Skip to content
Freeport, Florida. February 23, 2024 — This review is from Toptier Pickleball's website for the Aethos Pickleball's M1 Legion pickleball paddle. Click here to view the original review.
Company Info: Aethos is a Canadian pickleball company, who was founded by two pickleball enthusiasts. The name itself is taken from the Greek word “ethos” which means “character.” They have built their company around this guiding idea and are attempting to provide high quality pickleball paddles with the latest technology and material. They have recently launched their first drop, which is a competitive paddle. See more about Aethos Pickleball and their full story here.
Item: We’ve got their first signature paddle today in the M1 Legion.
Description: The M1 Legion pickleball paddle is a 16MM Carbon Fiber paddle. The paddle face itself is black with the edge guard and rubber grip cover being grey in color. The Aethos logo is present in red with white lettering at the base of the paddle face. The USA pickleball approval is slightly below the logo, in grey. The edge guard does have the Aethos styled wording down both sides, in white.
The paddle face itself features an oversized outline of the stylized “A” logo, in grey and white. At the top right of the paddle, above this stylized logo, the M1 Legion name is present, in red color to match the logo.
The grip tape is white and does not have any ridges. The handle cap also displays the Aethos “A” logo for additional branding.
The paddle came with a paddle cover, which is mimics the black and red color scheme and has Aethos logo large in the middle. The paddle cover also has a clip so it can be attached to the courts fence or your bag.
The paddle itself is thermoformed and as stated previously, features a carbon fiber face. The carbon fiber is Toray T700. The M1 Legion also features foam injected walls with a complete-cell polypropylene honeycomb compact core.
Play Feel: The first thing I noticed about this paddle was the sweet spot. The sweet spot seemed very large and made the paddle super easy to play with. The paddle itself was really easy to get used to and took hardly any time to feel confident in playing with it.
The paddle itself feels very high quality and the grip is very comfortable. I would add an overgrip for personal preference, but think you could easily play with this right out of the packaging. The paddle also had a hand written weight on it, which is a great added touch.
I am also a fan of the paddle cover, as I think the additional clip is a great idea and allows you to take just the paddle to the courts if you are limited on space or don’t have a backpack.
This paddle felt like a good mix of power and control. I’m always a fan of the 16MM paddles, and this true to that feeling. The soft shots and resets were really easy to adjust to, especially with such a large sweet spot. The power provided from the paddle is also very adequate and will allow you to be competitive with just about anybody.
Price Point: The paddle sells for $133.00 USD ($175 CAD) on their website.
Recommendation: I think this paddle plays very similar to some of the most well-known paddles in the game (think Joola Perseus) and comes in at a slightly lower price point.
I would like to see the “buying experience” elevated slightly, with perhaps being shipped in a box for additional protection, but overall that doesn’t change the paddle quality. I like the overall branding throughout the paddle, with the logo / name being featured in multiple places. This elevates the overall quality feeling of the paddle.
The quality is very evident in the paddle and it has held up great over our testing period, with little to no signs of wear or tear. The paddle is also very fun to play with and stylistically I think it looks cool.
I’m very impressed with the first drop from Aethos and will be on the lookout for what they bring next.
Be sure to give them a look and for full photographs, check out our Instagram!
Dimensions:
-
Complete-Cell Polypropylene Honeycomb Compact Core
-
Hot-Molded (Thermoformed)
-
Unibody Construction
-
Foam-Injected Walls and Handle for increased sweet spot and paddle control
-
Avg. Weight: 7.9 - 8.3oz
-
Total Length: 16.5"
-
Width: 7.5"
-
Core Thickness: 16mm
-
Grip Length: 5.3"
-
Grip Circumference: 4.125"
-
Avg. Swing Weight: 119
-
Avg. Twist Weight: 6.7
