Been using the 6m Soul mainly on a foilboard but also twintip. I'm 65kg and live in a windy area but have been using the kite in winds from under 10 knots to about 20 knots.
• Bar pressure neither high or low, gives good feel for the kite
• Speed in a straight line builds gradually and on a foilboard is currently faster than my skill and choppy conditions allow
• Good turning speed considering it's high aspect, high projected area, compared to LEI kites. Power is in a different part of the turn but by varying sheeting you can make it work how you like it.
• Upwind on foil or TT is excellent. Even in light wind you can sine the kite for power and still make ground on a TT
• It feels like a kite anyone could use, it's easy to fly and control. However the better you are the more you'll get from the kite
• it doesn't seem to take on water. Unless you've absolutely no wind the kite relaunches from the water better than any other kite I've used. Pull one line or do a reverse launch. I've swam in bags of water with past foils but with the Soul it's hard to imagine. (Oh if you think the profile means you'll take in a lot of water you'd have to be an amateur. Anyone with any foil sense would roll the kite up before it filled assuming there was no wind to launch. And the Soul fabric seems to repel the water)
• All foil kites like a helper for landing. However I've landed the Soul on the back lines myself easily with no problems or tangles
• Downwind on a foilboard is where the Soul really shines. Fantastic drift makes it easy to control and keep in the sky where you want it. Heavier LEI kites cannot compare
• You have to fly the Soul when new for about 5 hours for it to stretch the lines into perfect position then it really feels sweet
• Biiigg wind range
You also need to fly the Soul for a couple of hours to really get a feel for the kite. A couple of runs on a TT won't give you time to get the most out of the kite. It really needs to be used with a foilboard to see how good this kite is. I've yet to have a day with light enough wind to say I can't get flying on my foilboard, and this is a small 6m foil! Granted I'm light and I do have a Moses 633 as one of my foils
Now I must disclose that I sell Flysurfer kites as well as other brands. Over the past 20 years I have used foil kites and Arcs previously and found too many downsides, and therefore have a range of LEI kites which work well for me. But the more I fly the Soul the better it feels.
Downsides: It's expensive. In Australia good foil kites like Souls and Hyperlinks aren't cheap. However the Soul seems built to last. No zips anywhere to corrode when packed away, all bridle lines available as spare parts along with other hardware. Bridles have easy adjustment checking and there is also additional tuning capability built inside the kite. I think that Flysurfer recommends speedsystem bridle replacement at 250 hours which is a lot of kiting and seems to reflect a materials strategy that is designed for longevity. So considering this and the wind range you may needs less kites and update them less often. This may equalise the price differential.
If you're in Australia and in NSW and want to try these kites feel free to contact me.
Have fun, Dave