Jordan One Take 5 review

The Jordan One Take 5 will make you do a double take if:

• The spirit of Wilt Chamberlain gets into you whenever you play ball and you're a rebound boss (this shoe features a Zoom Air unit and a wide platform).
• You're looking for a shoe that will give you confidence with its foot containment and stability.
• You love the hooper-skater aesthetics and you're looking for something to conquer the court and the streets.

If you are absolutely done with break-in periods, forget about this Jordan pair. Its materials are rigid and stiff, so this hooper needs some warming up before it can give you its top performance. As a substitute, you might like the Nike Precision 6, which is affordable and incredibly comfortable from the very first minute!

If you don't mind spending a little bit more for your wide feet to be comfortable, the Jordan Luka 2 is a fantastic option that also offers an incredibly good foot containment and support.

At 23.2 mm according to our calliper, the Take 5's heel stack is lower than average.

Please, don't forget this doesn't make it less comfortable or anything like that! It's normal to associate a shoe's stack with its comfort level. Nevertheless, the latest depends on its foam, features, and many other key points.

Our calliper returned 18.5 mm when we measured this shoe's forefoot stack, which makes it lower than average.

As you can see right between our calliper claws, the Take 5 features a Zoom Air unit! This translated into energetic toe-offs (perfect for quick layups) and a bouncy ride.

If you pay close attention, you'll see the Zoom Air unit is surrounded by plastic. We believe these black pieces made the shoe stiffer overall, even underfoot!

As the heel and forefoot stacks are not very different, we calculated a drop of 4.7 mm.

With its lower stack, we got about enough ground feel from this pair. On the other hand, its Phylon foam, its Air Unit and the midfoot shank made sure we got a wonderful mix of bounce, impact protection, and support underfoot.

This is the bottom shank of the Take 5. Its supportive nature made us feel more confident, which is something really important when you play basketball! You see, if you don't feel like you could face LeBron when you play, your movements could get sloppy and lose accuracy. Feeling confident and comfortable in your shoes is incredibly important, as that's what playmakers say about their mentality!

The Take 5 features a full-length Phylon cushioning. During our wear tests, and after breaking-in the shoe, we felt this foam was comfortable and pretty energetic. 

Our calliper returned 28.3 HA when we measured it, which is slightly higher than average. As you can see in the video below, it's not the softest cushioning out there. But it felt great underfoot during our wear tests. The fact that it's stiffer than average does not mean it's uncomfortable!

Our calliper marked 4.4 mm when we measured this shoe's insole, which is pretty much average.

With a 1.7 on our scale, this Jordan pair runs small according to the votes of the users. So watch out!

Even though it has a really, really wide base in the forefoot, its toebox is no way near that spacious!

Our calliper returned 100.9 mm when we measured the widest part of the Take 5's toebox. Our standard-sized feet were okay with it, and even though the shoe does feel tight, it wasn't uncomfortable to us (especially after the break-in period!).

Nevertheless, this Jordan pair gets narrower and narrower towards the tip.

At 73.3 mm, it did feel quite tight. That's why we believe wide-feet hoopers might not enjoy this shoe that much! If it felt cramped to us and our standard feet, it should be worse for them.

We can't complain about the lateral stability of the Take 5.

The materials of its upper made sure our feet didn't play games (not literally, though!). Their sturdy nature offered great containment and lockdown, which made us feel secure in every single game. On the other hand, the downside of this is that the Take 5 feels tight.

And talking about being tight... the torsional rigidity levels of this Jordan pair are something else!

It's literally impossible to bend. There was no way for our fingers to make it understand it had to twist itself, and our feet had the same feel! Even though after a break-in period this shoe becomes really comfortable, our first experience with it was rough... to say the least.

Anyway, don't let the first feelings of this shoe bring you down. In our experience, it required a break-in period, but once that was over, we enjoyed its great comfort and playability!

Surprisingly enough if we consider its overall stiff build, the Take 5's heel didn't put up much of a fight when we tried to bend it.

As you can see, it pretty much obliged! So we decided to give it a 3/5 on our heel counter stiffness test.

When we observed its upper after cutting the shoe in half (which is something we always do), we realised its heel doesn't have any plastic pieces or tougher layers. Just a lot of padding!

A new crazy record! At 128.2 mm, this shoe's midsole width in the forefoot is just as spacious as it could get.

This translated into safe landings even if we risked it all and jumped to get a rebound in traffic. This wider platform protected our feet, and the sole flare made sure the stability levels were at max!

If you love jumping around and catching every ball that touches the rim, this pair is the perfect rebound pal.

Surprisingly, the heel doesn't follow the same logic.

Our calliper returned 89.7 mm, which is pretty much average. The good thing is that, in order to keep our knees in their best shape, we always try to land using our forefoot, so it's not like this narrower heel made us lose our balance.

As expected from a shoe with such high torsional rigidity, it is stiffer than average!

We needed 43.6N of force to lift it all the way up to 90 degrees. Its tough side walls and rubberized layers made sure this was no easy task, that's for sure!

Oh and the Jumpman logo shining on that red outer piece? Magestic!

During our wear tests, we didn't think this shoe was too heavy. It didn't feel especially light or speedy either, but it definitely wasn't like an ankle weight.

At 14.4 oz/407g, it's undoubtedly heavier than average. Nevertheless, we could still perform quick moves without feeling slowed down or anything. Maybe it was part of the arduous break-in period of the Take 5 that made us forget it was heavier than average? As once we overcame it, this Jordan became incredibly comfortable!

This Jordan is definitely not the most breathable shoe out there. We verified it during our wear tests playing with them, but by looking at how many layers of different materials its upper has, it wasn't difficult to tell.

When we took it to our lab, we started by putting them right in front of our light. But it couldn't get through any of the Take 5's tough materials!

However, a shoe can be breathable even if we don't spot any ventilation holes with our light, so don't panic just yet. The next step was using our smoke machine to see how much smoke (if any) this Jordan pair let out, and which parts of the shoe favoured airflow the most.

Well, the One Take 5 vs. the Curry 10 almost feels like a really unfair match! After all, the latest got a perfect score on breathability, which is not something many hoopers accomplish. But the Jordan shoe... paled in comparison. It managed to let out a little bit of smoke for a little bit of time, but it was nothing that would make us give it more than a 2/5.

When we took our microscope to understand what was going on on a deeper level, we realised the material had some gaps in its pattern. Nevertheless, as there are multiple layers, it was pretty much impossible for the air to come in and out of the shoe.

With all the layers and materials the Take 5 has, we expected at least average durability.

The thing is that we always put the tool in the s¡very same spot, which means that sometimes it attacks toe protections, and some other times it doesn't. As you can see, in this case it managed to go straight for the mesh.

The result looks pretty bad because it feels like the tool ripped apart a lot of material. But, as we've said before, this shoe has a lot of layers! So, despite the mess, the Dremel didn't manage to completely destroy the Take 5. Consequently, we have decided to give it a 3/5 on our toebox durability test.

We moved our Dremel all the way back to the heel and started drilling once again.

At 5K RPM and with 3.2N of force, the tool showed no mercy! We could see black threads fly away from minute 1, which is definitely not a good omen!

We predicted it just right. The tool obliterated the heel's mesh, leaving a big bite behind. The Jordan One Take 5 only managed to get a 1/5 on our heel padding durability test, which is the lowest score!

The outsole of this Jordan has two different rubber compounds. In this colorway, they come in white (rearfoot and midfoot) and in red (forefoot).

When we pressed our durometer against the white rubber, it returned 85.8 HC, which is higher than average. This usually means some extra points in durability!

Then we pressed our small device against the red rubber, and it returned 80.0 HC. This score is slightly lower than average, which translates into additional points in traction!

Just like in the toebox and heel durability tests, we always put our Dremel in the same spot. This helps us a lot when we want to compare two shoes!

At 10K RPM and with 3.2N of force, the tool drilled the rubber as if it was butter! We were pretty surprised, to be honest. But the damages speak for themselves.

We measured this dent with our tread gauge, which returned a scary 1.8 mm! This score is higher than average, which isn't good news in this test. After careful consideration, we believe the Jordan One Take 5 should not be used to play streetball!

After measuring this Jordan's outsole thickness, we were even more sure of our negative answer regarding playing streetball.

At 3.7 mm, it's slightly thinner than average. So, apart from featuring a non-durable material, the brand also didn't go for a thicker piece of rubber to compensate!

Using more material would mean some extra weight, though, so we can understand Nike's decision. Also, and just to clarify, it's not like we're forbidding you to play outdoors with this hooper. We just believe its outsole will wear down sooner than expected if you do.

The traction levels of this shoe felt average to us, nothing otherworldly.

Its spiky herringbone pattern worked just fine, outdoors and indoors too. We have no complaints, honestly! It did pick up some dust, but we usually wipe our outsoles when we play, so it wasn't a big issue for us as hoopers.

We also really liked the details, like the translucent rubber, the massive Jumpman at the heel, and the coordinates of the black piece in the midfoot.

After all the tests we've put this Jordan through, we've concluded it can perfectly double as a sneaker. We've also found it features a big Zoom Ait unit in the forefoot and a shank, which are two things that many other more expensive hoopers don't have.

Hence, we believe the Take 5 is a great bang for the buck. As long as tough break-in periods don't bother you, that is!

This Jordan doesn't have any reflective elements, but with its price it's not like we expected it to!

We loved how Nike distributed this shoe's tongue padding.

As you can see, it looks like a padded chain! The round parts offered our instep some extra protection for the laces and, at the same time, the flatter bits reduced the overall weight.

We found this a perfect match for the Take 5's double extra eyelet at the top. At 9.3 mm according to our calliper, this shoe's tongue kept our feet safe and sound from lace bite even if we tightened it all up!

The both-sides semi-gusseted tongue of the Take 5 makes its already high foot containment even better.

Even though its upper materials ended up giving in after some games, this shoe still hugged our feet warmly. Due to its unforgiving upper and overall stiff structure, this is our piece of advice here: if it's possible at all, try the Take 5 on before buying it!

This Jordan pair is full of surprises, and the flap at the heel is just one more of them!

But anyway, yes, the Take 5 does have a finger loop that makes putting the shoe on way easier. It also features a Jumpman logo. Honestly, we've fallen head over heels for this pair. So much so that, after the arduous break-in period, we're totally convinced this hooper could become a daily sneaker just fine!

This Jordan pair features a removable insole, so you can just take it out and use your own orthotics if you need or want to.

But hey, despite having a wide base at the forefoot, don't forget this shoe is quite tight. Getting a super thick or plush insole might reduce its inner space even more, bringing it to the point where it may become uncomfortable.