Category Archives: Gym/Workouts

A few days ago I had to run in the rain for the first time with these shoes. Needless to say, it wasn’t too pleasant. It’s obviously not water proof, and I wouldn’t want them to be. It’s a running shoe, not a rain boot. But I kept running, just for you. The integrity of the shoes are still solid, but as you can see, white is still a stupid color. I rinsed it off with the hose right after, so they’re back to being… sort of white.

I’ve decided to focus solely on the phoneless run aspect of these shoes. I’m assuming that’s what is the primary goal for these shoes, because, to be honest, I don’t see a huge benefit from adding stride/cadence to an already data rich app. It’ll add some sort of accuracy, but I think phoneless is a better focus.

That being said, I’ll give a few things I’ve noticed so far. Starting off with the obvious. The shoe syncs with the phone app post-run perfectly. YOU just need to remember to open the app after the run. I forgot this morning and had to run back downstairs to flip over the shoe to wake and sync it. It synced perfectly. Do I dare wait a few days to see if it keeps all the runs? Oh, that’ll be hard on my OCD-like tendencies…

When running without the phone/app you’re obviously going to be missing some data. Stats not found in said runs are: heart rate (I’m connected to my Apple Watch), intensity, elevation gain, map, and weather, and music. A side note, I do like seeing music as a stat since you can kind of estimate if you’re running better or worse during a specific song.

One new feature with the addition to the HOVR shoes is the “personal coach tip” where it tells you if you’re doing a good or poor job at running based on your cadence and/or stride length. It’s a little confusing and hard to think about practically when you’re just out there running.

Another problem is that I’m getting conflicting “tips”:

Again, I’ll have to do more research. But this is going about the same speed on each day, but very different tips.

Another thing to note is that I’ve notices a drop in estimated mileage when running “phoneless.” I’ll estimate an average of about 8% difference in mileage as compared to using the GPS enabled MapMyRun app. I realize the app might not be 100% accurate either, but 8% difference seems like a lot. I’m curious as to what’s being calculated. I do make short stops at red lights, so perhaps I’m losing some distance when I slow to under 15 min/mi.

All that being said, it’s a solid shoe and I’ll keep running with these… for science? For you. Now let’s talk about an extended no-sync stint. …Nah…

Here’s my first five mile review. I’ll start by saying my UnderArmour HOVR shoes were provided to me by UnderArmour to test out. Selling out, big time.

Originally posted on my IG:

Just got these #UAHOVR in the mail from @underarmour! Where will they take me next?

A post shared by Adam Wong (@g26aw) on Feb 14, 2018 at 4:55pm PST

First off, I’d like to say that it’s nice to get a free pair of shoes to replace one of my pairs of shoes I’ve run over 1.5k miles. Before I get my rear handed to me, I have to justify running so many miles in one shoe that I didn’t have any problems with the pair and other factors left me using the shoe…

So what are the UA HOVRs? They’re a bluetooth enabled running shoe capable of linking to your phone, or running standalone. You can sync the run with your phone after the run and it apparently saves the run with all the data, including GPS*. I’ll be honest, this really reminds me of another wireless enabled ****+ shoe/sensor, granted better technology. But what year is it, 2006? The HOVRs are perfect for those who don’t already carry their phone or have a fitness watch, but still want to track their run with stats. I always run with both phone/watch, so I have little need for the “offline” part of these shoes’ tech. Setting up the HOVRs is easy, move the right shoe to “wake” and place it on a flat surface, open the Map MY (Run/Fitness/ETC) app, tap the shoe icon at the top right, follow instructions, and that’s it.

The UZ HOVR shoe is an attractive shoe, though, I was given a WHITE pair. I realize these are “tester shoes” but are white any cheaper to manufacture than any other color? It’ll get… not white real fast. I can’t complain much on color, I guess.

Putting the shoes for the first time, I feel the material hug my feet perfectly. Weighing in at 1lb 4.25oz (576g) it’s a decently light shoe. For comparison both of my [competitor shoe] is a tad lighter at 1lb 3.25oz (545g). It’s a little taller than most running shoes, but I’m assuming that’s due to the internal sensor. First steps with the shoe I feel a higher arch than I’m used to, but it isn’t a bad thing. It was time for a run.

As a running shoe it performed as expected. It held my feed in without letting it touch the ground while cushioning each stride. Despite the added weight and thick padding, the shoe is super airy; not ideal for 40F degree morning weather. But perfect for those sweaty summer days. They should have sent these out then. The run was a run. Comfortable, didn’t add any discomfort during or after. The “bounce” on each step is like walking on airAdequate running shoe, but this was only the first 5 miles.

The tech. As stated above, it’s easy to setup. However… Looking at the app I don’t see any difference between running with or without the connected shoes. Wasn’t I supposed to see stride length, cadence, what? If it’s only available WHILE running, I don’t see the point. I’m not staring at my phone when running. I’ll have to do more research and come back to this post or a future post.

Would I recommend this shoe? Well, let me get back to you on the tech side. But as a running shoe, I would. I felt it was light enough but also supported my feet very well. Come back in 30 days, maybe I’ll take the time out of my busy schedule (/s) and write up a follow up.

*EDIT: I was wrong when I originally wrote that it included GPS as part of the technology. I don’t know if I misread or it was taken out of literature, either way, it does NOT store GPS data as seen in my follow up post.