Its been a while since we last reviewed a set of boots on soccer boots world, and what better to get us back into the swing of things than the sucessor to our favourite boot of 2012?With an eye-catching and youthful new lick of paint, the vapor 9 has drawn inspiration from high end sports cars – increasing the visual connection with mercurial speed. So where better to start than with the new ‘body’ of the boot – the upper.The upper features a two-level gradient that moves from pink to purple, as well as from gloss to a matte finish, which really screams speed – making it look like the air is breaking through the boot. That said, I personally do not like high gloss synthetic boots because they tend to look cheap and feel extremely stiff – but Nike has combatted this really well by mixing the matte and gloss finish, as well as continuing to use their super soft Tejin Micro-fibre upper from the Vapor 8 – which was so well received. My only personal criticism of the design is the black laces, which I feel do not suit the overall styling of the boot – but are based around the tires of the aforementioned super-cars.When you pick up the boot, you immediately notice the newly designed ‘golf ball’ texture that the boot features, this was heavily criticised by fans of the vapor when images of the boot first surfaced online. However, having had the chance to actually test this feature out – I have to say it is a fantastic innovation from Nike’s design team. Based around the concept of a golf ball’s aerodynamic qualities, the design was considered to give you better airflow over the boot – but more importantly it gives you a far better range of grip and traction on the ball – which really helps when performing high speed dribbles and tricks such as the flip-flap, as the ball is far more attached to your foot than with its predecessor.Nike has continued its tradition of giving the vapor an extremely low toebox – which is fantastic for getting underneath the ball, and for high speed dribbling. We also see Nike continue to use the fantastic ACC coating – which, paired with the dimpled texture of the boot, gives you a massive edge over your opponent (assuming they are not wearing the vapor 9s of course!).One of the biggest visual changes to the boot sees the removal of the inner swoosh of the boot – and the introduction of a more youthful ‘NIKE’ logo on the instep of the boot, this has also proved quite controversial with a lot of the vapor-faithful, but I have to say it looks very cool on-pitch when the boot is sunk into the mud and grass – and the high contrast graphic stands out – screaming speed at your opposition!Overall, Nike have taken one of the best boots they’ve produced and managed to make it even better – you’d be hard pushed to find a better speed boot out there.
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