Everyone Says the Novablast 6 Is the Best Ever. Here's What They Missed

This was the most used running shoe on Strava in 2025. Not the most hyped, not the best reviewed shoe, the shoe that most people actually ran in more than any other on the planet. And this is the replacement, the Nova Blast 6, new Superfoam pod in the forefoot, new upper and a slightly more expensive shoe. When I put these two side by side and ran them through six simple steps, I found something Asics aren't exactly shouting about. The headlight upgrade on this shoe is one most of you will barely feel. And I'll show you exactly why and who this shoe is actually for in the next few minutes. Let's step into it. I'm Paul, a podiatrist. I see a lot of runners in clinic and I've started running myself. When I look at a shoe, I'm looking for design features that take load off whatever tissue is struggling. A lot of my patients walk into clinic wearing the Nova Blast 5s. And yes, it is the most worn shoe on Strava in 2025. It's a great daily running shoe, soft, wide, no fuss and a good price. Sidewalls that come up and cradle the heel, it does your easy runs, your long runs and the odd quicker one. But with patients who have foot pain, I kept seeing the same pattern. That soft foam compresses. If your feet are already excessively rolling, they roll in further. And a shoe this flexible makes your foot do more work at push off. More rolling plus more work means more load through the sole of your foot. The plantar fascia and through the tendon that holds at the inside of your ankle, your posterior tibial tendon. Heel pain, arch pain, inner ankle pain, sometimes even achilles pain too. The same shoe, same story. Add in the things runners kept reporting. Grip that was honestly poor in the wet and foam that fell flat around 200 miles. And for a lower price, was it really worth it? So the question for the Six is simple. Did Asics fix these things or have they just stamped their super foam on the side for no real reason? Let's run it through my stable test. Six tests, all done with my hands. Squeeze the heel, twist the midfoot, arch press, base width, look at the rocker and end flex. Six tests and the new shoe has to earn everyone against the old one. No spec sheets, no marketing, just what the shoe actually does when a foot loads it. So let's run the Nova Blast Six against the Five and keep an eye on the final count because it surprised me. Test one, squeeze the heel, the back of the shoe, the heel counter is what stops your heel wobbling side to side. We squeeze them both and they're near enough identical. The foam sidewalls come up exactly the same height and they wrap around the heel in the same way. It's a draw. Test number two, we twist the midfoot, we're going to wring it like a towel. The stiffer it is through the middle, the less your arch has to fight the shoe and here's a surprise, the new shoe actually twists slightly easier than the old one. Not by much but if anything, the Five edges this one. One point to the old shoe. Test number three, the arch press. Thumb up into the arch from underneath, identical. The same foam, the same feel and the same slight cutting at the arch on both which is exactly the spot that lets the arch drop and load that inner ankle tendon. It's a draw and it's not a flattering one. Test number four, the width of the base. This is the platform that actually contacts the ground, not the fit of the upper. We'll come to that. I measured both 12 centimetres across the forefoot, eight across the arch, ten at the heel, identical. The Six sits on exactly the same footprint as the It's a draw. Test number five, we're going to look at the rocker from the side profile. Same geometry, same curve and it's still a good one. It rolls your foot through the step so your big toe joint and your forefoot don't have to bend as far. That's a draw. Test number six, the end flex. Bend at the forefoot. Bending at the ball of the foot is good, that's where your foot bends but both of these still fold in half through the middle. Why does that matter? A shoe that bends in the middle bottoms out as you go from heel to toe. Your foot is meant to work as a lever when you push off, that's called the windlass mechanism and when the shoe is too soft underneath your foot has to work harder to get you from heel to toe. It's a draw again. So the final count, the Six wins none of the Six. It loses one and draws five. Structurally this is the same shoe but hold on because two changes don't show up in these six tests and one of them is a reason to buy this shoe. The first is the fit. The Five ran so roomy people were sizing down. The Six fits true to size. I'm a US 11, the Five gave me half a size I didn't need. The Six is an 11 that fits lovely. One catch, the new woven upper is stiffer. There's much less giving it so if you've got a wider foot or a bunion the standard Six may pinch where the Five forgave. There is a wide version, a 2e but most shops don't stock it so you'll have to hunt for it. The second change is under the forefoot and that's where we get to who this shoe is actually for. The Six is a touch firmer overall and it has that new super foam pod under the forefoot and reviewers are finding the grip generally better in the wet which was needed. The same stack, the same drop and a few grams lighter so who should be looking at it? If you've got ball of the foot pain, pressure or aching under the forefoot or you've been told you have a plan to play injury this shoe is a good fit. The firmer feel, the pod and that rocker all work together to reduce the squashing forces on the front of your foot. Feature to benefit, the shoe bends so your sore bit doesn't have to. If you're a beginner or you're stacking up easy miles and building your aerobic base this is exactly the kind of shoe that the job wants. Who should skip it? If your feet roll in a lot and you get heel or arch pain or pain on the inside of the ankle this is not your shoe. It's the same soft skeleton, the same arch cut in the same story and if your ankles feel wobbly or untrustworthy you may find this much soft foam unsettling to run it. I'll be honest with you, my own feet here, about 45 minutes into a run in a soft neutral shoe I feel the inner ankle tendons start to complain on my right side. This shoe does it to me too. In something firmer, a Superblast 2 or the Kayano, it doesn't happen. Your feet will tell you which camp you're in. If you own the 5s do not bin them, burn through the miles, they're still a really good shoe. Upgrade when they're done. The only reason to move early if the 5 is already giving you symptoms and if that's arch or inner ankle pain, don't upgrade at all. Change shoe category because the 6 won't save you. Now the thing nobody else is talking about. The FF Turbo Squared Pod, the headline of this whole launch, it sits only under the forefoot. To load it fully you need to land midfoot or forefoot. Most everyday runners, me included, land on their heels. Now that doesn't make this a bad shoe for heel strikers. You can still catch a bit of the pod at push-off. I feel it and I really like it but a forefoot striker is going to get far more out of this shoe than a heel striker will and nobody selling it is saying that. As an affordable shoe that feels good on recovery runs and one that really helps if you have a bit of forefoot pain, it still earns its place. Just know what you're paying for. What I want to see for the Novablast 7, keep the new rubber, less of it but better quality is a trade that works. Make the wide fit properly available, not just on special order and give that upper some stretch because I get a bit of forefoot numbness in a shoe with this little give and stiffen the foam through the middle of the shoe so it stops it folding in half. Bending at the toe box, not the midfoot. Do that and this line goes from the most used daily to the best one and when the 7 drops we'll be right back here to see if Asics listen. So is the Novablast 6 an upgrade? Yes, an honest one. Not because of the pod but because they fixed the fit. They fixed the grip and they kept everything the 5 got right. It'll be in my rotation for half marathon training this year. If you're now wondering what else Asics make and which one suits your feet, my full guide to the best walking and running shoes in the Asics range is up next. Go and watch that one, subscribe if this helped, look after your feet and I'll see you in the next one.