The Umbro Tocco Pro turns heads on and off the pitch.
Back to basics with the Nike Tiempo Legend 9.
The Puma Ultra gets even lighter.
Strike like Benzema with the Puma Adrenalina
The adidas X Speedflow.1 combines speed and comfort.
The Puma King is one of most legendary football boots to have ever been made. Worn by luminaries such as Eusebio, Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff (just to name a few), it was a no frills boot that was popular in the 60s right into the 90s for its performance and soft leather upper.
In today’s climate of knit and synthetics, Puma is figuring out the best way to pay tribute to the name.
One such way has been the Puma King Platinum, which shares the “King” moniker but seems more like an experiment to gauge customers’ sentiments about a thin, speedy leather boot. As of writing, Puma has also launched a new version of the Puma King Platinum, the Platinum 21, which positions it more as a simple leather boot for comfort. We’ve yet to review the boot nor ascertain whether this is another experiment or a fully dedicated new line in the Puma lineup.
However, unbeknown to most, Puma has also used the Puma King name to develop a budget, heritage model called the Puma King Top. Today, we explore if the Puma King Top is worthy of its royal lineage.
With demand for leather boots on the wane in the last 10 years, Puma has pulled back the production of their leather models to prioritise knitted and synthetic models like the Puma Future Z and Puma Ultra.
The excellent Puma King Classic Di, meant to be their premium leather boot was discontinued and in its place, the Puma King Top was released as budget option for the weekend warrior.
This was supposed to challenge the likes of the popular Nike Premier 2.0, a budget leather boot inspired by a prestigious older model. The “heritage” line, as some would call it.
As you would expect with a heritage boot, the Puma King Top carries the beautiful look of Puma Kings from yesteryear – a beautiful silhouette with an oversized tongue and simple conical studs. It comes in two basic colours, a black boot with white trims and the inverse, white with black trims. I couldn’t resist getting them with a beautiful white base.
Despite its ode to the past, Puma added a modern touch to the upper by infusing a silicone backing and cage into the forefoot leather to prevent overstretching and provide a velvet touch. Overall, a pretty simple package compared to most football boots in the market.
I expected a boot like this to fit large so I went half size down. To my surprise, it fit very tight and I think going true to size would have been just right for most people with moderate width feet. Despite how tight it was, the boot stretched slightly over the course of 2-3 sessions to accommodate every curve of my foot.
On feet, the boot felt quite… ordinary. It could have done with some synthetic suede lining to up the comfort level but all we get is a pale imitation of that around the heel.
Puma claims that they have a silicone backing within the K-Leather upper but you could hardly feel it when wiggling your toes. The leather forefoot also feels a little plasticky and cheap and my first impressions were underwhelming.
As with the first impression of the boot, everything about the performance was in the same vein too. It felt like an ordinary boot. Sure, the lockdown was solid and the tongue did a good job making sure my laces didn’t come untied during training.
But everything else… ordinary. The touch didn’t feel special or velvety despite that promise from the silicone backing. Whether it was my first touch, a long pinged pass or a hard strike, the sensation on feet felt pretty dull. Even though this is a budget boot, I expected a semi-decent touch and it disappointed on that front.
The boot weighed 275g for a US9, slightly heavier than the average boot on the market. However, it felt heavier on feet and I believe it’s due to its soleplate.
I’m usually not a stickler when it comes to soleplates. I’m alright if it has a basic conical design and a natural flex. No need for all that fancy carbon fibre springiness. The soleplate on the Puma King Top looks pretty plain and simple but feels heavier than it looks. My main gripe is that it feels stiff when flexing, but not in a speed boot sorta way.
There was no spring with each step and it felt like I had an old paperback dictionary for an insole. Running in these felt sluggish it took 2-3 sessions to break in that soleplate. Twisting and turning on artificial ground was easy though thank to the conical soleplate but I never felt on the cusp of an accident considering how slow I felt running in these.
I’m surprised they didn’t reuse the soleplate from previous Puma Future or Puma One models which, while not spectacular, did a solid job in providing manoeuvrability and a natural, comfortable flex.
The Puma King Top is not out-rightly awful but neither is it fantastic. For its price and category, you can look towards the Nike Premier, adidas Copa Gloro and a few Mizuno boots out there which would provide better value for money.
Puma could start with improving the forefoot leather which feels more plasticky the more I play in them. Adding some synthetic suede around the interior will go a long way in providing the comfort that is befitting the name “King”. And lastly, that soleplate. Just ensure that it has a softer, more natural flex like with the older Puma Future models.
The improvements are not that hard to implement especially with Puma expertise and experience in boot development. But that’s the thing with Kings, they don’t always take too well to change.
The last year and a half has been a very unique time. Never would I have thought to review face masks on BOOTHYPE.com but here we are with the second review of a sports performance mask within the space of a year.
Our first was the Under Armour Sportsmask which was a critical and commercial success for the American sports wear makers as it balanced performance, breathability and comfort in a single package.
Fast forward to 2021 and Under Armour has developed a successor, the Under Armour Sportsmask Featherweight, which does everything the first version did, but better.
Conceptually, not much has changed in the much. A light, breathable mask for sports that fits well and creates a barrier for you and the environment against fluids.
However, gone is the thick, pillowy material. In its place is a thin, structured foam. The foam is the mask’s secret sauce, being thin enough for air to flow through easily but resistant in allowing moisture to pass.
The foam is also fairly rigid for something this thin. This is because the foam’s rigidity allows the mask to keep its structure during one’s heavy breathing and not collapse inwards too much. Under Armour also altered the ergonomics of the Sportsmask, creating a protrusion around the chin area to wrap itself for a most secure fit.
Further up top, the wiring to personalise the fit across the nose bridge seems to be revamped as well. Gone is the flimsy wire for a much more dense mix of foam and fabric that is more comfortable to the touch and is more malleable to your face’s shape.
Finally, returning to the fold is Under Armour’s ultra thin elastic band which hooks the mask around your ears. It is thinner than ever and like in the last model, it always looks to be on the verge of snapping, but surprisingly, it never does.
Fit-wise, I have always found their measurements confusing. There is a size guide where you’re tasked to measure the distance from your nasal bridge to your ear but I never get it. They always measure a little too long and I made a previous mistake of sizing up in the last model.
An approach which is a little less scientific is to just go with M/L for most of us. That should fit most people fine. More petite people can size down to S/M and slightly bigger ones can go for L/XL.
Extreme sizes like XS/S might fit kids or young teenagers and XL/2XL might fit someone on a more massive scale – think a pro basketball or American football player.
With Covid-19 cases and clusters forming rapidly in recent months in Singapore, I’ve put a pause on football for a bit and switched out to doing long runs instead. I would usually run 5-10k around my neighbourhood at a moderate pace of 6:30 minutes per kilometre.
I was pleasantly surprised at what a big upgrade the Under Armour Sportsmask Featherweight has been. The new pocket of space for the chin is most welcome as it has contributed to better lockdown on the under side of my face and the new wiring around the nasal bridge conforms across my face a lot better.
Expect the mask to fit very snugly when doing more aggressive workouts like HIIT or football too.
And just like the older mask model, the Under Armour Sportsmask Featherweight makes breathing in a mask relatively easy too. I wasn’t straining for breath even in our hot and humid climate. The thin bands don’t tug uncomfortably at the back of the ears, which is a positive when I do longer runs that last an hour or longer.
Unlike the first generation mask, this thinner foam material means that the mask won’t soak up as much sweat in a workout and it dries much more quickly too after it’s hand-washed. This a definite plus as I wasn’t burdened with a sweat sponge by the end of my run and the mask dries quickly after my wash in time for my run the next day.
Outside of sports, the mask is works well for a safe day out. Your voice is audible, the fit is comfortable and the mask looks pretty sharp too. The shape looks really sleek and is worthy of being labelled a modern sports performance accessory.
This is easily the best mask I’ve worn during the pandemic where masks have been mandatory. It’s good looking, it fits well and protects you against moisture whether you’re out shopping or busting out a sprint.
I didn’t expect Under Armour to have improved on the mask this much, but I was proven wrong. The Under Armour Sportsmask Featherweight is an absolute beast and I love it. Some might find it slightly expensive at SG$29 per mask but I believe it’s worth the price due to its price and durability.
One minor gripe I have though is the lack of colours and design that come with the mask. Currently they come in black, dark blue and purple and I’d like Under Armour to have developed brighter colours or even do one better and work on design collaborations with Lego, Marvel and other big pop culture brands.
But these are small issues in the greater scheme of things. These masks sell out fast for good reason – they’re excellent. I’m not sure how much more Under Armour can do to upgrade this version of their Sportsmask but I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised in a year’s time.
Puma is bringing the heat again with their official match ball for the LaLiga with the Puma Adrenalina – the hi-vis variant of the regular Puma Accelerate.
We reviewed last season’s Puma Accelerate and we were pleasantly surprised by how well it performed. It balanced soft padding and a wide sweet spot which made for excellent touch and strike.
This year’s rendition improves significantly on the aesthetics department with a much sharper graphic that looks every bit the modern football. Specific to the hi-vis Puma Adrenalina, the “Lemon Tonic and Dark Yellow” base (neon green to mere mortals like us) and the blue panels add a bit of vibrancy and visibility on the pitch.
This is high visibility variation is pretty common in modern European leagues these days, to ensure that the players and audiences can view the ball during winter seasons. Even if Spain never snows as hard as Northern Europe, we’re sure this ball sticks outs when playing them in any environment.
Performance-wise, we’re still in the midst of reviewing the Puma Adrenalina. While we’re nowhere nearly as talented as Griezmann and Varane, the ball has so far carried the similar high performances its predecessor had.
The Puma Adrenalina (and the Accelerate) builds on the 8 panel design to maintain a larger sweet spot no matter where you strike.
Unlike some match balls, the Puma Adrenalina flies fast despite all that generous padding, which makes this a really popular ball amongst my training mates. We have felt as comfortable dribbling like Luis Suarez as we are playing it out from the back like Raphael Varane.
We’re really excited for a new season of LaLiga and for the Puma Accelerate and Adrenalina to take centre stage through the derbies and El Clasicos. Vamos!
Editor’s note: Full review to be ready by the end of July. Stay tuned!
We try on every football boot to recommend you the best football boots for your feet. No matter your preference, we aim to help you choose the right boot every time.
Boothype © Copyright 2021. All rights reserved. Links on our site direct you to our e-commerce partners. Any purchase at their sites, after clicking on our link, will earn us a commission.
