I have been playing with one of these reels for the last while. Here is the low down: The unity is designed as a saltwater reel. The blurb on the box boasts some impressive attributes: 6 stainless steel bearings, aluminium body, ART – antirust technology, Max Drag – Sealed front drag. It also boasts a five year warranty – not too sure I’d like to test that one out

I was looking for a reel to use from the boat or shore, something around the 2500 to 4000 size reel. The UTF 45 would come in somewhere like a 3000 series reel. My requirements are for a reel that will cast well, put up with some abuse over the course of a season. On the boat a reel needs to be a jack of all trades. I will mainly be using this reel for fishing plugs and soft plastics and every now and then I will use it for light bait fishing for flounders and such like. I will be mating the reel to various short rods but more often than not it will be fitted to a Hart Finezza Hedge or a Surecatch Power Braid Salty-Spin. Both rods are around 7 feet and and would have a rating in the 7-30 gram range.
Out of the box this reel is a beautiful piece of engineering, well put together with a quality feel. The spool is deep and will take a huge amount of line (on the box 250m of 0.33). Obviously this will cause grief for braid users. After a couple of attempts I backed the reel to 45-46mm diameter and then loaded 135m of StrikePro Strikewire (.13mm).
I have used the reel a few times in different situations: Firstly I have given the reel a good thrashing using soft plastics. Using leadheads up to 50 grams and catching plenty cod in the 6 to 8lbs range. The drag is exceptionally smooth (as you would expect from a new reel) and the reel has a solid feel. Using the same setup I have fished plugs and poppers and again the reel has performed superbly . Teamed with a nice rod I am getting excellent distance though this has much to do with the rod and line as well.
A few years ago I took the decision to buy reasonably priced reels and replace them more often rather than buying expensive. The expensive were not lasting me; my minimum maintenance programme doesn’t suit any reel I think! So far so good with the Unity, coming in at around €80-00. Worth considering.