Puma Ultra Ultimate Review — The Fastest Boot Available?

The speed boot category of football boots has become increasingly competitive over the years, where the once-reigning Mercurial Vapor from Nike now has some serious competition in the form of the X range from Adidas and Puma’s Ultra range. While changes seem a little slow on some of those other models, Puma is constantly tinkering the make the sharpest and lightest speed boot around, and they just have done that with the Ultra Ultimate.

The Ultra Ultimate is a full revamp of the Ultra 1 models, which have had a few iterations with minor improvements over the seasons. The Ultimate doesn’t drift too far from the foundations put in place by last year’s model, but has some notable upgrades well worth being excited about.

Firstly, the next generation Ultra Ultimate features a new ultra-lightweight woven upper with a redesigned soleplate tooling for an explosive turn of speed — two elements that change the boot quite drastically.

The lightweight Ultraweave technology has been reinforced with the all-new ‘Pwrprint’ coating, which essentially provides a thicker and more durable (but still light) upper that also includes some texturing for grip on the ball. Adding to that is what Puma calls Pwrtape, a strip of reinforced rubber to add some extra stability on the heel area — something we’ve seen on models in years gone by.

On the underside of the boot, the extremely aggressive and sharp arrow-like chevron studs that appeared on the previous Ultra models have been adjusted. Their edges are now a little ‘softer’, and five of the eleven studs have been given a rounded triangular shape. It’s not going to change things too much, but the slight adjustments of the stud pattern do make the Ultimates a little more ‘friendly’ to those who find traction on pure bladed-boots a bit overly aggressive. Now, you won’t want to be twisting and pivoting in these too hard (especially on artificial grass), but these very much are straight running and sharp cutting boots. But, it’s a positive change that we’re happy to see.

The stud pattern also makes a little difference in terms of comfort, as there is more surface area to feel beneath your feet (albeit a little), but the feel is enhanced by the super soft one-piece upper. Once again, there is no tongue to deal with here and you get a very snug-fitting boot that, for lack of a better explanation, just makes you feel fast.

Weighing in at 190 grams per boot, this is also one of the lightest boots on the market, so you get that shoeless sensation when playing on the pitch, and while many may not think weight makes a difference, in those long matches, feeling fleet-footed (even if it’s just a feeling) for that final run or defensive move can make or break a match.

Puma has essentially delivered a very well-built speed boot that also undercuts the price of its notable competitors, coming in at almost R1,000 less than Adidas and Nike’s offerings. If you’re looking for a boot that will deliver the good, comfort, and add a colour splash to your kit, you can’t go wrong with the Ultra Ultimate.

The Puma Ultra is priced at R3,699 and is available on Puma’s online store.