Target Phil Taylor Power 9Five Generation 7 Darts Review

DETAILS:

BRAND: Target
WEBSITE: https://www.target-darts.co.uk/
MODEL: Phil Taylor Power 9-Five Gen 7 SP
WEIGHT REVIEWED: 24g
TUNGSTEN CONTENT: 95%
AVAILABLE WEIGHTS:
   STEEL: 22g – 24g – 26g
   SOFT TIP: 18g – 20g
PRICE: £82.95

Review Date: 30th October 2020

So another year and another generation of the Phil Taylor Power 9 Five darts, the gen 7 swiss point. Possibly the best version yet for me I think.

At first glance it looks very similar to last years Gen 6 but upon closer inspection there is a few more differences and overall I think it is closer to the Gen 4 in dimensions and grip style and probably the closest to the original John Lowe style which is what they were based off.

For me thats great as it was always a favourite barrel in my earlier days, just wish I could throw them as well as I did then lol.

Its got a lovely silver ti nitride coating which is then sandblasted to give the dart a matt finish feel which kind of feels dry in the fingers.

Apart from some teardrop shaped notches on the nose the only real grip is around the middle. Its not super grippy though, just a fine ring grip style but the sandblasted finish may be enhances it a little. Also as its short the grip should be fine for most front and middle grippers.

Over the years the grip level has been quite different so if you prefer a milder grip then this could be the best version for you.

I had no issues at all with slipping and I feel its down to the matt sandblasted coating. I think the only issue with that coating like I have mentioned in the past is it can mark easily from contact but I dont think it was as visibly prominent on these down to the silver whiteness of the coating.

Short barrel darts are not for everyone but this is particularly nice to throw even though I cant get on well with the little Vision Ultra flights. I did play with them for longer and I started to improve and had a decent number of 140’s but I feel I have to put a little more effort into getting a feel for the darts with this set up. May be thats a good thing as it will tell you straight away when your throw is off but I tend to get lazy and go back to my usual medium stems and standard flights, why be really bad when I can just be bad lol!

The new power shafts look great though, and as a whole set up with the new football styled flights the dart looks great.

I think its super zippy through the air as it comes which is another thing that takes getting used to, I found if changed my aim point a little lower they worked better but some times the darts were landing in the board at an angle, so I still went back to my standards which sorted that issue 🙂

If you have not tried a barrel style like these before then you may be best to get a cheaper version to test out first, but if you have and its a style you like then I would say they are well worth trying but of course they are pricey.

The darts are very nicely made and great quality as usual from Target and for me its probably the version I feel most happy with once I got the set up to suit me.

RATINGS OUT OF 10:

LOOKS: 9
GRIP: 5
WEIGHT MATCH: 9.5
QUALITY: 9
VALUE: 5.5