Prince Textreme Beast O3 100 Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 84

The Prince Textreme Beast O3 100 offers excellent power and spin, with a unique feel thanks to the O Port beam. Tiffani found this racquet to live up to its user-friendly reputation. She said, "The Beast O3 100 was easy to pick up and use from the baseline. I was expecting it to be really powerful, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a good blend of power and control on my groundstrokes. This racquet swings a little bit quicker than the solid beam Beast 100, so I was finding topspin easier to come by. Like with the Beast 100, my slice shots tended to float a bit too much. However, I still found a groove off the ground quite quickly, and I felt at home pushing my opponent around the court. Although I liked the feel of the regular Beast 100 more than the muted response of the Beast O3 100, the ported feel didn't bother me as much as it has in years past. I think that's because other racquet makers have dampened up the feel of their racquets too, so the muted feel is pretty much just par for the course these days."

"The Textreme Beast O3 100 felt like it swung faster than the solid beam version," added Jason. "This translated to more racquet head speed and even more spin. However, I definitely wasn't getting as much depth and power as I was with the solid beam. I noticed that when I did miss with this racquet the ball went into the net. I think the lack of plow through, along with all the topspin I was putting on my shots, was making the balls dip more quickly than normal. On the plus side, my ability to hit sharp-angled shots with this racquet was a standout feature for me."

Having used Prince O Port racquets in high school and college (Speedport and EXO3 Black), Brittany was excited to see how the new Beast O3 100 stacked up. She said, "The Beast O3 100 was extremely easy to use, and the specs were right where I like them. Since I've used O Ports in the past, I had no adjustment period and enjoyed the unique feel right from the start. The racquet felt extremely maneuverable through the air, and I was able to get pace and depth with ease. I actually found that the majority of the groundstrokes I was missing were deep by about 6 to12 inches, so I had to consciously add more spin to my strokes. I loved rallying with this racquet and felt very comfortable playing with it. My one small negative is that I was looking for a little more precision when it came time to finish the point."

Kristen playtested this racquet side by side with the standard beam version. She said, "I really enjoyed the Textreme Beast O3 100 from the baseline. I was also on the regular Beast 100 review, and I have to say I have a slight preference toward this model on groundstrokes. This version has better maneuverability with easier access to spin, and although it still has beastly power, I was able to get better control out of this frame and therefore felt more consistent from the baseline. The O Ports give it a more muted feel, which I found added to its comfortable nature and user-friendly playability."

Volleys - Score: 81

Our playtesters found the Textreme Beast O3 100 extremely maneuverable and pleasantly dampened. Brittany thought the Beast O3 100 held up well when compared to past O Port models. She noted, "One of the most notable improvements I found in the Beast O3 100, compared to previous Prince racquets, was the stability. It just felt like a more solid racquet than models I had used in the past. This was most apparent at the net. The Beast O3 100 felt extremely solid at net, and fast at the same time. I didn't feel like I was going to get pushed around when I was using it. I mostly hit put-away volleys with power deep in the court."

"It was easy to get the Beast O3 100 into position, which made it an easy racquet to use for volleys," offered Tiffani. "I enjoyed the dampened feel of the O3 technology more at net because it made mis-hit shots a bit more comfortable, and I didn't notice the racquet fluttering as much as the Beast 100 with traditional grommets. There was enough stability and stiffness in this racquet to get the ball where I wanted with good pace."

Kristen really enjoyed the feel that the Beast O3 100 offered at net. She commented, "This racquet has good maneuverability at net, and I was able to get more touch on my volleys and a more controlled response compared to the non-port version."

Jason liked how fast and maneuverable the Beast O3 100 was at net, though he wasn't completely enamored with the feel. He said, "The Textreme Beast O3 100 felt pretty good when I was hitting the ball in the sweetspot. There was great ball pocketing and plenty of put-away power. I struggled with touch shots because of the ultra-dampened feel, and I felt like it got bullied around by harder hit shots and off-center hits."

Serves - Score: 80

While the Prince Textreme Beast O3 100 preformed well in all of the other categories, our playtesters struggled to find their rhythm with this racquet on serves. Jason appreciated some aspects of the Beast O3 100 while serving, but he was missing some precision. He explained, "Results wise, this racquet was fairly good. I got great access to spin and enough power to not make my serve a sitting duck, but I just felt so disconnected from the ball that I had no idea where on the stringbed I was hitting it."

Kristen agreed, adding, "On serves, I was really missing the pop and plow through that the regular Beast 100 offered. For me, this O3 version was a bit lackluster on the serve. I had to really put effort into getting any power behind my serves, I was missing a bit of feel and I struggled to get good accuracy."

"I missed the free power of the Beast 100 on serves," added Tiffani. "The Beast O3 100 swung over my head easily, which was beneficial because I needed to swing a bit harder to get the same level of pace on my serves. While I thought the Beast 100's serve was a standout, the Beast O3 100's serve was just okay. I could serve well enough with the O3 version, but it just wasn't as sweet as the version with the regular grommet system."

This was the only area where Brittany preferred the standard beam version. She noted, "Although I was able to generate racquet head speed to hit powerful serves, I was left feeling a little disconnected from the ball. This translated into imprecise serves, so I ended up aiming for bigger targets. However, the Textreme Beast O3 100 was forgiving, and it had enough spin potential for me to be confident when I was hitting both my first and second serves."

Returns - Score: 83

Our playtesters were able to use the Textreme Beast O3 100 as an offensive weapon when it came to serve returns. Kristen much preferred hitting service returns over serves with this racquet. She stated, "The Beast O3 100 felt very stable on contact and was packed with power. Although it offered a more controlled response than the regular Beast 100, I still had to dial back a bit and be careful not to overhit."

Whether Brittany was playing singles or doubles, the Beast O3 was a weapon on her returns. She remarked, "The first time I picked up this racquet was in a doubles match in the middle of a set. I was returning on the ad side and I hit three big backhand returns in a row. The racquet was really easy to get around my body, so I felt confident stepping in and taking the ball early. It also had enough stability to keep it from twisting in my hands, so I could confidently return big serves."

"I always felt like I had plenty of options when I was returning," added Jason. "On slower serves to my forehand I could tee off on the ball and know that the great access to spin would help drop the ball in play. On harder serves to my backhand I could chip the ball back with some depth. With the excellent maneuverability, not only could I find some sharp angles with my returns, but I could also run around my backhand to attack with my forehand."

It took a little time, but once Tiffani got dialed in with the Beast O3 100 she was finding some success on her returns. She said, "There was a bit of an adjustment period for me with the Beast O3 100 on returns, coming from my Prince Textreme Tour 100P, but I found my range much more easily than I did with the traditional Beast 100. The Textreme Beast O3 100 came around pretty quickly, and at first I was catching the ball early, so that took some getting used to. I could take a fuller swing than I do with my own racquet on returns, and I appreciated the comfort factor."

Overall - Score: 84