I bought it last week and have had it out on the lake twice. The retrieve was immediately less smooth than what I expected and by day two it was making a clicking sound intermittingly. I was not expecting elite performance, but I will be returning the reel.

$$$ Best Reel for the money $$$

I got this reel over a year ago, and I was BLOWN away at the reels performance.it will cast a country mile,Without back lashing,Great drag system and light weight,i now have 5 of them,2 SLX,2 SLX MGL and a DC.Hands down the BEST baitcaster out there for the money $$

Best reel for the price.

I bought this reel about 6 months ago.and i have several baitcaster reels,and hands down this is the BEST REEL for the money,it cast great with NO problems back lashing,cast futher than any of my other reels,it has a awesome drag system on it.I just ordered 2 more of them.

Defective side cover spring

When I first ordered this reel I went to pick it up at the store and after it got spooled up I tried to set the brakes. When I finished doing this the side cover would not lock back because the spring was broke. Was able to get another one ordered. I would recommend to get this item shipped to the store if you could invade something like that happens. Overall good reel for the price.

Didn't even get to cast it.

I was super excited to get this reel. Had the store spool it up for me. I was getting everything ready for a fishing trip and unlocked the side cover to adjust the brakes. It unlocked easy enough, but wouldn't lock closed. I loosened the tension knob up completely and still wouldn't lock. The. I took the spool completely out, and it still wouldn't lock. The the tab, made of plastic, broke off rendering it useless. It's going back tomorrow.

Excellent Reel for inexperianced Batecaster users

Excellent reel. Would absolutly recommend for someone new to a baitcaster fishing or an occasional baitcaster user like my self. Very little nesting. the few I did get were easy to resolve. Very happy with the purchase.

Not worth it

I bought it recently for my birthday and I set up the brakes and the side plate didn’t lock back place. It thought it would be good with all the hype but it wasn’t.

Outperforms the DC

I bought this a few months back. I also have the Shimano Curado DC. I can say this well outperforms the DC with comfortability, feel, and overall performance. I was debating whether or not to buy the DC version but I'm very well pleased with the purchase.

This is the best budget bait caster out there!

I bought the “Shimano XLX A” a month ago and it’s by far the best reel I’ve owned It’s proved that it can handle a lot of wear and tear and every day use. And it’s good look paired with its performance. I would recommend it to everyone new to the sport or not!

didn’t get a chance to even use

i took it out and got it all set up, when i tried to cast the tension switch fell out and everything just broke, handle felt very cheap, plasticity and overall just bad quality