Volkl V-Cell 8 300g Racquet Review

Groundstrokes - Score: 83

Our playtesters found this Volkl V-Cell 8 to be very user-friendly from the back of the court. As a longtime fan of the series, Brittany immediately found her stride with this racquet from the baseline. She said, "The 300-gram option has always been my favorite racquet in the Volkl 8 series. My experience has reached at least four generations back, so I had a good idea of what to expect with this update. And from the very first ball, I knew the specs lined up perfectly for me. It was simple to use, with little adjustment needed. I found easy power, maneuverability and spin potential. I loved hitting my short, spinny angle shots off both wings to pull my opponent off the court. I would use these angles to create opportunities to bring my opponent off the baseline and outside of their comfort zone in both offensive and defensive situations. However, I did find a couple of negatives. I struggled with depth control; the stringbed felt inconsistent, and I tended to hit the ball either shorter or deeper than I expected. The other issue was that I felt disconnected when I was hitting slightly higher on the stringbed, closer to the tip of the racquet. I had a loss of power as well."

Jason also noted the racquet was easy to use. He added, "This V-Cell 8 was very easy to play with. Its excellent maneuverability meant I was able to generate spin with ease. I liked the slightly higher launch angle because I was getting more depth on my shots. The one area I struggled with was my slice. It was tougher to knife a slice back and get it low because I didn't have the mass behind the ball."

Kristen liked drilling with this racquet, but she struggled during point play. She said, "I really enjoyed this racquet when rallying and drilling. The spin potential was fantastic, and it was easy to get the racquet moving through the air and crank up the power. I struggled a bit when I started playing points. I was missing the control I needed to really pinpoint my targets. Part of that was due to an inconsistent response off the stringbed. I was also left wanting more weight in the racquet to better counteract pace. I'd often feel the racquet getting pushed around against heavy hitters."

Erik thought the V-Cell 8 helped enhance his spin game. He said, "I liked this V-Cell 8 on my groundstrokes. I was able to hit a ton of topspin and get the ball jumping up on my opponents. I would've liked a little more plow through with this racquet to get the ball moving through the court rather than up. There was more power here than control, and I could easily hit shots deep. I could generate a lot of head speed as well, and I found the racquet easy to maneuver. Although it worked pretty well for my game style, I would have preferred a little more of a connected feel and more control overall."

Volleys - Score: 82

Our playtesters also found the Volkl V-Cell 8 easy to wield when volleying. Always looking to come into net, Erik found success while volleying with this racquet, but he offered some critiques as well. He said, "This racquet was quite maneuverable and very easy to get into position, but the feel was a little muted for my taste. I wish I had felt a little more connected to the ball overall, but it was quite easy to volley with. I found myself hitting deeper volleys overall, and I struggled at times to hit shorter drop volleys with this racquet. That being said, I enjoyed the easy depth I got on volleys and the power on overheads."

Kristen also appreciated the V-Cell 8's maneuverability at net, though she found the control somewhat lacking at times. She said, "For its lighter weight, this racquet played pretty comfortably at net. There was a decent pop off the stringbed, and the racquet was easy to get into position. I felt that I really needed to stick my volleys to keep the ball on target. When trying to play it safe or go for more touch, there was a lack of feel for gauging depth."

The V-Cell 8 provided everything Brittany needed for volleying success. She explained, "I was surprised by the solid, stable response up at net. The racquet was easy to maneuver and get into position, whether I was reaching or getting jammed into the body. I mostly spent my time punching the ball deep to finish the point and keeping the racquet movements simple. I was able to hit a couple of touch volleys without issue, which is a bonus since I don't hit those as frequently."

While Jason liked how quick this racquet was up at net, he found himself wanting to add a bit of weight in the hoop for a stability boost. He said, "The racquet felt lightning-fast up at net. It seemed that I could react to the ball instantly, without any lag time between my arm and the racquet. It was very easy to snap my wrist for overheads. The V-Cell 8 does get pushed around against bigger hitters, especially toward the tip of the racquet, but a few strips of tungsten tape would fix that."

Serves - Score: 80

Thanks to the Volkl V-Cell 8's outstanding maneuverability on serves, our team felt like they could heap on as much spin as they wanted. Kristen described, "This racquet swung easily overhead, and I could tap into a lot of spin, which was key because there was not a lot of plow through. I never felt like I was hitting a very heavy serve, but I could tap into the high spin potential to place my serves well and put myself in a good position for starting off the point that way."

Although he enjoyed the whippy nature of the racquet, Jason would have liked a little more plow through on his serves. He said, "With as much pop as I was getting on my groundstrokes, I was expecting a bit more power on my serves. Not to say it wasn't powerful, but I was left wanting slightly more pop. On the plus side, the whippy feel and open string pattern meant I was getting tons of spin on my slice serves. With the low swingweight, I felt like I was able to generate the same racquet head speed whether I was fresh or at the end of a hit."

Brittany also noted how quickly this racquet swung overhead when serving. She said, "Coming off an extended-length racquet playtest, the first thing I noticed was the ease of getting the racquet up and over my head. I could hit at the same speed, spin, etc. from the start of a match until the end without any arm fatigue. I still got enough easy power to satisfy my flat first serves and plenty of spin to mix it up with a kick or slice serve. During point play, most of my missed serves were landing deep past the service line, but I was able to adapt with more wrist snap to get that ball to drop inside the box."

Erik's serves weren't quite as precise or as powerful as he would have liked, but he agreed with the rest of the team overall. He said, "I struggled to find my range on big first serves with this racquet. I wish it had a little more weight at the head to help me hit my serves through the court more. I was able to access excellent spin on my serves with this racquet because it was very maneuverable, and the open string pattern helped the ball dive in the court with lots of kick."

Returns - Score: 81

Our team had mixed opinions on how the Volkl V-Cell 8 performed on returns. As with the rest of their shots, the testers found that spin was readily available, but some felt it could be a little unpredictable. Jason had no complaints here. He said, "I felt like I was able to hit a variety of returns well with this racquet. I could attack and take big cuts because the great access to spin helped keep my ball in play. Or I could take some pace off and try to hit sharply angled returns thanks to the maneuverability."

Tapping into her powerful return game, Kristen was able to hit deep returns, but she would have liked a bit more predictability and control out of the racquet. She said, "The return of serve is generally my favorite shot to hit, but I struggled to get dialed in with the V-Cell 8. I like to go big on returns, and I felt the racquet was just not control-oriented or stable enough to be able to swing out freely. Therefore, I had to be a bit more reserved on my returns and focus on topspin or slicing back serves."

Erik agreed with Kristen. He added, "I found this racquet to be easy to maneuver on returns, but I wish that I had a more predictable response. When returning a bigger serve, it was hard for me to control and redirect the pace. I found myself hitting long a lot, so I would end up trying to chip returns off powerful serves.”

The Volkl V-Cell 8 really clicked with Brittany's return of serve. She said, "Returns were probably the highlight of the playtest for me. I thoroughly enjoyed returning serves with this racquet, and as I mentioned in groundstrokes, the specs line up perfectly with my needs. The racquet was easy to maneuver around my body, and I could hit solid returns off both first and second serves. I could use power when I needed on a second serve and block back a first serve if necessary. If I had one small negative, I would say the feel wasn't my favorite, especially compared to my racquet of choice, the Yonex EZONE 100."

Overall - Score: 81