Expert review: New Engage X2 delivers great feel, consistent performance

Alex Lantz

Director of Content

Last Edited

Mar 24 2026

How it plays -- Engage X2

When I'm testing a paddle, I work with other high-level players in my area to simulate a wide variety of shots. This testing involves several hours of drills and 5.0+ games in an effort to determine how the paddle impacts performance in real-world scenarios compared to other top-tier paddles on the market. This review is based on the elongated version of the X2.

Drives/serves (9/10) -- I thought the paddle shined on shots from the baseline. It had enough power to put pressure on my opponents with an aggressive third-shot drive, but not so much power that I was sailing balls long. I felt very in control of the pace and spin, which allowed me to ramp it up or tone it down depending on the situation.

Dinks/drops (9/10) -- The consistency this paddle offers was apparent right from the jump. I felt like I had good touch and it didn't take me long to adjust to it. More and more companies are figuring out how to make full-foam paddles that don't feel super stiff, and this is a good example of that. It feels more like a plush Gen 2 or Gen 3 honeycomb paddle than most other foam paddles on the market, which I think is a big plus on softer shots like dinks and drops.

Resets (8.5/10) -- The paddle performed well in this area and that plush feel is what I'm looking for when I'm trying to take pace off of an opponent's attack. It gets even better with additional weighted tape on the sides or bottom corners, but it comes in at a high-ish swingweight out of the box, so for some players I think it will get a little too heavy by adding weight. I suspect the widebody model would be more like a 9 or 9.5 out of 10 in this category.

Pop (8/10) -- I personally prefer paddles that aren't super poppy because I think the LifeTime ball is already very poppy, and that's what I use in my testing. This paddle hit the sweet spot in that regard. It had plenty of juice to put me ahead in hands battles if I timed up a counter-attack well, but I never felt like the ball was jumping off the paddle in an uncontrolled way.

Flicks/speedups (9/10) -- This is another area where the paddle performed really well. I could feel the ball sinking into the paddle face, which allowed me to be aggressive with my flicks and place the ball where I wanted with the shot shape I wanted.

Aggressive attacks/overheads (8/10) -- The raw power with the Engage X2 is dialed back slightly from several other paddles on the market, and particularly full-foam paddles, and I honestly think that's a good thing. We've reached a point where there is such a thing as too much power, and I think most players would play better pickleball with something that is an 8/10 in this category compared to something that is a 10/10.

Summary

One of my biggest takeaways from testing this paddle is that it's really easy to use. There are a lot of paddles out there right now that take some getting used to in order to feel comfortable. This was not one of them. I was able to pick it up and immediately feel in control of where the ball was going.

It also delivered really good performance in the areas that I care about most -- one of the drills I like to do when I'm testing a paddle is start with a third-shot drive and try to work my way into the kitchen against an aggressive opponent. With the X2 I was able to get to the kitchen line a very high percentage of the time, which is not always the case when I'm playing with something new.

I think that makes the X2 well suited for a wide variety of players and skill levels. Advanced players will love its consistency, feel and the ability to shape the ball well, while lower level players will be getting something they can control easily. I expect it to land in our list of the top paddles on the market when we do our next update of that list.

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