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Puma King Ultimate

Ian Ebbs

At least for the past few years, Puma’s dominant entries to the football boot world are the Future and Ultra. Puma tries to make it three with the launch of the King Ultimate, the modernised version of its legendary heritage boot. Can it succeed in attracting players to its fold?

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Recent attempts have been made to make the King adapt to today’s boot consumer tastes and preferences. There’s the King Platinum and King Platinum 21. Safe to say results are quite below average, so Puma not only change the looks and shape of the King, it also introduced something new to its build and composition in order to spike curiosity. Continue reading on to learn more.

Price Points for the King Ultimate

You can get today’s Puma King at different pricing. Puma understands not all will go for their most premium King offering, so they made the current King in different variants to cover all consumer budget levels.

Ultimate

Whenever you see Ultimate in a Puma football boot, it means that that particular pair is the most premium execution of that particular line. Whether it does feel premium to you or not is another story.

Women’s Ultimate

Puma has a dedicated King Ultimate for the female players. The same look but with an adjusted fit geared towards accommodating the nuances of women’s feet.

Pro

The first option for a cheaper King is the Pro. Some changes here and there but at least some elements for the Ultimate still make their way down to this price level.

Match

This is where you can certainly feel significant downgrades relative to the Ultimate. Still worth considering if your looking for cheap football boots to get into. Usually bought for children or youth players, even Academy ones.

Puma King Ultimate Boot Review

Six Things to Know About the King Ultimate:

  1. Moves away from K-leather and into a synthetic leather ‘K-BETTER:’ comprised of 60% recycled nylon from post-industrial wastes
  2. Competitively priced at just a bit less than £200
  3. Officially labelled as FG/AG
  4. Has a one-piece upper construction with central laces
  5. Conical stud layout
  6. Replaces the King Platinum 21

Our Puma King Ultimate Expert Review


Puma King Ultimate

The Puma King Ultimate departs from traditional K-leather, using a synthetic leather called K-BETTER, which is made up of 60% recycled nylon from post-industrial waste. Priced at just under £200 the King offers an eco-friendly option for players who are looking for a high-performance pair at a competitive price point.

Product SKU: 107097

Product Brand: Puma

Product Currency: £

Product Price: 185

Product In-Stock: InStock

Editor's Rating:
3.91

✔️ Pros
  • A definite improvement from the King Platinum 21
  • K-BETTER requires minimal break-in time and does become soft, pliable and form-fitting like leather
  • Boot itself has been shaped so that the it fits closely without being too tight
  • Because its synthetic leather, it has better water repellency and less overstretching
  • Lockdown is sufficient
❌ Cons
  • Decision to move to synthetic leather might probably turn off hardcore K-leather fans
  • Heel lockdown could be improved
  • Better to get the likes of Mizuno leather boots if you’re after the very best leather quality
  • Not as aggressive as other boots in terms of traction

Long live the King!

-Puma, 2023

….but can it?

Boot Rankings, Best For…

Jay Mike talks about the King Ultimate:

  • K-BETTER surprisingly good; could be fooled into thinking that it is actual leather once broken-in in 20 to 30 mins., softness, pliability and moulding around the foot is still impressive even if it won’t reach the heights of the finest K-leather boots out there
  • Thin foam liner makes it possible to have one-to-one glove-like sensation with K-BETTER
  • Fit is streamlined, just like the King Platinum; no dead space in the midfoot and pointy toe box has enough volume
  • True-to-size
  • Lockdown adequate; in addition to boot shape helps make the boot give a cozy fit
  • Less snap on the outsole contributes to the boot’s comfort
  • Lasting on the wider side
  • Thin upper profile still provides that padded ball touch that we are familiar with in leather
  • Heel lockdown is left wanting
  • Syntheticky right out-of-the-box
  • Might not have enough swagger to win some fans
  • K-BETTER feels nice but lacks wow factor
  • In the end, King Ultimate is an improvement from the King Platinum 21

Which Puma Silo to Get: King vs Future and Ultra

Perhaps the thing that will standout for the King Ultimate versus the Future and Ultra is the dampened ball touch. The Ultra as a speed boot offers that barefoot feel while the Future leans more on giving some ball grip. Another point to consider is that its relaxed fit and last width caters more to average width (operating at the center of the narrower Ultra and the wider Future).

In the end, while K-BETTER is somehow advanced than leather in the sense that it is a recycled material that is formulated to emulate leather, the King Ultimate’s position to be chosen over the two is its simplicity as a football boot. It doesn’t concern itself much with tech unlike the FUZIONFIT360 of the Future and the ULTRAWEAVE of the Ultra.

The Story of the Puma King

Born in 1968, the Puma King has been laced up by several legends of the game, beginning with the likes of Eusebio, Pele, Maradona, and Cruyff. Before the Nike Mercurial and adidas Predator burst into the scene, there was the Puma King that became part of memorable football moments. Watch this Football Boots UK special video about the history of the iconic Puma silo, from its beginnings and heyday up to its period of intense competition from today’s dominant football boot brands.

King Platinum and King Platinum 21

Prior to the King Ultimate, some of the recent attempts to make a contemporary king happened in 2019. The Puma King Platinum was an underrated football boot in that it had that quality K-leather upper but packaged into a thin profile and streamlined fit, just like how speed boots are. In essence, the Platinum had that appeal of being traditionalist but also in-touch with the current on-feet feel of today’s boots. It did get a boost when Neymar switched over to Puma and chose to go with the King Platinum before headlining the Future silo.

Sadly, Puma changed the Platinum for the worst when it released the King Platinum 21 (short for 2021). It was arguably the stiffest of all K-leather boots from all time, and whatever touch benefits the ribbed Kingform technology brought (if there were any), it was all for naught as that rigid leather upper dominated. Much worst was the fact that this naturally led to the Platinum 21 being uncomfortable not just by leather standards but even when compared to the modern synthetic boots.

Author

Ian Ebbs

Founder of FootballBoots.co.uk back in 2010, Ian went on to create and host their YouTube channel which now has 1.5million subscribers and over 300 million views, he also hosts their podcast which you can find on Spotify. Taking his over fifteen year experience in the football industry, Ian wrote the book: How To Choose Your Boots (find it on Amazon) where he looks to help footballers of all levels find their perfect pair.

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