HOKA Skyward X Review: HOKA’s Super Trainer Takes Cush to the Max

Stack Height, Drop, Weight and Price

In the men’s shoe, the HOKA Skyward X midsole comes in at a whopping 48mm in the heel and 43mm in the forefoot for a 5mm drop. That’s bigger than the ASICS Novablast 4, the ASICS Gel Nimbus 26 and the On Cloudmonster Hyper. In fact, only the Adidas Prime X2 Strung sports a higher volume midsole.

The HOKA Skyward X weighs in at 11oz or 313g in a US Men’s size 9 – that’s as heavy as an ASICS Gel Nimbus 26 – and up there with the heftiest shoes.

On price, the Skyward X packs a super shoe price tag. At $225 it joins the ASICS Superblast ($200) and the On Cloudmonster Hyper ($220) breaking the $200 ceiling for a daily trainer. 

Design

HOKA’s new super trainer is no ordinary shoe. It’s big, it’s bold and it deploys super-shoe tech in a bid to deliver comfort and effort-reduction in an everyday shoe.

The midsole combines a wedge of PEBA foam and a bowed carbon fibre to deliver cushioned spring and improve efficiency. That’s wrapped in a supercritical EVA frame to add stability. The Skyward X’s landing platform is big and wide in the heel and the forefoot. Minimal this shoe is not.

Up top the Skyward X has a flat knit upper with some flex, though it’s not quite socklike. There’s also some overlay reinforcement on the toe box, big plush padded heel collars and fat cushioned tongues. In short, the HOKA Skyward X goes all out for cruiser comfort with no scrimping on the plush details.

The HOKA Skyward X outsole features a generous covering of quite thick high abrasion rubber in all the key impact areas.

Fit

In testing, I ran in my regular HOKA shoe size which is a US 9.5 and these follow the standard HOKA blueprint. Very snug, bordering on tight but there’s excellent midfoot lockdown and heel hold. I had no problems with slipping or hotspots.

They’re quite narrow at the back of the toes and there’s not a huge amount of wiggle room further up into the toe box itself. If you’re familiar with HOKA fit, this is more of the same really.

I just about get away going true to size but I think some people might benefit from going half a size up, particularly if you’ve got wider, or higher volume feet or you like a roomier fit.

Performance

In testing I’ve logged more than 40 miles in the HOKA Skyward X, including longer runs around 90 minutes on feet, slower, shorter miles and some 10km efforts with faster segments thrown in. Most of that has been on road with some on hard-packed river paths.

Sometimes you put on shoes and they’re neutral and unremarkable, all a bit vanilla. The HOKA Skyward X are anything but. But this is a shoe I find hard to pin down.

Two miles into my first run in the HOKA Skyward X, I was convinced it was the least stable shoe I’d ever run in. Wobbly, soft, squidgy and odd. A few miles later I unlocked the springy energy. It’s a really mixed bag.

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But at the same time, in the early miles of each run, that big soft cushion starts out feeling like you're running on sand. Not just the work you have to do to drag your feet out of the softness, but also the lack of control in each step.

There’s a ‘running in’ period each time you head back out in the Skyward X and for large parts of my test runs, I felt the shoe was controlling me, rather than me controlling the shoe. The springy midsole can appear to have a mind of its own. When you do manage to punch your forefoot into the ground and control the landings, that soft, sinking is replaced by a good energy coming back.

Sometimes I felt like this shoe wanted to go faster, other times I felt like it was too soft. Generally speaking there’s just more shoe here than many runners will want for faster efforts. Even the similarly-weighted Adidas Prime X2 Strung feels racier thanks to the more minimal uppers.

On slower efforts sometimes landings felt well protected, other times the stability seemed all over the place. My overriding sensation was that I was crying out for some consistency and no matter how I ran fast, slow, mid-to-forefoot or further back on my heels, it just wasn’t there.

My Verdict

I don’t think I’ve ever been this confused by a shoe. For half a mile I’d love it, for half a mile I’d struggle. At times I found myself thinking it could be a good option to take on long road ultras like the 55-mile Comrades Marathon. Then 20 strides later my feet would wobble wildly on the massive, soft stack and I’d dismiss that idea.

After more than 40 miles, I still can’t quite get a handle on it. On the one hand it’s got this big, soft, easy cruiser vibe. Some really excellent overall comfort and a big base that makes the road disappear.

On the other hand, I found it lacked the reliable stability that you’d usually expect with shoes you’d lace up for long, slow miles.

So can it handle fast? Well, the midsole has energy to it when you land right but overall the shoe’s probably too big and heavy to really be a top choice for faster efforts.

I’ve been trying to think of a good analogy to sum up the HOKA Skyward X. It’s a bit like a big old station wagon with an F1 engine and super sensitive power steering.

If you like your ride really soft, with zero road feel and a big trampoline ride, you may well love this shoe. Other testers certainly have. But if you like things more direct and controlled, or you need stability, I’d urge caution.