PETZL NEOX Review 2024

An awesome lead belay device for paying out rope and not annoying your climbing partner on long pitches, a great addition to the GRIGRI family.

PROS

• Awesomely smooth paying out of rope.
• Safer than a GRIGRI for paying out rope
• Easy transition if replacing a GRIGRI

CONS

• Heavy
• Not as versatile as a GRIGRI

I have been sport climbing for a long time – and I mean a long time. I go back to the early days at Malham Cove in the ’80s when sport climbing was a combination of pegs, ancient aid bolts and the odd newer hand-drilled bolt. Way back then, we used to belay with a Figure of Eight abseil device, which I would absolutely not recommend! 

Fast forward to the mid 90’s and I was quick to adopt the PETZL GRIGRI and have used every model since. We have even reviewed a couple on the site – the GRIGRI and the GRIGRI+ and the GRIGRI is my belay device of choice. I did prefer my old original GRIGRI for my Mountaineering Instructor work as it worked well with my fat ‘jugging rope’. But for recreational sport climbing the GRIGRI has been brilliant and is a constant in my pack.

One of the drawbacks of using a GRIGRI is paying out rope when belaying. The cam (which is the internal mechanism which locks the rope when loaded) needs to be neutralised by placing the palm of your hand (or your thumb) on the release lever and then you can pay out the rope before taking your palm off – PETZL call this ‘thumbing’ and have a video explaining it here. It is then ready to lock in the event of a fall and the climber can be lowered using the control handle. One of the bugbears of using a GRIGRI can be the device locking off when trying to pay rope out quickly – this has happened to me more times than I can count and has even cost me redpoint and flash attempts at routes. Also, of course, you can see the safety issue here – if the leader falls when you are thumbing the device then the GRIGRI may fail to lock.

Showing how the internal mechanism is different in the PETZL NEOX and GRIGRI. It is great for indoor lead climbing.

The PETZL NEOX is a total redesign of the internal workings of a GRIGRI to produce a great assisted belay device that is perfect for paying out rope. Super smooth with no locking off when paying out (once you get used to it) the NEOX is a great belay device for climbers who belay/climb long, modern pitches. If you have not used a GRIGRI before and are thinking of investing then go straight for the NEOX and you will find it straightforward to use once you have spent a little time learning how to use it (the best place is an indoor climbing gym). 

For those of you who, like me, have been using a GRIGRI for a long time you will find the internal workings of the NEOX a total change. The rotating wheel can look a little alarming at first but on closer inspection, you can see that the mechanism operates on two levels: there is the rotating wheel which is how the rope freely pays out and then the cam which works in the same way as a GRIGRI cam does. I don’t know exactly how it all works but after using it for a couple of months I have full confidence in it and it will definitely replace my GRIGRI for lead belaying.

It might look a little different but it works in the same way as a GRIGRI. You can see the wheel and the locking cam. It worked very well with my 9.1mm sport climbing rope with no issues at all.

In terms of how it looks, it looks similar to a GRIGRI. It is a little bigger and heavier than a GRIGRI and looks more like a GRIGRI+. There are plenty of instructional markings on the casing as it is crucial to have the rope inserted correctly (this is true of all GRIGRIs) and there is an additional instruction to always have your hand on the brake side of the rope. I found this ever so slightly different to my GRIGRI in that the device works best when the rope is pulled over the curved lip of the casing. So I have adopted this as my default position when using the NEOX, a slight change from before which I should probably should have been doing anyway.

There is an excellent video from PETZL that explain how the NEOX works which can be found here:

The control handle is the same as a GRIGRI and the controlled lower works the same way. The rope loads in the same way and the casing closes the same way. The large carabiner hole will accommodate a wide variety of carabiner sizes. My preference is for an oval-shaped screw gate but most HMS-style locking screw gates will fit including ones with a gate bar. The wheel does not turn when lowering and it is important to be in full control of the handle just as it is with a GRIGRI.

So, I have now been using the PETZL NEOX for a couple of months and using it exclusively for all my indoor and outdoor lead belaying. I have been impressed at the handling capacity, it’s not going to work so well with your furry old, fat 10.5 climbing gym rope but for modern, thinner ropes it has been excellent. I use an 9.1mm rope for outdoor and a 10mm for indoors and they have both been fine (it is rated for rope diameters between 8.5 and 11mm). I feel that the NEOX may not a replacement for the GRIGRI and you should look to invest with the following in mind: if you climb long sports climbs of 30m+ and mostly lead climbs then the NEOX is perfect; if you do a lot of top roping, roped soloing and jugging/rigging style activities then the GRIGRI could be a better fit for you. For multi-pitch bolted routes and trad climbing then I’ll be sticking with my belay plate as I usually use double ropes on multi pitch because of the abbing. But… it would work perfectly fine for trad climbing with a single rope – which is the way many modern, hard trad routes are climbed.

It is expensive and the GRIGRI is cheaper – but as an investment in both efficiency and safety it is well worth the investment and will last for many years of use.

The SRP for the PETZL NEOX is £125 and it can be bought from specialist retailers.

Disclosure – CGR reviewers and writers are never paid to provide a review and the website does not take advertising or link to affiliate sales. We are a bunch of keen climbers and travellers who accept sample products and offer an honest and independent review of the item.