Nike Killshot 2 review

The Killshot 2 will definitely shoot a love arrow right into your heart if you're looking for:

• An incredibly versatile shoe that looks great with pretty much everything.
• A comfortable pair to show off for hours walking around town.
• Sneakers that are light on your feet and on your wallet.
• A pair with high-quality and durable materials that doesn't feel like a budget shoe, but it is!

If you have wide feet, big toes, or even regular feet but more on the wide side, we'd advise you to be careful with the Killshot 2. Its narrow structure might be uncomfortable, as it felt snug even for our standard-wide feet. The Adidas Superstar is another shoe with an iconic tennis style that has a wide toebox at the big toe, don't hesitate to have a look at it!

You might be looking for a new partner to enjoy your summer nights out. Well, this is not it! The Killshot 2 got the lowest score on our breathability test. We suggest you check our breathable sneakers catalog out, where you'll find the Adidas Campus 00s and the Vans Knu Skool, two fashionistas that you might also find at an affordable price point!

At 16.9 mm, the Killshot 2 has established a new record as the sneaker with the lowest heel stack in our lab.

As this Nike doesn't have a midsole, the fact that its outsole is so thin means that you'll feel every pebble underneath. Just like we did during our wear tests! On the one hand, this might be annoying or slightly uncomfortable if you're walking on cobblestone. On the other hand, it'll improve stability and control!

This shoe's forefoot stack is not the thinnest among sneakers, but it's definitely on the minimal side.

At 12.3 mm, it's 54% thinner than average, which is a lot! As we were saying before, the Killshot 2 made us feel every obstacle in our way during our wear tests.

After all, it doesn't have a midsole, and its vulc sole isn't too thick or too hard either. Additionally, this shoe's insole is Nike's most simple version. But we'll talk about that later on!

At 4.6 mm, the Killshot 2 has a quite low drop! In fact, it managed to break another record here: it's our sneaker with the lowest drop!

This translates into an overall flat feel (just like the Adidas Stan Smith, another tennis-inspired sneaker) when you're walking. Actually, this score makes the Killshot 2 stand on the verge of low-drop shoes.

Why is this so important? Well, because shoes with higher drops usually make your hips and knees do the work. On the other hand, pairs with lower drops (just like this one) focus on the ankle and calve muscles. Basically, it makes your feet work harder!

If you're interested in the big and wide world of heel drop, you should totally have a look at our ultimate guide on the topic.

A simple and regular insole, that's it! Nike didn't try anything special here, keeping the vibes of the Killshot 2 as low-key as possible.

At 4.5 mm, it's been thinner than average. But it's not like we didn't expect it, though. Let's not forget we're talking about a budget shoe after all!

We had already given some hints about this throughout the review. Before we give you the results of our lab tests, let us tell you about our feelings during our wear tests.

The Killshot 2 feels tight. Its snug fit might not be everyone's favorite, and even though our standard-sized feet were okay with it, we can see why wide-foot sneakerheads might not enjoy it.

At 94.4 mm, the toebox width at the widest part of this shoe is narrower than average. We could see it the very first moment we took the Killshot 2 out of its box, but now our lab and wear tests have confirmed it!

The pointy shape of this Nike's toebox is fairly evident just at first glance.

When our caliper returned 69.1 mm, we had it clear: we would definitely not recommend this shoe to wide-foot people! Their toes will most likely feel cramped, which might lead to uncomfortableness.

The low-profile and close-to-the-ground nature of this shoe is what makes it stable.

Additionally, its high-quality leather materials give it a well-structured upper that offers some extra foot containment. We can't say it's the most stable pair of sneakers, but we didn't feel unsafe with it during our wear tests either!

Bendy, pliable, flexible... and everything in between!

The quality materials of the upper put up a little bit of a fight. Not much, though. Just enough for us to give it a 2/5 on our torsional rigidity test.

This translated into a comfortable ride all day long. The Killshot 2 felt light in our feet, and it also bent alongside their moves with no problem! That's just one more reason why we really enjoyed our walks around town with it.

The heel counter follows the same path, earning another 2/5 in our stiffness test.

It's really pliable, and our heels were truly grateful, as this meant no uncomfortable rubbing or hot spots at all!

There was something that we felt constantly during our wear tests: the Killshot 2 is narrow overall.

In order to verify this and tell our feet they were totally right... or wrong, we came back to our lab. Just as expected, our caliper showed 98.9 mm when we measured the midsole width in the forefoot. This is way narrower than average, and even though it's not the midsole the one to blame when a shoe is not apt for wide feet, it kind of works as a hint.

Same story in the heel: super narrow!

At 72.4 mm, this shoe's midsole width in the heel is way narrower than average. Even though this usually translates into a lack of stability, the Killshot 2's low profile balances it out.

All in all, we didn't feel unsafe or unstable regardless of the incredibly narrow midsole of this shoe.

During our wear tests, the Killshot 2's killer style (no pun intended) wasn't the only thing that made us want to wear it all day long! Its comfort levels also played an important role here.

And what's better than a lightweight, stylish, and comfortable ride? You guessed it: a lightweight, stylish, comfortable, and flexible one!

It took only 10.2N of force to bend this shoe all the way up to 90 degrees. This is an really low score, which translates into an incredibly pliable structure. The Killsot 2 moved alongside our feet nicely and easily, which made us enjoy our time even when we had to run some errands!

This shoe felt pretty lightweight when we showed it off around town during our wear tests. The fact that our legs didn't get as tired made us enjoy it even more, and its cool aura and versatile style only added extra reasons for us to want to wear it every day!

At 11.3 oz/319.0g, the Killshot 2 is a solid 25% lighter than average. And we loved it!

You see, we really like the minimalist aesthetics and clean vibe of this Nike, so the fact that it matched pretty much everything we had in our wardrobe and that it wasn't heavy for our feet (and wallet too!) just made us even more obsessed.

We just didn't want to take it off!

When we saw the fully covered leather upper of the Killshot 2, we already knew it wouldn't be good friends with our smoke machine.

During its duel against the Nike P-6000, which scored a 5/5 on our breathability test, we could see the Killshot 2 struggling even from the start. Its upper didn't seem to have any pores or ventilation gaps that would let the air go through, otherwise the smoke would have been let out sooner and easier. Let's ask our light and our microscope for further evidence on this.

As you can see in the video, our light agrees: there are no ventilation holes throughout the upper! Even though we can see the material light up a bit, that's probably because the leather layer used us pretty thin. We'll talk about this later on, but that's exactly how it felt in our hands!

Last but not least, our microscope agrees, too!

In conclusion, a leather shoe is a leather shoe, and it's clearly not the best regarding breathability. Even though the upper of this one is made with a thin leather upper, it still doesn't favor airflow. That's why it has earned the lowest score on our breathability test: a 1/5.

If you're looking for a new pair of sneakers to rock this summer, we believe you should have a look at our breathable kicks.

We grabbed our butane torch and scratch awl, and kept our examination to see if the Killshot 2 was hiding something from us.

The suede part of the heel was our first victim. As you can see in the video, the material didn't burn away or melt, which verifies its authenticity.

And it was the same for the white leather part. We scratched it real good, but the leather did not become a piece of chewing gum after we burnt it.

This is incredibly good news, as we're talking about a budget shoe here!

Apart from being extra clean and stylish, leather shoes have another key point: they are durable.

Our Dremel test is the one in charge of verifying this. So we grabbed the tool and started the party!

As you can see in the picture, the damage is minimal. The first leather layer was gone, but there's another layer right underneath ready to protect the Killshot 2's integrity. Overall, the Dremel's scratch is aesthetically unpleasing... and that's about it. We've decided to give it a solid 4/5 on our toebox durability test.

Once again, this is pretty impressive for a budget shoe. Way to go, Nike!

Even though the leather upper promised great durability, we were not that sure about the heel. First of all, it's the Achilles tendon of most shoes. And second of all, we didn't feel any padding in that area during our wear tests.

When we asked our Dremel about it and we didn't see white threads flying all around the room, we were positively surprised. Nothing had prepared us for this result, look!

The damage is nearly invisible! We couldn't give it any less than a perfect 5/5. Wow Nike, wow!

When we pressed our durometer against the gum outsole, it returned 81.5 HC.

This score is slightly lower than average, which means the shoe offers a healthy mix of durability and grip, focusing a little bit more on the latter.

Our durability outsole test and traction section in this review will tell you a little bit more about this. Stay tuned to understand the Killshot 2 from top to bottom (literally)!

Just like the toebox and the heel, the Killshot 2's outsole also had its fate intertwined with our Dremel.

This longer drilling session ended up with a dent of 1.1 mm according to our tread gauge.

We can't say this is the best result ever, but are not complaining either! After performing our outsole hardness test, we already knew this shoe's vulc sole was not the hardest ever, which means its material is not the most durable.

Still, we're pretty happy with this. We walked around town for hours and the outsole was completely fine. Also, the fact that Nike went for this color in the outsole helped the shoe hide its messy looks after a night out!

To measure the outsole thickness, we unavoidably need to cut the shoes in half. Otherwise, it would be impossible to measure the size of some parts that are hidden on the inside!

At 5.3 mm, the Killshot 2's outsole follows the minimalist and simple vibe of this shoe. What's more, the fact that the brand opted for a thin outsole will definitely reduce the shoe's weight!

This shoe's vulc sole gave us very strong Adidas Spezial and Adidas Samba vibes. Just look at its dirt-resistant color!

Regarding traction, we can say we're pretty happy with the Killshot 2's gum rubber outsole. It bit urban surfaces efficiently, and even though its traction pattern is nothing crazy, it worked well for us. Which is what matters!

After seeing, experiencing, and verifying the Killshot 2's high quality, it's kind of hard to believe it's a budget shoe. But the lack of reflective elements gives it away!

This shoe's tongue followed its minimalist approach, but just not to the point where it would be uncomfortable.

In other words, it might be thinner than average at 5.9 mm, but it's for enough padding for our instep to be happy and comfy. As you can see in the picture, there are sections with some extra padding, and some areas where there's less to save up some weight.

Overall, this shoe isn't super padded, but it keeps it up in the key areas. The tongue, as we just mentioned, is pretty padded; same with the heel collar and the Achilles zone. This made our strides comfortable, giving some extra support and making sure heel slippage was out of the way!

Nike's smart choice regarding the strategic placement of the tongue's padding made us enjoy our walks without any kind of lace bite. Which is always wonderful news!

We are in love with the clean details and minimalist vibe of this shoe. It doesn't have a heel tab, but we believe it would have broken the low-ley air of the Killshot 2, and that'd have been a shame!

So, instead of a heel-tab, we got a nice patch with the brand's name. It works as an ending point for the inner and outer Swoosh. Such pretty aesthetics!

The Killshot 2 has a removable insole, which means you can use your own orthotics if needed.

Nevertheless, please keep in mind that this shoe is narrow overall. Not only its midsole, which might make some insole hard to fit in, but its general structure. If a heavily padded or thick insole is added, it might have a negative impact on the shoe's inner space, leading to uncomfortableness.