Bridgestone E12 Contact vs Bridgestone E6 Golf Balls: Our Head-To-Head Verdict
These two offerings from Bridgestone both provide excellent value for money, but which one will compliment your game?
Bridgestone makes some of the best high-end balls on the market and the e12 Contact is solid, too. It comes with a lot of game-enhancement promises that make it sound cheap and all-encompassing - which may turn off more serious golfers.
For
- Solid feel
- Good distance
- Price feels just right
Against
- Better players may want to look at a more premium offering
Bridgestone’s best-selling golf ball has a new larger and softer core for faster compression and more distance. This is a great value two-piece ball that feels like an expensive multi-layer model
For
- Ideal for golfers who like soft feel on/around the greens
- Blend of distance and feel for moderate to slow swingers
- Great value for money
Against
- Stronger hitters may struggle for accuracy
Bridgestone E12 Contact vs Bridgestone E6 Golf Balls: Our Head-To-Head Verdict
Bridgestone is a serious player in the ball market nowadays, with tour professionals such as Tiger Woods, Jason Day and Lexi Thompson among others, choosing Bridgestone golf balls. With a number of different models, Bridgestone make some of the best golf balls on the market. Here, we compare the e6 with the e12 Contact to see which ball may be most suited to your game…
Looks
The e12 contact comes in more color options than the e6. You can buy the e12 Contact in matte green, matte yellow, and even matte red in addition to the standard white. The e6 comes in white and yellow.
The contact force dimple technology gives a slightly unorthodox look to the e12 Contact, with sharper, boxier, and more pronounced dimples than the more traditional dimple of the e6.
Feel
Whilst both balls felt pretty good for this price point and category, the e6 was the softer feeling of the two on and around the greens. In particular, the e6 felt buttery soft off the face of the putter.
In the longer shots, the feel was less noticeable, but the e12 Contact did give the sense that it was coming off the clubface a little hotter, possibly due to the new FLEXATIV cover. Both balls felt more premium than their price point would suggest.
Ball Flight & Distance
The e12 Contact definitely has the edge in the distance department and produced longer hits throughout the bag than the e6. Ball flights were a little different too, with the additional spin of the e6 flighting the ball a little higher overall than the e12 Contact. For a player low on swing speed this may be a useful attribute to help with extra peak height and hang time on approach shots to the green, but would need to be weighed up against the potential loss of overall distance.
The e12 Contact produced a strong and stable ball flight off the tee and wasn’t adversely affected by some fairly strong winds that we tested in.
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The e6 ball felt easy to shape both ways, so would suit players who have plenty of shots to call on. The thinner cover and varied dimple pattern of the e6 seem to encourage movement through the air, which is both a weakness and a strength, depending on how accurate you are in the long game.
Control
Both balls were pretty good performers around the green, with ample spin on chips and pitches. The Contact Force Dimple of the e12 Contact did seem to allow the ball to stay in contact with the face a fraction longer than you would normally expect for a ball designed primarily with distance in mind. This was a real bonus and added to the feeling of control. On full shots, the e6 produced significantly more spin than the e12 Contact which facilitated some extra stopping power.
Which ball should you choose?
Choose the e12 Contact if…
- You prioritize distance over spin
- You play in windy conditions often
- You prefer a firmer-feeling ball
Choose the e6 if…
- You are in search of a high-spin ball
- You are searching for value for money
- You prefer a very soft-feeling ball
For more golf ball buying advice why not take a look at our guides on the best golf balls for beginners, or the best golf balls for seniors.
Joe has worked in the golf industry for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles. After a successful amateur career being involved in England squads at every age group, Joe completed his PGA degree qualification in 2014 as one of the top ten graduates in his training year and subsequently went on to become Head PGA Professional at Ryder Cup venue The Celtic Manor Resort. Equipment has always been a huge passion of Joe’s, and during his time at Celtic Manor, he headed up the National Fitting Centres for both Titleist and Taylormade. He’s excited to bring his knowledge of hardware to Golf Monthly in the form of equipment reviews and buying advice.
Joe lives in North Devon and still plays sporadically on the PGA West region circuit. His best round in recent years came earlier in 2023 where he managed a 9 under par 63 at Trevose GC in a Devon & Cornwall PGA Tournament.
Joe's current What's In The Bag?
Driver: Switch between Ping G430 Max 10K & TaylorMade Qi10 - both with Fujikura Ventus Black 6-X
Fairway wood 1: TaylorMade BRNR Copper Mini Driver - Fujikura Ventus Black 7-X
Fairway wood 2: Callaway Paradym Ai Smoke TD 5 Wood - Fujikura Ventus Black 8-X
Irons: TaylorMade P7CB 3-PW with Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
Wedges: Callaway Opus 50, 54, and 60 degrees - Project X LS 6.0 shafts
Putter: Odyssey Toe Up #9
Ball: TaylorMade 2024 TP5x
Grips: Golf Pride Tour Velvet 60R
Bag: Vessel Player IV Pro DXR Stand
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