New Balance 992 review

Let yourself fall in love with the New Balance 992 if:

• You're looking for a stable pair of trainers with premium materials and a supportive design.
• You want a very comfortable shoe with a cool retro vibe to show off all day long.
• You won't settle for any less than the best quality design.
• You're in search of the trendiest of the trendiest.

We're talking about a Made in USA pair here, so you can forget about it being affordable. The 992 has a premium price that matches its premium design and materials. If you want a New Balance pair of trainers yes or yes, and you're all for the retro aesthetics, we believe this selection might be interesting for you. (PS: Don't forget to play with our filters to find exactly what you want!).

The chunky look, all the padding, and the premium materials and technologies have one common enemy: the weight. The 992 is heavier than the average of its category, so we can totally see some sneakerheads taking a step back. If you're looking for a lighter pair, these are all the featherlike casual shoes we have analysed so far!

Even though our feet felt protected and taken care of during our wear tests, this New Balance doesn't have a crazy high shock absorption level. When we took it to our lab, our machine returned 86 SA, which is pretty much the average for its category. Honestly, we're pretty happy with this: after all, we're talking about a pair of trainers, and it never felt like it lacked comfort (in fact, our experience was totally the opposite!).

Its energy return is also average at 50.4%. Once again, it's not like we missed some extra bounce or anything like that, as it would be weird for a casual pair of shoes to strongly propel us back up after every step. So we felt the 992 adapted really well to our walks around town, offering us a little bit of fun in every step.

At 33.9 mm, this shoe's heel stack is slightly taller than average. Consequently, there was quite a lot of material separating our feet from the floor. We enjoyed the 992's wonderful comfort from sunrise to sunset, we just couldn't get enough!

As expected from a pair of cushioned trainers that are designed to stay by your side all day long, the 992 features a taller forefoot stack of 24.8 mm. Instead of putting the ground feel first, New Balance decided to prioritise comfort and protection, opting for a taller platform.

Both the heel and the forefoot stacks are slightly higher than average, yet their difference is big enough to leave us with a drop of 9.1 mm. Even though this number is lower than average, it's not like your feet will notice the difference in comparison to most trainers.

We're talking about a Made in USA model, so of course we knew New Balance was going to pamper us with nothing but the best. When we cut the 992 in half, we had full access to its wonderful ABZORB cushioning. Our durometer returned 24.0 HA when we analysed it, which means it's softer than average. So, once again, these trainers are proving they're all about comfort!

The ENCAP + C-CAP midsole made sure we enjoyed every single step of the way with its balanced plushness. It didn't feel too mushy, offering a supportive ride. Nice way to make our feet fall in love, New Balance!

At first sight, you can easily see that this is a fairly chunky pair of trainers. But as experienced shoe experts, we don't let appearances fool us. That's why we created a gel mould of this New Balance's interiors.

Once it was ready, we took it out of the shoe and started our measurements. After carefully placing our calliper, we saw it returned 94.0 mm when we measured the 992's width, which is slightly wider than average. Personally, our standard-width feet enjoyed this shoe's fit during our wear tests.

We then moved our calliper slightly up to measure this shoe's toebox width. It returned 68.3 mm, which is an average score. So... you shouldn't really expect any extra space here!

The toebox follows pretty much the same logic. With a slightly higher than average measurement of 28.3 mm, our calliper indicated it shouldn't sit low on the toes. In our experience during our wear tests, it felt just right: no dead space and no tightness either!

The 992 bit the floor just right during our wear tests. We had no problems on dry urban surfaces, as its grip levels were fairly good. Our controlled traction test at the lab confirmed it, as this NB scored a friction coefficient of 0.41. Just be careful with wet and smooth surfaces, though. We do believe you could slip on those!

These Made in USA trainers feature the brand's NDURANCE material at the sole. With a running-inspired design full of cuts to offer flexibility, we liked how this pair mixed fashion and function: there's a translucent patch in the midfoot with the name of the shoe printed on it. Now, that's a premium detail!

We're talking about a chunky pair of trainers with a taller midsole, so we were actually pretty surprised (in a good way, of course) when we saw it was more flexible than average. It scored a wonderful 12.6N on our flex test when we bet it all the way up to 30 degrees.

Do you want to know why we're so happy about this? Well, because it improves comfort, of course!

As we've said nonstop during this review, the 992 feels incredibly comfortable. But the price to pay for its chunky trendiness is... its weight. Our scale returned 15.7 oz/444g, which is quite a lot more than the average for its category. Even though this didn't feel like a breaking point for us, we can see how some sneakerheads might prefer a lighter alternative for all-day wear.

Breathability is another key aspect when it comes to comfort. In this case, we can't say the 992 offered us the strongest air flow out there, yet its structure was well-ventilated enough for us to enjoy our walks happily.

For a start, our light test didn't show any big holes that would let the air come in and out of the shoe. In order to see if this New Balance was actually hiding some breathable parts from us, we started our smoke test.

In comparison to the VEJA Volley, which felt like a microwave that wouldn't stop heating our feet up, the 992 is not so bad. As you can see in the video, it let a fair amount of smoke get through its toebox, so we decided to give it an average 3/5 on breathability.

Thanks to our microscope, we could see that this shoe's mesh has a double-layer design. There's an outer layer with big gaps and then an inner one with smaller holes. That's why the smoke had pretty much no trouble getting through!

The lateral stability of the 992 is really solid. Telling us loud and clear that it comes from a running past, our ankles didn't ever unsafe or unstable. Not even at the end of the day!

The tall lateral walls of this New Balance's midsole didn't let us play too much with it. As you can see in the video below, our thumbs had a really hard time trying to twist the 992. That's why we decided to give it a solid 4/5.

The design of the 992's heel is one of our favourites. It features softer sides that accommodated to our ankles easily, and a tougher back part that held our Achilles softly. After our manual test, we decided to give it a balanced score of 3/5.

We felt stable in every landing when we were walking around town during our wear tests. The 992 is comfortable in every aspect, and that's why it features a wider platform. When we measured it in the lab, our calliper returned 111.5 mm, surpassing the average.

The heel followed the same path. With a wider 84.8 mm, it also surpassed the average, offering us a little bit more space in every landing.

As expected from a Made in USA model, the 992 features authentic suede. When we tried to heat things up, our torch burned the hairy material, yet it didn't melt or show a massive flame.

Even though the 992 features high-quality materials, its mesh couldn't resist our Dremel's attack. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, the tool drilled the toebox of this NB pair nonstop. It ended up... pretty bad, so we decided to give it a 2/5 on durability.

Even though the heel padding is usually one of the frailest parts of most trainers, the 992 decided to break that rule. With a solid 5/5 on our durability test, this New Balance looked pretty much brand new even when our Dremel tortured it with 2N of force and at 5K RPM.

The NDURANCE compound shows us where the "dura" of its name comes from. Proving its durability, it ended up with only 0.6 mm of damage, which is way lower than average. This is wonderful news, as it means the lifespan of the 992 is longer than most trainers'.

Regarding its design, the 992 has followed the "so far, so good" mantra. The only thing that we need to say about this is that its 5.5 mm thick outsole is a little bit too much for us. Normally we wouldn't say this, as it's pretty much average, but taking into account the wonderful durability of the material and the excessive weight of this shoe... we gotta complain!

When we measured this shoe's insole thickness, our calliper returned 5.2 mm. There's not much more to say about it; it just offered some extra points in comfort to the overall fit.

If, for any reason, you need or want to change this shoe's insole, don't worry! New Balance made sure the 992 had a removable piece underfoot in order to prioritise your comfort once again.

As expected from a premium model with a premium price, it comes with many premium details. Among those, some of the coolest are the reflective elements. Look at the video below!

As the 992 prioritises comfort, it features a padded design that made sure our feet felt at home every single time. As you can see in the video below, it has cushioning right where it needs to, putting the instep and the heel first.

When we measured its tongue, our calliper returned 10.3 mm, which is a little bit more than average. Once again, we need to say that here New Balance could have opted for a thinner tongue to reduce the overall weight. This wouldn't have reduced the comfort levels either, as a little less padding shouldn't make a difference (especially if you're not tying your laces extra tight!).

As a Made in USA New Balance pair, the 992 is expensive; there's no way to sugarcoat it. That being said, if you're looking for a high-quality pair of trainers with a very trendy design, and you want nothing but the most premium materials, then we believe it might be your cup of tea.

The 992 doesn't have a heel tab, but it's not like we missed it or anything. As getting the shoe on and off was pretty easy, we never felt like it needed one.