The Abu Garcia Revo S Gen 4
is unmistakable with its signature black and white paintjob. It retails for $130 and is without a doubt worth every penny. This iconic reel finally comes in more than one gear ratio as well. A 6.6:1 (27IPT) and a 7.3:1 (30IPT) is offered. It weighs 8 ounces and contains 9 total ball bearings: 8 stainless steel and one roller which is all you really need in a baitcaster to have good results. It also comes with a very good drag system, carbon fiber disks and a stopping force of 20lbs which is plenty suitable for any style of bass fishing.
The braking system is strictly magnetic, and the dial is located on the outside. It has five total magnets under the side plate which can be tuned with 27 different adjustments. The gen 3 Revo S had its braking system located on the spool. Being as this is a more budget reel in the Revo lineup; I could imagine their change was partially due to wanting it to be more user friendly and easy to operate. The sideplate is held on by a lever on the bottom of the reel and is labeled with “open.” Simply flip the switch and it will fall straight off. Be careful though, as I have mentioned with other reels, it does not have a mechanism to hold the sideplate so be prepared in the event that it falls. Being as though the adjustments are now on the outside, nobody realistically has a need to open the sideplate in an area where they can lose it forever either.
How does the Revo S perform? It is honestly amazing for the price and could almost be sold at a higher MSRP. I have not cleaned this reel within the two years of owning it and the bearings and gears are still as silent as can be. This equates to effortless casting all year long without any problems. I used my specific model for squarebill crankbaits and it no doubt has the performance to bomb a lure 150ft away from the boat and avoid backlash even on windy days. In my opinion, this reel and the Revo SX are near identical, really the only thing that separates them is how they look and a slight price difference. I would say if you wanted a big jump in performance over the Revo S, check out the Zata, it is by far the best reel I have owned for the price.
One very small issue came up with the Revo S which I have never experienced before and probably never will again. The thumb bar fell off of the reel while I was fishing and very easily could have fell into the water. Upon further inspection I discovered the plastic on the piece was indeed stripped out and the screw that held it on would not tighten enough to hold it. Odd considering I had never taken it off before nor should it be stripped from the factory.
BFA’s Score: 10/10. It is cheap enough to not break the bank and at the same time it will most likely never let you down.
Check out the Revo S here: https://amzn.to/3f1WvWH
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