Racket review

Adidas RX Series 2026 Review

Q: Is the Adidas RX Series worth it?

At around €96 it's one of the easiest yes answers we give: a soft, forgiving teardrop from a major brand at a starter price. It stops being worth it only when your swing outgrows its pace ceiling, which for most improvers takes seasons, not months.

Updated August 18, 2026

Adidas's budget staple: a soft, forgiving, control-first frame for the beginner or improver who wants the brand name without the brand-name price.

Adidas RX Series 2026 Review padel racket

SpecificationsLive catalog

Shape

Teardrop (retailer-disputed)

Weight

360-375g

Balance

Medium (even)

Core

EVA Soft Performance (soft)

Surface

Fiberglass

Frame

Carbon fiber, 38mm

Level

Beginner-Intermediate

Best for

The budget staple

Playing characterEven balance

Control

Power

from€95.95

Buy at PadelProShopIn stock

Compare 3 prices

Verdict

The verdict

The Adidas RX Series 2026 puts a three-stripes racket in your hand from €95.95, and it is built for the player still working out what their game is. Soft core, fiberglass face, carbon frame. It keeps the ball in play and the shock out of your arm, and it asks for very little money in return.

The case for it is comfort you can lean on while you learn: a soft build that forgives an off-center hit instead of punishing it, on a carbon frame that stops it feeling like a toy. The case against it is just as plain. There is no free power here. Pace comes from your swing and nowhere else, and a player who finishes points overhead will find the ceiling within a season.

One thing we owe you before the details: retailer listings disagree about this racket. Our catalog records a teardrop with a smooth face; the live PadelMarket listing describes it as round with a rough face, and sells it as a control racket outright. Where we cannot settle a spec, we flag it rather than print one version as fact. What every source agrees on: this is a soft, even-balanced frame built for control.

The build · materials

The build

The core

EVA Soft Performance is the engine of the comfort story: a soft foam that compresses when the ball arrives. A mishit sinks into the core rather than jarring back through your wrist and elbow, so an ugly contact still clears the net and a long session leaves your arm fresh. The trade is built into the name. Soft foam returns little energy of its own, so the ball leaves at whatever speed your swing supplies, and no more.

The face

The hitting surface is fiberglass, the flexible, budget-tier alternative to a carbon face. It gives slightly at contact, which widens the friendly part of the face and softens the hit a second time on top of the core. On the finish, our sources split again: the catalog says smooth, the live listing says rough. We cannot settle it, so we will not promise you texture-driven spin. If heavy spin is central to your game, treat that as an open question this racket has not answered.

The frame and the weight

The quiet upgrade is a carbon fiber frame, 38mm thick. Carbon at this price is uncommon, and it stiffens the hoop so the head resists twisting when you catch the ball toward the edge. The 38mm profile is the standard thickness for an all-court racket, neither an extra-thick defensive slab nor a thin power frame, which matches the all-round brief. Adidas stamps three technologies on the RX line, Structural Power, Structural Reinforcement, and Smart Holes Lineal; they describe the frame layup and the drill pattern, not something you will feel shot to shot, so we name them and move on. The spec to take seriously is the weight: 360-375g on an even balance, the heavier end of medium. That mass is where the steadiness comes from, and it is the first thing a smaller player will notice.

How it plays · on court

How it plays

Defending

Defense is where the soft build pays you back. A hard incoming ball loses its sting on this face and comes back slow and manageable, so blocks stay in play off a compact motion and a reset does not need heroic timing to survive. Off the back glass it is the same story: the ball sits on the soft face a fraction longer, which buys a rushed reset the margin it needs to float back to depth instead of sitting up short. Lobs ask for a full, committed push, because the racket adds nothing of its own, but the height and depth you ask for is what you get. The even balance earns its keep here too: the head swings back to ready without a fight, so you are set for the next ball sooner than the weight suggests.

At the net

Volleys come off steady. The mass plants the racket behind a block, so a hard body shot does not turn it in your hand, and a firm push volley goes where you pointed it. The same mass sets the limit: in a quick exchange the head arrives a beat later than a lighter frame would, and you will feel your hands working to keep up. Low volleys are the pleasant surprise: the soft face takes the pace off on contact, so the ball stays down and dies short rather than popping up to be punished, which suits the patient net game this frame keeps steering you toward.

On the attack

Attack with placement, because this racket will not finish points for you. A smash leaves at your swing speed and not a step more, so overheads are about angles, depth, and patience rather than putting the ball through the back glass. For a learning player that is useful discipline. For a natural finisher it is a daily argument with your own equipment.

Comfort and the arm

Comfort is the RX Series at its best. The double layer of softness, foam core and flexing face, means very little of the impact reaches the elbow or shoulder, which makes this one of the safer picks for a new arm or a sensitive one. The caveat is the mass again: the fatigue it produces is the slow kind, a shoulder that knows it has swung a heavier frame all evening, not an elbow that stings on contact.

Who it's for

Who it's for (and who should skip it)

Buy it if

You want a first racket that forgives mishits and is gentle on the elbow
You would rather keep your first outlay small and still get a brand-name build
You win points with placement and patience rather than pace

Look elsewhere if

You want the racket to add power; this one returns only what you swing
You are smaller or quick-handed; the 360-375g mass moves slower than you do
Spin and bite drive your game, or you are improving fast; the soft fiberglass build is one you will outgrow

Not sure it's your match? The free 2-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and tells you which racket is.

The bottom line

The RX Series does one job well: it makes your first seasons of padel comfortable and forgiving without a painful bill, and it is honest about offering nothing beyond that. If that is the job you are hiring a racket for, buy it and put the savings into court time. If you already bring your own pace and want a frame that keeps up, look further up the range. Not sure which player you are? The free two-minute quiz reads your level, style, and budget and names the racket that is yours.

Where to buy · live prices

Where to buy

PadelProShopLowest price

€95.95Buy at PadelProShop

PadelShop

€114.95Buy at PadelShop

PadelMarket

$128.99Buy at PadelMarket

Prices shown in Euro, converted and approximate — you check out in the store's own currency.

Frequently asked

Yes. The RX Series 2026 is one of the friendlier first rackets: the soft core cushions contact so a mishit stays playable, the fiberglass face takes more sting out, and the carbon frame keeps it stable. Shops split on the label, one lists it for beginners and another for intermediates, and in practice it spans both.

Control. The soft core, even balance, and modest power output are all pointed at placement and steady defense, and the PadelMarket listing sells it as a control racket in as many words. The power side of the ledger is yours to supply.

The Adidas RX Series 2026 sells from €95.95 at our last check, firmly in the budget tier. Prices move, so use the live comparison below for the current in-stock cost in your currency.

The Light is the lighter sibling in the same RX line, aimed at smaller players and quicker hands. The plain RX Series reviewed here runs 360-375g, which buys stability at the cost of speed. If a racket at that weight tires your arm or slows your volleys, the Light is the version to look at.

An EVA Soft Performance core, a fiberglass face, and a carbon fiber frame at 38mm. Soft foam behind a flexing face is the standard comfort recipe; the carbon frame is the part you do not usually get at a budget price.

Retailer listings disagree, and we would rather tell you that than guess. Our catalog records a teardrop; the live PadelMarket page describes it as round and control-first. At this softness and balance the two shapes play close enough that the answer does not change who it is for: a forgiving, even, placement-first frame.

At around €96.00 it's one of the easiest yes answers we give: a soft, forgiving teardrop from a major brand at a starter price. It stops being worth it only when your swing outgrows its pace ceiling, which for most improvers takes seasons, not months.

In our guides

Budget →Ex-Tennis Players →

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