adidas X506 F50+ Remake | Up Close + Performance

Inspired by the iconic f50 TUNiT colorway that was worn by top players at the 2006 World Cup, there has been a lot of talk about the adidas X506 F50+ remake since their release a few weeks back. To be honest, not all of that has been positive, with a lot of fans wondering why adidas went with a re-incarnation of this particular style.

Digging deeper, it has been the tongue cover that has got the most attention. It mimics the same style found on the original, with its large cutout style covering the entire lacing system. It folds completely down thanks to a Velcro system that allows you full it away and reattach after you have figured out your laces. It seems somewhat intrusive and makes the boot look a little clumsy, but from experience with the boots I can confirm that it does its job very effectively by covering the laces, increasing the strikezone and holding firm in place during wear.

Find all remaining pairs available at soccer.com.

So, I actually went back and forth on whether to wear these or save them as a boot for images. The feedback on social media also followed the same trend, with many of you saying I shouldn’t wear them. But, given the fact there is this air of intrigue around their performance and effectiveness, I decided to wear them.

After wearing them, here are a free key points you should know about them:

• They fit very much true to size, with plenty of room through the forefoot.
• adidas created the upper to fit as 1:1 with the original 2006 model.
• Weight wise, they check in at 7.6oz and are very light on foot, they definitely feel like a speed boot.
• Inside the boot, the synthetic material doesn’t catch your socks very well, so there is some movement during wear.
• There is no grip or texture on the forefoot, so they feel slick on the ball, especially in wet conditions.
• The tongue cover does its job effectively. Where it is a little unusual is the fact it sits about a half inch off the front surface of you foot, and as a result it really takes away from natural feel on the ball.
• You do get that nostalgic, old school feel when you wear them.

Underfoot, they feature a modern Sprintframe outsole that offers plenty of comfort and traction on artificial turf and natural grass. This makes its transition from the X19 line, with the outsole helping to reduce the weight of the boot, showing just how far adidas has come in developing speed boots.

When all is said and done, they make a good addition to the adidas Limited Collection and definitely hold a nostalgic feel. But, they are also not a boot you need to fork out a lot of money on just to decide after a few weeks that they are not a boot you will wear season long. The experience of owning them is more exciting than wearing them. And for that reason, I can understand why there is still a lot of sizes still available to pick up. The fact that adidas dropped with very little PR details or images around the release, makes it seem like they didn’t have a very strong desire to invest time promoting them.

And with that, if you do decide their are the boot for you, find all remaining pairs available at soccer.com.