Looks good, feels good, sounds good. This is the largest reel in Nautilus' FWX range, the lightest and least expensive range in the Nautilus line-up. At a little over 4oz this is a light reel, but it feels substantial and well made.

All the surfaces are smooth where they should be smooth, edges are rounded and nicely finished – but that's me fondling and admiring parts of the reel I may never touch once I load it with backing. I will use, ie touch, the handle and the drag knob every time I go fishing. The handle is simple, turned from black engineering plastic, big enough for me to get a firm grip. On the rear, the knurled drag knob is big enough, a thumb and forefinger grip it well, and the surface has no burrs or sharp edges.

Turn the spool and it clicks on the way out, purrs on the way in. I can feel the drag resist as I turn the spool, take the setting right down and the spool almost spins free – that clicking and purring comes from two sprung plastic pins on the spool meeting holes on the drag housing, which acts as a gentle check. Turn up the drag and the adjustment is in clicked increments which gently add a little resistance: and I mean gently, the difference as I add one more click is slight. The total drag range is from just about free spinning to very stiff – far more than I would ever use on a freshwater fish in the UK and likely more than I would use on a saltwater fish with a #7 or #8 line. The ‘useful drag range’ is wide and can be set precisely. The drag remains smooth throughout the range.

Clearly the drag mechanish is a unit separate from the body of the reel, ie it’s red and is attached to the reel by three bolts. A fairly compact drag, which keeps the weight down, but of course means small drag area. In my mind and fishing a #7/8 reel is mainly for trout, sea trout and light saltwater fishing and that drag looks and feels up to the job. The drag itself is sealed so nothing can mess that up, grit might manage to get into the spool release and maybe (but it would have to work hard) between the spool and body onto the spindle.

The spool release mechanism is familiar, a sliding tab in the spool engages with a notch on the end of the spindle and locks the spool in place: releases easily and the spool pushes and locks back in place neatly. That end-tab means of linking spool to body often opens the way to play between the spool and body, not this time, the spool fits snug and tight. The half-cage body seems to be rigid, I could not bend it and cause the spool to rub against the body.

Nautilus describe their spool as having a “Giga arbor design that promotes faster line pick up and backing drying” meaning they've cut away a lot of the metal from the arbour of the spool and machined channels on the surface of the arbour. Hmm ... maybe I’m nit-picking but when trout fishing my backing rarely gets wet and this spool has an enlarged arbour, but not a very large arbour, so line pick-up is good but not extraordinary.

On the rear of the spool Nautilus has etched a couple of small portions of metal matt white so I can write my line specs, maybe a contact phone number or post code, on the spool – I like that a lot.

Overall: an excellent reel. This looks and feels light a quality reel, made in the USA, the design is fairly conservative, the build is solid and the attention to detail and finish is first class.