For many people, Srixon is one of the most underrated equipment manufacturers in the game. In the iron market, it has brought us some classic models within the ZX range, but many people don’t realise that Srixon drivers have chalked off major championship victories in the hands of players such as Hideki Matsuyama and Shane Lowry. In this review I am taking a look at the latest driver from Srixon looking to rival the best golf drivers in the game, the ZXi.
There have been several tweaks to the design from the previous ZX range, including an all-new ‘i-FLEX’ face, which has been redesigned with a variable thickness pattern in an attempt to create a more efficient energy transfer at strike. Srixon says that the added strength of this face structure allows the center to be engineered thinner than ever before to boost ball speed. Two adjustable weights on the sole allow you to adjust swing weight and CG to fine-tune your ball flight requirements, while the new visible laser face milling has been introduced to stabilize spin and forgiveness in wet conditions.
Visually, I think Srixon has done a great job here. From the sole view, things have improved dramatically to my eye, with the whole visual just going up a notch in terms of sophistication. The sole is a lot less fussy and cluttered than the ZX7 MK II, for example, and the glossy strip running along the sole is pretty striking.
Down behind the ball, the improvements continue but are less blatant, in fact, the overall look in this position isn’t dissimilar to the predecessor at all but the crown has a little more texture (which is brilliant for stopping smudging from moisture which I previously complained about), and the extra detailing around the perimeter of the crown has been removed which I think is a great call. The face milling is a nice detail that also adds to the complete picture. Overall this is an extremely premium looking and feeling driver.
Performance is king however and I put the Srixon ZXi driver through its paces at Foresight Sports UK headquarters using Titleist Pro V1x golf balls on a GC Quad launch monitor to see what was on offer.
What struck me first was the improved audio. Having not really been a fan of the louder, somewhat clunky noise of the ZX7 MKII driver, I was impressed that this has come down a decibel or two. With all titanium construction such as this, you will never reach the dull carbon tones of something like the TaylorMade Qi135 range for example, but this is much improved for me although it remains a little on the loud side.
The raw launch monitor data also showed some not insignificant jumps in performance. I found the previous iteration a touch spinny, and lacking a little speed at strike, but not so here. This was competitive with any of the best drivers in the game for me with a hugely improved spin and launch profile which produced some excellent distance numbers.
Another aspect that I really enjoyed about the ZXi was the consistency I achieved across the sessions I had with it. Throughout all testing, I felt very much in control of this driver and had no outliers in terms of data whatsoever that can sometimes surprise a tester and plant a seed of doubt. In the main, I found good contact fairly easily attainable with ZXi but when the toe or heel were tested out I found some impressive ball speed retention and once again some reassuringly acceptable results. Toe strikes just turned a little more right-to-left in the air, while the heeled shots produced a very slight cut, but nothing excessive from either.
You couldn’t really ask for much more from Srixon here. It has improved everything that I didn’t like from the previous range and topped it off with a genuinely impressive visual makeover. I don’t know what a company like Srixon needs to do to be spoken of more highly and on the same level as some of the so-called ‘bigger’ manufacturers, but continuing to make product like this would be a great start!
The Srixon ZXi driver will be available from $549/£549 and in a variety of custom shaft and grip options. The ‘stock’ shaft option will be a Fujikura Ventus TR Blue 6 in R, S and X flex, while the grip will be a Golf Pride Tour Velvet 360.
