One Drop has been on fire lately with their Side Effect tech enabled yo-yos. When the Side Effect axle system was introduced it was left for their much more expensive designs, leaving their lower cost yo-yos to use a tapped axle system. After perfecting the machining and construction of the Side Effects the company was able to finally give their customers something that they had been requesting, lower cost Side Effect yo-yos. Today it is not uncommon to find one with a sub $60 price tag. Now they are back with a new design, giving their customers something they have requested in the past as well… a heavier base weight, Side Effect yo-yo. Usually their Side Effect yo-yos start with a lighter base weight (the weight without stock Side Effects) and then it is up to the end user to customize the yo-yo to make it heavy enough to hit their preferences. The problem is that many criticized this because it forced the weight increases to the center of the yo-yo when they wanted more weight at the rims. Enter their latest design, the DownBeat. A yo-yo that starts out with the heaviest base weight that One Drop offers. Let’s get to work and see what it has to offer.
1 Like
Thank you for another great review. It was very helpful to get your perspective on the weight and impact of different side effects
French
Thanks for the review. Can always rely on you to give us the full lowdown on all these new throws. Really enjoyed reading this, it’s made be even more excited to aquire a Downbeat. 
I really enjoy my Downbeat and right now I’m actually playing it with the Anti Yo side effects. Any chance you know the weight of those things and/or how much they make the Downbeat weigh? I’ll have a chance to weight it tonight I just don’t have access to a scale right now.
I agree with your review. While I wasn’t as deterred as you because of the weight I was questioning the point/relevance of this yoyo. It looked fun, it appeared creative. That being said I was desiring one more out of curiosity and as a completist collector than I was actually desiring one for playing. It’s a very nice, very fun throw. I’m enjoying the heck out of mine and it’s a very welcome addition to the One Drop lineup.
The Anti-Yo Side Effects add an extra 2.2 grams bringing the DownBeat up to 72.2 grams total. Here is a handy chart direct from One Drop with all the weights of their current Side Effects.
My son and I got to try one last night,neither of us felt that the Downbeat played heavy, it was surprisingly light on the string. However, take my comments with a grain of salt because I think the nickel plated flow is a perfect weight.
I only felt the weight after changing to heavier Side Effects or when I swapped out to a lighter yoyo, so your comments are not off base at all.
I just received my Green Onedrop Downbeat in the mail today. I was blown away by this throw… I usually throw a Onedrop format c, that weighs in at about 65g, the downbeat weighs a whopping 70g! Its unbelievable, especially at 70$.
I’m curious how you think the DownBeat compares to the Markmont Classic. They’re both the organic shape, and in your MMC review you called it “chilled out” with the brass side effects
Even with the brass, the MC is fast on the string. the DownBeat is an all out chilled yoyo, it wants to play relaxed while the MC wants to zoom on the string. Honestly it is hard to compare the two since they are built for two completely different purposes.
Here is the best way I can think of to describe the difference. It is like comparing a VW Beatle (DownBeat) to a Porsche 911 (MarkMont Classic). Both can do 65MPH but the VW feels more natural and at ease doing it while the Porsche feels a little constrained.
1 Like
Wait so it was designed to be a fun yoyo? If you need to buy a yoyo specifically for fun your not doing it right. Yoyoing should be inherently fun.
2 Likes
Thanks to the review I understood that the reason behind the ultralight side effects, this might be the longest spinning OD.
Necro! I know this yoyo is old news to most of you, but I missed the release of this during my fixed axle challenge and it wasn’t until just this week that I got the chance to play with a Downbeat extensively. First off, this thing is an absolute monster with stupidly long spin times. This is most evident with grind tricks, which you have days to complete with this thing.
The other area where this yoyo has been most blowing my mind, though, is the weight distribution. One Drop really put something special together here. As saintrobyn noted, this is a heavy yoyo, but the weight is distributed in a way that makes it feel much lighter, while giving it beastly spins. It doesn’t feel like a 70 gram yoyo at all. If I had to guess after throwing it for 5 minutes, I would have guessed it was 67 grams. The other thing this yoyo excels at is regens, as I tried to show in the snap start-regen I did in the short video. Again, the weight is distributed in such a way as to make this super stable and also great at looping over into regenerations, which is rare in a yoyo this wide – at least in my experience.
Awesome job on this One Drop!
1 Like
That watch check though :))
1 Like