Bridgestone Tour B XS vs Titleist Pro V1

A spin-first ball that concedes a little raw speed — Golf Monthly noted slightly slower ball speeds than some competitors and a touch less mid-iron carry (a 7-iron at 173 vs 175 yards). The 2026 VeloSurge core narrows the gap, though: Golf Monthly measured the XS matching Pro V1 carry off the tee (299 vs 298 yards) despite the slower ball speed.

A neutral, mid-spin ball rather than a bomber — it settled for a bronze off the tee in Today’s Golfer’s 62-ball robot test — but the 2025 high-gradient core added roughly 3–4 yards of carry and about 300 rpm less driver spin over the 2023 ball. The faster, more proven distance profile of the two.

The REACTIV iQ cover’s steep ‘spin slope’ — low-spin off the tee, high-spin into the greens — pays off with the scoring clubs: Golf Monthly found the descent angle and spin into the greens made it ‘superb for holding firm targets.’

The reformulated high-gradient core trims long-game spin while adding the scoring spin that matters — testers measured more iron and wedge spin than the 2023 ball. A dead heat at 9.3: two elite approach-spin profiles arrived at from opposite directions.

The headline category and the reason this ball exists. The REACTIV iQ urethane grabs the grooves on touch shots: MyGolfSpy’s 2025 robot test flagged it as one of the highest in its 35-yard wedge test, Today’s Golfer measured roughly 6,000 rpm of short-game spin (among the highest it recorded), and National Club Golfer logged wedge numbers north of 8,000 rpm.

Strong, repeatable bite — past 5,700 rpm on a 40-yard pitch — but not the spin king. Its own reviewers concede the point: LaunchPoint Golf lists the Tour B XS among the balls that out-spin it around the greens, alongside the TP5 and Chrome Tour X.

By the numbers the softer ball — at roughly 85 compression it’s one of the softest ‘tour’ balls in the game. National Club Golfer put it bluntly: ‘this ball is soft, there is no doubt about that’ — soft but communicative off the wedge and putter, not mushy.

Firmer on the gauge (~92.5 measured) yet the stronger feel consensus — reviewers rate it among the best-feeling balls in golf, with a pure roll on the greens, and Today’s Golfer’s tester couldn’t recall a better-feeling ball in years. Softness is the XS’s edge; the quality of the feedback is the Pro V1’s.

A mid-to-high, high-spin window — higher-launching and notably spinnier than the firmer Tour B X. The 2026 VeloSurge core is a real step forward in the breeze — one tester said the new XS ‘just doesn’t care that the wind exists’ — but it remains the higher-flying flight of the two.

The penetrating, neutral mid flight the category is measured against — low long-game spin, a flatter window that bores through wind, and a silver medal for launch-angle consistency in Today’s Golfer’s 62-ball robot test.

The most-cited weakness. The soft, grippy urethane picks up wear: Today’s Golfer’s tester reported a ball that scuffed after only a couple of holes and deteriorated enough to be retired early in the round — the price of a cover this soft.

The cast urethane elastomer cover is durable and scuff-resistant — typical Titleist tour-ball longevity over a full round, and a clear practical edge over the XS if you hate swapping balls mid-round.

Both sit at the same $54.99 a dozen, so this is a nominal one-tenth edge — helped at the margin by periodic buy-more retail promotions and cheap prior-generation Tour B closeouts. Neither has the value cushion of a Kirkland or Maxfli Tour.

At $54.99 a dozen it’s among the most expensive balls on the market, just as value urethane — the Kirkland Signature at roughly $17.50, the Maxfli Tour at $39.99 or less — has closed much of the gap for golfers who don’t need every increment of consistency.