Head to head

Luxilon ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) vs Luxilon LXN Smart 16L (1.25)

They split the measurements 3–3. The widest gap is ball bite, where LXN Smart 16L (1.25) is 12 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Luxilon

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25)

Polyester · 16L ga

Luxilon

LXN Smart 16L (1.25)

Polyester · 16L ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
20978th pct
20169th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
4066th pct
4371st pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
8741st pct
8733rd pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
6.586th pct
6.889th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.49876th pct
0.54088th pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.07717th pct
0.07921st 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 ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) at 52 lb

String LXN Smart 16L (1.25) at 54.1 lb 24.5 kg

Coming from LXN Smart 16L (1.25) at 52 lb

String ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) at 50.0 lb 22.7 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.

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) mains / LXN Smart 16L (1.25) crosses

Stiffness74th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss68th pct · 1 measured
Energy return39th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential87th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite80th pct · 1 measured
String friction18th pct · 1 measured

LXN Smart 16L (1.25) mains / ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) crosses

Stiffness72nd pct · 1 measured
Tension loss70th pct · 1 measured
Energy return35th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential89th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite88th pct · 1 measured
String friction19th 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.

ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25)

~20 hours of play

LXN Smart 16L (1.25)

~19 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Luxilon ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) Polyester16Lfind20940876.50.4980.077
Luxilon LXN Smart 16L (1.25) Polyester16Lfind20143876.80.5400.079

Add a third string ALU Power Rough 16L (1.25) in full LXN Smart 16L (1.25) in full