The Yonex Percept 100 wowed our playtesters with controllable power and excellent maneuverability from the baseline. Brittany instantly felt right at home with this racquet. She said, "It is always going to be a good day when I get to hit with another Yonex racquet with a 100-square-inch head. Because I am a big fan of Yonex racquets, I had a smooth transition from my racquet of choice, the Yonex EZONE 100. The Percept 100 was easy to swing, which made it easy to generate racquet head speed from the baseline. One thing I noticed, and appreciated, was that the launch angle was a little higher than the launch angle of the Percept 100D, so my balls were landing a little deeper with less effort. I was able to consistently play with a lot of variety from the baseline, including hitting flat attacking shots, shorter, more angled groundstrokes and some defensive slices. This allowed me to mix up my shots during a point to keep my opponent on their toes."

"The 100-square-inch head size is my preference, but a lot of these racquets put more emphasis on power than control," continued Tiffani. "I really liked that the Percept 100 brought a bit more control to the mix than many other 100-square-inch racquets. I was testing this racquet side by side with the 100D model (with its tighter 18x19 string pattern). Although I typically prefer tighter string patterns over those with 16 mains, I liked the Percept 100's 16x19 pattern more than the Percept 100D’s 18x19 string pattern. I think it's because the racquet is lower powered overall and was offering me the control I needed. The 100D was a bit more demanding off the ground, and I could transition more easily from defense to offense with the Percept 100."

Although Jason liked this racquet when on the defensive, he was looking for a little more control offensively during points. He said, "The Percept 100 is a very quick and maneuverable racquet, which made it great for hitting sharp angles. Because the launch angle is a little higher, I liked it while on the run or when hitting more defensive-type shots. That extra net clearance helped me get more depth and allowed me to get back into points, but it's a bit of a double-edged sword because that easy depth was not as helpful when trying to swing out and be aggressive. When I was trying to put the ball away or attack, I was losing some control and launching balls long more often."

Our playtesters had quick hands up at net with the Percept 100. Tiffani appreciated the racquet's maneuverable feel. She described, "As someone who isn't the most confident at net, I tend to look for racquets that feel quick to get into position. The Percept 100 felt nimble and solid in the sweetspot. It wasn't quite as stable as the Percept 100D, but it was more than adequate for my needs."

"This Percept 100 felt very quick up at net," Jason agreed. "I liked that I could move it into position without much effort, which was especially helpful on shots hit at my body. The whippiness was also nice on high backhand volleys where I needed to flick down with just my wrist. It does get overpowered a bit, though, and off-center shots are more jarring than I would've expected."

Brittany was able to get the job done when volleying, even though volleys are not her strongest shot. She said, "Like with groundstrokes, this racquet had excellent maneuverability, so I had no issues getting it into place even during quick volley exchanges. One thing I thought the Percept 100 improved on from the VCORE PRO 100 was the added stability, which was most noticeable up at net. Additionally, the sweetspot is plenty forgiving, so I was able to get a couple more off-center shots back comfortably. In terms of feel, I personally thought the new dampening system removed too much feedback for me, and I like the feel of other Yonex racquets more."

The Yonex Percept 100 offered nice control and spin potential on serves, but our playtest team was looking for some easy power to tap into to start points. Jason tends to hit both first and second serves with plenty of spin, and this racquet fit that game plan well. He explained, "When it came to serving with this Percept 100, I was happy to see that the spin I was getting made my serves pretty effective. That being said, I didn't find a ton of free power with this racquet. I would either add a bit of weight to the hoop or drop my tension 2 or 3 pounds to help compensate for that."

"The Percept 100 did everything decently well on serves, but nothing particularly stood out," added Brittany. "I was able to get the racquet moving, but I was missing a little free power, so I focused more on my slice first serves out wide over pace. I also felt I could be precise with my serve and was able to pick a target and successfully hit it. Second serves were much the same story. I was able to get them in consistently, but I wasn't putting much pressure on my opponent, and they were able to attack it a little easier than I would have liked."

Tiffani agreed with the other playtesters, saying, "This racquet didn't have a lot of free power on serves, but it was sufficient to get me into points in a neutral position. I could get decent spin and had enough directional control to confidently place my serves. Maybe it sounds strange, but the serve is one area where I preferred the Percept 100D. That racquet feels even lower powered, but I had a little bit more confidence to really go after my swings, so I got more out of my serves with it."

The Yonex Percept 100's returns received the highest score from our playtest team. It is no surprise that Brittany preferred to start the point returning with the Percept 100. She said, "All of the Percept 100's positive attributes mentioned above were really highlighted here. The racquet was easy to maneuver while being lower powered and more control-oriented, so it eliminated any fears of overhitting. This allowed me to take big cuts at the ball not only on second serve returns but first serve returns as well."

Tiffani also had nothing but positive feedback here. She said, "Like with groundstrokes, I liked the controllable power on my returns. There was easy net clearance and enough stability for those harder-to-return serves, but there was also plenty of maneuverability and a bit of pop to let me be more aggressive on second serve returns."

For the most part, Jason enjoyed returning with the Percept 100. However, there were times he was looking for a little more oomph. He concluded, "The excellent maneuverability allowed me to take full swings on my returns. I thought the topspin I could get on my shots really helped get the ball down and into play. In the instances when I could only block or chip a shot back, I thought the racquet was a bit underpowered."