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By Bat Digest
Updated November 17, 2022
In putting together data points on the 2016 Easton S500 and S500c we spent 2 hours in the cage with the BBCOR and Senior League Versions. The bats were hit among a half dozen different players and feedback was assembled. We also read a number of reviews online from sites we trust and consulted trusty YouTube for any additional information. Easton's site about the bat was also somewhat helpful in putting together our 2016 Easton S500 Review
We've spent a good two hours in the cage with Easton's 2016 Easton S500 and can readily report the bat performed to expectations---which weren't very high to begin with. The S500 is an inexpensive bat in the one-piece aluminum alloy range (7050 aircraft alloy) that a number of Walmart brand competitors imitate. The bat's play in the market is a name brand and sharp paint job with a cheap price point---that we can definitely confirm. It's hard to claim it's much different than any of the other 7050 budget single-piece aluminum on the market. We had a number of hand ringing experiences that were less than pleasant but expected from the traditional 7050 alloys. The barrel size, for that type of bat, wasn't terrible. Nothing in particular blew us out of the water when considering the bat's performance although we can say, for the price point, it is definitely a bat with brand recognition, a nice paint job and some good durability in a traditional 7050 aluminum aircraft alloy. The bat is hardly on anyone's best bat list---but the name brand and paint job make it one of the best selling bats in America.
We found Easton's 2016 S500C an interesting bat for sure. It's a light swinging hybrid bat (a composite handle and an aluminum barrel) made for the budget space. The bat uses the same aluminum alloy as the S500 which, at least compared to performance-based bats, lacks in performance through the entire length of the barrel. It also struggles to get to peak performance on lower impacts. However, on the bright side, the connection piece of the bat is the same CXN Easton uses on the MAKO brand of bats. And the composite handle is nothing to be disappointing in either. From a pure budget standpoint, we'd be very willing to recommend the Easton S500C for the youth barrel league in the drop 12. Brand new, last we checked, the bat was less than $80. And getting some hand sting dampening in a light swinging hybrid bat---despite it's barrels' lack of performance---for that price point makes it an interesting choice for sure.
The S500 is a simple single-piece aluminum bat made from 7050 aircraft aluminum. This is the same aluminum alloy used in several lower-end model bats that can be found for cheap prices just about anywhere. The handle feels thin compared to most other bats---a sort of softball bat quality to the stick which, we thought, added to the hand sting in a bad way. The barrel size is below average when compared to aluminum performance bats. But the paint job is nice.