Head to head

Prince Premier Power 18 vs Yonex Tour Super 850 16 (1.30)

Premier Power 18 leads on 4 of 6 measurements. The widest gap is string friction, where Premier Power 18 is 11 percentile points ahead. Every figure is a testing-machine result at a fixed reference tension.

Measured, side by side

Prince

Premier Power 18

Nylon · 18 ga

Yonex

Tour Super 850 16 (1.30)

Nylon · 16 ga

Stiffness lower = softer, kinder on the arm
1436th pct
1469th pct
Tension loss lower = stays where you strung it
2119th pct
1913th pct
Energy return higher = livelier, more free power
9381st pct
9270th pct
Spin potential higher = more spin off the string bed
5.056th pct
4.954th pct
Ball bite higher = grabs the ball harder
0.43044th pct
0.44251st pct
String friction lower = strings slide and snap back
0.08637th pct
0.09148th 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 Premier Power 18 at 52 lb

String Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) at 51.0 lb 23.1 kg

Coming from Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) at 52 lb

String Premier Power 18 at 53.0 lb 24.0 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.

Premier Power 18 mains / Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) crosses

Stiffness8th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss17th pct · 1 measured
Energy return75th pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite46th pct · 1 measured
String friction41st pct · 1 measured

Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) mains / Premier Power 18 crosses

Stiffness8th pct · 1 measured
Tension loss15th pct · 1 measured
Energy return73rd pct · 1 measured
Spin potential55th pct · 1 measured
Ball bite50th pct · 1 measured
String friction45th 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.

Premier Power 18

~34 hours of play

Tour Super 850 16 (1.30)

~36 hours of play

Both strings in full

Every published measurement
StringGaugePriceStiff lb/inLoss %Power %SpinBite COFFriction COF
Prince Premier Power 18 Nylon18find14321935.00.4300.086
Yonex Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) Nylon16find14619924.90.4420.091

Add a third string Premier Power 18 in full Tour Super 850 16 (1.30) in full