Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega Performance Review

The Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega is the continuation of a line that released to scoffs but quickly became a fan favorite, especially among younger people. Let’s set the stage with some history.

When the Under Armour SlipSpeed debuted in 2022, it was one of those shoes that forced you to have an opinion. Was it a gimmick shoe with two modes? Was Under Armour trying to make a more athletic version of a Crocs Clog?

There were a whole variety of reactions, including our own positive review, but one thing seemed to be clear: Under Armour created a shoe that generated some excitement.

So when Under Armour sent the WearTesters team advance pairs of the new SlipSpeed Mega, we were ready to see how it performed in the gym, on the road, and as the all-important one-shoe-to-do-it-all.

While Under Armour sent us pairs of the SlipSpeed Mega for testing, please note that they had no involvement in this review, didn’t receive an advance look at it, and have not attempted to influence it.

How do the Authors Train?

Arune Singh (age 42, 5’11”, 220lbs): Trains daily with functional fitness programming from Deadboys Fitness, founded by Colby “Seth Rollins” Lopez and Josh Gallegos, along with logging 30-40 miles of running per week. He also has a medical history of Sleep Apnea and Myasthenia Gravis, meaning Arune’s focus is on lean muscle mass.

Drew Whitcomb (age 42, 6’6″ 195lbs): Trains daily with a focus on running, strength training, and mobility. He writes the majority of our running shoe reviews and runs a lot of miles due to testing needs and his growing affinity for long-distance races. His strength training and mobility regimen center around maintaining flexibility and lifting heavy to build power as a counterbalance to all the running he’s doing. His number one focus is staying injury-free so he can keep up the sweet gig of reviewing shoes.

Brandon Hanson (age 27, 6’6”, 210lbs): Trains daily with attention towards sports performance in volleyball. This means jump training, olympic and powerlifting, and stability work. Brandon does not run further than the 50 yard turf at the gym where he trains (and even that feels a little too far). Instead, he works on building strength and explosiveness to jump higher and prevent injuries. But mostly just the jumping higher part.

What is the UA SlipSpeed Mega?

Under Armour describes it as:

The most versatile training shoes we’ve ever made with a supersized midsole for mega energy. They feel great, cushion better, fit perfectly, handle your toughest training, AND have a heel that converts easily from recover mode to train mode.

Training

Arune: When I first received this shoe, I texted Drew to figure out what to do with this shoe. Should I test it as a training shoe? A running shoe?

Always so helpful, Drew said “do everything.”

Drew: Insert shrug emoji. Was I wrong?

Arune: It was the correct answer but I don’t really like it when you’re right.

I’ve mentioned this in other reviews, but I’m still working to grow out of my “this training shoe must be built to help me lift heavy” mentality and the SlipSpeed Mega should be glad Drew forced me in this direction, because otherwise I wouldn’t have understood this shoe (Editor’s Note: If Arune can’t compare a shoe to something in pop culture, he struggles).

Let me explain. I think there are three categories of training shoes and I’ll use Under Armour shoes to explain it.

You’ve got the SERIOUS shoe, for people like me who want to hit PRs whenever we can and want to go heavy everyday. This is the Under Armour TriBase Reign series.

Then you’ve got the CONSISTENT shoe, for those folks who hit the gym but perhaps are focused on core lifts and getting to the open machines instead of in a religious fervor about grabbing a squat rack on their inflexibly scheduled lower body days. Enter the Project Rock series.

And then you’ve got the HOTEL shoe, the one meant for folks who find a hotel gym meets their needs. You’re getting the work done with some dumbbells, some machines, and you’re a lot more flexible than the other categories.

The SlipSpeed Mega is a hotel shoe.

Look, that slab of foam in the midsole is far too large to offer any real ground feel, so there’s very limited stability on most exercises as it feels like you’re standing on a bosu ball the minute you squat with any weight beyond your own.

But…that’s also not the point of the shoe.

This is a training shoe for someone focusing on machine work, some light dumbbell work and maybe getting in some cardio too (which we’ll discuss later). Don’t ask it to do more than that and you won’t be disappointed.

For some of you, that might mean this shoe is an automatic pass and I understand that – but I think there’s a huge segment of the folks who would find this to be a perfect first or only gym shoe.

Drew, how did this work for you?

Drew: I found the Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega passable for most gym activities. It’s solid, yet unspectacular for deadlifts, squats, plyometrics, etc. It does everything well enough but nothing so good you stand up and take notice.

Arune calling it a hotel shoe is defining its purpose quite well. This is a shoe you can take on vacation and use it for various casual, touristy activities and then enjoy it in the hotel gym as you get after that dumbbell set that’s curiously missing both the 25s and the 40s.

But Brandon also worked out in them using his unique lens of volleyball training. What did you think Brandon?

Brandon: As an all-around training shoe, the SlipSpeed Mega isn’t a great choice. But as an almost all-around training shoe with the recovery convenience, these are pretty nice. 

I did try using them for a few squats and power cleans, and then immediately decided to never do that again. 

But, I’m someone who wears a pair of running shoes to the gym, warms up, switches to something like the Metcon Turbo or SuperRep 3 or even a pair of volleyball shoes to do some plyometrics and jump work, and then switches to Metcons or similar to deadlift or squat. Some unintentional Nike bias there.

I found that I could wear these in recovery mode to the gym, flip up the heels, warm up, do my jump/plyo stuff, and then easily slip them off to do heavier lifting. And when I was done, they felt great as recovery slides, in fact, they made it onto our list of the best slides of 2024. This cut down on the number of shoes that I carry with me.

As for how they performed for jump training and plyometrics: fine. The cushion is firm enough to be responsive, but not really bouncy. The lockdown could be a little better for any explosive movements. I wouldn’t use these to try to PR on the Vertec, but if you’re doing ball slams, weighted jumps, or jump rope it’ll work. One piece of advice here: If you’re doing box jumps in shoes with a tall midsole, then you better clear the box by more than the midsole height. I learned this so that you don’t have to (Editor’s Note: shoe testing can be a dangerous profession).

Cardio

Arune: I had planned to put the SlipSpeed Mega through regular test of sprints, jogging, rowing and time on the air bike too.

Planned.

The problem is that this thick midsole means this shoe barely fit into the straps on my rower or my airbike.

I did get some sprinting and jogs in with these – and while these weren’t a revelation like the recent Puma PWR Nitro Squared, they weren’t terrible either. The UA Flow delivers a comfortable ride and I could get a few miles in without wanting to switch shoes.

I am going to guess that in the Hotel Shoe category of cardio, these shoes are going to be used for a lot of treadmill walking and elliptical, uh, ellipticalling. I hope that’s a real word (Editor’s Note: Slowly shake head side to side).

Drew: In keeping with the “do everything” theme, I took the SlipSpeed Mega out for a mile jog, did some sprints, walking, and jump rope. The SlipSpeed Mega and its monstrous midsole handled the jog well and cushioned me better than I thought it would. This works well when you’re on vacation mode and want to take a quick jog around a foreign city.

However, I’d avoid sprints, the SlipSpeed Mega is slow moving, paying for its bulk. You don’t feel fast when sprinting and you’re better off wearing a different shoe for any sprint work (Editor’s Note: Like one of these many running shoes we’ve reviewed).

Jumping and jump rope are ok. Not bad but not all that good either. Walking is fantastic. There’s enough cushion without being too squishy. I could wear the SlipSpeed Mega all day. For example, they’d acquit themselves quite well on a theme park trip.

Brandon: I don’t even like looking at the word “Cardio” in the section header, but I will say that my experience matched Arune’s on machine-based cardio. I didn’t love how the SlipSpeed Mega fit under rower straps, and if you are pushing hard on the rower it’s even a little too soft on the cushioning.

Comfort

Arune: With rare exceptions, Under Armour makes the kind of training shoes I find really comfortable.

And the SlipSpeed Mega is no exception.

Make no mistake, the chunky midsole isn’t soft and squishy – it’s a comfortable firm that really works well for a person like me who thinks a Air Jordan 1 is a comfy shoe.

I was also concerned when I read that Under Armour narrowed the toe box given my Hobbit feet, namely my wider forefoot, but I found that I just had to loosen the BOA lacing system to get that perfect fit.

Both modes in the shoe are comfortable – I haven’t had slip on shoes before but these fit like a glove and my feet never slipped out even when I was sprinting around my house to play with my dog.

Both modes are incredibly comfortable and secure, with the BOA lacing system being a welcome change to fooling around with laces. This is my first time using it but it made me feel like a kid pumping up my off brand, no name shoes with a wannabe pump system. 

The big issue for me is the height of this shoe – you have no ground feel because the midsole might as well be its own ground and I found it hard to switch out of these shoes to other shoes. My gait felt off in other shoes and I felt like my feet needed time out of the SlipSpeed Mega before I could wear anything else,

At the same time, I found these to be great recovery shoes after long training or cardio sessions – that might be my preferred usage for them.

Drew: The switchability of the Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega is the star and unlocks a different level of comfort post workout. Lots of older athletes end up with heel or achilles issues and removing pressure on that part of the body immediately post workout is advisable. The SlipSpeed Mega makes that easy.

The ripstop Nylon upper is both durable and comfy…much comfier than the more plasticky upper that was present on version 1. 

But, the upper on the shoe isn’t tall. As someone with a tall foot, it took a while for me to break in the SlipSpeed Mega to where I felt it wasn’t pressing into the top of my foot. It feels better now but could be better. Keep that in mind if you have a tall foot and get annoyed with shoes that don’t have enough head room through the midfoot.

Brandon: I found the SlipSpeed Mega to be extremely comfortable. They’re not as soft as a Hoka recovery shoe but slipping them on after training or playing feels great. They are on the firm side, so lighter people might notice even less cushioning. I’ve been using them as recovery slides constantly since receiving them.

Sizing

Arune: By popular demand (or perhaps because Drew gave me a coaching conversation in the middle of another review), we’re adding a section about sizing.

I went TTS (true to size) with a Men’s 9.5 and it’s a perfect fit.

For comparison, I wear that size in all my running shoes – except HOKA where I need a wide fit – and wear a Men’s 9 (also wide) in boots.

Drew: I agree that the SlipSpeed Mega fits true to size. I have exactly the amount of room I expect in terms of length and the clog function is effective with this sizing.

Brandon: At first, I thought it was way too loose. But as I learned that the BOA system isn’t going to snap if you twist it more than a couple times, they felt fine. Maybe a little on the loose side, but I have a fairly narrow foot. I’d say go true to size.

Aesthetics

Arune: This is one of those shoes that looks like a training shoe, there’s no disguising it.

Now that isn’t a bad thing – but with so many folks wanting one shoe to do it all, this isn’t the shoe you’re wearing to the office or lunch meetings.

I really love the white and black colorway I received, with neon highlights that made it feel like all those early 2000s running shoes that desperately wanted to add a pop of color.

I normally have much more to say, but this shoe looks like a big chunky training shoe – nothing wrong with that, but there’s also nothing that I found particularly distinctive. In fact, I got some Nike Crater Impact visual vibes here.

In the all important Wife Test, my forever partner asked me “how do they feel?” before making any comment on the looks, which to me is her making sure she doesn’t dissuade me from keeping shoes I like.

Which of course means they didn’t look like anything special to her.

Drew: The visuals of the SlipSpeed Mega are at home in the gym or with sweatpants. Any dressier and you’re going to be on the receiving end of some major side eye. That’s ok with me though, I like having shoes that are meant for lounging or working out…those are the two parts of life I enjoy most. 

Brandon: I am always a fan of bright, bold colorways. I like how the SlipSpeed Mega looks for what it is, and the neon colorways definitely draw some attention. As far as recovery slides go, they are probably among the best looking. Though that’s not a high bar to clear.

Is the UA SlipSpeed Mega worth $140?

Arune: At $140, the Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega is in line with the standard $150 price for training shoes these days.

If this is the shoe that will do it all for you, then it’s a great value.

But if, like me, it’s a shoe that is more a recovery shoe than anything else, this is a pretty steep price to pay especially when other hotel shoes – like the On Cloud X 3 – outperform it and more versatile shoes – like the Reebok Nano X4 – are the same price.

Drew: In order to be ok with the $140 price point you have to use the SlipSpeed Mega to replace both your gym shoes and your clogs. If you do that, the price is worth it. If not, I think you’ll have a hard time justifying the price versus usefulness trade off.

Brandon: I think Arune and Drew both nailed it. It’s important when you look for a training shoe that you think of what you’re actually going to be doing. You don’t need to pay for shoes with a hard, elevated heel if you aren’t squatting often. If you don’t climb ropes, then no need for your shoe to have that as a main feature. 

If the SlipSpeed Mega seems to be good for what you do in the gym based on what we’ve written here, then absolutely get it, because now one $140 shoe is doing two jobs for you.

Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega Summary

Arune: While I believe Under Armour may have the most underrated shoe lineup in the game, the SlipSpeed Mega is a good but not great training shoe.

You’ll find loads of other shoes at this price point that give you more and while it’s cool to have a shoe with two modes, I don’t see this being the shoe of choice at this price point.

Drew: If you love the two mode concept, the Under Armour SlipSpeed Mega is the shoe for you. It helps if you don’t need a beastly gym shoe and spend a lot of time lounging around recovering. 

It’s the perfect shoe for a teenager playing high school sports or a professional athlete. The rest of us, well, that depends on how much you’re willing to compromise in order to get something versatile that does most stuff good but not great.

Brandon: It’s hard to recommend these for most gym-goers. The SlipSpeed Mega is really great for recovery, but $140 is not a recovery slide price. If you’re looking to get a training shoe at this price point, it’s a hard sell. 

I respect any attempt to innovate in shoe design. New technology (or new combinations of tech in this case) is the most exciting part of the industry. I just don’t think this training shoe in particular is going to be the right choice for most people.