Honma BERES Nx Driver Review

50 Words or Less

The Honma BERES Nx driver is designed to deliver power and forgiveness for newer golfers with moderate swing speeds.  Unique modern look and boisterous sound.  High launching with a slight draw bias.

Introduction

The Honma website states that the new BERES Nx line is “designed for golf’s next generation.”  Interestingly, they further define that segment as “young, new, senior, or seasoned players looking to get into the game.”  As you’ll see, the BERES Nx driver is undeniably modern looking, attractive yet a stark departure from the elegant lines and gold bling that defines other members of the BERES family [check out my review of the BERES Black driver HERE].  But beyond the fresh look, the BERES Nx line also sports a more entry-level price – in the luxury sphere of golf clubs that is.

Check out Honma’s entry into the golf ball market HERE

Looks

The Honma BERES Nx driver is possibly the most unique looking driver on the market today yet has several familiar looking attributes.  The wide and deep Booster Slot looks similar to what I saw in Matt’s review of the Adams IDEA driver [see it HERE].  Also, the “NX” nodule on trailing edge of the sole looks very much like what I see on my TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver [full review HERE].

At address the BERES Nx driver crown harkens back to the Dragonfly technology of older Ping models.  The cross pattern and fully exposed carbon fiber weave are truly eye catching, but may be too distracting for some golfers.  The balanced shaping of the head is very appealing.

Tall and inviting, the face of the Nx driver is nondescript and ‘normal’ looking.  The headcover has a modern, high end look and the pebbled finish has a luxurious feel.  I really like the modest size and well executed stitching on the Honma mole-in-the-hole logo on the cover.

Sound & Feel

In harmony with the distinctive looks, the Honma BERES Nx driver produces a distinctively loud sound.  Metallic and slightly hollow sounding, every reasonable strike was boisterous.  Those strikes felt soft, yet powerful.  Even when I caught one towards the toe, the head felt stable.  Impact location was discernible but the feedback subtle.  For new golfers, or really anyone whose contact location wavers, the consistency in sound and feel can be a wonderful confidence booster.

Performance

Collecting data at Club Champion, I felt like I was swinging pretty well, but a quick glance at my numbers showed my clubhead speed was down.  At home a few hours later, the discomfort in my back confirmed something wasn’t quite right with me.  Despite my shortcomings, the Honma BERES Nx driver performed admirably, chalking up a 1.49 average smash factor.

To achieve great ball speeds, Honma employed two key design features: the Booster Slot and a Radial Face.  The aptly named Booster Slot allows extra face flex and returns more energy to the ball.  The Radial Face technology blends an L-CUP weld-free face structure with radiating face rigidity to deliver near equal velocity across the hitting surface.  In non-tech speak, the face is very forgiving.

Another attribute I observed throughout my testing was how high launching the Honma BERES Nx driver was.  Honma achieved this by placing 12 grams of weight in what they call the keel.  You can see the silver colored weight low and deep on the sole, positioned along the swing path rather than down the center like a boat keel.  The weight positioning produced a slight draw for me – and should help straighten out drives for those new golfers who tend to cut across the ball.

I was pleased to see the simply worded ball flight adjustment system Honma employed on the BERES Nx driver.  Honma doesn’t provide details on what the settings do, but according to a press release, the “LOWER” setting decreases loft by 1°, “HIGHER” increases loft by 2°, and “DRAW” increases the lie angle (more upright).  As any astute PIG reader know, those loft changes open and close the face respectively.

If any of that sounds alien, or you could use a quick refresher, I encourage you to read Matt’s How to Adjust Your Driver article which you can find HERE.  After loosening the shaft with a standard golf wrench, a flat head screw driver was the best method I found to spin the adapter.  I like that the shaft, and more importantly the grip, didn’t rotate when changing the setting.

For those who aren’t familiar with Vizard shafts, they’re designed and manufactured in-house by Honma.  The Vizard for Nx shaft features a lightweight design that’s more flexible in the middle.  As Honma puts it: “That lets golfers take a comfortable, easy swing while the shaft does all of the work.”

Conclusion

How’s this for a wonderful tagline:  “Why Honma?  Because stunning performance is what we do best.”  And for the Honma BERES Nx driver, stunning and performance are indeed the two perfect descriptors.  The looks and sound are both stunning, but whether they are good or bad will be subject to each golfer’s taste.  The performance is really strong, with design features well suited to the newer golfer.  Compared to the more sophisticated looking drivers in the BERES family, the $750 price tag looks enticing.  But with the wealth of high quality drivers available at the $600 mark, the BERES Nx driver is clearly still a luxury purchase.

Visit Honma HERE

Honma BERES Nx Driver Price & Specs

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Matt Meeker

Senior Writer at Plugged In Golf

Matt - aka 'Meeks' - lives in the beautiful Lowcountry of South Carolina with his wife who allows his golf obsession to stretch the limits of normalcy.

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