Head to head

Babolat Xcel Power 16 vs Tecnifibre NRG2 17/1.24

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where NRG2 17/1.24 is 36 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

Xcel Power 16

Nylon · 16 ga

Tecnifibre

NRG2 17/1.24

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16229th pct
16431st pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
1914th pct
155th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9490th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.825th pct
3.518th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.41332nd pct
0.47568th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10974th pct
0.13589th pct

Bars are percentile against all 788 strings, and the marked side is the one that measures better, which is not always the one you want. A firmer bed is worse for your elbow and better for your control, and no measurement knows which of those you came for.

Which one wins, by problem

Each string's standing on the site's rankings, out of every measured string in the database. This is where a comparison stops being arithmetic and starts being a decision.

Swapping between them: what tension?

Bed stiffness is published at one reference tension, so the only honest conversion is to scale it. These are starting points from 52 lb, not prescriptions. The calculator takes your own tension.

Coming from Xcel Power 16 at 52 lb

String NRG2 17/1.24 at 51.8 lb 23.5 kg

Coming from NRG2 17/1.24 at 52 lb

String Xcel Power 16 at 52.2 lb 23.7 kg

Hybrid: what if you used both?

Estimated, not measured. No hybrid combination has been tested as a bed. These figures are the two strings' own lab measurements weighted by how much of the bed each one actually is. Treat them as a guide to which way a pairing moves, never as lab data.

Xcel Power 16 mains / NRG2 17/1.24 crosses

Stiffness30th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss10th pct · 1 measured
Energy return87th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential24th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite39th pct · 1 measured
String friction80th pct · 1 measured

NRG2 17/1.24 mains / Xcel Power 16 crosses

Stiffness30th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss7th pct · 1 measured
Energy return87th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential19th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite64th pct · 1 measured
String friction87th pct · 1 measured

Open this in the hybrid builder

Which goes dead first?

Estimated from tension loss, which is the only thing the database measures about ageing. This is when the bed stops playing the way you strung it, not when the string breaks.

Xcel Power 16

~36 hours of play

NRG2 17/1.24

~39 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat Xcel Power 16 Nylon16find16219933.80.4130.109
Tecnifibre NRG2 17/1.24 Nylon17$19.9516415943.50.4750.135

Add a third string Xcel Power 16 in full NRG2 17/1.24 in full