The adidas Ultraboost 19 has been on the scene for a few months, and it’s safe to say the advanced running silhouette is here to stay. This month, we got our hands on a pair to run some tests of our own, and give you a full review on the latest from adidas Running.

The adidas Ultraboost 19 has been entirely redesigned from the ground up for a more purpose-built running shoe. According to some rumors, the design team at adidas Running specifically disregarded the opinions of casual consumers, focusing entirely on what runners need rather than what sneakerheads want. This is apparent through the Ultraboost 19’s variety of newly updated technologies that many fans of the franchise will recognize from the past. Despite its seemingly normal package, the adidas Ultraboost 19 delivers a wildly different silhouette than any of us could’ve expected. 

The first thing I noticed while I unboxed the Ultraboost 19 was the upper. Differing wildly from the bright and colorful Primeknit uppers of previous UB styles, the 19 divides the 360 knit into two distinct sections, top, and bottom, with two distinct purposes. The top side of the Primeknit is the stretchiest, flexing and adapting to the shape of your foot in all kinds of positions, thanks to a slightly looser, grid-like pattern to the interlocking strands. The lower portions are much stiffer, locking your foot into the shoe and providing sturdy support when making sharp turns or changing direction, a long-standing personal issue for me with the previous versions. Finally, several extra colorful threads are stretched across the forefoot and midfoot to provide the feeling of a lockdown strap without adding any real weight or overlays. This new Primeknit system is brilliant, retaining the one-piece sock-like feel of the original, yet taking it a few steps further to better accommodate the ever-changing needs of runners. 

The rehauled midsole provides yet another great reason to love the Ultraboost 19. You’ll notice that this new Boost tooling is visually much larger than previous iterations, thanks to a whopping 20% more Boost pellets packed inside. This additional material is not just added for looks, as adidas also compressed the whole sole even tighter than before, creating a more rigid and durable feel, while sticking to the bouncy, responsive feel the original Ultraboost introduced back in 2013. 

Upon unboxing the adidas Ultraboost 19, I was immediately ready to give them a test run. Despite some less than ideal weather in Oakland, I geared up for a rainy run as best as I could and started out. Warming up with some stretching and a quick jog around the block only heightened my excitement to get onto the road in the 19s, as the bounciness in every step felt like I wasn’t going to achieve the shoes full potential until I was fully up to speed.

Those first miles in the Ultraboost 19 were some of the most memorable I have ever run. The Boost midsole in the new silhouette feels like a springboard under each foot, propelling you to go faster and harder with every step. I was hooked after just two miles, pushing myself for a few more than I’d planned before heading home. Simply amazed at how the new Ultraboost felt on foot, I ended up tallying roughly 25 miles on the 19s throughout the next week. 

I am a huge fan of the adidas Ultraboost 19. Having run in an assortment of adidas shoes for the past five years, including Boost, Bounce, and 4D models, I have found something in the 19 that I felt was missing from the others; a true dedication to the road. Sure, the others are built with athleticism in mind, but they also take aesthetics into account. The Ultraboost 19 does not. The 19’s aggressive approach to providing a single-purpose shoe is wonderfully executed, thanks to the widespread technological advancements by the adidas Running team. I recommend the adidas Ultraboost 19 to anyone looking for a new running shoe to log some serious miles into.  

The adidas Ultraboost 19 is currently available directly from the brand, along with secondary running and footwear retailers. The fifth iteration of the popular running franchise retains the usual $180 price tag of the originals, which is frankly a serious upgrade given how much work went into the new design. Head over to adidas to check out the full breadth of colorways available, and stay tuned to JustFreshKicks for more Ultraboost 19 release news. 

Words by Ben Serleth, Images taken by Adham A. You can find more of his work on Instagram @LazySnorlax