After the whole Concept Z debacle a few years back, I had lost faith in 13 Fishing for a while. Seeing alot of their new lineups, I'm starting to better see where 13 Fishing might be headed.This Aerios line is one of their top tier spinning reels. This has a cast iron carbon frame which gives it strength and rigidity. This reels has 9 smooth ball bearings.This reel does NOT have a backreel option. Thank you, 13 Fishing! With the smooth drag, this feature is unnecessary and frankly outdated, in my opinion. I feel the anti reverse switch adds another point of failure for a feature very few people use nowadays.Overall, this is a high quality reel that can be used in freshwater or saltwater. It is definitely get what you pay for with the Aerios reel.