The everyday running shoe category is crowded, and it’s a category where legacy lines continue to battle for the top spot with their latest releases. Take the Adidas Ultraboost, which first hit shelves in 2015 as a “performance-running-fashion crossover hit,” and has continued to hone its running chops in subsequent iterations.
Which brings us to the Adidas Sneakers ($180, adidas.com), a new running shoe that touts its “highest energy return ever.” But is it really as springy as promised? I slipped on a pair to find out.
Who are these shoes for?
While the Ultraboost line may have started out as a lifestyle hybrid, the Ultraboost 5X is geared toward runners and one particular type of workout: the daily run. That means it’s built with easy miles in mind, so things like comfort (it has more cushioning and more, um, increase) and stability (there’s a contoured external part on the back of the heel for support) will likely take priority over features that promote high speed or rapid acceleration.
Outside the box
The first thing I noticed? The elastic, sock-like upper, which I really liked with the Ultraboost Lights 2023 is back with the 5X. This feature not only helps with the fit (more on that later), but it also creates a sleek, aerodynamic silhouette that looks pretty good off the run, too.
The shoes were also lighter than I expected, which is always a nice surprise for shoes with a decent amount of cushioning. And I loved the color, too: the neon orange, pink, and gray along the stack gave a nice (but not too much) pop to the white and gray upper.
Fit and feel
I actually received two sizes of the Ultraboost 5X to try and I’m so glad I did. My normal running shoe size—a half size up from my road shoes—they felt way too big. When I tried them a half size down, they no longer slipped, so I decided to take these out on the road. (Although I go a half size up in pretty much all my running shoes, I wasn’t all that surprised that the 5X ran a little big—the same thing happened to me with the Ultraboost Lights, and I had to go down a half size for those, too.)