Talking about UA EMBIID , I had quite a nice impression of it because it was the first brand, rather than those better known brands, say, Nike or Adidas, that companied me through the very first college year when I just started my basketball “journey”. After all, it is usually the first ones that are most memorable.
So as soon as I got this pair of UA EMBIID ONE, I just couldn’t wait to play basketball in it to my heart’s content. And here is a brief comprehensive evaluation of this pair of UA EMBIID ONE after my first test of it: it is suitable for clean infields but offers the best experience in outdoor courts; it fits best for people with weight less than 80KG; and for the foot type, it suits very well for people with high insteps, but for those with wide and flatfeet, they are highly recommended to have a try before purchasing.
Here is also a non-performance reference scoring: the shoes are not heavy, but nor lightweight enough, either; its durability is of relative superiority; the air ventilation and comfort are both of moderate performance; its cost-effective performance is not that satisfying.
Then it is time for its on-court performances. For the vamp, it is relatively simple though, it fits my feet snugly, making it easy for me to put on and take off the shoes. So those who are simple-oriented might have interest in this UA EMBIID ONE as well.
The design on both sides of the front part is similar to flying wings, which can actually make it more suitable for people with different foot types.
The heel wrapping, judging from the heel, is not that satisfying. As you can see, the padding in the heel is actually a little bit thin, so the shoes doesn’t hug my feet well. But luckily, this disadvantage can be made up for by tying the shoelaces tight so that I have never run into such problem.
And although the vamp is made of average mesh cloth, it is still strong enough to offer solid and nice support. On top of that, along with the wings on both sides that extends from the midsole, the integrity of the shoes is very good. However, you still can’t expect too much of it because the support is just enough instead of being outstanding.
In terms of the midsole, it adopts the full-foot micro-G and the HOVR in the rear, which is said to be the most excellent setup of UA.
The cushion of the forefoot is a single tech with moderate thickness. It is bouncy, but its feedback is not so noticeable, either. As for the cushion in the rear part, judging from my experience, it is pretty good and I should say it is the best of all my UA shoes.
Some observed that the outsole of UA EMBIID ONE looks quite like that of Soldier 14 and they are both more suitable for outdoor playing than indoors. But for me, there is a problem in its outsole: the gaps are a bit big, resulting in a bad performance on dusty courts. Therefore, the case, most of the time, is that: I couldn’t feel the grip performance when there were dusts in indoor courts and I even ran into an awkward situation once: slipping on court. However, when I was playing on outdoor courts, the grip was quite excellent which seemed to be endowed with some kind of magic.
The torsion resistance of UA is always the most assuring part. With such a thick and hard outsole and an arch support setup, the overall rigidity is quite good.
Overall:
In short, such iconic center-forward shoes are actually rare though it’s more like a chunky Curry 7. And I’d rather believe that it is the process with the shoes that matters. As long as you get the hang of it, you may be surprised at finding it a reliable comrade.