7 Best Best Brooks Walking Shoes in 2025

How we test Brooks walking shoes

To save you time, effort, and money, we publish very thorough reviews of Brooks walking shoes. Here is our approach: 

• We purchase these shoes using our money so we can stay objective and transparent. 
• We take them for walks in various conditions and terrains. We make sure to log around 10k steps before writing the review.
• We test Brooks walking shoes in our independent lab. There, we fill them with smoke, freeze them, and even cut them in half to properly measure their features. 
• We publish Brooks walking shoe reviews which are based both on our field tests and lab tests. We also publish all the lab data.

Choosing the best Brooks walking shoes for you

When you are choosing a reliable go-to walking shoe, it is important to consider the following factors:

• Cushioning: Brooks has a stellar reputation when it comes to comfortable and well-cushioned shoes for daily wear. The platform thickness of its walking shoes exceeds the average by a few solid milimeters! The only thing you need to consider is how much cushy goodness you want to feel.
• Support: Based on their level of support, Brooks shoes can be either neutral or supportive. The latter (tagged as GTS for “Go-To-Support”) are equipped with stabilising features to keep the foot and ankle securely in place. These shoes are meant for flat feet and overpronation as well as other conditions that call for a more stable ride.
• Durability: The wear resistance of Brooks shoes varies depending on the materials used in their uppers and soles. You want to be sure that you are getting sufficient shoe longevity for the price you pay.
• Season: Brooks offers highly breathable mesh shoes for summer as well as warm leather and suede options for the coler months.
• Size and fit: Brooks shoes tend to be predictable in their fit and sizing and are also widely available in alternative widths. That way, the brand caters to many different foot shapes.

Cushioning in Brooks walking shoes

Having tested hundreds of shoes, we can confidently confirm that Brooks shoes offer some of the best cushioning and comfort for walking and all-day wear. And we’ve got the data to support it!

Cutting each and every tested walking shoe in half, we carefully measure its stack height with a digital calliper. Stack refers to the amount of material packed between the foot and the ground including the insole, the midsole, and the outsole. We measure both the forefoot and heel stack of each shoe.

In our guides, we always recommend shoes with at least 30 mm of heel stack for long hours of walking and standing. This ensures that you have enough impact protection and underfoot support to minimise foot fatigue and stress on your lower body.

Our data shows that the “thinnest” Brooks shoe has a heel stack of 34 mm! So, basically, the category average is the brand’s minimum. Meanwhile, the most thick-foamed Brooks shoes exceed the 40-mm point.

Example of a max-cushioned Brooks shoe (42.3 mm)

Would you be surprised if we told you that Brooks walking shoes are also pleasantly soft? The brand keeps up with the competition by experimenting with EVA and TPU foams, infusing them with nitrogen and trying new ways to add even more comfort and energy return to the ride.

We use a Shore A durometer to measure the midsole softness of each shoe. Pressing it against the foam, we get a precise HA reading which allows us to put all Brooks walking shoes into three categories:

• Plush: less than 20 HA
• Balanced: 20-30 HA
• Firm: more than 30 HA

Most of the brand’s walking shoes fall into the balanced category which makes them ideal for prolonged wear. You don’t want an overly plush, squishmallow shoe as it does not provide enough support for long bouts of walking.

Only a few Brooks shoes hit the 30 HA mark and these belong to the highly supportive category where fitness is essential for a stable ride.

Example of a “firm” Brooks shoe (30.1 HA)

So, depending on your personal needs and preferences, you can choose the stack height and midsole softness that appeal to you. And because all Brooks walking shoes prioritise comfort in their construction, it’s hard to go wrong with either one.

Supportive Brooks walking shoes

The brand’s supportive walking shoes are easy to tell apart by the GTS (“Go-To-Support”) abbreviation in their names, i.e. Brooks Adrenaline GTS, Brooks Beast GTS, etc.

These shoes are highly recommended to people with flat feet, overpronation, plantar fasciitis, and other conditions where you want as little wobbling in the feet as possible.

But if you don’t have a confirmed case of flat feet or overpronation, how do you know if you need a supportive Brooks shoe? Here are a few signs:

• you notice excessive inward rolling of the foot and ankle in most of your shoes
• you experience pain in your feet, ankles, knees, or even lower back during long walks
• your shoes wear out more on the inner side causing tilted soles

This guide doesn’t serve as medical advice. Please consult your doctor if you experience any discomfort or pain.

Brooks shoes for flat feet and overpronation

In a GTS shoe, your foot feels locked inside a stable cradle with sidewalls on both sides of the heel. Made of firm foam, these walls act like bowling alley bumpers that gently guide the foot from heel to toe preventing it from collapsing inwards.

At the same time, GTS doesn’t feel intrusive or restricting – it can even be worn by people with normal arches and neutral pronation who just want some added support for spending long hours on their feet.

In addition to their raised sidewalls, Brooks GTS shoes also enhance stability with their high torsional rigidity. We test the latter by twisting the shoe with both hands – the more resistance we feel, the higher is the stiffness score on a 1-5 scale.

The stiff heel counters of these shoes have very little give too. Whether we push them on the sides or at the back, there is no folding at all. The collar padding is rather generous too making sure that the rearfoot is locked securely yet comfortably.

Midsole width plays a major role in maintaining stability as well. A broad landing area minimzes wobbling and the risk of foot rolling over the shoe edge. We measure the widest part of each shoe’s platform in both the heel and the forefoot. Supportive Brooks shoes typically show 95-100 mm of heel width!

Brooks shoes for plantar fasciitis

Choosing a more supportive shoe also makes sense if you want to relieve the heel pain associated with the plantar fascia inflammation.

It doesn’t necessarily have to be a stability shoe from the Brooks GTS collection, but you should look for the following features:

• Sufficient cushioning: At least 30 mm of heel stack is recommended for proper shock absorption. All current walking shoes from Brooks meet this criteria.
• Higher drop: A heel-to-toe drop is the height difference between the shoe’s heel and forefoot stacks. An offset of 8 mm or more implies that the heel is elevated enough to avoid the plantar fascia overload.
• Balanced or firm cushioning: 20 HA or more is advised because a plush platform can aggravate the ligament.
• Higher torsional rigidity and heel counter stiffness also create a supportive platform that doesn’t allow undue shifting of the foot.

Are supportive Brooks shoes heavy?

On the downside, there is a trade-off for choosing a more supportive shoe - it tends to be heavier. The weight of Brooks walking shoes ranges from 9.1 oz (257g) to 13.7 oz (388g) and none of the brand’s stability shoes returned less than 10 oz (283g) on the scale.

Here is the overview of Brook’s shoe types and their weight (heaviest first):

Durable walking shoes from Brooks

There is a good chance that you are planning to clock up a considerable amount of miles in your new pair of Brooks shoes. But how do you know if it’s made of truly lasting materials?

Our process involves a series of demanding tests which show the potential longevity of various Brooks shoe parts: the toebox fabric, the heel lining, and the rubber outsole.

Using a Dremel with a sandpaper tip, we drill each mentioned area for a set amount of time and at consistent speed and pressure. We then assess the durability of each component on a 1-5 scale (where 5 is the most durable) based on the damage it sustained.

We go even further when testing the shoe’s rubber outsole because this part sustains the most wear and tear. We use a tread gauge to measure the depth of the damage as precisely as 0.1 mm, a calliper to check its thickness, and a Shore C durometer to gauge the hardness of the rubber.

Putting all of the measurements together allows us to determine the most durable walking shoes from Brooks:

Brooks walking shoes for every season

Even though most Brooks shoes have mesh uppers, they are not equally breathable.

To fully assess each shoe’s ventilation capacity, we perform the following tests:

• Pumping smoke through the shoe’s toebox and assessing its permeability by the amount and speed of billows
• Hovering the shoe’s half-cut upper over the light to check the size of pores and other ventilation channels (if any)
• Inspecting the shoe’s upper fabric up close through a microscope

Once all the tests are done, we rate each Brooks shoe’s breathability on a 1-5 scale (5 being the most breathable).

If you are in search of a walking shoe for summer or warm weather, we recommend shoes with a higher breathability score of 4 or 5.

Conversely, if you need a shoe with less airflow for the cooler months of spring and fall, consider Brooks shoes with a breathability score of 2-3.

For winter, we recommend the warmest options with the lowest breathability score (1). These often include Weatherized (water-repellent and grippy) and Waterproof (Gore-Tex) versions as well as leather and suede Brooks shoes.

Size and fit of Brooks walking shoes

Brooks shoes tend to be predictable in terms of their fit and sizing.

And yet, when you don’t have the option to try every shoe in person, a few considerations can increase your chances of ordering the right size online:

1. Measure your foot length: Precise measurement of your current foot length is important because even a couple of milimeters can ruin the fit. Ask a friend to help you and follow these simple DIY instructions.
2. Check your size: Open Brooks’ size chart and find the size that matches your foot length.
3. Check specific shoe: Find the shoe’s in-depth review on our website and check the Size and Fit section. It will let you know if that particular walking shoe from Brooks requires sizing up or down.

Once you have the length figured out, it is equally important to consider the shoe’s fit and toebox space. Gladly, Brooks is one of the most inclusive brands when it comes to alternative shoe width — from narrow to extra wide!

However, the amount of toe room can vary from one Brooks shoe to another even in the same size and width! That’s why we developed a shoe moulding process using proprietary gel to measure the toebox dimensions of each shoe precisely.

The photo below shows the difference between the narrowest and the widest moulds of the Brooks shoes we tested. Almost a 5 mm difference!

Fortunately, Brooks shoes hardly ever show excessive deviation from the average. The expected width range between the big toe and the pinkie is 93 - 98 mm and that’s where most Brooks fall.

We also measure the width in the big toe area of the mould to check the shoe’s taper angle – meaning how pointy or how rounded it is. Most Brooks shoes have a very moderate tapering.