Nike Full Force Low review

The Full Force Low is ready to turn your wardrobe upside down if:

• You're looking for some comfortable and durable Nike sneakers to show off around town.
• You're a fan of plush tongues and low-profile shoes, just like some skate-inspired models.
• You love the retro hooper aesthetics from the 90s but you don't want to spend all your savings on a pair of shoes.

If you need a new pair of casual shoes to wear for hours on end, forget about the Full Force Low. We believe it doesn't have neither the cushioning nor the width and breathability to withstand consecutive use. Here you have some alternatives from Nike that tick the 3 boxes we've just mentioned.

Honestly, we could say the same about its weight, as it also works as an obstacle that doesn't let this Nike pair pass the exam to be a regular daily beater. It'll make your legs feel tired sooner than they should, so we recommend you have a look at lighter pairs, such as the Court Vision Low or the SB Force 58, which also have that cool skater build.

We always cut shoes in half to measure their stack height accurately. In this case, we moved our caliper all the way to the heel, where it marked 25.7 mm. This score is lower than average, which goes hand in hand with what we felt during our wear tests: these Nikes are closer to the ground, and they don't really focus on impact protection, breaking with the chunky dad shoes that are so trendy nowadays and keeping the iconic Air Force aesthetics.

The forefoot gets even lower, as our caliper returned only 14.7 mm. We didn't find it uncomfortable or anything though, just don't expect loads of cushioning in this area. Being this low, it offers ground contact and stability, which is also great!

We did the math and noticed this shoe's drop is just average at 11.0 mm. Consequently, the heel feels more elevated than the toe area, but nothing too steep, so we didn't feel like we were tiptoeing during our wear tests; the ride was natural and stable.

Our durometer returned 26.5 HA, which means this Nike's foam is on the softer side. That being said, we would never describe our experience with the Full Force Low by saying it feels like we're walking on a couple of clouds, though.

It is a comfortable shoe, that's for sure, but it feels more like the skate-inspired pairs we have reviewed, as those also focus on ground feel. In other words: the experience was nice, but never plush.

Just like its name suggests, this Nike pair keeps it Low with a thinner insole. At 4.3 mm, it acts like a comfortable bed for your feet, but that's it. As it's not even very plush and it doesn't feature any technologies, there's not much more we can say about it.

With a snug structure, a solid ride and a low profile, we knew the lateral stability of this Nike pair would be wonderful. We felt pretty close to the floor and in control of every move, which translated into a confident and safe ride that made our walk seven more enjoyable.

An important part of this wonderful stability comes from the solid structure of the Full Force Low. It features stiff materials that won't give in even if our fingers work all together to twist them. Consequently, we have decided to give this shoe an immovable 5/5 on our torsional rigidity test.

The price to pay for this extra balance is, most likely, a break-in period. Even though it might not be a universal experience, that's what we went through during our wear tests.

Fortunately, this Nike's heel counter was not that disagreeable. It moved and bent when we pushed it, so at least we didn't end up with a thumb cramp this time! We decided to give it a standard 3/5 on our stiffness test, which means it didn't hurt our Achilles tendon during our wear tests.

Our caliper marked 109.7 mm when we measured this shoe's midsole width in the forefoot. As it's slightly wider than average, our feet had plenty of space to land after every step, which provided our ride not only with comfort, but also with stability.

The heel follows the same logic, as it's also just slightly wider than average. This offered us some extra space; not much, though, just enough for your rearfoot to readjust comfortably after every step.

The stiffer structure of the Full Force Low earned it a higher-than-average score not only on our torsional rigidity test, but also on the flex one. Our force gauge marked 30.3N, so bending this shoe all the way up to 90 degrees was definitely not an easy task!

So... what's the meaning behind this number? Well, it means that this Nike pair won't move alongside your feet smoothly as soon as you put it on. It'll need some time to warm up, and even though we did find it comfortable, its materials become friendlier after a couple of uses.

During our wear tests, this Nike pair felt clunky. It's not like it was impossible to wear or that the experience was negative, but after some hours of use, it did feel quite heavy. Consequently, our legs ended up more tired than usual.

When we took this shoe to our lab, we finally understood it all. Our scale marked 15.06 oz/427g, which is higher than the sneakers' average in this category. If we take this extra weight and the lack of cushioning into account, the Full Force Low might not be the best pair to explore a new city or spend the whole day walking.

The solid leather upper of this Nike pair doesn't look very breathable... and our feet felt like they were on a couple of ovens when we had been walking for a while, to be honest.

Our light test showed why: the Full Force Low has no ventilation gaps! Hence, the air can't get in and out of the shoe freely, which heats up the whole experience.

You can easily see what we mean thanks to our comparative video. On the right side, we have the ASICS Gel NYC, which scored a perfect 5/5 on this test... and you can most likely guess why! On the left side, we have our Full Force Low, and it even looks as if we hadn't turned on our smoke machine. But sadly, we had: it's just an absolutely not breathable shoe. If we could give it a 0/5 on our breathability test, trust us, we totally would. But that grade is out of our scale, so a 1/5 had to do.

We already knew these supposed "ventilation holes" were merely decorative, otherwise they would have let the smoke out of the shoe. Still, we put the upper under the microscope to observe them closely. Look at that, the opening is so minimal that no air could possibly flow!

As the Nike Full Force Low features a full leather upper, so there were many places for our torch to burn and for our awl to scratch!

Starting off with the white leather piece of the heel, we were already welcomed by a big flame. Then the material got all sticky, so we knew it was clearly fake.

We moved on to the gray top layer, which also showed its true colors pretty quickly. It burned down easily and our awl messed it up in no time so, once again, this material is fake.

Nevertheless, when we focused on the toebox, we saw it endured the heat. Even though the 2 pieces in the rearfoot are fake, the forefoot leather is authentic!

Last but not least, we went for the white leather in the midfoot. We didn't have high expectations, yet the material proved its authenticity, as it didn't burn down into a sticky mess. To sum up, this Nike pair kind of falls between two stools. To be honest, we can understand why, as we're talking about a budget shoe, so it's already surprising enough that a large part of its upper features authentic materials!

The poor breathability of the Full Force Low evolved into wonderful durability. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, our Dremel could only dream of poking a hole into this shoe. In fact, the result was so good that we decided to give it a solid 4/5 on our toebox durability test.

Ready to break with the "oh but the heel lining is weak" mentality, this Nike pair faced our Dremel fearlessly. At the same 5K RPM and with 2N of force, the tool drilled the back of the shoe non-stop for 4 seconds. Once again, the Full Force Low's performance was impressive, which earned it another 4/5 on durability.

When we pressed our durometer against this shoe's outsole, it marked 94.0 HC. As it's a pretty high score, it promises great durability, which would match the Full Force Low's armor-like vibe perfectly!

But, to be honest, we weren't that impressed by this shoe's wear and tear resistance. This time at 10K RPM and with the same 2N of force, the tool drilled the rubber for 18 solid seconds. The depth of the dent left was 1.0 mm according to our tread gauge, which is average. Consequently, even though this Nike's rubber is harder than average, its performance regarding durability didn't quite hit the mark.

When we measured this shoe's outsole thickness, our caliper returned 5.5 mm, which is just an average score. We believe Nike made the right choice here, as the durability of the rubber used is also standard, yet the shoe is already quite heavy. Therefore, using a thicker piece would just add some unwanted extra ounces.

Iconic Nike models like the Dunk High, the Dunk Low, or the AF 1 07, feature a very similar outsole. All these shoes, including the Full Force Low, have the heritage pivot point from former basketball legends. Even though it doesn't really play an important role in traction anymore, we do love these kinds of details.

So now, regarding traction, this pair was just average. It bit urban surfaces with no problem, and it's not like we slipped easily on tiles or anything. But there's nothing special to point out about this Nike's grip. Anyway, it does its job well, and that's what matters to us!

We would have never guessed that these cheaper sneakers would feature authentic leather. Apart from that, their solid structure has shown great durability and stability, not only in our lab but also during our wear tests. In our opinion, this already justifies their price, which is not even high! And leaving the technicalities aside... you can get the clean and iconic style of the Dunks or the AF for way less.

The Nike Full (Dark) Force Low doesn't have any reflective elements.

Alright, even though we really appreciated the comfort of the pillowy tongue of this Nike pair, which reaches some incredibly plush 17.7 mm... it's a little bit too much. The brand could have saved some weight if it had gone for a thinner tongue, so we see some room for improvement here regarding a potential second iteration.

The good thing is that the rest of the upper doesn't follow this mushy pattern, as we only found padding on key areas, like the heel.

The clean look of this retro Nike pair wouldn't look this pristine if it had a heel tab. We also didn't feel like we needed one, as its opening was wide enough for our fit to get in easily.

The Full Force Low has a standard removable insole, so you can change it if you need or want to.