Using more HOVR foam than before, this high-mileage shoe is built for marathon training.
Weight: 306g (M), 243g (W)
Type: Road
The right shoe for: Marathon training or high-mileage runners.
Expanding on its early Hovr line, Under Armour looked to dial up the underfoot cush with this plush neutral shoe. Targeting the likes of the Asics Gel-Nimbus and Brooks Glycerin, the Infinite is meant to be pillowy soft and luxurious. To do so, UA is using an extra thick, extra soft slab of its Hovr foam.
Hovr is Under Armour’s latest midsole material, an attempt at a high energy-return foam that’s all the rage in running shoes right now. In this case, UA is using an extremely soft material surrounded by an “energy web,” to give you a soft landing that remains as protective at the end of your run as it did at the start. The brand has visibly called out this tech via cutout windows in the midsole, much like what Nike did in the early days of Air. Gaps of Hovr foam peek out of (and even poke through) cutouts in the sidewall of the firmer carrier foam.
Where this shoe diverges from the Cadillac-type trainers mentioned earlier is in the upper construction. The Nimbus and Glycerin, in particular, utilise insanely plush materials—memory foam collars are extra cozy, and satiny linings feel soft against skin. This shoe has a more standard, workhorse-like build. The ankle lining is a little scratchy, the heel counter a bit hard against the back of your heel. But the tongue is exceptionally padded to reduce any pressure on top of the foot, which is comfortably cradled by a two-layer engineered mesh upper.
A BEEFY MIDSOLE
With a midsole thicker than early shoes that used Hovr, like the Phantom and the Sonic, the shoe stands taller but isn’t necessarily softer. Tests at the RW Shoe Lab show the Infinite to be 6mm taller at the heel than the Sonic, but firmer underfoot. That might not be noticed over the long run, however, as the shoe is still moderately cushioned and feels comfortable for long stretches on pavement. “These were absolutely fantastic! I managed to get in a few runs of 10-plus miles in these, all on roads, and not the least bit of pain during, after, or the next day,” said one tester who experiences Achilles pain if he spends too much time on the roads.
The thick layer of Hovr foam remains wrapped in a fishnet-like fabric to limit just how much the material can expand when compressed (boosting the energy return properties). It’s further encased in a carrier of “Charged” EVA foam (much like Nike’s Lunar setup in the last decade), because it’s too soft and fragile to be exposed to the road. That carrier is cored out not only to show off the Hovr foam but also to improve flexibility and reduce weight.
HIGH-MILEAGE OUTSOLE
Premium trainers tend to have a heck of a lot of rubber underfoot, and the Infinite doesn’t stray from the formula. The reason is you’re putting a lot of force and abuse into the shoe over long runs, so the sole should stand up to heavy use such as a marathon training cycle. The Infinite follows suit, with a slew of thick rectangular pods underfoot. They’re connected laterally (side to side) for structure and support, but have deep grooves running across the shoe to help the forefoot remain flexible. All that rubber can make a shoe heavy, and this shoe is not light by any measure, but it still checks in under 311 grams and resists feeling bulky when on foot.
I’ve worn the Infinite on a variety of training runs over the past couple months. I’ve found it’s most suitable for easy jogs at a conversational pace, but I didn’t feel weighted down when I kicked up the speed midrun.
CONNECTED TECH BUILT IN
A hit with our test team is the run-tracking tech that’s built into the shoe. A sensor is embedded in the midsole—don’t sweat, you won’t feel it at all—and tracks your run data like speed, distance, cadence, and stride length, sharing that data with Under Armour’s online platform Map My Run. Testers found it easy to connect with a smartphone. The chip doesn’t use GPS on its own, but can be calibrated to your stride for fairly accurate measurements. You won’t trade in a Garmin watch to use it exclusively, but if you want to dash out the door without electronics and see your data at a later time, you can do that with the Infinite.
