Billed as being able to give runners a brand-new experience when pounding the pavements, the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes are described as being a light and responsive shoe that is Digitally Connected – featuring the brand’s Record Sensor™ technology that tracks, analyses and stores your running metrics including distance, pace, cadence and stride length – so that you know exactly what you need to do, in order to improve yourself.

Trying The Shoes Out

Thanks to Under Armour, I had the chance to recently run with the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes, to review them.

I admit that this had been a pair of shoes that I was pretty eager to test out, primarily because of the smart features. 

This is because I was keen to see how accurate the shoes were and how the measurements would stack up to the Garmin GPS watch that I normally use to track my runs with.

The pair that I received was the White colour model. There are three different colours for Women – these are White, Grey and Formation Blue. For the guys, there is also a Red and Black model available as well.

Connecting Shoes To Under Armour’s MapMyRun App

Upon bringing the shoes back home, I immediately opened up the box and connected them to Under Armour’s MapMyRun app, which is a free download on the Apple and Android app stores – this is the app that the shoes are compatible with. 

The syncing process took some time though; the shoes are supposed to connect to the app via BlueTooth, but when I had first tried connecting them, it was not working. 

To connect the shoes, you need to shake the right shoe to wake up the sensors. I did this several times, as well as turning my phone on and off a few times, before the shoes had finally established a connection with my iPhone XS Max. This whole process took me roughly about five minutes.

But after connecting, the shoes will remain connected to the phone for the life of the shoe and the runs are uploaded automatically, which I think makes it fuss-free, easy and convenient.

First Run With The Shoes

My first run with the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes had been a short 10.5KM run which I had done at East Coast Park, near my place.

This run had been done at an Easy pace, averaging just under 7 mins 30 seconds per kilometre. 

However I had noticed that the shoes had somehow recorded it as three runs – a 1.17KM run, a 1.78KM run and a 7.56KM run. I was quite surprised by this because I didn’t feel that my pace had slowed down significantly enough for my shoes to think that I had stopped running.

At least the total distance measurement for the three “runs” had been accurate enough, at a combined distance of 10.51KM, with my Garmin GPS clocking the run as 10.52KM. This is despite Under Armour’s Record Sensor™ technology – which had been developed in-house, not being a GPS based sensor.

According to Under Armour, the HOVR™ Sonic Connected 2 Running Shoes are able to pick up any activity that is done at a pace faster than 14 minutes per mile, which my 10KM run should have fallen well into.

My Subsequent Runs

I would say that my subsequent runs with the shoes had fared much better, though, in terms of the clocking and measurement, with the shoes recording them all as single sessions. These had included a 12KM run – which had been the longest one that I had did whilst wearing the shoes. 

While my GPS had clocked a distance of 12.61KM for that running session, the shoes had measured it as a 12.44KM run. The accuracy may probably not have been 100% in this case, but I feel it is good enough for me.

But I thought that the accuracy of the shoes was especially apparent during the Relay For Life, which was a running event that had been done in loops around the 400-metre National Stadium indoor track which had been opened up especially for the event.

During this session, I had spent 50 Minutes running round and round the Stadium track and the Under Armour shoes had recorded me having run 7.87KM clocked within that time period. This would put my average pace at 6:24 minutes/km.

I personally felt that based on my perceived effort, the readings provided by the shoes in this particular case were much more accurate compared to my Garmin GPS, which had clocked my distance as being 6.16KM and with an average pace of 8:08 minutes/km, which is basically brisk walking pace to me… and I know that I was definitely not brisk walking. I guess that one of the drawbacks of GPS is that it fails to track accurately in an indoor setting, so this is where the tracking mechanism on the shoes definitely weighed supreme.

Another track running session that I did with the Under Armour HOVR™ Connected 2 Running Shoes was when I ran one loop of the National Stadium track on another occasion, and my shoes had clocked in at 400 meters exactly – I was quite impressed.

For my other outdoor runs done with the shoes, the distance recorded on my Garmin GPS watch had differed at most by a few hundred metres from the shoes, which I think is good enough for me.

Wealth Of Data At My Fingertips

After each run, looking through the wealth of running data on the MapMyRun is quite interesting. The shoes will analyse your latest run and use the stats to calculate what your cadence and stride length are and how it compares to the target range by Under Armour.

At the beginning, I found that these insights are interesting to look at – to see where you stand in terms of your running, but after a several runs, they do get a tad repetitive, unfortunately, as they are always the same.

But regardless or whether you track your workouts using your phone or not, all of this data will be made available to you. The only difference is that with the phone, you can tap on the phone’s GPS too.

Moreover, despite the wealth of functions, these shoes don’t look like smart shoes at all. When I glance at them, the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes appear like any other pair of running shoes – so this means they won’t look out of place when you take them out for say, a running race or a group run.

Under Armour’s Record Sensor™ Technology

And according to Under Armour, the Record Sensor™ Technology is encased within watertight casing inside the shoe’s midsole, meaning that it will not get wet or damaged – this is good to know, in the event that I get caught in the rain with the shoes on.

The Record Sensor™ Technology also does not need to be charged because the battery in it is self-contained. The chip is also designed to outlast the life of the running shoes, so you will never need to worry about the chip running out of power.

Besides the Record Sensor™ Technology that sets these Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes apart from most other running shoes out there, though, I generally feel that these are a rather comfortable pair of shoes to run with and I think I would continue to use them.

Lots of Space In Toe Box

To begin with, when I had slipped my feet into the shoes for the first time, I had a good impression – as there had been ample room inside the toe box and my toes were able to wriggle around. 

This is good, because it means that there is enough space for the feet to expand when running.

Responsive And Springy

As well, I also found the shoes to be responsive and springy when I am running, thanks to the Under Armour HOVR™ FOAM + MESH Energy Web feature, which is described as helping to eliminate impact and giving back the energy you put into every step when running.

At the same time, they are firm enough to reduce the impact that I feel when my feet hit the concrete pavement.

Ortholite® Sock Liner Moulds To My Feet

And the presence of the Ortholite® Sock Liner also feels comfortable and it immediately moulds itself to the shape of my feet when I slip the shoes on, thus enabling me to run in comfort – this feature prevents my feet from slipping and sliding around in the shoes during my runs too, which I think is good.

Breathable And Snug

With an 8mm drop and a weight of 235 grams, they are light enough, though I must say that they are not the lightest running shoes out there.

However, I felt that the shoes feel light and breathable for my needs, and they have a soft knit upper that dries fast and provides a breathable, snug compression-like fit. This makes them feel as comfortable as sliding on a sock.

Keeps Feet Dry

And during my runs in Singapore’s tropical and humid weather, I found that this feature had also kept my feet dry, and at the same time, it may also prevents the formation of blisters during my longer runs in the tropical, muggy weather here.

I admit that I have had blister issues with running shoes in the past, so it is great to know that the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected would not be likely to cause me any such problems.

A Comfortable Shoe

As a whole, I would consider the Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes to be a comfortable and fuss-free pair of shoes for my usage, and I can definitely foresee myself continuing to use it regularly on my runs. And the data that these smart shoes are able to provide, is certainly a bonus, too.

Where To Get The Shoes

The Under Armour HOVR™ Sonic 2 Connected Running Shoes are retailing for S$179 and you can get them at Under Armour stores and retail partners throughout Singapore.