Reebok Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX review

Don't skip the Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX if you are after the following:

• a very affordable leather shoe that doesn't skimp on comfort and quality
• a well-cushioned shoe for long hours of walking
• a unique air-moving DMX cushioning technology (Reebok's take on Nike Air)

People with mobility issues and those who need a shoe for standing will not appreciate the rounded and convex shape of the Walk Ultra 7's sole. They might benefit from a more traditional platform as found on the New Balance 608 v5.

And if you are willing to swap leather upper for a much lighter shoe, the Skechers Arch Fit 2.0 is a much airier alternative.

Our feet sat on a pretty tall platform inside the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 DMX Max which kept them nicely buffered from the hard ground below.

Measuring as much as 41.1 mm of stack height in the heel, this shoe proved to be one of the tallest in the walking shoe category indeed! It is even taller than the HOKA shoes we've tested.

That's plenty of impact protection and support for walking all day long.

The forefoot stack of this Reebok shoe also proved to be thicker than average making it feel even more platformy.

Our calliper recorded 30.3 mm which is one of the highest readings too. The balls of our feet as well as the toe joints were treated to a tonne of support in this walking shoe.

The Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX has a moderate heel-to-toe drop of 10.8 mm which is a standard offset for our lab-tested walking shoes.

It is a pleasantly gradual slope which raises the heel slightly above the toes to minimise stress on the foot muscles and tendons as well as the Achilles. As a result, even the longest walks didn't cause any serious foot fatigue.

The unique DMX MAX cushioning of this Reebok shoe got us walking on air quite literally! It comprises two large chambers (or air pockets) which are embedded into the midsole and shift air between the shoe's heel and the forefoot as the wearer transitions from the heel to the toes.

A bit unusual experience when you try it on for the first time but it's easy to get used to!

The DMX MAX chambers are pretty squishy themselves but they are encased in a very firm foam carrier. Measuring its softness with a durometer returned an unusually high reading of 36.5 HA.

But take it with a grain of salt because the overall underfoot experience is moderately soft in this Reebok shoe.

The unexpected downside of this cushioning setup is the squeak that it produces, espeically before the shoe is fully broken in. We think that it might be caused by the DMX rubbing against the rubber outsole as the two components are placed right next to each other.

Reebok really knows what it's doing with the MemoryTech OrthoLite insole in this shoe. With an above-average thickness of 7.1 mm in the heel, that's a lot of memory foam goodness!

We felt the padding take the shape of our foot offering customised in-shoe comfort.

This Reebok shoe has a pronounced yet gradual rocker which works together with the DMX MAX cushioning to provide some of the smoothest heel-to-toes we've experienced in walkig shoes.

Testing the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 in a regular D medium width, its fit turned out to be exactly as expected. This was also confirmed by the gel mould of the shoe's interiors.

Once the gel solidified, we used a digital calliper to measure its width in the widest area of the mould - the area between the ball of foot and the pinkie, to be precise. The tool returned nothing less than a standard reading of 94.3 mm which is right on par with the average.

And if you often opt for wider widths in your footwear, this Reebok shoe is also available in an extra wide alternative.

We also found that the shoe has a decently rounded toebox shape with no aggressive tapering to discriminate against the big toe or the pinkie.

In the big toe area of the toebox, our calliper showed another standard reading of 71.0 mm. That keeps the risk of pinching and pressure points at a minimum.

You can expect sufficient vertical space above the toes too. Measuring the toebox height of the Walk Ultra 7, our calliper returned a slightly above-average reading of 27.8 mm.

As long as you get the right size, there is a very low chance of aggravating any toenails concerns (black or ingrown toenails) or toe deformities (i.e. hammer toes).

Just because it's a cheap shoe doesn't mean that its outsole can't keep you surefooted on both dry and slick sidewalks.

To test the gripping capacity of this Reebok shoe, we slashed its heel against wet concrete at a consistent force (500N) and angle (7 degrees) to imitate a walking person's heel landing (where slips are most likely to happen).

The machine recorded a good coefficient of friction (0.46) for a walking shoe earning the Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX a nod of approval.

Although it's hard to tell rubber apart from exposed foam in this white-on-white shoe, we found that its rubber mirrors the DMX technology in the midfoot for added durability. 

This is where the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX gets tricky...

On the one hand, this shoe has a very sturdy and supportive construction which keeps the foot securely in place. But on the other hand, its unusual rounded platform is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Especially if it's people with mobility issues!

Not only is the shoe rockered longitudinally (heel-to-toe) but its sole edges are laterally rounded too!

Sure, it made our walking strides as smooth as they could be but if you need a shoe for prolonged walking and standing, the Walk Ultra 7 is a shoe equivalent of a wobble stool.

Curiously enough, we cannot describe this Reebok shoe as unstable either. It showed a high level of torsional rigidity in our manual twisting test and thus earned the highest stiffness score of 5/5.

So the medial support is still there and we even found it supportive enough for mild overpronation.

We also experienced a nice and secure heel hold in the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 courtesy of its supportive rearfoot design.

The shoe's heel counter resisted our push-and-squeeze test, especially from the back, earning an above-average stiffness score of 3/5.

It also has a generously padded collar which helps the foot sink deeper into the shoe.

The Reebok Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX loses some of its platform width to the convex sole profile without getting critically narrow. Measuring the widest part of its forefoot, we got a slightly below-average reading of 107.3 mm.

The heel, on the other hand, is notably narrower than average at 84.8 mm.

So if you are someone who relies on a wider heel to feel planted and steady, you may prefer a wider-set shoe. Because after all, 2/3 of our lab-tested walking shoes have a heel width of over 85 mm.

The shoe's extra thick stack, large forefoot DMX unit, and stiff leather upper all work together to make the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 a pretty stiff shoe.

According to our specialised flexibility tester, it takes as much as 26.8N to bend the shoe by 30 degrees. That is twice as much as the average! There is a lot of resistance in the forefoot of this shoe.

But on a positive note, this higher stiffness puts less pressure on the wearer's toe joints and helps the foot roll through each strike more seamlessly.

A leather shoe with a massive DMX MAX setup is not really meant to be lightweight. But it does feel a little hefty on foot.

Showing a pretty high reading of 13.65 (387g) on our scale in a men's US size 9, this Reebok shoe proved to be significantly heavier than average. But if you put it in the context of similarly built leather shoes, then 13-14 oz is actually the norm.

The Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX is clearly not your best bet for sweltering summers.

Those modest perforations on top of its toebox don't make the best air channels, as our smoke-pumping test shows. Not even a tiny billow of smoke passed through the shoe's leather toebox.

Taking a closer look at these punctures through our microscope also revealed that they are blocked by the shoe's inner lining anyways.

A fabric tongue allows to use less leather in the shoe's upper but it doesn't help with ventilation either. This Reebok shoe still got the lowest possible breathability score of 1/5.

But there are two sides to the coin and this non-breathable leather shoe paid back with notably stronger upper durability!

Having exposed its toebox material to sandpaper in our demanding Dremel test, we were impressed with how minimal the damage was! That earns the Reebok Walk Ultra 7 a high toebox durability score of 4/5!

Even the shoe's internal mesh stood up to the sandpaper challenge with just a minor scuff. And because of that, we expect its heel padding to last a good while with a high heel padding durability score of 4/5.

It may not be apparent at first but there is a thick and dense rubber outsole camouflaged in the shoe's all-white colouring.

Pressing a durometer against it returned a significantly higher-than-average reading of 90.0 HC. This is one of the hardest rubber compounds we've come across in walking shoes albeit one without a fancy name.

But the real durability test didn't start until we touched that rubber with our high-speed Dremel.

After 18 seconds of exposure, we were elated to see only 1.1 mm of damage in the outsole of this budget-friendly shoe! That makes it even more wear-resistant than average!

Not to mention that the shoe's rubber layer is pretty generously thick too. Our calliper returned an above-average reading of 3.5 mm.

The Walk Ultra 7 DMX MAX is one of Reebok's affordable walking shoes that continue to prove their worth one version after another. We believe that the shoe has a lot of comfort and longevity to offer for the price, especially considering that it can be found at a generous discount.

It is a no-brainer if you need a simple but cosy leather shoe for day-to-day wear.

Fancy details like reflectivity are not part of the deal in this cheap shoe.

A stern leather exterior hides away the puffy goodness inside the shoe. Our calliper showed that it's tongue is a whopping 12.0 mm thick!

Tongue gussets are also too fancy for a shoe in this price range. 

A structured and padded collar makes the shoe entry very easy in the Walk Ultra 7, even without a pull tab.

The shoe's insole is easily removable so you can insert your own when the current one's memory foam flattens out.