adidas F50 Review

Before Messi had the Crazyfasts, Speedflows and the Xs, he first had the adidas F50. It gave the Nike Mercurials a run for their money during those times the adidas speed boot was in circulation. Besides Messi, it attracted the likes of Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale, two quick players that were at their speedy prime when they wore a pair of F50s. Let’s take a look then of the 2024 edition and see how it stands in relation to your boot preferences.

What You’ll Find On This Page:

2024 F50 Elite Review

Model	Quality	Pitches
adidas F50 Elite+	Fibertouch Upper Sprintweb Texture Sprintframe360+ w/ Lightstrike Pro
adidas F50 Elite LL	Fibertouch Upper Sprintweb Texture Primeknit Tongue
adidas F50 Elite	Fibertouch Upper Sprintweb Texture Compression Midfoot Tongue Tunnel
adidas F50 Elite Mid	Fibertouch Upper Sprintweb Texture Primeknit Tongue and Collar

Speed and Comfort Insoles are Back!

Like how they did with the fold-over tongue model, adidas is doubling down on the nostalgia factor by giving us two sets of insoles. One pair is designated for comfort and the other for speed. The difference between the two is that the latter feels thinner, has some perforations and overall is geared towards shaving off as much weight as possible. It’s a nice touch from the brand, but I do think it’s for the best to just use the comfort insoles. They feel more plush, and, unless you are extremely sensitive to the weight difference, I don’t see them really packing that much more weight than the speed insoles. They might feel more solid and denser, but certainly not heavy relative to the other set of insoles. I could also make the argument that the comfort insole is above-average when you take on the insoles of other speed boots.

Sprintframe 360 and Sprintframe360+

I would say the soleplate carries an evolution element. I can see that the overall soleplate structure is influenced by the F50, and some studs are taken from the X line. But specific to the 2024 F50 is the addition of the half-conical studs. I think what adidas (and some of the competing brands as well) is that they are trying to make the stud configuration multi-directional, easing up twisting and pivoting movements wherever they can. This can be linked to players these days expected to be more versatile with their positioning, doing a lot of overlaps and to deliver more or less in both offensive and defensive fronts. The height of the studs though I imagine would be perfect for that firm soil, and will have significant pressure and pushback on harder pitches. Be wary of using this on AG pitches. I guess pitch depth is important to think about when considering wearing them.

The outsole is relatively flat unlike some of the X soleplates with a raised toe. It is also still snappy, but noticeably less snappy than the X Speedframes, perhaps because there is more give on the forefoot. I can imagine adidas doing this to make the 2024 F50 more comfortable as far as the soleplate is concerned. So from there we can already see who will welcome the change and who would be disappointed with the new direction.

And there’s the wild Sprintframe360+ from the laceless F50+. Imagine combining the Zoom Air cushion and the snap of the likes of Speedframe. That’s exactly what you’re going to get with this soleplate. You definitely feel the sensation of both the Lightstrike Pro cushion and the snap of the restructured soleplate. Just to be clear though. It won’t reach the same level of cushion as the 3/4-length Zoom Air bag as Lightstrike is limited to just two strips-one on each side of the forefoot. If you’re someone who really likes some underfoot workings going on, then you should definitely go for a pair of these.

Two other things to take note of. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’ll need some time to adjust to Sprintframe360+, as A) it has a very high toe lift, and B) the outsole feels very much chunky. That lift might be very good in rolling your step to give you an additional speed boost on top of the abovementioned technology. But I find that it does affect my spin and thus requires me to adjust how I strike the ball. The additional materials at the bottom of your foot mean there’s definitely less connection between your feet and the ground and the ball. Not necessarily a bad thing, but could impact your sense of ball control.

New Upper Construction

Just to put it out there, you are not going to put in a pair of the 2024 F50 and feel the same synthetic uppers of the 2010s. The new Fibertouch upper is geared towards a mesh material with strategic cage and coating reinforcement. It somehow falls in between the X Crazyfast+ and the X Crazyfast Elite in terms of thinness, and pliability I think falls between the X Ghosted and the X Speedflow. In fact, I think the X Speedflow is what comes to mind especially when you talk about the shape. Breaking them down is no issue and warming them up to your feet should work in no time. The midfoot definitely has some structure that will make the F50 a very responsive boot.

You have different closure options for the F50. One is the tongued version, and the other two are a laceless and a collared laced one-piece upper. Interestingly though, the tongued version isn’t the traditional floating one. It reminds me of the Tiempo Legend 8 Quadfit system because of how the sides are attached to the sole, forming a tunnel. The tongue is not attached to the upper, so we can say it’s an interesting take on combining a tongue and one-piece upper construction. Despite having additional layer of material, the touch on the ball is still raw and direct because the tongue is made of a thin premium material. To my mind, it’s not intended to be a compression midfoot band. It has a certain give and simply functions as a tongue with a unique setup. There’s also that gritty Sprintweb texturing on the upper that does increase the friction points and prevent the ball from slicking away from your touch.

Fit, Feel and Sizing

The fit and feel is another area that leads me to conclude that adidas is trying to accommodate as much foot width as possible. For my narrow feet, I am experiencing some dead spaces around the top of the ankle. I also think there’s some extra space on the toes, so consider going half-a-size down if the width permits. I like how the heel feels on the 2024 F50 though as the two padding is just enough to lock your heel down (not excessive like some adidas boots have). Adding to the heel comfort is the fabricky sensation of the heel material itself. It’s certainly comfortable against the heel, but it does not feel lousy as the external heel counter provides that structural reinforcement. Lockdown is ok and there’s no sense that the boot is going to come off of my feet. Unless you have an extremely wide feet and/or flat-footedness, the F50 should appeal to a variety of foot types. Personally, I would go for the laced one-piece with collar as it provides the best of both worlds in terms of lockdown and getting that sculpted, one-to-one fit.

Final Thoughts and How We Tested the 2024 F50

In my opinion, the return of the F50 is more on the return of the name rather than the comeback of the boot experience that the F50 from the 2010s delivered. It’s a high-performing boot, but I just thought that it’s really more of a continuation of the X speed boot direction. And because of that I think it’s not on par with the Predator FT in terms of bringing the nostalgic factor to the modern make and build of adidas boots. Perhaps I could say that the insoles are the exemption to this. Again, the 2024 F50 is a good football boot, just that the naming of it I think is for marketing above all else.

I just like to introduce you first with how we test football boots. For the F50, what we aim to discover is whether it will somehow bring back the boot experience of the F50 from the past decade or if it will build on the progress of the X line. We also checked on testing the stud traction on firm grass because of the evolution on the stud configuration. It is also appealing to us to see how the new upper construct would feel on ball touch.

adidas F50 Pro

adidas F50 Pro is one of the reasons why we should not sleep on the takedowns, especially the first level down the flagship tier. First off, it’s literally the same Fibertouch upper with the same Sprintweb texutring and Compression Midfoot Tongue Tunnel. Suffice to say that the upper experience is the same (Scratch that, it’s the same Elite experience from upper to sole). You’ll have to be extremely nitpicky to notice that the Pro’s subtle changes, such as the lessened coverage of the Sprintweb Texturing.

Model	Quality	Pitches
adidas F50 Pro	Fibertouch Upper Sprintweb Texture Compression Midfoot Tongue Tunnel

Speaking of subtle changes, I also noticed that the microtexturing is absent on the otherwise the same heel liner material. Same goes with the external heel counter of the Sprintframe 360. adidas F50 Pro is only available as a low-cut with laces. I don’t suppose these changes are going to be deal breakers, so I wouldn’t be surprised that the Pro might easily beat out the F50 Elite low-cut laced in terms of sales.

Academy F50 League Review

It’s a given that at this price point, you can’t really expect to get the same feel as the Elite F50. But the sell here is that for this level, the Fiberskin upper feels above-average and provides a certain amount of that thin barefoot feel of the Elite. Admittedly I can sense some of that plasticky nature, once you get to wear them they do break down easily.

I guess the best audience for the F50 League would be those who have tried previous adidas takedowns. Those really suffered from having a very shallow heel depth. This do have a very secure heel, and, in addition to having a sculpted shaping, gets a nice level of fit and lockdown. It easily makes the F50 League one, if not the best takedown boot adidas has ever produced.

Model	Quality	Pitches
adidas F50 League LL	Fiberskin Upper Sprintgrid Texture Textile Tongue
adidas F50 League	Fiberskin Upper Sprintgrid Texture Stretch Tongue

Speaking of lockdown, we would always choose the laced version for maximum adjustability. It also helps that the F50 League laced replicates the midfoot tongue tunnel construction, albeit of course with less compression and with cheaper material. As far as the laceless version goes, adidas has made the closure setup workable at the budget range. By using a fused underside layer, adidas prevent the boot from overstretching sideways, unlike past laceless adidas takedowns that just felt sloppy because of the lack of needed tension to secure the boot.

The sole also feels good for the price point and has a sharp stud configuration that is not overly aggressive, thanks to the existence of some semi-conicals around the midfoot area. Relative to the Elite, the plastic I think is a bit more dense underfoot, which explains why the F50 League noticeable weigh more and is not really able to provide that super lightweight sensation.

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2015 F50 adiZero Review

5 Things to Know about the adidas 2015 F50 adiZero:

1. Worn by pacey players like Luis Suarez and Gareth Bale
2. Direct competitor to the Nike Mercurial Superfly IV/Vapor X
3. The speed boot option of adidas in a lineup that included the control Predator Instinct, the leather-based adiPure and the Nitrocharge
4. Technically the 5th generation of the F50 adiZero
5. Has a leather version, just like previous adiZero generations

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History of the adidas F50

For those of you who don’t know, F simply stood for ‘Football’ while ’50’ referred to the golden anniversary of Germany’s 1954 World Cup title in 2004, when the F50 was launched. It needed such inspired naming as the soon-to-be iconic speed boot had to contend with the likes of the Nike Vapor II, Nike T90 and adidas-own Predator Pulse. But more than the naming, the boots themselves and what they brought to the table that actually made the F50 as a household name in the football boot industry.

2010-2015: Modern F50s and Pre-X Speed Boots

Whenever boot fans brought forward fond memories of the adidas F50, they were more likely than not remembering the adiZero years of the silo. This was such a pivotal moment not just for adidas but for the boot industry as a whole, as it accelerated the incarnation of speed boots to today’s ultra lightweight, thin synthetic feel. Leather versions were made available, but the synthetic ones were the actual drivers of the F50 line.

It all began in 2010 with the first F50 adiZero, which carried over the Sprintskin upper in a thinner, more seamless fashion that had really driven the F50 towards being equated with lightweightedness. It also jived well with the Sprintframe outsole that had those small triangular studs on a singular thin plastic outsole. For all intents and purposes, these contributed to the birth of modern tooling systems that featured smaller studs and thinner materials for the plastic plate. The 2010 F50 adiZero was the inspiration for the black with yellow 2020 F50 Ghosted Memory Lane Pack. An F50 adiZero Prime followed, but it’s essentially the same boot, just with more weight shaved and more ball control by introducing Kevlar laces and 3D Dribbletex texturing.

In 2011, adidas launched the F50 adiZero MiCoach. It featured an exterior TPU support bands on the upper to improve structure and responsiveness. But more importantly, it introduced the MiCoach chip inserted in a cavity on the outsole that allows the tracking of speed, distance covered, sprints, acceleration and deceleration. F50 adiZero MiCoach 2 reverted back to a simpler, seamless execution of the Sprintskin upper while increasing the coverage of the internal Sprintweb liner.

After the MiCoach boots, a couple of adiZero boots followed before adidas turned its attention to the X speed boot era. The first was the F50 adiZero IV launched as part of the Samba 2014 World Cup pack. It had the Hybridtouch synthetic leather material enjoyed once again in the Predator Accuracy. Hybridtouch was complemented on the quarter by a translucent Speedfoil inspired by the sails of boats. Under the hood, it sat on the previous adiZero’s Speed TRX outsole that had increased height and width for the triangular bladed studs relative to the studs of the original Sprintframe. adidas then went on to best the adiZero Prime with the adiZero Crazylight famously worn by Gareth Bale. In 2015 adidas gave us the last generation of the F50 adiZero before finally giving way for the X 15.

2004-2010: Inception and the Tunit Systems

At a time when K-leather boots were still the norm on the pitch, Nike had already things going for them with the Nike Mercurial Vapor, opening everyone’s eyes to the benefits of wearing synthetics on the pitch. So in 2004, right around the Euro tournament, adidas introduced us to the first-ever F50 football boots. It aimed to introduce a fast-looking, sleek speed boot to compete with the Nike Vapor. The F50 had that mesh-based body with thick stitched ribbings to act as the core upper material. It had a layer of soft K-leather covering the laces and extending to the forefoot. Chunky TRX blades dominated the split-soleplate. But one of the highlights of the show was the introduction of changeable insoles that set the stage for the later Tunit systems. Multiple pairs of insoles were part of the package to give you choices based on your preferred balance of flexibility and stability. The following F50+ just used a different mesh and a distinct spider webbing overlay, but the overall sense remained the same.

Then came 2006, and adidas tried to revolutionise the boot game right in time for the World Cup with the +F50.6 Tunit. The idea was for you to have a boot with not just changeable insoles, but also changeable studs for surface adaptability and changeable uppers to refresh the look of your footwear without needing to order a new pair. Towards later Tunit boots like the +F50.8s and the +F50.9s, translucent heel and synthetic microfibre upper material were introduced. Tunit culminated in the release of the +F50i, that same boot Messi kissed when he scored that looping header against Manchester United in the 2009 UCL Final. It had that thin Sprintskin upper that reduced the weight of the boot. This served as the catalyst for the adiZero iterations of the adidas F50.