Nike Sabrina 1 review

Honestly, we might be looking at one of the best first releases of a signature shoe that has joined our lab membership. You should definitely check the Sabrina 1 out if you're looking for:

• A top performer on indoor courts.
• A model that gives you a lot of ground feel and reliable cushioning technologies.
• A Nike pair that offers a wonderful lockdown feel and containment.
• A light and flexible hooper for quick and explosive moves and footwork.
• A customisable and fashionable ball pal.

Even though this model's solid grip and lateral reinforcements might make it seem like it's ready to play some streetball, we definitely wouldn't recommend it. Its outsole is not the toughest one out there, so it'll wear out pretty soon. If you want to play outdoors, you should have a look at our catalog of shoes that can deal with the abrasion of those surfaces.

If you're a wide-foot hooper and you like spacious shoes, you should definitely skip these Nikes. The Adidas Harden Stepback 3 is a bit weighty, but it's a model designed for guards and for centres that adapts to big-toed bballers. It's also more affordable than the Sabrina 1!

Once we cut the shoe open, we grabbed our caliper and put it in the heel to measure its stack.

At 23.7 mm, it's lower than average. This might make you think that this model lacks shock absorption, but it doesn't! We'll talk more about it when we analise its midsole, please wait patiently.

We felt pretty close to the court with this shoe during our wear tests. This improved the control we had over our moves, giving us a confidence boost. Consequently, we went for more daring moves, like more difficult dribbles or risky steps in our 1vs1.

Our caliper told us that this shoe's stack height is even lower in the forefoot!

It's the lowest forefoot stack we've seen so far in our lab! At 18.0 mm, it even got a lower score than the Adidas Harden Vol. 7, the Nike G.T. Hustle 2, and the Nike Cosmic Unity 2 (the three of them scored 18.2 mm). Pretty impressive!

When we played with the Sabrina 1, this translated into a wonderful court feel. We could go for effective fakes and crossover steps, we really enjoyed the performance of these Nikes!

Both stack heights are low, and this left us with an also low drop of 5.7 mm.

We are going to use this picture of the Sabrina 1 cut in half to talk about the wonderful technologies we found in its midsole:

• First of all, these Nikes have a full-length React foam that combines TPE and EVA.
• On the forefoot, there's a really thin Zoom Unit. But don't let its size trick you, it still felt amazing underfoot, propelling us back up every time we stepped aggressively on it.
• The black line you can see in the midfoot is a shank that gives some fantastic support. We actually believe this design works fantastically well with the shock-absorbing midsole. We felt safe and surefooted in our playtests.

Do you remember what we were saying about the shank being a perfect match for the Sabrina 1's midsole? Our durometer explained why with just a number.

At 19.0 HA, it's definitely on the softer side. That's why the shank is a perfect match for it, as it gives this pair the stability it needs to perform incredibly well on the court and get the best of both worlds: plusness and support!

Its insole is just as thick as the average.

At 4.5 mm, we don't have anything different to say here. The insole didn't have to compensate for any kind of lack from the midsole, and its not overly thick nature helps the shoe keep some oz/g out of the way!

When our caliper returned 106.8 mm, we could only nod. This model's toebox width at the widest part is over 5 mm wider than average, which is wonderful news for stability and comfort.

But hey, let's not go crazy about how spacious this sounds. This is a Nike shoe after all, remember?

Yeah, even if any of us didn't remember, our feet sure did. As per usual, these Nikes get incredibly narrower towards the big toe.

You can see it clearly in the pictures, this model tappers aggressively and it might be more suitable for standard-sized feet players like us, or users with narrow feet. The Sabrina 1's containment is pretty solid, which means that even if your feet are a bit more on the narrow side it should still give you the support you need.

Consequently, we definitely cannot recommend this model to wide feet ballers. It'd definitely cramp their toes, which wouldn't only affect their performance negatively, but also their health. On our standard-width feet, this shoe's fit was great. No complaints at all!

From the very first moment we saw this shoe, we just couldn't wait to put it on.

On our lateral stability test, we lace each pair all the way up and start wobbling our ankles. We were actually pretty happy with this shoe's containment, look at the video below and you'll see why!

During our wear tests, we enjoyed this shoe's supportive structure. It didn't feel rigid or too constraining, it was just like a safe elongation of our own foot. That's how it felt!

We could perform in-n-out moves like backdoor cuts. These types of moves can be done slowly, that's for sure, but the slower you go for it, the more effectiveness it loses. In mid to high-level basketball, you'll definitely see players go for explosive backdoor cuts. It's a very common move among forwards! But feeling unstable will make you want to avoid it, which would totally be a shame.

See? The Sabrina 1 is total and completely ready not only to face the challenge, but also to excel at it!

Basketball shoes tend to be very rigid. This is usually because of their tough and durable materials, that act like a shield for your feet to avoid injuries.

Performing our torsional rigidity test on the Sabrina 1. It scored an agreeable 3/5.

As you can see in the video, it was not hard for us to bend this model at all! If you wanna see what our struggling thumbs look like, let us show you the video from when we tried to bend the LeBron 21. OH. MY. GOSH.

Performing our torsional rigidity test on the Nike LeBron 21. It scored a stubborn 5/5.

We actually loved this big change. It was like a breath of fresh air regarding the typical structure that the latest basketball shoes have gone for: extra rigid. This allowed us to perform every single move more comfortably and, on top of that, more precisely!

The Sabrina 1's structure is more bendy, yet it's such a grounded shoe that we never felt unstable. We think this design idea works wonders for quick and agile players, as that's how this pair itself made us feel.

To add some extra points to the overall stability of this model, we have its heel counter.

It scored a fantastic 4/5 on our stiffness test, which is slightly higher than average. Its well-structured self added to the amount of padding this shoe has on that area is the perfect combination for a wonderful lockdown feel.

Have a look at this shoe's interior after we cut it in half and then separated its upper. The amount of padding it has is what enhances the lockdown feel and surefootedness, especially in the heel area. And we love it!

More and more stability is on the way!

At 116.3 mm, our caliper indicated that this shoe's midsole width in the forefoot is a couple millimeters wider than average. This means so extra room for your feet to land comfortably after jumping!

At 89.7 mm, this shoe's heel width is pretty much average.

But this also didn't affect our stability. The fit is snug and it has a lot of padding, so our feet felt this model's welcoming hug at the back as soon as we put it on.

The Sabrina 1 has been surprising us time and time again. This shoe didn't get tired of getting wonderful scores on our tests, and we didn't get tired of verifying it!

When we performed of flex test and we saw the result was 30.4 N, we couldn't be happier. It's true that, on the one hand, we did expect this score because of what our feet felt during our wear tests. The Sabrina 1 bent comfortably at the ball of the foot, going along with our moves smoothly.

We found this ideal for shooting, fakes, and open and cross steps. Can you think of one thing that these moves have in common? Exactly, the constant bending of the ball of the foot.

Every shoe is going to let you make those moves, as they are typical in this sport. Yet some will make them smoother than others, that's for sure! The Sabrina 1 is pretty flexible, and our feet could tell. This made us have better control of any kind of fake we went for, as the forefoot bent easily. This is great for opening drills, as you need to pivot constantly if you're trying to trick your opponent. This equals your shoe bending back and forth in that same area, and the more flexible it is, the easier it will be for you to explosively perform the move.

One more fantastic result is on the way! Let's go with the numbers first and with our feet later.

When we saw 12.5 oz/353.0g on our scale, we were really happy. It's a solid 11% lighter than average, which is wonderful for a model with such durable materials!

And it was the same feeling for our feet, too! This shoe's performance is unbeatable, and we felt super light dribbling, and during cuts and layups. It didn't stop us at all, and it really felt like an extension of our own foot. We believe quick guards are going to love the Sabrina 1 as much as we do!

Finding a breathable basketball shoe nowadays is not an easy task! To check if a model is well-ventilated or not, we perform a couple of tests, starting with our beloved smoke machine.

We were off to a slow start! We patiently sat looking at the shoe, just thinking: "Where did all the smoke go?". After some seconds the shoe finally started breathing, it felt just like putting your shoe underwater and finally going up to take a deep breath!

On the one hand, the Under Armour Curry 10 showed a wonderful performance in our breathability test. That's what a 5/5 in ventilation looks like! On the other hand, it took the Sabrina 1 a while, but it managed to let out some smoke, earning a 2/5. Let's see if our light gives us some more hints!

Bingo! We could see some light trying to get through the mesh, so of course its breathability would be slightly better than some other models that have thicker upper materials.

Our microscope showed us how tightly woven the toebox material of this shoe is.

There's no way the air would have it easy with such a barrier between out feet and the outside world!

When we first saw this shoe (and its incredibly cool box, by the way), we couldn't keep our mouths closed. It looks awesome! But it's more than a pretty face, and our Dremel was absolutely ready to prove it.

What's that again? Nothing, you say? Yeah, nothing at all! Our tool lost this battle, just look at these pictures.

We can't say the results of this durability test were more than an aesthetically unpleasing scratch. It didn't affect the shoe's functionality or integrity at all, which is wonderful news.

We gave the Sabrina 1 a well-deserved 5/5 in our toebox durability test. If you want to see how hard it is to get such score, let us show you what the Nike Precision 6 looked like after this same test. That's a 1/5 score in our toebox durability test for you!

We were also pretty happy with the results of this next test! Moving our Dremel to the back of the shoe, we went all in and attacked its heel padding.

Once again, it looks like our tool is struggling! The damage was minimal, so we gave the Sabrina 1 a 4/5 on our heel padding durability test.

Not bad at all! It has once again outperformed many other models, as this is a quite vulnerable spot for shoes. Just compare these Nikes' results with the Reebok Answer DMX's.

The difference is quite big, isn't it? Look at all that messed-up white material! This Reebok basketball shoe scored a 1/5 in our heel padding durability test. We just couldn't give it anything higher!

At 86.5 HC, our durometer indicated this shoe's outsole is slightly harder than the standard.

It's quite a promising start, as this indicates the outsole should be more durable than average. Let's see if our Dremel agrees!

We were ready for action, as always! So we grabbed our Dremel and started digging in the Sabrina 1's outsole. Let's get this party started!

After our 22-second-long test at 10K RPM and 3.2N, our tread gauge confirmed our Dremel left a dent of 0.9 mm. This is an average score for basketball shoes, so not bad!

We put the tool in the same spot in every shoe. This time, as you can see in the picture, the rolling piece went for the black section, but it also included the lighter part in its attack. We were pretty happy with the result, as this model has a kind of spiky herringbone pattern, so the tool didn't actually make it to the base of the outsole.

We also find this outsole pretty reliable during our wear tests, even outdoors! But if you use the Sabrina 1 to play streetball, please keep in mind it will not last long. It doesn't have the most resistant outsole out there, even if its performance is great.

When our caliper returned 4.1 mm, we realised these Nikes' outsole was as thick as the average.

Once again, this result tells us that the Sabrina 1 is not the best shoe to play outdoors. Its outsole is neither the thickest nor the most resistant to abrasion, so outdoor courts will definitely take a toll on it every time you play.

First of all, let's have a look at this shoe's outsole pattern.

We can see some kind of spiky herringbone there with lines in different directions and a thick black line in the middle of the structure. This thread has some relief, meaning it's not as flat as what we've seen in other models. This improves traction and longevity, and we could definitely tell when we tried this shoe outdoors.

Still, these Nikes are not made to play streetball, as they would wear down pretty soon. But anyway, we enjoyed its solid grip on every court. It helped us play more confidently and perform some moves that require solid steps, as they'd be ruined if we slipped.

Overall, this shoe's solid grip is something we appreciated a lot during our wear tests. And it wasn't only on indoor courts with some dust, but also on rougher outdoor courts.

No reflective elements around, but it's not like the Sabrina 1 needed them anyway!

As we said before, we believe it's better to keep this shoe for indoor courts, as its outsole would definitely wear out sooner than expected if it has to face the abrasion of streetball surfaces. In other words, you don't need your shoes to have reflective as in indoor courts there's always some kind of light.

At 11.0 mm, this shoe's tongue is pretty padded.

Following the foot containment we mentioned in our previous test, our caliper indicated that the padding of the tongue adds some extra surefootedness. Additionally, as the top is the most padded part, it protects us from any kind of lace bite.

This shoe felt like an extension of our own feet during our wear tests, and the fact that we could tie the laces strongly and pull to feel safer thanks to the tongue's padding was a wonderful detail. We believe this matches perfectly the Sabrina 1's fit and lockdown feel.

Lockdown feel and containment are two of the key points this model can brag about. Its general structure definitely reinforces both these areas, but the cherry on top is the Sabrina 1's tongue.

Being fully gusseted, this piece made sure our feet didn't move from their right place. We really enjoyed this feature, as it gave us some extra confidence during our playtests. Additionally, the locked-in feel is one of the strong points of the Sabrina 1, which felt like a tailor-made shoe.

These Nikes don't have any kind of heel tab at the back.

Instead, it has a solid design with the signature of Sabrina Ionescu and the protagonist. We loved the minimal yet cool aura this detail embodied, matching the shoe's vibe perfectly.

With a fully gusseted tongue and a locked-in focused structure, putting on and taking off this pair was not the easiest task out there. But we didn't really mind it, though. We just had to make sure the laces were comfortably separated from the main structure so we'd have enough room for our feet to fit in.

To be honest, we were pretty happy with this model's standard insole.

Still, if you need to use your own orthotics or if you simply want to change it, no worries: it's removable!