Compound Bow Comparator

The Mach 33 DS is the DS line's all-arounder and, on the award sheets, its champion - Outdoor Life's 2025 Editor's Choice and Field & Stream's Best Bow of the Year, built on a 33-inch, USA-made Dead Frequency Carbon chassis that weighs just 3.9 pounds. It earns those honors the same way in every shooter's hands: a draw smoother than the compact 30 DS, a shot that is quiet and dead in the hand, and above all a pin that parks and stays, steady enough that shooters run competition indoor 300 rounds with their hunting rig. For 2026 the new FDS cam lifts the rating to 342 fps and firms up the valley without giving back the smooth draw, all at a $1,999 launch MSRP. The trade-offs are small and honest - a wide fixed grip that some shooters swap a plate onto, and a featherweight mass that likes a stabilizer to settle it in wind. In my hands it never once left me wishing for the extra half-pound of an aluminum riser - it simply does more jobs well than a bow this light has any right to. It is an excellent bow for the hunter who wants one carbon rig that hunts hard and shoots targets, particularly strong for the treestand-to-3D crossover shooter. Buyers who want maximum maneuverability should look at the compact Mach 30 DS, and those who would rather keep $700 for near-identical specs should weigh the Mathews Lift 33. Read full review...

The Mathews Lift 33 is the do-everything member of the 2024 Lift platform - a 33-inch aluminum flagship that weighs like carbon, holds like a target bow, and shoots quieter than anything in its class. At $1,429 launch MSRP it sits at the top of this three-bow field and earns the spot with a real 310 fps at 400 grains, a 73-dB shot that won independent decibel-meter tests outright, and a long riser that plants the pin and does the aiming for you. The new SwitchWeight-X cam draws smoother than the shorter Lift 29.5 and posts genuine speed against a rock-firm wall, and the RPD limbs leave the riser dead the instant the arrow is gone. The one honest asterisk - the early limb-crack episode - is answered by an indefinite, transferable pass-down warranty that replaces the full limb set fast and follows the bow to a second owner, which is why this model is as safe to buy used as new. In my experience it is the kind of bow that quietly makes you a steadier shot without asking you to work for it, and the 80-pound module option gives bigger-game hunters real headroom. An excellent bow for the accuracy-minded hunter who shoots open country and a little 3D and wants silence, light weight, and speed in one long-riser rig. Buyers who want maximum brace-height forgiveness at a lower price should also look at the PSE EVO NXT 33, and those who want the latest press-free tuning and updated limbs should price its successor, the 2025 Lift X 33. Read full review...

At a $1,299 launch MSRP, the Bowtech SR350 is a flagship-tier hunting bow that delivers genuine 350-class speed without the punishing draw that usually comes with it - 342 fps with a light arrow in Performance, 300 fps with a real hunting shaft, and a dead-in-hand 96.9 dB shot that belies the velocity. Its two best tricks are the FlipDisc, which turns one bow into a smooth 85% hunter or a faster speed rig with a flip of a module, and DeadLock, which lets you tune the cams square with an Allen key at your own bench. In my experience the combination is what makes it stick: a fast bow you can actually live with and actually tune yourself is rarer than the spec sheet suggests. The narrow Clutch grip and the late Performance-mode hump are real characteristics to know going in, but both have easy answers - feel the grip first, and shoot Comfort mode or back the weight down if you want all-day ease. It is an excellent bow for the do-it-yourself hunter who wants top-end speed and a forgiving 33-inch platform in the same package, and it is particularly strong for the shorter-draw shooter that most speed bows leave out. Buyers who would trade a few fps for a more forgiving brace height should also look at the PSE EVO NXT 33, and those who prioritize the quietest possible shot should consider the Mathews V3X 33. Read full review...

• Aims like a target bow - the pin parks and stays, steady enough that shooters run indoor Vegas 300 rounds with their full hunting rig on it
• Smoother draw than the compact 30 DS - the cam rolls over cleanly with none of the faint hump you feel on the shorter bow
• Very quiet with a dead-in-the-hand shot, unusually settled for a sub-4-pound carbon bow
• Remarkably light for a 33-inch carbon at 3.9 pounds - a longer, steadier platform that still carries barely heavier than the compact 30 DS
• USA-made Dead Frequency Carbon riser - stiff, temperature-neutral, and among the very few carbon bows built in the United States

• Won the decibel-meter shootout on multiple independent tests, reading about 73 dB three feet from the shot - quieter than the V3X and Halon X and about as dead-in-hand as a hunting bow gets
• Drives real hunting speed off an easy draw - 310 fps with a 400-grain arrow and 292 fps with a 450 at 70 lb / 30 inch, from one of the smoothest speed-bow draws Mathews has built
• Genuinely light for aluminum at roughly 4.3 pounds, undercutting many carbon rivals while giving the long riser more mass to plant the pin
• The 33-inch riser runs nearly the full axle-to-axle length, so the bow holds like a target rig - the pin floats and settles instead of chasing the target
• SwitchWeight-X modules set draw length, poundage, and let-off together, so one bow spans 55 to 80 pounds and shifts fit season to season without a re-limb

• Press-free DeadLock tuning - a turn of an Allen key drives each cam left or right to chase out a paper tear, no bow press needed
• FlipDisc gives two bows in one - flip the module to a smooth 85% hunting draw or a faster Performance draw on the same chassis
• Real-world speed lands close to the 350 IBO rating - 342 fps with a 350-grain arrow in Performance, 300 fps with a 400-grain hunting shaft
• Dead in the hand for a speed bow - repositioned Orbit dampeners pull noise and vibration down to a level most flagships envy
• Clutch grip is thin, flat-backed and modular, with an alignment channel that makes hand placement repeatable shot to shot

• The stock grip runs wide and is not adjustable on PSE's hunting line - shooters who want a narrower or custom fit add an aftermarket plate such as UltraView's or Nock-On's, a quick bolt-on fix
• At 3.9 pounds the light frame can get nudged by wind and feels less planted than a heavy aluminum bow - a front stabilizer with a little mass steadies it

• Some early-2024 RPD limbs splintered - Mathews' indefinite pass-down warranty covers the limbs even on a used bow, swaps the full set in about a week or two, and reports the fault resolved on current production, so new or used is protected
• The valley is a touch short and the cam wants to keep going, so pull-through shooters staying leaned into the firm wall are rewarded - anyone who likes a long, relaxed valley may want to shoot one first
• The stock Engage grip is rounded and full for a performance bow - some owners swap to Mathews side plates or an aftermarket grip, an easy, inexpensive change if the factory shape does not suit your hand

• In Performance mode the draw builds a noticeable hump rolling into the valley - shooters who want all-day smoothness can flip to Comfort or drop a few pounds of peak weight
• The Clutch grip is narrow - most owners like it, but bigger-handed shooters used to a fuller grip may want to feel it first; the modular angles and aftermarket grips solve it