Prince O3 White vs. Speedport Black

[AR15]

I've been using the O3 White for several months and just got the Speedport Black yesterday. Last night I used the Black for several hours and thought I'd post my observations.

My Speedport Black is strung with the open Speedport grommets, and my White is strung with the hard throat grommet.

It's my observation that with these racquets configured this way, they are almost identical in the way they feel and play. I may have noticed a slight increase in swingweight on the Speedport Black over the O3 White, but it was barely perceptable.

I may restring the Speedport Black with the string insert grommets and do another comparison later.

 

[Ljubicic for number1]

I posted asking this question a week or so ago, from the specs your observation is exactly what I thought would be the case. The White is a great racquet that never got the props here because it got labelled a chick stick because of the way Prince marketed it.

Keep us updated with the progrees

 

[rosenstar]

the o3 white gets more credit than it deserves IMO. I found it to be too light and flimsey. I bet it would play nicely if you added 6 inches to the 3 and 9 o'clock tho.

 

[njboy]

what do you mean?

the o3 white gets more credit than it deserves IMO. I found it to be too light and flimsey. I bet it would play nicely if you added 6 inches to the 3 and 9 o'clock tho.

added 6 inches?

add 6 gram? maybe.

 

[AR15]

I found it to be too light and flimsey.

Compared to what?

 

[TripleB]

I really liked the O3 White played....see my thoughts here: http://www.tennis-warehouse.com/playtests/tripb07.html

From the specs I was guessing that someone would state that the SP Black would play almost identical. It seems to me as though Prince is just "re-marketing" the O3 White knowing they had an excellent racquet but went about "selling" it to the public in the wrong way.

Now that I've purchased the Pure Drive Roddick and played with it a while, I think I actually prefer the O3 White over it and should have given the White an even better review.

I'm demoing several racquets next week and one of them is the O3 White so I can take a second look at it. I'm trying the O3 White (again), the Yonex RDS002 Light (again), Fischer Mangetic Light, and Head MicroGel Extreme Pro.

I really loved the O3 White and RDS002 Light and wanted to compare them head to head.

TripleB

 

[AR15]

There is one slight difference I forgot to mention before. With the O3 White, I never noticed a sound when I swung it. Last night, I noticed a faint high pitched, whistling, swoosh sound when I swung the Speedport.

 

[PED]

I've been demoing the speedport black and I also found the "swooshing" sound when i swung trhough. I liked it much better than my old 03 tour. It was strung with syn gut at 60 and i can't say i liked the string very much. I usually play with an apd cortex with full poly so I would love to try the black out with a full poly setup. The one area I loved on the black over my cortex is serving. I was able to serve much better with it. My opponent said I seemed to hit a harder shot with my apd but a more consistent shot when playing with the black. It's an interesting stick and well worth a demo if one is considering it.

 

[Ljubicic for number1]

the o3 white gets more credit than it deserves IMO. I found it to be too light and flimsey. I bet it would play nicely if you added 6 inches to the 3 and 9 o'clock tho.

I dont find it light and flimsy at all and I have used some very heavy solid sticks in the past including modified 380gm NsixOne 95's and radicals. The o3 white static weight is 330gm with overgrip and plays even more solid than that.

 

[rosenstar]

added 6 inches?

add 6 gram? maybe.

yeah that's what I meant...

Compared to what?

well, I guess compared to my PDR. It's got some lead at the 3 & 9 and a little in the grip.

I dont find it light and flimsy at all and I have used some very heavy solid sticks in the past including modified 380gm NsixOne 95's and radicals. The o3 white static weight is 330gm with overgrip and plays even more solid than that.

now, this is just my experience, but the few times I hit with an o3 white I felt like my racquet was being pushed around. It felt very hollow and weak... If I took a big cut at the ball, I wouldn't have been surprised if the frame broke. to sum it up, I thought the frame felt cheap. It just didn't feel good to me. now that's just my opinion. From what I've read on these boards, a lot of people disagree with me, and that's fine. I'm just sharing my experiences.

 

[j30tennis]

Did not like any of the new prince frames too light and had a dead feel

 

[returning2tennis]

I found the White to be quicker at the head and more solid feeling when hitting 'whippy' forehands. Otherwise I have a hard time choosing between the two. The Black, with the inserts makes an annoying pinging sound. Add a small string dampener and it gets MUCH quieter, though less lively feeling. The White, with the soft grommet, feels a bit livelier with slightly more power than the Black (w/dampener). I'd imagine that the White with the hard grommet would feel an awful lot like the Black without the O port inserts.

Personally, now that I've hit for a couple hours with both, I'm getting the White with the hard grommet.

 

[peleshot]

Did not like any of the new prince frames too light and had a dead feel

I think the cause of the dead feel are the soft grommets that come with them when you demo...changing to a hard grommet will probably make you rethink abt your opinions...

 

[Harry_Wild]

I like the look of the new Speedport Black! Black and silver in the inside hoop! Masculine look!

Prince White is marketed as a ladies racket! So guys give it try and buy a White and get into some interesting verbal exchanges with your tennis partner! Even better with first time opponents in matches!

 

[AR15]

Prince White is marketed as a ladies racket! So guys give it try and buy a White and get into some interesting verbal exchanges with your tennis partner! Even better with first time opponents in matches!

I let my game do the talking for me. I'm not the slightest bit concerned about what someone elses opinions of my equipment are.

What is hillarious is beating someone playing with "Fed's racquet" with my "girly racquet."

 

[El Guapo]

I like the look of the new Speedport Black! Black and silver in the inside hoop! Masculine look!

Prince White is marketed as a ladies racket! So guys give it try and buy a White and get into some interesting verbal exchanges with your tennis partner! Even better with first time opponents in matches!

Some of us don't have any "inadequacies" needing to be masked. Sorry about your bad luck/genetics.

 

[galatti]

I always heard they play prety much the same, and since the price is the same, choose the one you think that's better looking I took the black...

 

[TRiBaL]

Used them both and thought black was better.

 

[alcap26]

I have used them both and I prefer the black with the string hole inserts due to it's increased feel. The white is a very good racquet though.