The Shinwoo brand comes from Korea, and specializes in great throws at a low price. Saw the Zen4 on www.swyoyo.com when it was first released and was intrigued it looked like a fabulous player, when I saw it was available here at www.yoyoexpert.com for 45 USD I had to get one. To the best of my knowledge the zen4 has not been used in competion very much or at all, so I eagerly waited for it to arrive.
When it showed up, I looked at the packaging, it was in a seemingly oversized box all written in Korean. The box was sturdy card stock and was beautifully printed. I opened the top and found the shining red zen4 glistening in the clear pollycarbonate casing. the zen4 is available in violet, red, orange, and silver. I turned it around to see what was all included. I found 1 cotton string, a silicone o-ring, a blue rubber reversible response, and the zen4.
I tried out the stock setup, literally just taking it out of the packaging putting the loop on my finger and giving it a throw. The yoyo zoomed down the string and came to a strong sleep at the bottom with a bit of a wisper from the dry bearing. It was much lighter than I expected. I gave it a slight tug and it zapped itself back to my hand. I opened up the zen4 and took out one of the rubber responses and replaced it with the o-ring and flipped the other rubber over to see what kind of play I could get out of this puppy.
I threw a trapeze and went straight into a skin the gerbil. It felt smooth and light on the string with an occasional nibble on the string (this went away later after some play) it felt much more nimble than the previous zen2 I was throwing. The spin time was a little shorter than the zen2 but the feel of the throw was delightful.
Overall this yoyo can be made to grow with you as you play and at $45 it’s not to harsh on your wallet.
Today I use a single drop of yoyojam lube in my bearing, two silicone o-rings, and a yoyoexpert twisted polyester string. It’s one of my all time favorite throws and it is always near.