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Football Boots

First Impressions: adidas Copa Sense

By Nasrul Norman
58
263
adidas Copa Sense football boots soccer cleats (3)

A cleaner, stripped down Copa by the Three Stripes.

After 2 solid years with the adidas Copa 19/20, the Three Strips have revealed the successor to their leather boot in the form of the Copa Sense. A welcome update, the Copa Sense is an elegant boot that looks to improve on one of the most comfortable boots we’ve worn in recent years.

On the surface, adidas has shed any unnecessary weight that might have bogged down the previous Copa. Gone is the divisive burrito tongue for a simpler, padded synthetic tongue (in the Copa Sense .1). The upper also went through a major change with the thick, padded and pillowy upper from the Copa 19/20 making way for a thinner but more dense leather upper.

While the upper is still technically labelled as FusionSkin, the application of this knit meets leather technology is wildly different in the Copa Sense as compared to its predecessor. adidas have moved away from displaying the leather/knit material transition to strictly just having leather all across the upper. The only area where you feel any textile materials is along the back of the heel area.

What you really get is a thin layer of leather pressed onto knit and foam which explains how adidas managed to have leather produce a wavy embossed effect all across that upper.

We’ve had the Copa Sense .1 on feet

We’ve received a pair of the Copa Sense .1 from the good people of adidas 2-3 weeks back and having tried on the boot, the first thing you’d notice is how snug it feels like all across the boot. Go true to size as the length of the boot is just right with excellent lockdown from toe to heel. However, the midfoot, especially along the joints of your toes, is quite tight so do loosen up the laces liberally before putting them on. We will be looking to see how much this stretches during our play tests.

adidas claims to have developed “TOUCHPODS” which are placed on both the medial and lateral sides of the boot, designed to absorb impact energy off the ball at the points of the boot where connection with the ball most often occurs. This may explain the tighter feel around those mentioned areas as the foam is a little thicker there.

Last but not least, the soleplate. I love how classy this new design is with the wavy design stretching to the heel area with the external heel counter. It also looks great out of the box with a glossy finish (on the + and the .1 variants) that will be certain to break your heart with scuff marks once you wear it on pitch. The stud patterns are pretty standard from adidas, mostly moon-shaped and semi-conical studs for a good mix of manoeuvrability and traction on FG and AG ground.

You’ll notice that 2 medial forefoot studs are coloured differently with a more coarse base compared to the rest of the plate. adidas calls them “SOFTSTUDS” and though they don’t feel much soft to the touch, they are intended to bend when receiving the ball, creating a cushion effect.

The BOOTHYPE team will be taking the adidas Copa Sense .1 to the test in the coming weeks so share any questions you may have about the boots in comments below or drop us a message on Instagram.

adidas Copa Sense

Multiple stores

Feel your game and elevate the play in the adidas Copa Sense.
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58 COMMENTS

  1. True-to-size, will be interesting to see how you get on with these. I found Copa, in fact most Adidas, (except Mundials), to be soo tight round the mid foot area. Might invest in these, as i’m looking for comfort first and foremost. Think the Tiempo 8s have ticked the box so far….

    • We’ve had a couple of playtests in these at the point of this reply. It is pretty tight around the midfoot, especially along where your toe joints are, but I’m pleasantly surprised at how they ease up within a couple of mins. No discomfort at all!

      • So I went 0.5 size up…..perfect. Haven’t played in them yet but i’m surprised how comfortable these are straight out of the box. 100% right about undoing the laces first. These could be my favorite boots ever….ha, but will give it time. I’d say Tiempo Legend 8s were my best so far.

          • Will let you know, but for the sake of clarity, I was premature in my excitement. Tried on the size 10s today (my original purchase was 10.5) and they are a little tighter, but these fit perfectly. It’s actually slightly more comfortable. I think I was affected by the Predator and Gloro tight mid-foot areas so biased my thinking. Go True to Size as Boothype suggest. I think Adidas have nailed it with fit.

  2. Well, according to Jay from unisport and Josh from sr4u, the only leather part is 5cm bit at the top of your toes.
    So, they are not leather boots really.

  3. How is the size compared to Copa 20? Copa 19 and Copa 20 had a clear difference in size, had to order a clearly different sized shoe to have it fit the same.

    • I haven’t tried the Copa 20, only the Copa 19. And I have to say it fits true to size, like the Copa 19 though it’s much tighter around the midfoot on first try.

    • See my comments above, I’d go true-to-size. It’s hard to explain, but I think mentally if the mid-foot area is tight, you would logically think to size up. I tried a 10 and 10.5 and the bigger size just equated to a longer in length. The width was similar. You need to look at these boots with no pre-conceptions, so chuck out the Copa 19/20 fit mentality and start afresh…..imo.