Head to head

Babolat Xcel Power 17 vs Dunlop DNA 16 (1.30)

Xcel Power 17 leads on 3 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where DNA 16 (1.30) is 22 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Babolat

Xcel Power 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Dunlop

DNA 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1469th pct
14710th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2225th pct
2536th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9384th pct
9493rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.621st pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.37812th pct
0.41533rd pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10468th pct
0.11680th 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 17 at 52 lb

String DNA 16 (1.30) at 51.5 lb 23.4 kg

Coming from DNA 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Xcel Power 17 at 52.6 lb 23.9 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 17 mains / DNA 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness9th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss29th pct · 1 measured
Energy return89th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential21st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite14th pct · 1 measured
String friction72nd pct · 1 measured

DNA 16 (1.30) mains / Xcel Power 17 crosses

Stiffness10th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss32nd pct · 1 measured
Energy return90th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential21st pct · 1 measured
Ball bite29th pct · 1 measured
String friction78th 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 17

~33 hours of play

DNA 16 (1.30)

~29 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Babolat Xcel Power 17 Nylon17find14622933.60.3780.104
Dunlop DNA 16 (1.30) Nylon16find14725943.60.4150.116

Add a third string Xcel Power 17 in full DNA 16 (1.30) in full