Carlton Aeroblade 5000 review

Full review

Not everyone needs a graphite frame costing well over £100, and if you are buying for a child, a school group or your own first few months of play, the Carlton Aeroblade 5000 is the sort of racquet that makes sense. Carlton is a long-established British badminton brand, and the Aeroblade range is what many UK clubs and education suppliers sell for beginners.

The frame uses an aluminium head with a titanium composite shaft, according to Central Sports, with an isometric head shape and a medium-flex shaft. Hope Education lists a length of 665 mm and a recommended string tension of 18 to 28 lbs, and recommends it for beginners. Weight is about 90 to 92 g unstrung, which is noticeably heavier than the 80 to 85 g typical of graphite racquets.

Retailers disagree on balance: Central Sports lists it as head heavy at 280 mm, while Hope Education calls it even. Because of that, and because Carlton's own site would not let us read it, we treat the balance as unconfirmed. We also did not find an independent review, so we recommend it on its specification and low price rather than on tested performance.

If you outgrow it, a lighter graphite frame such as the Yonex Nanoflare 700 Pro or the Li-Ning Halbertec 9000 Power is the natural step up.