Mathews Lift X 29.5 Review
from $979
Pros
- Nearly carbon-bow speed at an aluminum price - up to 348 fps IBO from a 3.99-lb frame that shooters clocked in the low-330s with real hunting arrows
- Among the lightest hunting bows made - 3.99 lbs bare makes it effortless to carry on a pack-in and quick to raise on a moving animal
- Press-free tuning - Limb Shift Technology corrects a paper tear with an Allen key and no bow press, tuned to a bullet hole in minutes
- Dead-quiet shot - 79 dB with no hand shock or vibration, the kind of silence a treestand deer never reacts to
Cons
- Short valley by design - the bow wants you engaged and creeps forward if you relax at full draw; shooters who like a forgiving valley should pull one first
- Compact frame asks for clean form - the short 29.5-inch axle length is quick and maneuverable but less self-correcting than a long riser; buyers who want maximum forgiveness should consider the longer Lift X 33
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Editors' review
Speed usually costs weight or money, and the Lift X 29.5 refuses both. Mathews' compact 2025 hunter pushes up to 348 fps IBO while tipping the scale at just 3.99 lbs bare - a number that puts it among the lightest bows made of any material - and it does it on an aluminum riser at $1,359 rather than a four-figure carbon premium. The headline technology is the same one that defines the whole Lift X line: Limb Shift Technology (LST), which lets you correct a bad arrow flight by nudging a limb sideways with an Allen key, no bow press required. What separates this bow from its longer sibling is the mission. Where the Lift X 33 is the steady, do-everything frame, the 29.5 is the short, fast, get-into-tight-places hunter - the one you want in a cramped ground blind, threading a shot through timber, or strapped to a pack frame six miles from the truck. It is the compact flagship for the hunter who counts ounces and inches.
Finish
The Lift X 29.5 comes in eleven finishes, an unusually deep menu for a bow this focused. Solid Black, Earth, and Shale suit the minimalist who wants the riser to vanish, while the pattern options span the major camo systems a hunter might already be invested in: Green Ambush, Mossy Oak Bottomland, First Lite Specter, KUIU Verde, and Sitka OptiFade Subalpine, along with fade treatments that shade the riser from one tone to another. Mathews' hard coating has proven durable through recent seasons, shrugging off the abrasion a compact bow sees when it is constantly in and out of a blind or lashed to gear. The breadth matters more on a pack-in bow than most, because a hunter matching an existing camo kit does not have to settle. For the shooter who prefers understatement, the solid colors keep the build clean and quiet-looking.Riser
The riser is machined aluminum in a short 29.5-inch axle-to-axle layout (ATA - the distance between the two cam axles, and the number that most defines how a bow handles). Short means nimble: the 29.5 clears the crowded lanes of a ground blind and swings up fast on a stand, where a long bow would clip a shooting window. Mathews kept the bow astonishingly light here - 3.99 lbs bare - without letting it feel whippy, thanks to bridged construction that concentrates the little mass there is where it damps the shot. The riser carries the Bridge-Lock integration system, so a compatible sight beds into the top of the riser and the rest mounts to the rear shelf, keeping the front end tidy and the balance centered. Accessories are meant to run integrated rather than bolted on, and the tight-fitting quiver and Bridge-Lock stabilizer sit flush. In my experience a bow this short and light can feel twitchy on the aim, but the mass distribution here keeps it more settled than the spec sheet suggests.Grip
The Lift X 29.5 wears the new BOND grip system, and it is the answer to a complaint Mathews heard for years. Earlier hunters shipped with a single fixed grip that some shooters torqued, twisting the riser at the shot and throwing arrows off; BOND replaces it with three interchangeable profiles - the standard Engage, a fuller Contour, and an angled Tapered - so a shooter dials the shape to their hand. The construction blends firmer polymer flanks with a textured rubber center strip, and the texture does real work: it shows you exactly where your palm sits and helps you return to the same reference every draw. Shooters who fought the old grip have found the new system lets the bow sit in the hand without wanting to roll, which on a short, fast bow is worth more than it sounds - a compact frame punishes torque faster than a long one. If the standard shape is not your hand, swapping to the Contour or Tapered is a two-minute change. It is the single biggest quality-of-life upgrade on the bow that has nothing to do with speed.Limbs
The Lift X runs Mathews' ARC7 limbs, built from a new material and a multi-step process the company positions as its most durable and efficient yet. That is more than marketing on this platform: a small number of 2024 Lifts developed limb cracks, and ARC7 is the engineered response, so the reliability question that trailed last year's bow should be settled. The limbs are shortened relative to the prior generation, which is part of how the 29.5 wrings out its speed - a stiffer, more efficient limb driving the SwitchWeight X cam. Peak weight is set by the module, not by cranking the limb bolts through a wide range, so one limb set spans 55 to 80 lbs. The limb is also the tuning element: LST shifts it laterally under the cap to square up cam lean, and hash marks under that cap mark the same increments an old shim would have, so a setting can be recorded and repeated. It is a design that makes the most-stressed part of the bow earn its keep twice - energy storage and tune adjustment in one piece.Eccentric System
The SwitchWeight X cam is where the 29.5's personality lives, because this is the fast one of the pair. IBO speed (the standardized chronograph rating taken at 30 inches, 70 lbs, and a light arrow) is up to 348 fps - five faster than the longer Lift X 33 and genuinely quick for an aluminum hunter. Real chronograph numbers back it up: shooters recorded roughly 330 fps with a 350-grain arrow at a 30-inch draw and 70 lbs, and around 312 fps with the same arrow at 28 inches, dropping into the high 270s to mid 290s with a heavy 450-grain hunting shaft - hard-hitting energy in a compact package. Draw length adjusts from 24.5 to 30 inches in half-inch steps via the module, and let-off (the share of peak weight your holding weight falls to at full draw) is selectable at 80 or 85 percent. Because peak weight is module-set, one physical bow becomes any poundage in the 55-to-80-lb range with an inexpensive part. Worth noting: IBO is measured with a light arrow under ideal conditions, so real hunting-weight arrows at 70 lbs read a bit under the 348 rating - exactly what the chronograph data shows. Speed cadence runs roughly 8 to 10 fps per inch of draw length, so shorter-draw shooters give up some velocity but keep the full feature set.Draw Cycle/Shootability
The shortened limbs that make the 29.5 fast also give it a touch more attitude on the draw than last year's bow, but it is a well-mannered kind of firm. The pull is smooth and consistent front to back, rolling over cleanly into the valley without a harsh hump or a sudden dump. What I noticed most is that the valley is short - a Mathews signature - and on a bow this quick that means you have to stay on it; relax at full draw and it will start to creep forward. That keeps a disciplined shooter honest, but a hunter who likes to settle into a long, forgiving valley should pull one before buying. The back wall is very solid, no sponginess, a definite stop to hold against. Then comes the payoff: the shot is dead. At 79 dB with essentially no hand shock or vibration, the 29.5 is as quiet as Mathews' longer bows, and on a compact hunter that silence is the whole point - the arrow is gone before the bow finishes settling. For a short, fast, light bow it shoots far calmer than its dimensions would predict.Usage Scenarios
The Lift X 29.5 is built for the hunter who works in tight spaces and covers ground on foot. Picture a ground-blind whitetail setup where a long riser would knock the window on the draw - the compact 29.5-inch frame swings up clean and quiet. Or a western elk hunter packing miles into a wilderness unit, for whom 3.99 lbs on the bow means real weight saved across a season of dark-timber climbs. It excels in a treestand where a fast raise and a silent shot matter more than an extra inch of forgiveness, and it slips through timber and brush on a spot-and-stalk without catching. Short-draw shooters are well served by the 24.5-inch bottom end, and the poundage range reaches a serious 80 lbs for the heaviest-hitting setups. Where it asks more of the shooter is precision at long target distances - the short frame and short valley reward clean form and are less self-correcting than a long-riser bow, so a hunter whose priority is a forgiving 60-yard hold should weigh the longer Lift X 33 instead. For close-to-mid-range hunting in demanding terrain, this is the tool.Versions
Mathews sells the Lift X 29.5 as one model configured to order rather than as stacked packages. Launch MSRP is $1,359, and every finish lists at that price - the premium camo and partner patterns (First Lite, KUIU, Sitka OptiFade) cost no more than the solid finishes. Each bow is built around the buyer's three specifications: draw weight (55, 60, 65, 70, 75, or 80 lbs), draw length (24.5 to 30 inches in half-inch steps), and let-off (80 or 85 percent), all set by the SwitchWeight X module rather than by separate SKUs. The interchangeable BOND grips (Engage, Contour, Tapered) are sold as an accessory system for fine-tuning hand fit. A buyer who wants the same Limb Shift tuning and quiet shot in a longer, steadier, more forgiving frame - at the cost of some speed and maneuverability - should look at the Lift X 33, the 33-inch member of the same family, which lists for $110 more.Mathews Lift X 29.5 vs Hoyt Ventum Pro 30, PSE Mach 30 DS
| Bow | Mathews Lift X 29.5 | Hoyt Ventum Pro 30 | PSE Mach 30 DS |
| Version | 2025 | 2022 | 2026 FDS |
| Picture |  |  |  |
| Brace Height | 6 " | 6 " | 5.875 " |
| AtA Length | 29.5 " | 30 " | 30 " |
| Draw Length | 24.5 " - 30 " | 25 " - 30 " | 24.5 " - 30 " |
| Draw Weight | 45 lbs - 80 lbs | 40 lbs - 80 lbs | 40 lbs - 80 lbs |
| IBO Speed | 348 fps | 342 fps | 348 fps |
| Weight | 3.99 lbs | 4.45 lbs | 3.6 lbs |
| Let-Off | 80% or 85% | 80% or 85% | 70% - 85% |
| Where to buy Best prices online | |||
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In the compact-hunter class, the Lift X 29.5 lands between an aluminum value pick and a carbon step-up. The Hoyt Ventum Pro 30 is the closest cross-shop: a 30-inch aluminum flagship with the same 6-inch brace height, a similar 342 fps IBO, and a $1,249 launch MSRP that undercuts the Mathews by a bit, with a noticeably more forgiving, relaxed valley that some shooters prefer over the Mathews' short one. The PSE Mach 30 DS goes the other direction - a carbon-riser 30-inch bow matching the Lift X's 348 IBO and shaving weight to 3.6 lbs, but at a $1,799 launch price that is a clear premium tier. The Mathews Lift X 29.5 sits in the middle on both price and material: aluminum like the Hoyt Ventum Pro 30, as fast as the carbon PSE Mach 30 DS, lighter than the Hoyt, and cheaper than the PSE, with press-free Limb Shift tuning as its signature trick. The decision comes down to priorities: the Hoyt Ventum Pro 30 for the shooter who wants a forgiving valley and the lowest price, the PSE Mach 30 DS for the buyer chasing a carbon riser and the lightest possible build, and the Lift X 29.5 for the hunter who wants aluminum-priced speed with the easiest tuning of the three.