Sitting between the Blade and the XB in Wilson’s revamped range, the CB is built for confident ball-strikers who want workability without giving up too much forgiveness. A 5-iron carrying 199 yards – barely behind our tester’s own Titleist T250s – with only a 12-yard gap between best and worst strikes shows just how consistent this cavity back really is.

An early contender for best-looking iron of the entire year, the M-15 splits the difference between a TaylorMade P7MB and a Titleist T250. It’s fast too – a 7-iron carrying 178 yards, over 10 yards further than the smaller M-13 – though strong 29° lofts and low spin mean gapping needs some care.

Wilson’s flagship 2026 blade is, in our tester’s words, “probably the best-looking irons of the year so far” – sharp lines and a small footprint that lines up visually with the CB and XB for combo sets. Performance surprised too, with a 5-iron carrying 191 yards on average and consistent spin even on mishits.

At roughly half the price of an equivalent TaylorMade, Titleist, Ping or Mizuno players-distance iron, the 201 MKII is the standout budget pick of 2026 – premium Lamkin grips and KBS Tour shafts as standard, plus excellent consistency with carry numbers during testing. If you’re buying direct-to-consumer, just make sure you know your specs.

Ping’s new players-distance model was the biggest surprise of our testing – a 6-iron carrying 193 yards and a 4-iron carrying nearly 214 yards, numbers that eclipse most of the category. It’s low-spin, so needs a good launch angle to hold greens, but dispersion was genuinely impressive alongside the distances.

Callaway’s replacement for the Elyte trades some shelf appeal for a much more traditional shape – but a new 360° Undercut Cavity and AI-optimised face kept dispersion tight even on mishits, with only an 11-yard gap between best and worst 5-iron strikes.

The newest member of Wilson’s 2026 Staff Model family fills a genuine gap – a hollow-body, players-distance iron with a P790-style urethane-filled construction. Carry numbers were solid rather than spectacular at 167 yards with a 7-iron, but consistency and dispersion were excellent throughout.

TaylorMade’s follow-up to the well-liked 2024 Qi focused on improving sound and feel rather than reinventing the wheel – a 49% reduction in topline volume makes for a far less clunky strike. The HL variant’s weaker lofts and higher launch are worth seeking out if you struggle to get the ball airborne.

Make no mistake – the G740 is unapologetically a super game-improvement iron. A 22% wider sole and larger face than the G440 produced huge ball speed (130mph with a 6-iron) and sky-high launch, genuinely useful for slower swing speeds and higher handicaps, even if dispersion for better players suffered in testing.