As a long-time Nexus rider, I was especially interested in one question: can the NXS really deliver when it comes to freestyle?

First Impressions

Whenever you jump on a completely new kite, there's usually an adjustment period.

You need a few sessions to understand how much edge pressure the kite likes, how aggressively you can approach tricks, and how it behaves once you're airborne. That's perfectly normal.

What surprised me most about the NXS was how intuitive it felt from the very first run.

Even before attempting any tricks, I already had a good sense of how much line tension and support I would have throughout the movement. That level of predictability is something I rarely experience on a brand-new kite.

As someone who has spent years riding the Nexus, the transition felt remarkably natural.

My Setup

For these first freestyle sessions, I used:

• Core NXS 13.5m
• Sensor 4 Pro Bar
• Low V setup
• Wingtip connections set to maximum bar pressure

This setup provides noticeably more direct steering input and stronger bar feedback.

For freestyle riding, especially when learning new tricks, clear feedback from the kite is something I personally value a lot.

Bar Feel and Steering Characteristics

Compared to the Nexus, the NXS has a slightly softer bar feeling.

However, one characteristic immediately stood out.

When steering the kite, both wingtips visibly twist relative to each other. While this might seem like a small detail, it's actually extremely valuable for freestyle riding.

The result is a kite that feels responsive without becoming nervous.

The softer bar pressure combined with this twisting behaviour creates a very intuitive connection between rider and kite.

Lift, Hangtime and Slack

The biggest difference I noticed between the NXS and the Nexus was how the kite behaves after takeoff.

The NXS generates noticeably more lift and hangtime.

For hooked-in riding, this is immediately noticeable. Jumps feel easier to initiate and the kite provides more support throughout the flight.

For unhooked riding, the differences become even more interesting.

On the Nexus, slack often arrived quite suddenly in a single moment. The NXS releases tension more progressively and continuously.

This smoother transition makes certain freestyle tricks feel more predictable and controlled.

I found this particularly beneficial for unhooked grabs, where maintaining a consistent feeling throughout the trick can make a significant difference.

Freestyle Performance

The first session unfortunately came with relatively light wind conditions.

While it was enough to get a solid first impression of the kite, it wasn't ideal for bigger powered tricks.

A few hours later I managed to score another evening session with stronger wind, which gave me a much better opportunity to push the kite harder.

After both sessions, my impression remained the same.

The NXS feels extremely comfortable during freestyle riding.

It offers excellent support during takeoff, predictable handling throughout tricks and enough slack for unhooked manoeuvres while still maintaining a very user-friendly character.

NXS vs Nexus

Looking back at the sessions while editing the video a week later, I realised something interesting.

I could think of significantly more things I preferred about the NXS than things I preferred about the Nexus.

That's not something I expected before testing the kite.

The Nexus has always been one of my favourite freestyle-oriented all-round kites, so replacing it was never going to be easy.

Yet after these first sessions, the NXS appears to improve several areas that matter to me personally, including lift, hangtime, predictability and the way slack is delivered.

Final Thoughts

Based on my experience so far, the NXS is an impressive evolution of the Nexus concept.

It successfully retains the intuitive handling that made the Nexus so popular while adding more lift, more hangtime and a smoother freestyle feel.

At least in the 13.5m size, I currently consider the NXS the better freestyle kite.

That being said, I've only tested the larger size so far.

Smaller kite sizes often behave differently, especially when it comes to freestyle performance. It'll be interesting to see how the smaller NXS models compare once more riders spend time on them.

For now, my first impression is very clear:

The NXS is not just a wave and foil kite that can do freestyle.

It's a genuinely capable freestyle kite that also happens to excel in several other disciplines.