Nanospeed 8000
Model NS-8000 · Lee Chong Wei
Price history
Chart: monthly median of verified pre-owned sales · USD · methodology
Saw a sale? Report it →Where to find it
Search live eBay listings →Places to search for this racquet. We don't track stock, and listings and asking prices change fast, so check at the source.
Nanospeed 8000: Chen Hong won the 2005 All England with it before it went on sale
A title before the launch
Yonex’s launch release for the Nanospeed 8000 led with a result: the racquet had won the All England straight away. China’s Chen Hong took the men’s singles in Birmingham with it in March 2005, beating Lee Chong Wei 15–13, 15–10 in the semifinal and Lin Dan 8–15, 15–5, 15–2 in the final. The racquet went on sale in Japan on April 6, about a month later. It was the second of Yonex’s nanotechnology racquets, after the Nanospeed 7000 of November 2004, and it stayed in production in two colors until 2012. It is often filed as a Lee Chong Wei racquet, and Yonex did list him on it in 2006, but the result Yonex led with was Chen Hong’s.
Fullerene, and weight moved outward
Yonex unveiled the NS8000 at the Yonex Open Japan in Tokyo on April 5, 2005, and priced it at ¥23,000 before tax. It compounded fullerene, a nanoscale carbon molecule, into the frame corners and the whole shaft, which let it make the shaft wall about 20% thinner and the shaft 15% lighter without losing strength. The weight saved went into the frame and grip. The result stayed top-light like the Nanospeed 7000 but, in Yonex’s words, closer to even balance, so the head did more work for advanced players. New to the model was a Solid Feel Core inside the frame, which Yonex said damped vibration faster and steadied the face for hard hitters. The spec sheet lists a built-in T-joint, 3U and 2U weights and Made in Japan, and Yonex USA rated the flex Extra Stiff. A later Yonex Japan page adds a slim “Aero-Box” head and a length 10 mm longer than standard.
Chen Hong, and the Lee Chong Wei question
Yonex said Chinese and Korean players were already using the NS8000 in tournaments before launch. Besides Chen Hong it named Bao Chunlai, whom Chen beat 13–15, 15–12, 15–4 in that All England quarterfinal, and the women’s doubles semifinalists Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen. Lee Chong Wei is documented on it later. At the Yonex Open Japan in October 2006, Yonex Japan’s player page listed his racquet as the Nanospeed 8000 and quoted him: it favored attack, hit sharp smashes at steep angles and kept its control, an advantage now that rally-point scoring made each smash count. He had already reached world No. 1, on the list released June 29, 2006; his record 199-week run began in August 2008, which is where the common 2008 date comes from. By September 2007 Yonex’s reports had him on the Armortec 900 Power. Xie Xingfang is sometimes named as a user too, but Yonex’s timeline files her under the Armortec 700, and its 2007–08 reports list her on the Nanospeed 9000 Type S.
Yellow/Red, then Spark Gold
The NS8000 came in two colors. The launch finish was Yellow/Red, color code 334, and Yonex lists that color’s production as ending in 2007. Spark Gold, code 628, followed; forum posters in mid-2008 were discussing it as the new gold version, and Yonex lists its production as ending in 2012. Yonex’s old-model pages give both the same materials, the same 3U and 2U weights and the same recommended tension, 19–24 lb for 3U and 20–25 lb for 2U, and owners at the time reported no difference beyond the paint. In the range, the NS8000 sat between the Nanospeed 7000 and the Nanospeed 9000 Type X and Type S, new by April 2006, which added what Yonex called rubber metal to the frame sides. Yonex USA listed the 8000 and the 9000 in the same weight classes.
Unused frames still surface
Verified sales of the NS8000 so far come from Asia resale and include both unused and pre-owned frames; the price panel above lists them, with new and pre-owned valued separately. An unused example is old stock from a run that ended in 2012, so check its color against the two documented finishes. Yonex sold the model for about seven years and published no production figures. Lee Chong Wei’s documented use in 2006 is part of its story, but a claim that a particular frame was his needs its own proof.
Copied within three months
Copies arrived quickly. On June 30, 2005, less than three months after launch, a BadmintonCentral member posted photos of an NS8000 that other members identified as counterfeit. It carried engraved serial and batch numbers, and one member found the same serial on a racquet then being sold at online auction. Members picked it out by its color, its head-heavy balance and small construction details, and concluded that an engraved serial alone no longer proved a Yonex genuine. One poster added that Nanospeed frames were easier to copy than Armortec ones. Two decades on, a fake from that period has aged alongside the genuine frames, so wear is no guide to authenticity.
Between the 7000 and the 9000
The NS8000 was the newest Nanospeed for only a year. The Nanospeed 9000 arrived in 2006 at a higher price, ¥25,000 before tax, and the Nanospeed 9900 followed in 2009. The 8000 stayed on sale regardless. Yonex Japan still listed it in 2010, pitching it at advanced players who wanted a solid hit and a fast swing, and it placed the model with the ArcSaber 10 and Armortec 900 in the group of racquets whose production ended in 2012. It is not among the thirteen landmarks on Yonex’s isometric anniversary timeline, which picks the Nanospeed 7000 to represent the nano era.
Yonex documents two finishes, Yellow/Red (334) and Spark Gold (628); the counterfeit identified in 2005 had a purplish tint. Both are item NS8000, Made in Japan, in 3U (85–89.9 g) or 2U (90–94.9 g). The balance should feel top-light, so a clearly head-heavy frame is suspect. From the 2005 forum comparison: the four grommets beside the T-joint should have rounded edges, and the butt cap should not carry a rectangular engraving above the logo. Codes on genuine shafts and cones are laser-engraved, but that fake copied engraved serials too, so treat the serial as one check among several. A hologram sticker, if present, should resist peeling. Ask for clear photos of the joint, the butt cap and the whole frame.
The NS8000’s documented history runs from Chen Hong’s 2005 All England to Lee Chong Wei’s racquet at the 2006 Yonex Open Japan. Buy it for that or as a player’s frame, and treat any claim that a particular frame was match-used as unproven without documentation. Choose the finish you prefer, since Yonex’s specifications for Yellow/Red and Spark Gold match. Unused frames are old stock from before 2013, so inspect the head and joint closely, and given the early counterfeits, insist on photos of the grommets at the joint and the butt cap.
Verified prices last updated Sep 2026. All data based on tracked secondary market transactions.