Adidas Adizero Ubersonic 5 review

Having thoroughly tested the Adizero Ubersonic 5, we believe that this Adidas shoe is perfect for players who:

• prefer maximum court feel and minimum cushioning
• look for a low-stack, firm, and stable platform
• don't like sticky traction and need a sliding-friendly shoe
• like the idea of added breathability through a perforated sole

The Ubersonic 5's minimal impact protection may not suit players who want comfort for long matches or those with past injuries and painful conditions such as plantar fasciitis.

A slightly lower price point can get you more well-rounded, better-cushioned speed shoes, such as the Mizuno Wave Exceed Tour 6 and the ASICS Solution Speed FF 3.

Get ready for the most raw on-court experience, because the Ubersonic 5 has the absolute lowest shock absorption among tennis shoes!

With only 82 SA in the heel and 48 SA in the forefoot, this Adidas shoe is all about court feel and agility but offers practically no impact protection.

The hard and thin slab of Lightstrike foam feels rather dull in the Ubersonic 5, showing very low energy return readings of 40.4% in the heel and 40.7% in the forefoot.

But please note that these measurements only reflect the foam properties and not the shoe's overall ride. We experienced a great deal of snap and rebound courtesy of the large, stiff Speedframe shank.

The shoe's grounded midsole profile is reflected in its below-average heel stack height of 26.7 mm. That's even 3 mm lower than the previous Ubersonic 4.1.

Its forefoot stack height is also among the lowest in the tennis shoe category, at only 15.6 mm. This provides an extremely sensitive court connection in which the balls of our feet and the toe joints could really feel the ground.

The shoe's heel-to-toe drop, therefore, comes in at 11.1 mm, falling into the standard range of tennis shoes. This offset made it easy to stay on our toes without forcing our feet too far forward to cause toe jamming.

The Lighstrike foam in the Adidas Adizero Ubersonic 5 showed some of the highest durometer readings we've ever recorded in a tennis shoe! At 37.4 HA, it is 34% firmer than the category average, promoting stability and one-to-one connection with the court.

But on the downside, it can feel quite punishing on players' feet and joints, especially for those coming from more cushioned options.

On foot, the Ubersonic 5 offered a snug yet non-restricting fit, and our gel mold of its interiors confirmed it.

The widest area of the shoe's mold measured 94.1 mm on our digital caliper, placing it in the medium-width range for tennis shoes.

The mold didn't reveal any aggressive toebox tapering, with just a standard width of 70.7 mm in the big toe area.

Vertical space isn't restricted in this Adidas shoe either, and our caliper recorded a normal toebox height of 25.6 mm.

The sturdy Adituff overlay didn't affect the toe room here.

The Adidas Ubersonic 5 didn't feel particularly sticky in our playtest, and when we measured the friction coefficient of its rubber outsole, it all made sense.

At only 0.48, the shoe's traction supports gliding and floating footwork rather than hard stops and aggressive cuts.

Adidas keeps using the traditional herringbone tread pattern for this Ubersonic iteration, alternating wider and thinner treadlines for a balance of grip and give.

The Speedframe takes up a large area in the midfoot, breaking the sole into two parts, almost like a jazz shoe.

A large gap runs through the middle to help ventilate the shoe's interior.

The low forefoot stack and split-sole design of the Ubersonic 5 allow for decent forefoot flexibility. As our stiffness test showed, it takes slightly less force to bend by 30 degrees (15.3N) compared to the average tennis shoe.

This complements the shoe's speed-oriented design, making quick adjustment steps feel more controlled.

To our surprise, the low-key design of this Adidas shoe didn't make it much lighter. At 13.0 oz (369g) in a men's US size 9, it still makes it to the lightweight tennis shoe range, but it's no lighter than the average.

Making a tennis shoe highly breathable without compromising its upper durability is quite a challenge, but Adidas found an unconventional way to do it!

As you can see, the shoe's toebox mesh struggles to release smoke due to the thick padding underneath.

And as our light test shows, the rest of the upper (the vamp and the quarters) are also made of thicker materials to maintain secure containment.

But, hey, why not add a large ventilation gap in the shoe's sole and perforate the insole to let the heat escape easily?

In our opinion, that's a very clever solution to keeping the airflow going without messing with the upper.

A low-stack shoe with a very hard midsole compound offers inherent stability from the start. But in addition to feeling amazingly planted, the Ubersonic 5 enhances side-to-side stability with a super rigid Speedframe that wraps around the midfoot and stretches back to encase the rearfoot as well.

This sturdy exoskeleton not only keeps the foot perfectly centered in the shoe but also ensures that power transfer is direct and efficient.

Embracing the shoe from both the outside and the inside, the Speedframe practically reduces the risk of the foot collapsing and rolling over to zero.

With no hint of twisting in our manual test, this Adidas tennis shoe earned the highest torsional rigidity score of 5/5.

The heel of the Ubersonic 5 received triple reinforcement, featuring an internal heel counter, an external Speedframe, and a pair of midsole flanges that extend to the ankle bone.

This heavily layered design provides nothing less than a death grip around the heel and ankle and, unsurprisingly, scored a maximum 5/5 in our heel counter stiffness test.

The stability features mentioned above allow this Adidas shoe to use a slimmer platform without worrying about lateral foot spillovers.

At 109.0 mm in the widest part of its forefoot, the Ubersonic 5 is not that much narrower than the average, anyway. A pronounced lateral flange is still there for aggressive side-to-side movements.

The shoe's heel area also proved to be more streamlined, but it's only a couple of millimeters away from the average at 86.7 mm.

The sturdy Adituff toe drag guard proved its worth yet again, earning the Adidas Ubersonic 5 a high durability score of 4/5.

But while the most wear-prone area is protected, we have reservations about the shoe's thin, exposed laces, which can break too easily for aggressive sliders.

Examining the shoe's upper mesh under a microscope revealed a sturdy mix of softer and tougher threads that promise solid abrasion resistance.

And as we applied the Dremel to it, we could see that the softer weaves were being destroyed quite easily as opposed to the stronger ones that remained intact.

This kept our toebox durability score at a solid medium of 3 out of 5.

The smooth textile lining the shoe's collar also proved its worth in our Dremel test, earning the highest heel padding durability score of 5/5.

And most importantly, the Ubersonic 5's outsole also showed impressive abrasion resistance, with only a minor 0.6 mm dent.

With a thickness of 3.6 mm, we expect this Adidas shoe's outsole to last as long as that of most other tennis shoes.

It seems like the shoe's insole is the only source of underfoot cushioning in the Adidas Ubersonic 5. A bit thicker than average at 6.9 mm, it creates a decent buffer between the foot and the unforgivingly hard platform of this tennis shoe.

Technically, you can remove the Ubersonic 5's stock insole, but expect to lose some of that underfoot ventilation.

While we can't complain about the shoe's collar padding, its tongue offers a bare minimum in tune with the Ubersonic 5's speed-oriented design.

Measuring its thickest part at 4.6 mm, we found enough foam to buffer lace bites, but keep in mind that in-shoe comfort is quite limited here.

The bottom half of the shoe's tongue is attached to the upper on both sides (aka semi-gusseted). This helps minimize its shifting during side-to-side movement and offers a more locked-in fit.

While there is no pull tab at the back of the shoe, a finger loop on its tongue helps with getting it on and adjusting the tongue mid-game.

Some might argue that Adidas is asking too much for such a minimally built shoe. However, we deem its price point as fair, considering that the Ubersonic 5 shows strong performance as a speed-ready tennis shoe.