About this Review: This review is my honest opinion of the racquet, which I tested for five days from February to May of 2023.

My take

The Volkl V-Cell 7 is an ideal racquet for intermediate and ambitious beginner players looking for a forgiving racquet with great power, easy access to spin, and an easy-on-the-arm feel.

About the racquet I tested

• Model: Volkl V-Cell 7
• Grip Size: 4 ⅜ / EU 3
• String and Tension: Volkl V-Feel Black. Strung at 56lbs
• Head size: 104in2
• Racquet Length: 27 ⅓”
• Any Customizations: Volkl V-Tac Overgrip

About me

• Height: 5’11”
• Weight: 185 lbs
• Previous Racquet Played With: Head Graphene 360+ Gravity MP
• Experience: 29 years of tennis
• NTRP/UTA Rating: 5.0

Test conditions

• When I tested it: February, May 2023
• Days tested: 5
• Court Surfaces: Hard, Hard Indoor
• Match Play/Practice Session/Both: Both
• Where I’ve used it: Kingsford High School, Kingsford, MI, Marinette County Rec Plex

How it performs

What I was looking for

As one of our top brand partners at Curated, Volkl wanted our Tennis Experts to fully understand their entire lineup of racquets, and were kind enough to set us each up with demo racquets for players of all abilities. This allowed me and the other Experts on the team to learn the pros and cons of each racquet to be able to give the best advice to our clients. The V-Cell 7 is one of the many intermediate-level racquets in their lineup, which is perfect, as self-described intermediate players make up the majority of our shoppers at Curated.

Why I chose to test this gear

On paper, the V-Cell 7 does not fit my game, as it is lighter, longer, and larger headed than the racquets that I prefer. While I wouldn’t choose it as my primary racquet, I could easily take this racquet into a match and feel confident in playing quite well with it. This characteristic is something that most of the intermediate-level racquets in the Volkl lineup seem to have. They can be used for a wide range of playing abilities and are quite versatile. This is great for a player that is progressing, so that their game doesn’t soon outperform the racquet they just purchased.

What I love about it

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• Feel: The Volkl V-Cell 7 is a very arm-friendly racquet, but never feels mushy or dead. In combination with the softer multifilament Power Pro II String, there is great ball pocketing and touch all over the court.
• Stability: The most common issue I have when I pick up a racquet in this static weight range is the lack of stability when returning shots with pace or heavy spin. The 326 swingweight of the V-Cell 7 means that it is rock solid against all sorts of shots and never flutters at the net.
• Power: With a larger 104 square inch midplus head and ⅓ inch extended length, the V-Cell 7 makes it really easy to add juicy power to all of my shots.
• Serves: Again, that large head size and extended length combine to let me rip first serves. The open 16x19 string pattern provides plenty of bite to get lots of spin on my second serves as well.
• Groundstrokes: Comfortable feel, big power, and easy spin are all ingredients to give me confidence to hit my groundstrokes well. The V-Cell 7 provides all of them and is a great racquet for me to get into baseline rallies with.
• Control: With such explosive power, I was concerned that control would be an issue with the V-Cell 7, but there was plenty of spin to keep the ball in the court and I quickly found the distance control I was looking for.

Issues I’ve encountered

• Maneuverability: With a fairly heavy swingweight, especially for a racquet of 290g unstrung, and extended length, the V-Cell 7 isn’t the most maneuverable at the net or on the move.
• Volleys: There is plenty of power and feel at the net for volleys, but the maneuverability makes it hard to react to hard hit passing shots from higher-level hitting partners.

Favorite moment with this gear

The extended length and larger head size combined to let me get my racquet on a very well-struck down the line backhand from my friend Dan. I was well out of position, but scrambled and was able to make solid contact getting back into the point that I don’t think I could have gotten to with my standard-length, 100 square inch racquet.

Value for the money vs. other options

The Volkl V-Cell 7 is a great value for the money, as it is priced lower than similarly performing racquets such as the Head Gravity Team and Wilson Blade 104 V8.

Final verdict

The Volkl V-Cell 7 is a great match for intermediate players who want an easy-on-the-arm racquet that will help them generate plenty of power and spin. With rock solid stability and some good control, this is a racquet that a player can grow with for quite some time as their game improves.