Nike Cortez 23 Premium Leather review

Let the Nike Cortez 23 Premium Leather conquer your wardrobe if:

• You are looking for a pair of durable and comfortable sneakers to show off from time to time.
• You want something clean and lightweight to walk around the city.
• You love Nike sneakers but won't settle for anything that's not premium (oh, and you don't want to pay a premium price).
• You are a Forrest Gump fan, a 90s retro runners fan, or a little bit of both!

If you want a new pair of cool shoes to wear in the summer, run away from this Nike Cortez. Its premium and durable leather upper has no ventilation holes, which means there's little to no airflow. We could feel the heat during our wear tests, so if you're looking for a breathable leather shoe, the Nike Court Vision Low might be your cup of tea.

Then, if what you need is a new pair of daily beaters to wear every single day, it'd be better to opt for a model with a more durable outsole. As an alternative, we believe you may like the Nike Dunk High, which is also pretty iconic itself, or the Nike SB Force 58, which comes with a suede upper.

This Nike's heel stack is pretty much average, as our caliper returned 30.8 mm when we measured it. The overall experience was pretty comfortable, and we liked how this shoe breaks with the oversized trend that's overflowing among sneakers nowadays!

At 20.9 mm, the forefoot stack is slightly higher than average. But don't worry, this doesn't make this shoe massive either. Honestly, we're really happy with how the brand kept the iconic Cortez look instead of succumbing to the current chunky vibe of the sneakers market.

The difference between the rear and forefoot stacks is nothing too crazy. In fact, even with the "iconic wedge insert" that Nike mentions on its official webpage, we never felt like the Nike Cortez 23 Premium Leather's heel was too high. At 9.9 mm, the drop of these sneakers is just standard.

After cutting this shoe in half, we had free access to its midsole. In order to measure its softness, we pressed our durometer against it, which marked 28.5 HA. This indicates it's slightly on the softer side, offering some extra comfort to our ride.

As the wedge we mentioned before is also part of this shoe's cushioning, we pressed our durometer against it too. It returned 31.0 HA, which is softer than the secondary foam average... yet not very plush. Why? Well, because as this piece is closer to the ground, it's composition harder to improve this Cortez's overall stability.

Even if it's not the plushes shoe out there, we still found it soft enough underfoot to enjoy every step. Check it out!

This Nike's insole imitates the minimalist and clean vibe of the whole shoe. Its 4.3 mm make it thinner than average, reducing the overall weight and keeping things simple.

We can't say this shoe offers great lateral stability. As you can see in the video below, its structure isn't the most solid out there. Nevertheless, as long as you don't play any sports in it, the support of this Nike Cortez should be enough. A quick run to catch the bus wouldn't hurt anyone, though!

When we took this shoe to our lab and tried to twist it, our fingers struggled. It wasn't as bad as our experience with other iconic Nike pairs (yes, Air Force 1 07, we're looking at you), but it still put up a fight. Consequently, we decided to give it a 4/5 on our torsional rigidity test).

The heel was not as rigid, fortunately. Our thumb managed to bend it and it didn't hurt our Achilles tendon during our wear tests, which were both wonderful news. So we decided to give it a 3/5 on our stiffness tests, which is an average score.

We noticed the streamlined design of this shoe from the very first moment we took it out of its box. The Nike Cortez 23 Premium Leather features a really narrow midsole, as our caliper marked only 95.6 mm when we measured its width in the forefoot. Once again, we totally advise you against using this pair for sports. If you want to pick up running, please check our reviews about specific performance models.

The heel follows the same logic. It's incredibly narrow, at only 71.0 mm. That's why we firmly claim it's better to keep this Nike Cortez for casual use. It lacks the landing base needed for sporty activities and, consequently, its stability is also not the best.

We needed 27.8N of force to make this shoe do a handstand all the way up to 90 degrees. Even though this doesn't mean it's unforgivably stiff, the result is higher than average. During our wear tests, we noticed the Cortez 23 Premium Leather needed some time to warm up and let loose, as the ride felt a little bit stiff at the beginning.

But nothing too bad, honestly. It's not like it was hard to walk in or uncomfortable, just a little bit unfriendly at the beginning. That being said, it didn't take long to start comfortably bending alongside our feet!

Even if it was not the friendliest shoe at the beginning in terms of stiffness, what we did feel from the very first time we put this Nike pair on for our wear tests was how light it was. We could walk for hours and our feet wouldn't get excessively tired, which is wonderful news for a daily beater!

When we took it to our lab, the scale returned only 11.85 oz/336g. This means the Cortez 23 Premium Leather is way more lightweight than most sneakers. In fact, the experience on foot was wonderful, as after some quick warm-up our feet felt happy and comfortable.

After cutting this Nike pair in half and putting it in front of our light, our expectations regarding breathability went all the way down. Also, to be fair, during our wear tests it felt pretty warm even at the beginning.

The leather upper didn't let the light shine through... and it didn't let any smoke out either! As you can see in the video below, the Cortez 23 Premium Leather barely breathes, losing the yoga teacher contest to the ASICS Gel NYC (which scored a perfect 5/5 on this test). After seeing these results, we could only give it a 1/5 on our breathability test, which is the lowest score.

And our microscope is here to explain why this makes perfect sense. Look at that close-up of the upper's leather. Can you see any ventilation holes? A small gap? Some kind of meshy patch somewhere? No, no, and no again, right? With such a solid material, there's no way the air could flow in and out of the shoe easily!

With a price tag of $110, we can't say this Nike pair is on the expensive end... yet its materials are!

We started by burning the top layer at the heel. As you can see, there was no big flame there, and the material didn't end up all sticky. Therefore, the leather in this area is authentic!

We also heated up the front part, and the result was basically the same. The material tried its best to put up with the heat, showing us it's definitely authentic.

Compensating for its awful performance regarding breathability, this Nike Cortez pair showed top-tier durability. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, our Dremel tried its best to destroy it, but it was a futile effort. As you can see in the video, the leather put up a fight, and it withstood abrasion so well that we decided to give it a perfect 5/5 on our toebox durability test.

On the other hand, the heel was not that much for a fighter. The tool didn't take too long to destroy most of the lining, so we could only give it a 2/5 on our durability test. In order to preserve the shoe's integrity in this area, we'd recommend you untie the laces and tie them back again when you put it on and off, instead of forcing your way in and out of the shoe with the laces all tied up.

When we measured this Nike's outsole hardness, our durometer returned 82.0 HC. This result is slightly lower than average, which indicates the material used (rubber, in this case) might be slightly less durable than the standard for this category.

And it turns out our hypothesis was just right! This time at 10K RPM and with the same 2N of force, our Dremel drilled the rubber non-stop. Sadly, the dent left was way deeper than average, as our tread gauge marked 1.8 mm when we measured it. Even though the Nike Cortez 23 Premium Leather might not be the pair of sneakers with the most durable outsole, it'll still be by your side for a while if you just use it in the city.

When we measured this shoe's outsole thickness, our caliper returned 5.0 mm. It's pretty much average, which means it should be thick enough to withstand the harshness of urban areas for some time, even if it doesn't feature the most durable rubber. Just take into account that this might vary if you overuse the shoe or walk over very abrasive floors constantly!

The Cortez 23 Premium Leather features a spiky herringbone pattern throughout the entire outsole. This detail is not just a nice nod to the shoe's heritage, but also a functional touch that offered nice traction. Nothing crazy thought, but we found it good enough for common urban areas.

When this model was released, we could hear the crowd roar. Even though its price has evoked mixed feelings among sneakerheads, if you are a Forrest Gump fan... it might be your cup of tea. We can't say these sneakers are a bang for the buck, but if you're a retro lover who is all over the 90s vibe, checking them out should be worth it.

The premium leather of this Nike Cortez keeps it clean and simple, so it doesn't feature any reflective accents.

At 10.2 mm, this shoe's tongue is slightly more padded than average. This protected us from any potential lace bite or uncomfortable rub, so even if we tied our laces quite tightly, our instep was just as comfortable.

We're talking about a lightweight shoe, so there's not a lot of inner padding. Nevertheless, we do believe it's enough, as we found this Nike pair pretty comfortable during our wear tests.

Instead of featuring a heel tab, this 90s icon has a shiny patch at the heel with the brand's name and logo. We really liked this detail, as it matches the massive Swoosh this Cortez model has on the inner and outer lateral panels.

We absolutely love removable insoles, and this Nike Cortez has been nice enough to grant us our wish. If you need or want to change this shoe's footbed, you won't have any issues. Nevertheless, please keep in mind we're talking about a snug model. Hence, going for an extra thick insole might jeopardize comfort.