evoSpeed 1.3 Arsenal

Comfort

The comfort of the Puma evoSPEED 1.3 is surprisingly nice. I must admit, when I first saw the boot, I thought this would be like the Mercurial line from Nike which is not a very forgiving boot on average to wider feet. I personally have average width feet and the Mercurial line is very tight on my feet. The evoSPEED was as tight as the Mercurial line, but also had a very comfortable feel right out of the box. The sole plate is a little bit wider than most speed boots and really added that extra bit of comfort I have been looking for in a speed boot. The sole plate features conical studs in the fore foot and in the heel and added great traction when making tight cuts. It’s extremely flexible and is made to be so that it can react with your foot and keep your foot as close to the sole plate at all times.

Overall Comfort: 9.0/10

Performance/ Tech Specs

Puma-evospeed-soleplate

The boot performed extremely well and is one of my favorite speed boots available at the moment. The upper is made from Premium monolayer microfiber that is designed to keep the boot light and dry. The external EverFit cage offers a secure tight fit while playing and it works with the laces so the tighter you pull, the tighter the fit is. The external EverFit cage will wrap your foot nicely and help keep your foot locked in. The difference between the evoSPEED 1.2 and the 1.3 is the EverFit cage is moved the outside of the boot as apposed to the Inside on the 1.2. That’s really the main difference between the 1.3 and the 1.2.

The sole plate features Duoflex technology to offer a lot of flex and bend to the toe box and fore foot of the boot. The full outsole tech specs include a High-performance thermoplastic elastometer injected sole plate with conical stud pattern and integrated an external heel counter. The heel and mid foot still have the PEBAX Speedtrack spine. That is to keep the heel stiff and to help the sole plate stay firm and strong over time.

Overall Performance: 8.5/10

Bang For Your Buck: The Puma evoSPEED 1.3 starts at a retail price of $200 dollars because this is a top end model from Puma. The $200 dollar mark is always going to be steep for any soccer shoe and I believe it is too much for the evoSPEED. The material used on the upper feels a little to plastic like to me and doesn’t compare to the Hybridtouch found on the Adidas F50 line and Teijin synthetic found on the Nike Mercurial line. The fit and sizing was great for the boot but the upper and material made is good but not as great as the ones Nike and Adidas use.

Overall Bang For Your Buck: 8.0/10

Aesthetic

evoSpeed 1.3 in Prism Violet

The Puma evoSPEED 1.3 in the Arsenal tricks edition looks fantastic in my opinion. The white boot on the right foot looks incredible when out on the field playing and really catches others’ attention and is personally my favorite look of the tricks boots. The Puma branding on the inside of the instep of the left (red) boot fades from white to navy blue and on the right (white) boot fades from red into the same navy blue. The tongue on the white boot is red and on the red boot is white. The laces of the boot on the red boot are red and the white boot has white laces. If I had to pick one of the color ways of the two boots I would prefer the red boot. Note: The right boot will get dirty very quickly as it is mainly white.

Overall Aesthetic: 9.0/10

Who’s Wearing It

Laurent Koscielny Arsenal evoSPEED edited

Laurent Koscielny in the evoSPEED 1.3

The evoSPEED 1.3 is a popular boot among quick strikers and fast wingers in the professional game. It’s available in two different colorways and only a few are wearing the Arsenal edition.  Striker Oliver Giroud is wearing it and was able to find the back of the net in the opening game of their EPL season. Other players for Arsenal wearing the special colorway include, Santi Carzola, Laurent Koscielny, and Mikel Arteta. Other high profile players wearing the evoSPEED include big names such as: Sergio Agüero and Gael Clichy of Manchester City, Samuel Eto’o whom is currently a free agent, and Radamel Falcao of AS Monaco.  The evoSPEED is a boot made for fast attacking-minded players and really delivers what quite a few professional players are looking for in a football boot.

Overall

Puma evospeed 1.3

My overall take on the boot was an 8.0/10. The look of the boot is something I personally love and goes perfectly with the Arsenal home kit. The weight of the boot is slightly more than the Mercurial Vapor. The sole plate is a lot more flexible and is able to move around more than the sprint frame from Adidas. The boot fit my feet well and gave me a nice comfortable feel when playing. The boots are made for the quick attacking player and offer everything you would want in a speed boot.

Overall Opinion: 8.0/10

4 / 5 stars     
 

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