Adidas has officially unveiled its newest wave of basketball performance footwear——The Adidas N3XT L3V3L. It was available since December 1st, 2018 during a 24-hour window on Adidas. com. In the past few days, the shoe has enticed fans with its laceless high-top Primeknit upper and exterior piece on the lateral side of it. But how on earth does the shoe perform? Well, it takes a little patience to know about this.
With respect to the shoe’s appearance, there is no need talking too much. Here I’d just give you a brief introduction. Of course, there are several kinds of colorways for you to choose. For this one, it simply features white, black and gray, making the whole very pleasing to the eye. Extremely simple as it is, personally, it is aesthetically pleasing and can’t be too suitable to match many of your daily wearing. But what distinguishes the shoe from others is that the upper and the tongue are integrated. On top of that, Adidas has cancelled the laces of the shoe. Though installed with Primeknit tech, you can still find different designs in it.
On a personal level, there is no much influence brought by the change and improvement in shoe’s appearance. If any, I should say the only one is the wrapping. According to different function, Adidas has divided the shoe into 3 parts——the forefoot, the instep and the heel. But the elasticity and ductility of the 3 parts’ woven upper are different. It is the middle upper that plays the most important role, so its ductility is the best while the other 2 parts are relatively weak.
Benefiting from the upper’s special design, you’ll feel your foot tightly wrapped. Whether there is emergency stop or direction change, it wraps your whole foot super well. This time Adidas does not equip a TPU in the heel to fortify support, but the biggest and the most visible support piece is in the side, which is the lateral foam support piece offering enough lockdown for the player. On the whole, its performance does impress me and satisfy me a lot.
Then it’s about the cushion. For this aspect, Adidas N3XT L3V3L uses new cushion materials this time and now Adidas is introducing a new foam midsole in the shoe called Lightstrike. . In terms of elasticity, well, the Lightstrike is not so good as that of other brands, let alone the BOOST. But on the other hand, it is claimed as super light and responsive so for lightweight players, it is enough to meet all their needs. As is said by some consumers, even after a long time playing or after many uses, the foam stopped all impacts on landing but stayed responsive on cuts that I never felt lagging or slower. Besides, the forefoot rides low to the ground while still providing impact protection on jumpers and rebounds. Being able to cop one Adidas N3XT L3V3L, if my memory serves me right that my initial play was very wonderful. Honestly speaking, I am not lightweight; so the moment I landed on the ground, it gave me quite a lot of feedback——just like stepping on a pillow.
Under the Lightstrike cushion platform is the full herringbone traction. In other words, it is the traditional pattern that grips the ground very well. The outsole looks identical with the Harden Vol.3 in pictures though, there are distinctions of course. With this traditional setting, the shoe’s grip definitely would not be bad. In addition, there are 4 circular patterns in the forefoot whose practical use is better than decorated use. No matter on what kind of floor, the outsole hugs the floor tightly, offering you friction. For me, the grip it offers is sufficient——super-grippy on clean or semi-clean courts. But at the same time, dust is invited; hence, you’ll need some wiping sometimes. However, it is likely that it might disappoint you on outdoor courts for the rubber outsole is soft, resulting in damage easily.
As for the fit, it is one thing that greatly influence your idea of whether to buy a shoe or not. Some may ask: it goes no laces, then how can it be tightened to your foot? Well, you can just “put your heart in the belly” because the knit, both the elastic and non-stretchy parts, wrap your foot tightly in a thick sock with only a slight bit of side-to-side movement in the forefoot. But after all, what I want to say is that only when you try them can you know whether it is suitable for you.
Overall:
To sum up, it is so far the first sneaker going without laces and no exposed straps on market. It impresses me quite a lot in the wrapping——it is really really good! What’s more, the cushion and the grip are not bad, either. There is one thing for certain——the shoe isn’t meant for everyone, but surely, it would intrigue a great many people’s interest and receive a large deal of popularity.