New Balance reengineers the Furon as it reaches another generational update, sticking with its core DNA while delivering a different Furon experience. Is it a turn for the better or worse? Decide for yourself as you study more about the boots here in this Furon v8 review.
What You’ll Find On This Page:
- Furon v8 Pro Review
- Furon Destroy Takedown
- Budget Furon Dispatch
- Evolution of the New Balance Furon Football Boots
The juggernauts in the football boot industry that are the Nike and adidas obviously have the market’s attention at their grasps, to the extent that its already taken for granted. But time and time again, we see small brands able to produce football boots on-par with those produce by the duopoly. Case-in-point: New Balance and its Furon v8. Daring to venture into a category dominated by the Mercs and the F50s, the New Balance speed boot aims to provide a solid alternative by usually going the opposite way of whatever trend the major brands are heading to.
Who Wears the Furon NB Boots? Furon Football Stars
Sadio Mane significantly helped the brand gain a footing in the football boot industry. He started with a pair of the Furon 4.0 in 2018 and wore each generational model at the height of his stardom with Liverpool, receiving various signature releases along the way.
As a sign of the growing influence of the Furon, it now has Bukayo Saka to represent it. The Arsenal star has also received his own signature editions, some influenced by his life details and others commemorating his football achievements. Harvey Elliott and Raheem Sterling at one point also wore the Furon before switching to the Tekela.
Furon v8 Pro Review
| Model | Quality | Pitches | |
|---|---|---|---|
 New Balance Furon Pro |  HYPOKNIT upper with nylon outsole |  |  |
So first things first. Furon V8 is a knit-based speed boot. I find the Hypoknit material for the upper to be comfortably soft and pliable, and it does not cramp my foot when it comes to pressing against it. The boot is definitely one of the lightest today, and I feel a direct, raw sensation when it comes to ball contact because of the relative thinness of a knitted upper. I would say that the Furon is one of those that is barefoot-like and really comfortable straight out-of-the-box. Just try to avoid getting stepped on as much as possible.
The upper is textured enough to avoid it from being slick against the ball, but I don’t think it does anything in terms of ball grip. New Balance boots are naturally wide-fitting, but at least for me the Furon v8 and how the upper naturally wraps (not to mention that it still has laces, albeit off-centred) suited my narrow feet. With the mainstream speed boots all going for synthetics, I definitely agree on the thought that the Furon v8 has increased its value proposition with its build and make of a knitted speed boot.
Thanks to the stiffer strobel board, the soleplate has a decent snapback for that responsive step. The T-shaped stud configuration is expectedly aggressive in terms of natural grass traction, and you have this extra Speed Control stud on the lateral side joining the rear studs supposedly for additional breaking force. I feel though that the effect is actually felt more when planting and pushing off side-to-side, given that you have this extra stud working with the rest of the lateral studs. Stud length may not be as tall as other speed boot chevrons out there, but I would still caution against playing the boot in AG pitches.
I sense that the Furon fits just right length-wise, so I highly staying true-to-size. And if you have wide feet and still find the boot a bit too snug, then go for the 2E wide option. Lockdown though might not be as good as other speed boots because of the inherent give of a knit material to internal foot movement, not to mention the ditching of the previous generation’s canopy overlay and the shallowness of the off-centred laces. But so far, the close fit in general and the heel grab somehow offset these challenges to at least make the Furon’s lockdown competitive.
How We Tested The NB Furon v8
See our principles when it comes to boot testing here. Now for the Furon v8, we set to discover first how that Hypoknit upper feels on-feet and how it ranks as an upper material. We also aim to check out its responsiveness and objective performance given that it’s a speed boot and the headline silo no less for New Balance. So a lot of running and acceleration drills were put in place to determine whether that balance between comfort and objective performance would hold. We still have a pair of the regular v7+ so we are able to see where the changes are coming from going to the v8.
Furon Destroy Takedown
| Model | Quality | Pitches | |
|---|---|---|---|
 New Balance Furon Destroy |  Lighweight canopied knit upper with nylon outsole |  |  |
For almost half the price, Destroy tries to replicate the Hypoknit experience of the Pro. The result is relatively successful. At the very least the layering is quite seamless, though the weatherisation coating is noticeably significant (or at least the material used), which may affect the pliability of the upper. Fit at this point down also tends to be even wider and generic. Stud configuration remains the same, but the plastic outsole is of TPU.
Budget Furon Dispatch
| Model | Quality | Pitches | |
|---|---|---|---|
 New Balance Furon Dispatch |  Lighweight canopied knit upper with nylon outsole | |  |
The budget Furon has a textile base and a synthetic overlay, and at this level the layering is not as seamless as the other two above. I can notice the bulk created when you have one material on top of the other. This makes the Dispatch ideal to young players who might need some protection from their boots. Tooling-wise, it uses the outsole layout that was used around the 5th generation of the silo.
Evolution of the New Balance Furon Football Boots
It might not be obvious but having started in 2015, the Furon is actually as old as the adidas X speed boots. We’ll now take a brief trip to memory lane to see how we finally arrived to the present iteration of the New Balance speed boot.
Furon 1.0 (2015)
New Balance introduced the first generation of the Furon in 2015 alongside the Visaro, acting as the brand’s speed and control boot offerings, respectively. The Furon started with a Fantomfit upper that fuses the mesh forefoot with a synthetic midfoot. Since the Furon v1, nylon has always been the outsole material, and that red medial section that you can see above is a TPU material with triangular studs (all intended to give you a platform to push off).
Furon 2.0 (2016)
Apart from the more compact pattern of the meshed forefoot, not much had changed in the v2 coming from the v1.
Furon 3.0 (2017)
After two years, New Balance decided to overhaul the Furon line for the first time. The v3 introduced foam inserts to the silo for the first time, and the mesh upper was comprised of a hybrid TPU/Polyester material. The TPU outsole contained a nylon chassis overlay to balance flexibility with energy-return.
Furon 4.0 (2018)
Furon v4 was a special release for the silo. Launching in 2018, it debuted ahead of the World Cup and also featured alongside the Visaro replacement-the Tekela 1.0. The v4 was also the first Furon model Sadio Mane wore when he joined New Balance. Tech-wise, the outsole was similar, except that it was now inlayed. The upper changed to a synthetic Fantom fit with core-outs, all covered with a Hydraskin membrane for a consistent touch even in wet conditions.
Furon 5.0 (2019)
The following year, New Balance an evolution to the Furon, with the v5 featuring minor adjustments to the v4 like how the v2 did it for the v1. The tongue was streamlined to the low-cut collar and the laces interestingly did not cover the full tongue area.
Furon 6.0 (2020)
COVID or not, New Balance was not deterred to launch the Furon v6, its first fully-knitted upper, in a year where Nike’s Flyknit and adidas’ Primeknit where at their peaks. The knit from the v6 was plush and truly sock-like, reinforced strategically over the surface just so not to make it feel sloppy. The first iteration of the present Furon’s nylon soleplate got featured on the Furon v6, albeit with a more opaque finish.
Furon 6+ (2021)
Another evolution (but a very great one for that), the v6+ streamlined the surface structural reinforcement to the knitted upper but still made it comfortable and flexible because of the meshed internal liner. The nylon outsole changed to a translucent material but retained the aggressive chevron studs.
Furon 7 (2022) and Furon 7+ (2024)
As in the case with the v6, the plus version was certainly an evolution of the v7 rather than a complete departure. V7 simply did not have the canopy extension, and other than that served the same Hypoknit upper construction and off-centred lacing system. No changes as well as far as the soleplate was concerned.
