Hoka Bondi SR review

Based on its design features and lab performance, we believe that the Hoka Bondi SR is perfect for the following:

• individuals in need of a practical yet cosy and good-looking shoe for work or casual wear
• employees who often deal with wet floors at work (hospitals, restaurants, kitchens, etc.)
• people with plantar fasciitis and other foot issues that call for podiatrist-approved footwear

The cushioning unit is simply HUGE in this walking shoe from Hoka.

Using a calliper, we measured the stack height at 39.4 mm in the heel. That's a crazy 8 mm thicker than average!

Impact protection and all-day support are guaranteed with that amount of foam. Even if you spend a 12-hour shift on your feet!

In the forefoot, the Bondi SR is as thick as many other walking shoes are in their heels.

Our calliper shows 31.2 mm of thickness under the toes. We felt as if the shoe's cushioning was bottomless.

Based on the stack measurements above, we found that the heel-to-toe drop of the Hoka Bondi SR is 8.2 mm. This is a little taller than the officially stated 6 mm.

But you won't even notice the difference while floating atop this cloud-like cushion.

In addition, 8-10 mm is a pretty standard heel elevation for a walking shoe. It provides even more landing comfort for the heels as opposed to the lower-drop shoes that feel more barefoot-like.

On its official product page, Hoka categorises the Bondi SR's cushioning as plush. We can subscribe to that statement after measuring the shoe's softness with a durometer.

We got a reading of 20.4 HA which is 40% softer than the average of walking shoes.

On the foot, we did experience a very pleasant squish all throughout the midsole.

The Hoka Bondi SR is actually built on the basis of the Hoka Bondi running shoe, inheriting all of its plushy goodness.

What's really amazing about the Bondi SR's cushioning is that it doesn't turn into a brick when exposed to low temperatures.

After sitting in our freezer for 20 minutes, the foam firmed up to 29 HA which is still 34% softer compared to how firm the other walking shoes got.

So, if you are planning to make it your fall/winter shoe, you can still enjoy the soft underfoot experience.

The insole is also padded rather well in the Bondi SR. We measured its thickness at 4.9 mm, which is typical for walking shoes.

The shoe's midsole has a curvy shape on purpose. As part of the brand's proprietary Early Stage Meta-Rocker design, it is meant to provide smooth transitions from heels to toes.

This design really worked wonders as it felt like we were actually rockered into the next step.

The Hoka Bondi SR has a marvellously accommodating fit! Whether you have wide feet, or bunions, or simply enjoy extra space for splaying your toes, this shoe has it all covered.

In the widest part of the toebox, we measured the shoe's width at 100.3 mm, 2.6 mm wider than average.

But the most surprising part is the toebox width at the big-toe mark. The calliper shows 81.2 mm which is 2.7 mm wider than average.

The Hoka Bondi SR is meant for neutral pronation as well as supination (excessive outward ankle rolling). But there is so much support woven into every aspect of the shoe that we think it could also heel at home for mild overpronation (inward ankle rolling).

First of all, the Bondi SR is incredibly stiff. So much so that we couldn't even twist it in our manual test. There is no give whatsoever, earning the shoe the highest score for torsional rigidity: 5 out of 5.

This is what makes this walking shoe feel so stable in the first place.

Another important stability component is the heel counter stiffness. Having pushed and squeezed it in every way, we rated its stiffness as 4 out of 5 (nearly the stiffest!).

Paired with the generously padded collar and sturdy leather upper, it creates a very cosy yet secure clutch around the ankle.

This made the Hoka Bondi SR feel almost like a stability shoe!

The footprint of the Hoka Bondi SR looks like that of a Bigfoot. No kidding!

This is the most massively wide platform we've seen in our lab.

In the widest part of the forefoot, our calliper shows 124.1 mm. This is more than a centimetre wider than the average!

The Bondi SR is just as astonishingly wide in the widest part of the heel - 102.2 mm. That is 15 mm wider than average!

Wow... With such a wide landing area, it doesn't get any more surefooted. This is another reason this Hoka shoe feels so safe in the workplace.

In addition, we can recommend this Bondi to seniors who are likely to appreciate plenty of stability underfoot.

Bending the foot is just not happening in the Bondi SR. It is nearly impossible to flex this monster sole.

In our lab, it took 52.7N of force to bend the shoe to a 90-degree angle. A whole 143% more than the average!

This Hoka shoe makes you forget about normal foot gait. It makes you feel like you have small cushy boats attached to your feet.

The Bondi SR is a pretty big boy.

It tips the scale at 14.3 oz (404g) in a men's US size 9 which is a whole 4.7 oz (132g) heavier than walking shoes on average!

However, we believe that it is a reasonable weight given how much cushioning and support this Hoka shoe provides.

With the shoe's water-resistant upper made of genuine leather, we didn't expect much breathability in the first place.

We used a smoke-pumping machine to assess how much air passes through the Bondi SR's upper. As you can see, it all gets trapped inside the shoe's sealed leather upper. Thus, the shoe gets the lowest breathability score of 1 out of 5.

As you can also see from our transparency test below, there is not a single perforation on the shoe's upper to let the heat out.

We even tried looking for some ventilation holes with a microscope but to no avail. This shoe is practically air-tight.

On the upside, the shoe's leather upper is phenomenally wear-resistant. It is by far the most durable upper on a walking shoe that we've seen!

Applying a Dremel to the shoe's toebox for a whole 12 seconds, we didn't even get halfway through the material! It's going to take forever for this kind of upper to wear out. We believe that it justifies the shoe's above-average price.

To provide some perspective on the Bondi SR's durability, we put it next to another Hoka shoe. We applied the same force and speed of the Dremel to both shoes.

Unfortunately, the heel padding didn't do so well in our Dremel test, earning the lowest score of 1 out of 5.

Apparently, the brand went for softness at the expense of durability. Because we have seen some really sturdy heel linings. Look at the one from the Adidas Ultraboost for example. Doesn't even look like it was drilled!

As a slip-resistant outsole, it is supposed to be on the soft side to provide a strong bite on smooth surfaces. Pressing our durometer against the rubber gave a reading of 73.1 HC, which is 6% softer than the average.

The downside is that the shoe has to give up some of its durability to achieve that level of grip.

Drilling the rubber with our Dremel felt like cutting butter with a knife. Within 22 seconds, the tool went right through the rubber down to the midsole.

We turned to a tread gauge to measure the depth of the emerged dent and it was a whopping 2.48 mm deep! For comparison, the average is only 1 mm.

This is the trade-off that the Hoka Bondi SR makes to achieve its high level of slip resistance.

Good thing the shoe's rubber layer is a thick one. Our calliper shows 5.9 mm which is twice thicker than the average of walking shoes!

The grip is insanely good in the Hoka Bondi SR. This walking shoe totally lives up to the marketing around it (SR stands for slip-resistant).

Kitchens, hospitals, warehouses - this shoe nails it when you have to speed through wet tiles or any other slick surfaces.

Everything about the Hoka Bondi SR has to be superlative.

Now it's the tongue padding. Measuring its thickness with a calliper, we found it to be 11.1 mm thick! This is twice as big as the average tongue.

Maximising comfort is the shoe's Memory Foam collar padding. It made us feel as if our feet got sucked into some eternal "hugge."

The shoe's tongue has no gussets on the sides which is probably reasonable given how little breathability there is already.

But we didn't experience any issues with tongue shifting or bunching thanks to its massive padding.

A handy finger loop at the back helps you slide right into the shoe's comfortland much faster.

This Hoka shoe comes with a removable insole in case you need to step up the game with a custom orthotic.

The Hoka Bondi SR received a Seal of Acceptance from the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA), which acknowledges that it is beneficial to foot health.