Nike Kobe 11 Review | Successor to the Kobe 10

Welcome to my Nike Kobe 11 review! The 11th shoe to Kobe’s legendary signature line is back with some improvements and new features.

In this Nike Kobe 11 review, we will be looking at its featured technologies, performance & comfort levels, materials and finally deciding if it’s worth the price.

Check out the MUCH IMPROVED Kobe 11 EM. It’s an Engineered Mesh version that’s $40 cheaper and performs better, in my opinion.

MAIN SPECS

Shoes: Nike Kobe XI Elite

Type: Low Top Sneaker

Technologies: Nike ZOOM AIR, Lunarlon, FlyKnit

Weight: 343 g. / 12.09 oz

Fit: True To Size

Available Colors: 6+

My Rating: 7.5/10

THE TECH

For cushioning, we have a combo setup – a full length Lurnalon midsole and a ZOOM AIR unit in the heel. This works really well with nice balance. Different variants of the cushioning tech will be released later. Right know, you can go to NikeID and customize them to your liking. The price will increase pretty significantly though.

Flyknit is the upper material, which is soft, flexible and has good quality. More on materials later.

Notice there’s no FLYWIRE. Don’t be afraid though, support or stability is not lacking in the Kobe 11.

PERFORMANCE

FIT/COMFORT

They are comfortable, most of the time. It’s stable and comfortable because of the soft inner material and that great soft tongue made of mesh.

One minus, the forefoot area has a bit of unnecessary dead space. That could be slightly distracting. Also, the TPU threads with FlyKnit could feel a little weird, especially the first time you put the shoes on. You’ll get used to it though, it’s not a major performance factor.

CUSHION

You get a pretty good balance between staying grounded and feeling soft/bouncy. I would say there’s a good amount of court feel, so it outweighs the bounce a bit.

That ZOOM AIR unit in the heel is very soft, so for the heel, you will feel softness and get some impact protection. Whereas the rest of the midsole, it’s more responsive and solid. This is pretty accurate and well-made for guards.

TRACTION

Traction is probably the weakest point of the Kobe 11. I think it’s enough for clean indoor courts, but it’s clearly not for outdoors or even dirtier indoor courts. The traction pattern is really small and the rubber compound is very soft. So traction is more like sticky, instead of grippy.

The extremely dense pattern will collect dust RAPIDLY, so wiping will be essential. Basically, the pattern is extremely sensitive to dust, dirt and poor quality floors.

SUPPORT

Support is the highlight of the Nike Kobe 11. For an extremely low shoe like this one, you’re getting awesome support. The Flyknit material is reinforced with TPU threads under it, so the fit is supportive.

There’s also an internal TPU heel counter and the sides of the midsole prevent your ankle from rolling. The shoes are very low and grounded to the floor with a completely flat outsole, so all of that grants awesome support and stability.

MATERIALS

The upper is Flyknit with TPU threads under it. That’s for enhanced durability. It’s also surprisingly flexible and strecthes when it has to.

There are a lot people who are against this combo, but I think that it’s durable and flexible at the same time. What more do you want? It’s not as durable as, say, Fuse or leather, but it’s still good, especially when there’s Flyknit along with it.

FINAL VERDICT

The shoe has definitely improved from the previous model. It has a great cushioning setup and you can even customize it with NikeID. It has superb support for lows, decent traction and a durable, well-balanced material setup.

Comfort is great most of the time. They have some dead space in the forefoot and the TPU threads can feel a bit irritating sometimes.

All in all, the Kobe 11 didn’t disappoint, but they didn’t particularly impress or live up to their huge marketing on the shoe. If you have the Kobe 10’s, pick these up. But if you have older Kobe’s shoes or something else with good performance, I don’t think it’s worth the upgrade. Unless, you plan to rock them casually or you’re just a Kobe shoe fan.

If you’re looking for an awesome low top basketball shoe by Kobe, I really think you should check out the Kobe 8. You won’t regret it.

PROS

+ Great cushioning combo setup
+ Ability to customize the cushioning to your liking on NikeID
+ Superb support and stability for low’s
+ Very durable upper, even though it’s Flyknit

CONS

Traction isn’t that great
Not suitable for outdoors
Comfort is sometimes a bit distractiong in the forefoot

This being a decent model, check out my picks for the BEST KOBE SHOES!

And don’t forget to check out the seriously improved Kobe 11 EM!

Thanks for reading my Nike Kobe 11 review. I hope you found it useful and as always, be sure to share the post.