The Franklin C45 Tempo is the widebody in Franklin's C45 line, and the first thing you'll notice is how light it swings. It's made for fast exchanges at the kitchen and a soft game, and if you want a control paddle you can take to any event, it's a good pick. It comes in 14mm and 16mm, and both are light. Only five paddles I've tested swing lighter than the 16mm, and the 14mm is one of them. There's also very little pop, the quick burst the ball gets off the face, so your dinks and resets stay low. It's approved by USA Pickleball and by UPA-A, the approval PPA and MLP pro events go by, and no other widebody with both has more control than the 16mm. That's the one I'd get, because the 14mm has less control and a smaller sweet spot. You do give some things up, though. The Tempo spins a lot less than the average widebody, and out of the box, it's less stable than most widebodies when you catch the ball off center. If you don't need UPA-A approval, I'd start with Pickleball Apes' Harmony V instead, a budget control widebody that beats the Tempo on control, spin and stability for $72 with code STSPICKLEBALL. The trade is a slightly heavier swing and more pop.
Franklin added the Tempo to the C45 line in June 2025, along with an elongated paddle called the Dynasty. Don't mix it up with the older FS Tour Tempo from 2023, which I compare it with further down. Inside, it's a polypropylene honeycomb core with a layer of foam, and the face is raw carbon with a peel-ply finish, the rough texture a fabric layer leaves when it's peeled off. The whole paddle is thermoformed, which means it's heat-molded as one piece. It was $230 at Franklin, Tennis Warehouse and Pickleball Warehouse when I checked on November 6 and 7, 2026, and $207 at Franklin with code STSPICKLEBALL. It comes with a 1 year warranty. Anything I say about how the Tempo plays is about the 16mm unless I name the 14mm.
Every version, side by side
| Out of 100 | C45 Tempo 16mm$206.99 with code · widebody | C45 Tempo 14mm$206.99 with code · widebody |
|---|---|---|
| 49DLeads by 6 | 43D | |
| 30F | 32F | |
| 49DLeads by 15 | 34F | |
| 83ALeads by 9 | 74B | |
| 81ALeads by 9 | 72B | |
| lower is quicker | 102.5 | 101.8 |
| higher is steadier | 6.57 | 6.18 |
Tempo 16mm
$206.99with code STSPICKLEBALL
list price $229.99Code STSPICKLEBALL takes 10% off. Enter it at checkout.
Tempo 14mm
$206.99with code STSPICKLEBALL
list price $229.99Code STSPICKLEBALL takes 10% off. Enter it at checkout.
Pros and cons
Pros
- It's light in your hands, so it's quick to get in front of the ball in fast exchanges at the kitchen.
- It's easy to keep your drops and dinks down, because the ball barely jumps off the face.
- You can take it to any event, since it carries both approvals.
Cons
- Its spin is low for a widebody, which hurts most if your game is built on heavy topspin.
- Off-center hits twist the face more than on most widebodies, so if you block a lot of hard drives and won't add weight, those blocks can wander.
- The handle is short, just over 5 inches, so it's tight if you hit a two-handed backhand.
Quick answers
Is the Franklin C45 Tempo worth it?
In 16mm, yes, if you want a light paddle built for touch that's legal at USA Pickleball and pro events alike. If USA Pickleball approval is all you need, the Harmony V gives you more control and spin for $135 less, so I'd start there.
Should I get the C45 Tempo 14mm or 16mm?
The 16mm. It's the better of the two on control, sweet spot and stability for the same price, and I go through why below.
What's the difference between the Franklin C45 Tempo and Dynasty?
They're the same build in two shapes. The Tempo is the widebody, made for touch, and the Dynasty is the elongated, with more reach and more power. I compare the two in 16mm further down.
Is Franklin a good pickleball paddle brand?
Franklin is a big name in pickleball, big enough to become the US Open's title sponsor in 2026. The company stands behind the Tempo with a 1 year warranty against defects like delamination, cracks and a separating edge guard, though not a slight rattle from small loose bits of glue inside. So the bigger question is whether the Tempo fits your game.
How I tested
Both thicknesses went through my full set of tests, and when I rank the Tempo against other widebodies, I'm counting the 44 that are still sold. My Stalker Pro 3S radar reads ball speed and RPM for power, pop and serve spin, and my Briffidi SW1 measures how heavy each paddle swings and how much its face twists on mishits. I score control and sweet spot from the same dink, drop and reset drills on the ball machine that every paddle goes through. I haven't made a video on the Tempo yet, so what I say about how it plays comes from those tests.
A light swing, with a trade on mishits
The light swing is the main reason to look at the Tempo. You'd notice it most when the ball is flying back and forth at the kitchen, where a light paddle gets into position sooner and takes less effort to redirect the ball. Its swing weight, which is how heavy a paddle feels as you swing it, is lower than the average widebody's, and on my list of the best control paddles, it's the lightest swing of the bunch.
Like most light paddles, it gives up some stability. When a hard drive hits away from the middle, the face rotates more than you'd like and the ball doesn't go quite where you pointed it. That comes from its twist weight, which is how well a paddle resists twisting on mishits, and the Tempo's is lower than most widebodies'. The sweet spot is about average for a widebody, so it's not a small target, but the low twist weight shows on the hits outside it.
If you want it more stable, the usual place to add weight on this shape is the sides, around 3 and 9 o'clock. Weight there raises the twist weight, so the face holds better on mishits, but it raises the swing weight too. So you'd be trading back some of the quickness you bought it for.
How it feels in your hand next to other widebodies you can buy
Quick in your hands, a little less steady when you miss the middle
How heavy the paddle feels when you swing it. Lower means faster hands.
Only five widebodies you can buy swing lighter.
How well the paddle resists turning in your hand when you hit off center. Higher means steadier.
Less steady than most widebodies.
How its sweet spot stacks up against other widebodies you can buy
An average-size sweet spot for a widebody
Both rings are sized to their score.
Made for dinks and resets
On dinks and resets, the ball comes off the Tempo slow and stays low, so it doesn't jump up where your opponent can attack it. That's because there's very little pop behind it, and only two widebodies have less. Control is a bit better than the average widebody's too, so your drops and resets have a little more margin.
You give up pace to get that. Power is a good bit less than the average widebody's, and with so little pop, short punches at the kitchen don't come off with much on them. So the light swing helps you when they speed one up at you, but your own speed-ups won't have much pace behind them.
Spin is the weak spot
How its spin stacks up against other widebodies you can buy
Less spin than most widebodies, 63 RPM below the average
The top three for spin
- 1Honolulu J3CR Crystal Blue2,436
- 211SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean 22,37561 RPM behind
- 3RPM Q2 Widebody2,36967 RPM behind
- 38Franklin C45 Tempo2,210226 RPM behind
Your drives won't dip as sharply and your rolls won't curl as much with the Tempo, because its spin is a lot lower than the average widebody's. And I'd expect it to drop from there, since the face is raw carbon, which wears down as you play. In my wear tests, raw carbon faces gave up 14 to 20% of their spin.
Why I'd get the 16mm
The two thicknesses cost the same and swing about the same, so the choice comes down to how they play, and the 16mm wins. The 16mm beats the 14mm by a bit on control, power and sweet spot, and it's more stable when you miss the middle. Franklin says the 14mm is for "pop and feel," but its pop is about the same as the 16mm's. The 14mm is also one of the least stable widebodies. There's nothing the 14mm does better, so I'd skip it.
The other C45s, and the old FS Tour Tempo
The Tempo, the Dynasty and the C45 Hybrid, the paddle that started the line, all cost the same, so it comes down to shape. The Dynasty is the elongated version, and in 16mm it hits harder with a lot more pop. The cost is touch. You give up a lot of control and sweet spot, and it swings a lot heavier and spins a lot less too. Its 5.6 inch handle is longer, which gives you more room for a two-handed backhand. If you want reach and power from a C45, I'd take the Dynasty, and for the soft game, I'd take the Tempo.
The C45 Hybrid has the longest handle of the three at 5.7 inches, and that's the main reason to choose it over the Tempo. Next to the Tempo 16mm, it gives up a good bit of control, a lot of sweet spot and a bit of power, and it swings a bit heavier. And no hybrid has a lower twist weight, so it's a lot less stable. If you've seen Anna Leigh Waters' signature Aurelius, that's the Tempo's shape with a thinner grip, but it isn't in my numbers yet.
Then there's the FS Tour Tempo, the widebody Franklin made in 2023, and that one was heavy and stable. Next to the old 16mm, the C45 Tempo 16mm swings a lot lighter and hits a lot harder, with a good bit more pop and about the same control. It's a lot less stable on mishits, though, so if you loved how solid the FS Tour Tempo was, the C45 Tempo plays like a different paddle. There's also a lighter FS Tour Featherweight Tempo, which has the lightest swing of any paddle I've tested, but almost no power. When I checked on October 14, 2026, Franklin had the regular FS Tour Tempo sold out in both thicknesses, with no restock date.
What owners are saying
When I checked in early November 2026, nobody had left an owner review of the C45 Tempo yet at Franklin, Tennis Warehouse, Pickleball Warehouse, JustPaddles or Pickleball Central, and I couldn't find a Tempo listing on Amazon. The only player report I found was a YouTube comment from someone who demoed the 16mm. They called it "lightning fast," and since they don't hit two-handed backhands, the short handle was fine for them. That's one person on a demo, so I wouldn't lean on it, but it matches what the numbers say about the swing and the handle.
The Harmony V beats it on paper for $135 less
The Harmony V is Pickleball Apes' 16.5mm widebody from 2025, and on my best control list, it's the one I'd get on a tight budget. Next to the Tempo, it gives you more control and more spin, plus a bit bigger sweet spot, and power is about the same. It's also much more stable. Only four widebodies have a higher twist weight, so your blocks don't wander as much. Its 5.5 inch handle is longer than the Tempo's too, which helps if you hit two-handed backhands.
The Harmony V does give up a few things. It swings a bit heavier, so it isn't quite as quick in your hands, and it has a good bit more pop, so your dinks come off the face faster, though its pop is still low for a widebody. The big difference is approval. USA Pickleball approves it, but it isn't on the UPA-A list, so you can't use it at PPA or MLP pro events. Most local leagues and clubs accept either approval, so that only matters if you play pro events. Pickleball Apes still had it on its site when I checked on November 7, 2026, and it's $72 with code STSPICKLEBALL. Unless you need UPA-A approval, the Harmony V is the better buy for a control player.
Other paddles to look at
Two paddles you might pick instead
How it stacks up against the Pegasus Jelly Bean and the Pegasus Power
A paddle only wins a score when it leads by 5 points or more.
C45 TempoWidebody · $206.99
Pegasus Jelly BeanWidebody · $89.99The C45 Tempo hits harder. The Pegasus Jelly Bean has more pop, spins more, has a bigger sweet spot and is more controllable. The Pegasus Jelly Bean costs about $117 less.
C45 TempoWidebody · $206.99
Pegasus PowerWidebody · $89.99The Pegasus Power hits harder, has more pop, spins more, has a bigger sweet spot and is more controllable. The Pegasus Power costs about $117 less.
All prices and stock were checked November 7, 2026. All three are approved by USA Pickleball but not UPA-A, so like the Harmony V, they're fine for most leagues and clubs but not for PPA or MLP pro events.
11SIX24 Pegasus Jelly Bean: more control and a longer handle for $117 less
If you want the most control you can get under $100 and room for two hands, this is the one. The original Pegasus Jelly Bean, not the newer Jelly Bean 2, is 11SIX24's 16mm widebody, and its 5.75 inch handle is long for a widebody, so two-handed backhands are easy. It's ahead of the Tempo on control and sweet spot by a good margin, its spin is close to even, and it's more stable on mishits. The price of all that is pop. It has a lot more, so the ball jumps off the face more on soft shots, and it also has a good bit less power and a bit heavier swing. You'll pay $90 with code STSPICKLEBALL.
11SIX24 Pegasus Power: a bigger sweet spot and more spin, with a heavier swing
For a widebody that forgives your mishits and spins more, look at the original 16mm Pegasus Power from 11SIX24, not the newer Pegasus Power 2. Its sweet spot is one of the biggest of any widebody, and next to the Tempo, it spins a lot more, has a bit more control and hits harder, about as hard as the average widebody. On mishits, it's more stable than most widebodies too. The trade is a lot more pop, which makes the soft game harder, and a heavier swing, so it won't feel as quick at the kitchen. The warranty is 180 days, half of Franklin's. 11SIX24 had it on sale with only the teal color in stock, and it's $90 with code STSPICKLEBALL.
Volair Mach 2 14mm: the same light swing for $144 less
If the light swing is what sold you on the Tempo, the Mach 2 in 14mm gives you that for a lot less. It's Volair's 2023 widebody, not the Mach 2 Forza, and its swing weight is within a hair of the Tempo's, with control, sweet spot and spin close to even too. What you give up is power. It has almost none, the second lowest of any widebody, and it has a lot more pop than the Tempo, so it's harder to keep your dinks low. Volair had the 14mm in stock and the 16mm sold out, and it's $63 with code STSPICKLEBALL.
My call
The C45 Tempo 16mm is a really light widebody with very little pop, and it has the most control of any widebody with both approvals. So if you play a soft game, you like fast exchanges at the net and you want one paddle that's legal at every event, I'd get the Tempo in 16mm, as long as you don't hit a two-handed backhand. Skip the 14mm.
If USA Pickleball approval covers the events you play, I'd start with a different paddle. For most control players, that's the Harmony V, at $72 with code STSPICKLEBALL. It's a bit slower in your hands and has more pop, but it's more forgiving and spins more. If it's the Tempo's light swing you want, the Volair Mach 2 14mm swings about the same for $63 with code STSPICKLEBALL, as long as you don't need power. And if you'd rather have a long handle and more control than the Tempo, the original Pegasus Jelly Bean costs $90 with code STSPICKLEBALL, though it has a lot more pop.
Testing details
- Tested, Tempo 16mm
- May 9, 2026
- Tested, Tempo 14mm
- May 9, 2026
- Power and pop
- 20 full serves for power and 20 punch volleys for pop, every ball speed read on a Stalker radar gun.
- Spin
- 20 more serves on the radar. I drop the outliers and average the rest.
- Swing and twist weight
- Measured on a Briffidi SW1 swing weight machine.
- Sweet spot and control
- The same dinks, drops, resets and drives off a Titan ONE ball machine, for every paddle.
- The scores
- Out of 100, with the same tests for every paddle. The top paddles I've tested score 100.
- Published
- Updated
- Scores from
- My database, updated November 8, 2026. How I test
No. 1
No. 3
