Puma Future 8 Ultimate Boot Review — Best Surprise of 2025?

In my humble opinion, the Puma Future is the most underrated boot on the market. Yes, in some years and seasons the Future has had some missteps, but generally speaking, it’s one of the most reliable, comfortable, interesting, and affordable top-end boots out there. The revamped Future from two years back was a hit, and the Future 7 was an improvement in terms of shape and fit; and now, the Future 8 tweaks the formula a little more to deliver something that’s worthy of your attention.

It’s clear that Puma wants its Future line, and the Future 8 Ultimate particularly, to be a boot for everybody, falling somewhere between a control and speed boot, offering comfort and texture on the upper, while still being lightweight and offering some bite with the hybrid-style traction.

The Future 8 Ultimate provides this with a very soft upper made from Puma’s Fuzionfit material, which is a knitted structure that wraps the top of your foot and runs a little up your ankle with a mid-cut collar. It’s incredibly comfortable, stretchy but secure, and provides that slipper-like feel on your foot, without any awkward rubbing or hot-spots due to inferior plastic collar areas.

Towards the end of the boot and around the toe-box area, which is a synthetic material (and admittedly very soft), Puma has introduced its ‘GripControl Pro’ finish that has small textured ridges, giving a bit of grip and control on the ball. It’s nothing too ‘out there’, but a nice addition for those who like something to help catch the ball a bit. The ‘feel’ of the Future 8 versus the Future 7 is that it’s a fair bit thicker and more padded, which isn’t a bad thing if you prefer more of a protected, cushioned feel.

One of the biggest changes from last year’s Future is the revamped soleplate and stud design. The new outsole that Puma is calling the ‘Flexgility’ outsole is designed for 360-degree agility, allowing you to cut in different angles with ease. It relies on more bladed studs that are angled in different directions, as opposed to a traditional speed boot that focuses on forward propulsion with all the studs angled in one direction.

The stud pattern is fairly aggressive, but I was surprised at how much give and manoeuvrability I had when using it. It bit into the ground well, but I always felt like I had enough subtle wiggle room to twist and push off without feeling stuck. Zero stud pressure was felt too, which is a testament to the firmness and quality of the plastic used in the soleplate.

Due to the positioning of the studs, with most of them not in the ‘normal’ arrangement, it does feel a little different to other boots, but not in a bad way. You’ll just have to get used to the points of contact being slightly different than what you’re used to.

If you’re looking for lockdown, I personally had great comfort and security in the Future 8s. Puma is sticking with the PWRtape it introduced a few years back, which offers a reinforced strip on the knitted area to provide some structure and keep your foot in place. In addition, the heel area has some Fuzionpods (small pillow-like padding) that fit snugly in your foot bones to keep you locked-in and comfy when running and changing angles.

As an added bonus, Puma has thrown in their NanoGrip insoles into the Future 8 Ultimate. Now, while some people may think an insole couldn’t make all that much difference, I beg to differ. The foam is a bit denser than other boots’ and the subtle textured material gives your foot a bit of grip on the insole akin to what a good pair of grip socks would do. Why more brands don’t do this is beyond me; so, well done, Puma.

When playing in the Puma Future 8 Ultimate, I was a little apprehensive about the unfamiliar (and scary-looking) stud pattern, but the experience was more accommodating and comfortable than I could have imagined. Its slightly ‘thicker’ feel might be an interesting change to some longtime fans, but the comfortable and knitted DNA of past Futures is still there. It’s a fantastic boot that should go overlooked no longer!

The Puma Future 8 Ultimate is priced at R4,699, with takedown options available too: the Puma Future 8 Pro (R2,799), Puma Future 8 Match (R1,899), and Puma Future 8 Play (R1,299). The takedown models obviously lose out on some of the tech of the higher-end model, but they’re solid options too.

You can check out the Puma Future 8 on Puma’s South African website.