Nike Air VaporMax Plus review

We believe the Air VaporMax Plus is a great choice if:

• You're looking for an incredibly comfortable and lightweight pair of trainers.
• You're a big fan of Nike Air's technology and love the extra height.
• You want an eye-catching pair of trainers with a clean retro-futuristic vibe.

If your 2025 goal is to save up some money, forget about the Air VaporMax Plus. Just like the other models from its collection, these premium trainers come with a premium price! Among those, the Nike Air Max SC is the most affordable. If you're an AirMax lover with a tight budget, it might be exactly what you need!

During our lab tests, we noticed the VaporMax Plus' upper lacks durability. If this is an issue for you, you're better of with the Nike Air Max 1, which got a solid 4/5 on both our toebox and heel padding durability tests. In other words: it's made to last!

At a vertiginous 39.3 mm, the VaporMax Plus' heel is way higher than average, reminding us of why it has Plus on its name. The comfort levels in this pair were just over the top, as we could walk and stand for hours without our feet feeling even the slightest discomfort.

But the best part of this Nike's sole is that the forefoot follows the same path, surpassing our lab average by a real, real lot! This translates not only into wonderful comfort, but also into a cushioned and protective ride that made us forget about any obstacles we stepped on. All the round gaps you can see in this shoe are Nike Air units!

Both the forefoot and the rearfoot are pretty high on this Nike Air, but the heel still feels taller. After doing the math, we were left with a drop of 9.8 mm, which is pretty much average. If you want to know more about this, please have a look at our extensive guide on the topic.

Our durometer returned 32.0 HA when we pressured it against these trainers' midsole. Even though this result is higher than average, the wonderful VaporMax Air technology makes sure the feeling is completely different.

During our wear tests, we felt as if we were walking on clouds. The softness of the Air units made sure our feet were comfy even if we had been walking for hours! There's no doubt: the firmer midsole and the softer cushioning at the very bottom create a healthy balance.

With all this cushioning and technologies, the brand didn't need to spend extra time or money on a premium insole. At only 3.9 mm, Nike keeps it simple, reducing the overall weight of the shoe in the meantime too!

We can't complain about the lateral stability of this former runner. As you can see, its structure is pretty snug, so it hugged our feet comfortably, stopping them from overextending.

The snug fit of the VaporMax Plus comes with a solid design that didn't even move an inch when we tried to twist it. Our thumbs struggled as if we were pushing a wall! The floating cage, which reminds us so much of the Nike Air Max Plus, made sure our feet stayed right where they should during our wear tests. Consequently, both these models earned a well-deserved 5/5 on our torsional rigidity test.

The heel is slightly more forgiving, as it didn't fight all that much when we tried to bend it. This translated into a pain-free experience when we walked around town, but we also didn't experience any kind of heel slippage. You guessed it, we got the best of both worlds!

When we put this shoe upside-down to measure its midsole width, we realised it was definitely not on the wider side. Our calliper returned 103.3 mm, which is way lower than average. Even though this wasn't an issue for us and our standard-sized feet, we can see it not being everyone's cup of tea.

Luckily, the heel breaks this pattern at a pleasing 86.9 mm, which makes it wider than average. Our feet had plenty of space to move comfortably if they needed some readjustments, and we found it like a pleasant change in comparison to the narrower forefoot.

Even though torsionally this Nike pair is as rigid as it might get, longitudinally is not as unforgiving. Our tread gauge returned 27.7N when we pushed it all the way up to 90 degrees, which is slightly higher than average, but not that much.

We can't say the VaporMax Plus is going to bend alongside your feet easily and smoothly from the very first minute, but going on a walk or running errands in this shoe always had comfort as the main point of our experience.

What the official Nike website says about the Air VaporMax Plus' design being lightweight is true. At 12.91 oz/366g, it wasn't only our feet who felt it, but also our lab's scale! Regarding numbers, it's definitely lighter than average; regarding feelings, it was nimble, quick, and comfy. As our feet didn't get as tired exactly because of this, we could walk for hours and hours. Comfy and with style!

When we took this shoe to our lab, put it in front of our light, and realised it couldn't shine through... we knew were off to a not-so-good start.

Even though our smoke machine test doesn't look that bad, the VaporMax Plus pales in comparison with the ASICS Gel NYC, which scored a perfect 5/5 on this test. After checking the performance of both shoes in and outside of our lab, we decided to give the Nike pair a sad 2/5.

Its upper clearly focuses on being comfortable, as we couldn't even find a single ventilation hole even with our microscope.

Even though we felt really comfortable wearing this shoe, its upper is neither breathable... nor durable. At 5K RPM and with 2N of force, our Dremel destroyed it in no time. Consequently, we gave it an awful 1/5 on our toebox durability test. The worst score!

Luckily, the heel breaks with the unlucky streak scoring a perfect 5/5 on our durability test. Trust us, if we hadn't told you that we had drilled this Nike's heel padding, maybe you would have never known!

When we pressed our durometer against this shoe's outsole, it returned 91.5 HC, which is way higher than average. Just don't let this result trick you, though. The VaporMax Air technology feels everything but hard underfoot!

Even though this Dremel test looked like a snowstorm, we were pleasantly surprised with the final results. At 1.0 mm, the depth of the dent is just average, which promises good enough durability.

As you can see in the video, the Air technology is protected by a solid layer that withstands abrasion, so harsh urban surfaces don't have easy access to this more fragile material.

The thing is that its outsole is thinner than average, at only 4.1 mm. This reduces its overall weight, and even though its average durability doesn't make us worry about this shoe leaving our side sooner than expected... given its parameters, this is definitely not the most long-lasting outsole out there.

As a former runner, we were a little bit disappointed with the traction of the Air VaporMax Plus. During our wear tests, we found out we were fine on most dry urban surfaces, but if the floor was wet or slippery... that's another story.

Overall, this shoe's bottom is very comfortable, but it's not made to bite the floor consistently. What's more, sometimes we even heard a little squeaky sound... that can be a little bit annoying for some people. But anyway, as long as you stick to dry surfaces, you'll be fine traction-wise.

The VaporMax Plus doesn't shine as bright as a life jacket, but it has really cool reflective accents all along its tongue. Premium details for a premium shoe, that is!

Even though this Nike pair is lighter than average, the brand didn't skimp on padding. At 10.8 mm, its tongue is way more plush than average, which increases the comfort levels and erases any kind of lace bite.

Actually, the whole structure of this shoe is pretty padded. You guessed it: comfort is its flagship!

The VaporMax Plus features a very practical finger loop at the back. It's not the widest shoe out there, so we really appreciated it!

Even though there's nothing special to say about this Nike's insole, it's removable, so you can always change it if you need or want to. Just bear in mind that we're not talking about the most spacious trainers out there... so we believe it'd be better not to use a very thick insole, as it might make the whole shoe uncomfortable.