Top 10 MOST COMFORTABLE Sneakers of 2021

what's up everybody i'm seth fowler and today i'm counting down the top 10 most comfortable sneakers of 2021. thanks so much for tuning in today please make sure to hit that subscribe button and that notification bell down below if you want to see more content just like this and also make sure to give me a follow on instagram and on twitter at real seth fowler so every year i like to count down the top 10 most comfortable sneakers because not only is it one of the most asked questions on my channel but it's also something that i just want to know for myself and every year the top 10 list surprises me like i'll have one shoe in mind at the beginning of the year and then as the year goes on another shoe will kind of beat it out and it's never a shoe that i expected and unsurprisingly the same thing happened again this year and the shoe at number one on this list is not the shoe i expected at the beginning of the year but what's crazy is how much more comfortable this shoe is than really any other shoe on the list but before we actually dive into things i want to give you all some criteria about how i judge this list and sort of what i think of when i think of comfortable sneakers because obviously everyone has different feet and everyone has a different preference when it comes to comfort and what they like to wear so the way that i'm judging this list and the way that i rank this list is the shoes that i personally found the most plush and the most comfortable on my feet they've got the softest upper they've got the softest cushion underfoot and what's crazy is that after wearing some of these shoes on the list for a couple hours or even a couple days when i would take them off and try on another pair of shoes that i had in my collection a pair that i used to think was comfortable it would feel like i was walking in concrete because i'm so used to that really comfortable shoe it actually kind of bums me out because it's ruined some of my favorite sneakers for me now every time i wear them i'm like this shoe sucks oh and actually one more thing before we dive into the video if you want to grab any of the shoes that i talk about in today's video or even some shoes that i didn't have time to mention i've left links to all of them in the description below but with all that said let's just dive right into it so at number 10 we've got the new balance 990 v5 which is probably the most normal shoe on the list and by normal i mean a shoe that's very comfortable but probably won't blow you away like the midsole cushioning is decent but it's not insane so honestly you probably could switch out this shoe with a bunch of other shoes available on the market but the reason i chose the 990 v5 is because i really love this sneaker and i wear this sneaker all the time in fact it's pretty much my daily shoe and you can probably tell by all the dirt all over the sneaker and it's just a great all-around comfortable everyday sneaker that you can leave by your door and throw on whenever you go to the store another reason i picked it is because i love the way this sneaker looks if you guys follow me on this channel you know i'm a huge new balance head and i love the way that the 990 v5 looks in fact i love the way that most of the 990s look the v5 is just the newest model and i think it's one of those shoes that pretty much goes with anything now as far as the tech that actually goes into the 990 v5 you've got this dual density end cap midsole which like i said is comfortable underfoot but it's not gonna blow you away but for me the part of the shoe that makes it as comfortable as it is is the upper this upper is just so incredibly well padded while still being very well ventilated another detail i like about this sneaker is that it comes in a bunch of different widths so if you're someone who has a really wide foot you can grab the extra wide version of this shoe not a lot of sneakers have that option but the 990 v5 does also i love the use of more premium materials on this shoe you've got really nice suedes around the midfoot of the sneaker and on the heel you've got some more premium feeling meshes on the toe and on the midfoot that definitely adds to the breathability of the sneaker and if you're a fan of products manufactured in the us you'll be a fan of the 990 v5 because it's made in the us and that's something i really like about new balance a lot of their shoes are manufactured domestically they also have a plant in the uk which they use as well which i think is incredible it's an all-around great sneaker it looks great it's very comfortable on foot and it's a very easy shoe to wear all day as far as pricing goes though the new balance 990 v5 is on the more expensive end it retails for 180 bucks and that's mainly because of the more premium materials and the fact that it's manufactured domestically but it's just such a great all-around sneaker i don't think you're going to regret spending that money and you might be able to find some pairs on sale and again i've made sure to leave links to this shoe and all the other shoes that we talk about in today's video in the description below at number nine we've got a shoe that's always on the list it's been on the list every single year that we've done this and that's the adidas ultra boost dna so i usually try to keep the list current and only have shoes that are released in that particular year but they keep updating the ultraboost dna and they keep releasing new versions of the shoe and while this isn't the newest version of the shoe it's very similar to the ultra boost dna 6.0 the reason the ultraboost dna just keeps making it on the list year after year is because it's been one of the most comfortable shoes in my collection since it first came out in 2015. if you're not familiar with the ultraboost dna it originally started as adidas's flagship running sneaker but as time went on adidas realized that people were wearing the ultra boost more as a lifestyle sneaker than a running sneaker so even though they continued to update the ultra boost line and make it more performance friendly they kept the original ultra boost around as the lifestyle option and rebranded it the ultraboost dna but even though the dna is not the flagship ultraboost anymore it's still incredibly comfortable and the pairing of this full-length boost midsole with this primeknit upper makes it one of those shoes that you never want to take off in fact when it comes to summer the ultraboost dna is one of my go-to's this is the kind of shoe that you can wear with low top socks rock all summer long you're not going to overheat and you're going to feel like you're walking on clouds and actually if you guys are wondering what socks i'm wearing in this video and what socks go best with these ultra boosts i'm wearing a pair of apothecary low top socks and yes this is a little bit of shameless self promotion because these are my own brand of socks but i love apothecary socks we dropped them every two weeks on apothecary.com make sure to check them out i know i'm biased when i say this but best socks ever they're incredibly comfortable and you should definitely pick up a pair but getting back to the ultraboost dna the primeknit upper of the shoe makes it incredibly breathable it's very very stretchy and it kind of feels like an extra pair of socks on top of your socks even though there's less boost in this shoe than some of the newer ultra boost models it's still very comfortable underfoot and in a lot of cases i choose the dna over some of the newer ultra boost because i just prefer the way it looks price wise like the 990 v5 the ultra boost dna is not an incredibly cheap shoe it retails for 180 bucks but the good news is you can find a lot of different pairs of these on sale and i've made sure to leave those links in the description below the only problem is though is that some of the colorways that are on sale are some of the colorways that people just didn't want like if you want one of the more clean colorways like an all white or an all-black colorway they usually sell out or just don't go on sale coming in at number eight we've got the hoka clifton eight but as some of you eagle eye viewers might have noticed i've only got the hoga clifton seven because at the time of recording this video the hoka clifton 8 isn't out yet but based on the reviews that i've read about the clifton 8 and the videos that i've seen the clifton 8 is only a minimal improvement over the clifton 7 and it looks very very similar but i've made sure to leave links to both the 7 and the 8 in the description below because you can actually grab the 7 on sale right now for like 30 bucks cheaper than the 8. so the hoka clifton 8 as a lot of runners will know is a performance running sneaker and what makes this sneaker so great is the running tech that went into the sneaker it's incredibly stable because it's a pretty wide shoe it's also incredibly light because they use super light eva foam in the midsole but what impressed me most about this sneaker is how comfortable this eva foam is underfoot when you squeeze the sides of the shoe you wouldn't think that it's that soft of a cushion but when you actually get your foot into the shoe and you start walking around in it it feels like you're walking on pillows it's nuts and when you pair that to this incredibly breathable engineered mesh upper it's just one of those shoes that you never want to take off the heel and ankle area of the upper as well as the tongue is very well padded but as you move forward on the upper towards the forefoot of the shoe you start to notice that there isn't as much padding your foot is kind of just up against the engineered mesh which to be honest isn't a bad thing and it definitely helps with the weight of the shoe but unlike some of the knits that you'll find in some of the other sneakers like the ultra boost 21s or some other sneakers that we'll talk about later on it just doesn't have that same sort of stretch or give that the knits have that said it's not a downside and if you prefer lightness this is definitely one of the lightest shoes if not the lightest pair of shoes on the list and for a price point of just 130 bucks for the hoka clifton 8 and even cheaper if you grab the clifton 7 you're getting a shoe that looks good at least in my opinion and a sneaker that you can wear for both lifestyle and for great performance running at number seven we've got the saucony triumph 18. so this shoe is the latest saucony triumph and i know for a lot of runners this is their go-to sneaker but what makes the triumph 18 such a great sneaker in my opinion is how incredibly comfortable it is which makes sense why it's on this list so the midsole of the shoe comes with the foam that looks a lot like boost in fact i'm sure it's a very similar material but saucony calls it power run plus and this power run plus provides very springy and very well cushioned ride underneath your feet and i think one of the main reasons that i like this cushion so much is because not only does it give you that cloud-like feel but it does give you that springiness and it does kind of propel you into your next step but the other thing that i love about this sneaker is how incredibly plush and padded the upper of the shoe is this is like one of the most cloud feeling shoes i've ever worn it literally feels like you're sliding your foot into a pillow like the tongue the ankle area the midfoot of the shoe the midsole everything about it just feels like your foot is surrounded by just like the softest pillow also and kind of a weird note this also has the softest laces i've ever felt not something i thought i'd ever say in a video but like until you feel these laces you won't understand how soft they are now to be fair they don't touch your feet so that doesn't really matter but it seems like saucony just went all out with the softness on this shoe another kind of cool feature on this shoe are the 3d printed nubs on the midfoot which i'm assuming provide some stability i'm not sure exactly why they're 3d printed maybe that was just the easiest manufacturing process to put them on the side of the sneaker but it is kind of cool to say that you have a pair of sneakers that's somewhat 3d printed and seriously the tongue of this sneaker is like the plushest tongue i think i've ever felt i think it's more plush than really any other shoe on the list in fact yeah it definitely is it's the most plush tongue on the entire list so if tongue plushness is important to you the saucony triumph 18 is definitely the way to go as far as price goes the saucony triumph 18 comes in at a reasonable 150 bucks and for a shoe that you can wear for both lifestyle and for performance running that's not a bad price at number six is the new balance 1080 v11 and at this point in the video i'm sure that you've realized that a lot of the shoe if not most of the shoes on this list are running sneakers and if you think about it it kind of just makes sense running sneakers are usually the kinds of sneakers that get the latest tech they also need some good cushion underfoot because they're getting a lot more wear than your regular sneakers so i guess it's actually kind of a good thing because if you buy any of the shoes on this list you'll be able to run in them as well as just walk around in them so the new balance 1080 v11 is the latest 1080 model and what i really like about this sneaker is that it pairs this incredibly soft knit upper with this very cushioned and very soft fresh foam midsole not only that but if you haven't noticed this midsole is thick this is a thick boy midsole and you know what if you're a shorter person and you want a little bit of extra height this will give it to you for sure as far as comfort goes with this shoe though i had a lot of trouble placing this shoe on the list in fact the whole like middle of the list i had a lot of trouble from like the number two spot all the way down to like the number seven spot i just didn't know exactly where to place things i kind of just placed them how i felt at the time of making the list this shoe could definitely be higher i don't think it could be any lower than it is but it's an incredibly comfortable sneaker with an incredibly soft foam midsole and a very very comfortable knit upper and aesthetically while i think it's a good looking sneaker for a running sneaker and it's very sleek it's not really a shoe i could see myself walking around in every single day it's got a very sort of performance aesthetic to it also i don't love the laser etched details on the lateral side of the midsole i know it's there for performance i mean it makes the shoe look less creased after you wear it for a while but i just don't love the way that it sort of breaks up this gray paint on the side i feel like it's a little bit weird but if you're buying the shoe for comfort i really have nothing bad to say about it it's a great sneaker it's not the most padded upper in the world it's definitely not anywhere close to as padded as the saucony's we just talked about but the knit does give you a very breathable and airy and sock-like fit and i think that's sort of the main plus about this shoe and price wise it's sort of middle of the road at 150 bucks and if you're grabbing the shoe for both running and for lifestyle wear i definitely recommend grabbing it if you're grabbing it for just lifestyle you're going to get a very comfortable shoe i mean just like with all the other shoes on the rest of the list that was dumb i shouldn't have said that at number five we've got the brooks glycerin 19 which is by far one of the most popular running sneakers on this list so what's interesting about the shoe is that it doesn't have the softest midsole in the world it also doesn't have the most padded upper in the world but when put together you get an incredibly stable ride you get more than enough cushion both on the midsole and on the upper and it's one of those shoes that's like the perfect middle-of-the-road sneaker and that's sort of why i put it in the middle of the road spot on this list the midsole of the shoe might not be as plush as the new balance as we just talked about and the upper might not be as soft as the sauconees but it's the perfect balance like this is the kind of shoe for someone who doesn't want to feel like they're sinking into the cushion of their sneaker the midsole of the glycerin 19 is made up of dna loft cushion and the upper of the shoe comes in this really nice engineered mesh my favorite part of the upper though is the plush padding around the ankle and on the tongue it's super super soft you've got a very sturdy internal heel counter which really holds you in place i've never had a situation where i'm wearing this shoe and it's felt uncomfortable in any way it's never been too soft it's never been too firm the ankle cushion is perfect the midsole cushion is just enough it's a great all-around sneaker and for running there's a reason why the brooks glycerin 19 is a lot of people's go-to sneaker it's like a perfect stability neutral running sneaker and it's one of those shoes you can throw on for pretty much any kind of run however if you're looking for the softest ride or the plushiest upper the brooks glycerin is not the top of that list for 150 bucks you're getting literally the best of both worlds you're getting an incredibly stable incredibly comfortable and great all-around shoe and number four is the latest pegasus sneaker the nike pegasus 38. so i actually just dropped my review of the nike pegasus 38 and if you haven't seen that video yet make sure to click the link at the top of the screen but for me the nike pegasus 38 is my go-to running sneaker and that might just be because i'm a more casual runner and i know more serious runners prefer other kinds of shoes but i just love the pegasus 38 because it's an incredibly comfortable sneaker and it's a great lifestyle and running shoe now you guys may have noticed that i have a special edition of the nike pegasus 38 this is the pegasus 38 fly ease edition and the reason i wanted to show you guys this shoe in particular is because this shoe is a special edition that's made specifically for people with disabilities or for people who lack the dexterity to tie their sneakers so the way the fly-ease version of the shoe works is that it has a zipper on the side so you have a larger opening to get your foot into the shoe you can pull the zipper back to tighten the sneaker and then you can actually adjust the tightness of your shoe by pulling this pull tab right here and then velcroing it to the back of the sneaker not only that but the flyes version of the pegasus 38 also comes in an extra wide variant so you have more room to get your foot into the sneaker and i just think it's a really great option for people who just can't tie their shoes regularly so while personally i use the standard version of the nike pegasus 38 it's great to know that there's another option out there for people with disabilities but the main reason that i put the pegasus 38 so high up on the list is because the midsole of the shoe is so incredibly comfortable so this midsole is made up of nike react foam which is one of their softest foams but what makes this midsole stand out is that in the forefoot of the shoe you've actually got an encased nike air zoom unit so not only are you getting an incredibly soft foam underneath your foot you're also getting an air unit in the forefoot which helps propel you forward and gives you a little bit of extra bounce the peg 38 also pairs this midsole with a pretty soft engineered mesh upper which i think is decent enough it's not incredible but it definitely pairs nicely with the midsole and one of my favorite improvements on the peg 38 over the peg 37 is that they've actually padded the tongue which was a big misstep i think on the peg 37 and added some more padding around the ankle of the shoe which really holds you in place and purely from a visual point of view i think that the peg 38 is just one of the best looking shoes on the list yes it looks like a running sneaker because you've got this sort of spike on the heel but i think it's one of the cleaner sneakers nike does a great job of making their sneakers look great but honestly one of the best parts about the pegasus 38 is that it's actually got the cheapest retail price of any shoe on the list at just 120 bucks it's the best price shoe it's crazy and if you haven't tried one of the newer pegs yet i definitely recommend it so the number three spot and the number two spot on this list is kind of a toss-up for me and in my opinion you can't really go wrong with either but what i have is number three is the a6 nova blast ii or i guess the a6 nova blast one because the nova blast 2 doesn't come out for another month again same situation that we had with the hokas earlier on in the list the nova blast 2s are very similar to the nova blast ones the reviews say that they're very similar overall they look pretty similar not exactly the same but pretty similar so i felt like putting the novablast one on the list was totally fine and also the novoblast one is on sale at a lot of places so i've made sure to link the novablast one and the novablast 2 in the links in the description below if you guys want to grab a pair for yourself so the a6 novoblast comes with this incredibly thick a6 flight foam midsole which is incredibly soft underfoot not only that but the sculpting around the heel really hides a lot of the creases that you get after wearing the shoe for a while and i think it looks really cool while this midsole is very very thick it does provide a lot of cushion your foot is on top of most of the cushion and it makes you look a little bit taller if that's something that you're into but another reason i put these asics so high on the list is because this engineered mesh upper is very well padded and very very comfortable so this shoe is not the lightest shoe in the world and that's because you've got so much cushion underfoot and the upper is pretty well padded but if you're looking purely for comfort this is a no-brainer this is a great shoe to go with the cushion is just stupid soft on this shoe and you get a lot of balance with it the one thing i wasn't a huge fan of personally was just the placement of the cushion it kind of feels lumpy in certain parts of the shoe that i would prefer that it wasn't as lumpy and that could just be because of the way that my foot is shaped other people might not feel that and maybe i just haven't worn the shoe long enough for those lumps to kind of work themselves out but it wasn't enough for me to dislike this shoe i mean obviously the shoe is number three on the list the only other thing that i could see people not liking about this sneaker is the aggressive aesthetics and the fact that it looks a lot like a running sneaker this is not an everyday looking shoe this is a shoe that's going to draw people's attention especially because of the bright color way but hey if the aesthetics are something that you like and you want to try a shoe that's incredibly well cushioned underfoot you can pick up the a6 novablast 2 for just 130 bucks or the original a6 nova blast for even less at number two is a shoe that i'm sure a lot of you all expected and that's the adidas ultra boost 21. so this was the shoe that i thought was going to be at the top of the list and then i tried all the other sneakers and i'm surprised that it even made it to number two but the reason the ultraboost 21 is number two on the list is not because it has the softest cushion which actually kind of surprised me because it definitely doesn't in fact some of the cushions that we've already talked about are softer than the ultraboost 21s the reason this shoe is so high on the list is because of the upper of the shoe paired with the midsole of this shoe the primeknit upper on the ultraboost 21 after a couple minutes of wearing it starts to feel like you're not wearing anything and when you pair that with this incredibly soft thick boost midsole this is a really great sneaker overall now that does come with trade-offs and it's a very very heavy sneaker so if you're not a fan of heavy sneakers and if you're planning to run in shoes and you prefer lighter sneakers this is not the way to go but if you are purely focused on underfoot comfort and you want the upper of the shoe to kind of just melt away this is the shoe to go with now aesthetically the ultraboost 21 is definitely one of the weirder looking shoes on the list it kind of looks like a wedge and if you're down with that great if you're not down with that maybe choose some of the other options on the list but there's a reason why this shoe is so popular and that's because not only is it incredibly comfortable but people love the adidas ultra boost branding now to be fair the ultraboost 21 is probably the most comfortable ultra boost ever made and the reason it seems like i'm being a little bit harder on this shoe than some of the other shoes on the list is because i'm a huge ultra boost fanboy i love the ultra boost it's been one of my favorite silhouettes that have ever been made so i kind of feel like i've got to be a little bit tougher on the ultra boost because it's been in the number one spot on this list a couple times and this year it's just not now one thing i like about the ultra boost 21 personally that doesn't really have to do with comfort is the fact this shoe utilizes recycled ocean plastics in the upper of the sneaker and what blows my mind about that is that it doesn't feel any different it feels like a standard primeknit upper it still feels very soft very breathable and incredibly comfortable but somehow someway there's recycled ocean plastics in here and uh that's crazy to me and i love the focus on sustainability i'm really happy that adidas is moving towards that but as far as comfort goes of course the shoe is incredibly soft underfoot boost is a very soft cushion and when you've got this much boost especially around the heel of the sneaker you're gonna have a lot of heel cushioning you've got a decent amount of forefoot cushioning but it's obviously not as much as you have in the heel the ankle of the shoe is also pretty well padded but the money maker of this sneaker in my opinion is the primeknit paired with the boost it's just that's what makes this sneaker the sneaker that it is it's the combination of those two materials and that's why it's number two on the list now price wise the ultraboost 21 is definitely on the more premium end at 180 bucks it's one of the most expensive sneakers on the list but if you love ultra boost and you want the most comfortable ultra boost ever the 21 is definitely the way to go again though if you want to grab some of the older ultra boosts like the ultra boost 20s or the ultra boost 19s i've linked those in the description below of course they're not as comfortable as the ultraboost 21 but they're very very close finally in the number one spot we've got the nike zumax invincible flyknit now this is a shoe i definitely didn't expect to be number one in fact when this shoe first released i didn't even hear about it to be honest and that's kind of crazy because i look at sneakers for a living so i was surprised i didn't even know about this shoe but when i tried this shoe on and i wore it around for a couple days i realized that no other shoe even comes close to this shoe it blows my mind how incredibly soft and cushioned this shoe is it's nuts the nike zumax invincible flyknit is the softest underfoot cushion i've ever felt and the reason for that is that the zoo max invincibles midsole is made up entirely of zoom x which is the softest foam i've ever worn now zumax was originally designed for race day sneakers and marathon sneakers and it's one of those foams that crease so incredibly quickly because of how soft it is it's stupid soft and it really feels like nothing else i've ever worn and not only that but the ankle area tongue and heel of the shoe is just so incredibly well padded oh and of course i can't forget the flyknit upper all three of those things mixed together the zoom x the padding and the flyknit this shoe is just like is is one of the most incredible shoes i've ever worn it's ugly don't get me wrong i really don't like the way this sneaker looks but this is a top 10 list of the most comfortable sneakers and this is it i mean it wasn't even close like i wore the shoe for a couple hours then switched into the number two shoe the ultra boost 21 and it felt like i was wearing concrete and that was nuts to me like the ultra boost 21 is super soft but this shoe i mean to put it to shame it was crazy so the nike zoo max invincible is a recovery running sneaker but this is one of those shoes that i would wear every single day because of how soft it is and the thing that scared me about this shoe is how much it ruined my feet for any other pair of sneakers like i just can't wear anything else maybe some other zoomex sneakers there's probably some other zumax shoes that feel similar to this that i could rock but man i can't i can't put on a pair of air jordan ones anymore without being like this is the worst of course though as you probably expected you pay for comfort because the retail price of this shoe is 180 bucks which again is the most expensive pair of shoes on the list as with the ultraboost 21 and some of the other shoes that came in at 180 but if your main goal is ultimate comfort you got to pay that price because this shoe will blow your mind but that pretty much wraps up the entire list for today once again if you guys would like to grab any of the sneakers that we talked about in today's video or even some of the shoes that we didn't have time to talk about i've made sure to leave links in the description below but at this point i would love to know your thoughts on these sneakers whether you own some of these sneakers what you think of them personally so make sure to leave those comments down below and as always thank you so much for watching make sure to subscribe if you haven't yet and i'll see you all in the next one [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Seth Fowler

Views: 234,236

Rating: 4.8956203 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: i2Gvz3qeq3M

Length: 23min 18sec (1398 seconds)

Published: Thu May 20 2021