Head to head

Head FXP 16 vs Wilson Sensation 17

Sensation 17 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is ball bite, where Sensation 17 is 32 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Head

FXP 16

Nylon/Polyester · 16 ga

Wilson

Sensation 17

Nylon · 17 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
16533rd pct
16330th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2328th pct
2224th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9269th pct
9378th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
3.824th pct
3.621st pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.38013th pct
0.43145th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.10165th pct
0.11982nd pct

Bars are percentile against all 791 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 FXP 16 at 52 lb

String Sensation 17 at 54.2 lb 24.6 kg

Coming from Sensation 17 at 52 lb

String FXP 16 at 49.8 lb 22.6 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.

FXP 16 mains / Sensation 17 crosses

Stiffness31st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss27th pct · 1 measured
Energy return71st pct · 1 measured
Spin potential24th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite17th pct · 1 measured
String friction70th pct · 1 measured

Sensation 17 mains / FXP 16 crosses

Stiffness31st pct · 1 measured
Tension loss25th pct · 1 measured
Energy return73rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential22nd pct · 1 measured
Ball bite40th pct · 1 measured
String friction79th 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.

FXP 16

~32 hours of play

Sensation 17

~33 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Head FXP 16 Nylon/Polyester16find16523923.80.3800.101
Wilson Sensation 17 Nylon17$13.9516322933.60.4310.119

Add a third string FXP 16 in full Sensation 17 in full