I was also able to adjust my targeting to get good depth for those longer points."

An aggressive player from the baseline, Suzy wanted more accuracy on big swings. She said, "On groundstrokes, the highlight of this racquet for me was the comfort. It felt stable on contact and had a very generous sweetspot. I was able to generate a lot of topspin on my shots and hit a nice loopy return during point play. I did find it a bit challenging to keep the ball low when I went to hit an aggressive shot, especially when I flattened it out. The Phantom O3 100X had lower power, so I felt like I had to increase my swing speed a lot to generate the pace I was looking for, but when I did that I often struggled to control my shots. Although the dampened feel suits some, it made it harder for me to read where the ball was going, and the connection to the ball wasn't where I wanted it to be. Overall, this racquet did not suit my aggressive game style, but it would be a good choice for those looking for a stable, arm-friendly frame."

Volleys - Score: 81

While experiences at net with the Phantom O3 100X were varied, all the testers agreed that stability and comfort were the racquet's biggest strengths. Tiffani enjoyed volleying and found herself tactically moving forward more than she usually would. She said, "At net is where the Phantom O3 100X surprised me most. I'm not usually comfortable hitting volleys, but it felt like this racquet upped my net game. I often do a volley-volley drill to start practice sessions, and either all that training is finally starting to pay off or this racquet just worked with my volley mechanics. I really loved the maneuverable feel and comfort on contact. Power is less of an issue at net, and I had good directional control and touch. I would set up points to get a short ball to follow to net, and that's not something that's always a part of my game plan."

Although there wasn't a "wow" factor for Brittany at net, she thought this racquet performed well. She described, "With the thin beam and low stiffness rating, I had really high expectations for volleys — maybe a bit too high. While the Phantom O3 100X volleyed well, I didn't have any major highlights. The racquet was easy to get into position, which I appreciated. I am not the most comfortable up at net, and normally when I do volley it’s more of punch volley deep in the court. I was hoping for a little more touch and feel, but again, that can easily be blamed on my (lack of) skills."

Kristen found the most success when punching volleys back deep in the court with this Phantom O3 100X. She said, “The Phantom O3 100X felt stable and comfortable up at net, and I found it was easy to hit volleys deep. On touch shots the ball tended to launch off the stringbed more than I expected, so I wasn't getting dialed in on feel. I found the best success at net when just blocking back volleys and focusing on directional placement."

Suzy had a similar experience, saying, "This racquet had a stable feel up at net. I was able to get a decent response when I had enough time to set up and hit deep punch volleys. The touch on shorter balls wasn't quite there for me; I often found myself hitting short floaters and was not able to get the angles I was going for."

Serves - Score: 74

Our playtesters unanimously noted the low-powered nature of the Phantom O3 100X on serves. However, spin access was plentiful, and the racquet provided good targeting and consistency. This is where Suzy put her focus. She explained, "I found the most success when hitting my serves with a lot of spin. I had to increase my swing speed quite a bit to generate power, so I definitely had to work harder to get that explosive feel I was looking for. I did find it tougher to flatten out my first serves, especially with the need for added pace. The response was much better on second serves. I was able to hit the ball with spin and a decent amount of control, but again, I had to work a lot harder to get there. The out-wide slice worked well for me with this racquet."

Brittany continued, "Just like with groundstrokes, I found the Phantom O3 100X to be low powered. I had to work hard to generate racquet head speed and pace on my flat first serves. Unfortunately, this was not sustainable through an entire match. I found myself relying on my slice serve out wide to earn some free points. Second serves were fairly consistent, and I was happy with the kick."

Tiffani was also struggling on her first serves. She said, "This stroke is the one where I missed the free power the most. I don't generate a lot of power on serves, so I struggled to hit offensive first serves with the Phantom O3 100X. I did find the racquet to deliver good spin, and I could hit some effective serves by choosing good targets. It was a placement game for me when it came to serves."

Like the rest of the team, Kristen found herself focusing on spin and targeting rather than raw power. She added, "This racquet definitely moved slower overhead than my current racquet of choice, and with its lower powered nature I didn't have the greatest success hitting consistent or effective flat serves. I stuck with the mentality of putting a lot of spin on my serves and focusing on placement over power, and I was able to serve deep in the box and get decent consistency that way. However, like on groundstrokes, I never felt very connected to my serves."

Returns - Score: 82

Overall, our playtesters preferred returning with the Phantom O3 100X, and they put its low-powered response to good use. It's the area where the racquet shone the most for Kristen. She said, "This was my favorite portion of the playtest. I like to swing big on returns, and the control-oriented, lower powered nature of this racquet allowed me to do just that. I didn't have any maneuverability issues, and I was able to place my returns effectively and counter-attack powerful first serves with controlled pace. When having to create more of my own power off of second serves, I focused on hitting with a lot of spin to get the ball back deep enough in the court to start the point effectively."

Tiffani found a nice blend of features when returning. She explained, "The comfort, stability and easy maneuverability came together on returns. I didn't have many issues getting my racquet on big first serves, and when I did shank it, the racquet still didn't feel jarring on my arm. I could mix it up with placement and spin to start the point on the offensive."

Suzy added, "I was able to be selectively aggressive when returning. I took a more conservative approach with my shot selection against first serves, especially if I felt rushed and the ball I was returning had a lot of pace on it. On second serves, I was able to play around a bit more with my shots and be more aggressive because I had more time to set up. Overall, I still felt like the control wasn't quite where I wanted it to be, but I was able to get the job done."

Brittany said, "Although I wasn't fully jiving with the return, I was able to get the results I wanted with small modifications. On first serve returns I would be conscious of taking a short swing and redirecting the pace. On second serves, I felt like I had to do the opposite and really swing out to hit an offensive return since I was relying on my own pace. I felt confident going for medium-risk targets on both first and second serves."

Overall - Score: 79