BOOTS REVIEW: UMBRO GEOMETRA

Umbro have powered back into the hearts of football boots-fans the world over, with the Speciali and Stealth Pro winning over many doubters.

So does their latest boot, the Umbro Geometra, continue the trend or get it all wrong? Read on to find out…

Comfort/Fit – 9/10

If I had to compare the Umbro Geometra‘s fit to any previous boot, I’d have to go with the Predator Powerswerve. The long, sweeping shape of the boot hugs the foot from both the top and the bottom, making sure all the techy bits’n’bats that really sell the Geometra are suitably close to the foot, much like the classic Predators were.

The boot is also wonderfully low-profile; at a time when raising the ankle on a pair of football boots is in fashion, the Umbro Geometra sits like a pair of training socks, meaning there’s never any unwanted pressure coming from under the bones in your ankle, or the laces.

However, the Umbro Geometra is not a boot for the wide-footed. As mentioned, the long, low shape of the makes it almost inevitable that they will come up a bit narrow. Whilst not a problem for the average foot, it’d be really difficult to squeeze a boat-foot in there.

Feel & Touch – 9/10

The K-Leather on the Umbro Geometra is superb, probably the best I’ve seen on a boot this year; bar the Tiempo Legend IV Elite. It’s not rigid out of the box, and it creases in all the right ways in sync with your foot when you take them out for the first time.

Probably the best thing about the Umbro Geometra, though, is the way it brings in all it’s ‘Control’ functionality to work with the leather. Nothing feels cheap or ‘tacked-on’, and the swerve zone on the toe and ‘Energy Control Zone’ (ECZ) on the instep have had some real thought put into their placement and integration with the leather. Kudos to the Umbro design team!

Looks – 8/10

The Umbro Geometra have a great, great overall look. The White / Black / High Risk Red have all been used tastefully, with the Red being used to mark out the subtle detailing on the collar and sole, whilst the black provides a unique separating stripe through the predominantly white upper.

It’s the little details that really endear these football boots to you, though; the Umbro Geometra branding on the heel counter runs up on one boot and down on the other, whilst the sole is made of a translucent material that lets you see a circular pattern radiating from the red midfoot-studs. An overall class act.

Maintenance – 6/10

Okay, so this one is the colourway’s fault more than anything – white leather football boots are never, ever the easiest to clean.

But as well as the upper, the little detailing that makes you love the Umbro Geometra is also a pain in the neck to clean; the textured heel section on the step is a magnet for mud, and the Grip/Swerve Zone on the toe will never get that box-fresh whiteness back!

Performance – 9/10

Getting the negatives out of the way first, the Umbro Geometra‘s soleplate is stiff the first couple of wears. Whilst it’s something we’ve seen plenty of before with the Carbon Fibre of the Nike Elite series, there’s just something about the use of the plastic on the sole of these football boots that makes it really noticable on the first few un-outs.

But once that’s out of the way, there’s really nothing I can say to fault Umbro’s latest effort.

The ‘ECZ’ in the arch of the foot is a great alternative to the Nike CTR360 II’s pass and receive pads, and the grip zone on the toe is one of the more noticeable incarnations of the ‘more swerve, more grip’ style gimmicks we’ve ever seen, giving a great feeling of ‘bite’ on the ball.

Value – 8/10ish…

Let me explain the vagary of that score. In the UK, the Umbro Geometra undercuts it’s competitors to the price that many of us were used to paying for a ‘top-level’ pair of football boots a couple of years ago: £120.

So, at £30 cheaper than the adiPower and £15 cheaper than the CTR360 II, it’s a pretty good chunk of money for a pair of cleats that I would just about put in the same league as the other two ‘big’ control boots.

But in the US, all three Umbro Geometra colourways have been reduced to $110 on the Footy-Boots.com store, and that is a great, great price for this top pair of cleats.

Overall – 9/10

Umbro were kind enough to give two Footy-Boots.com staffers the chance to test their latest football boots, and, unanimously, we couldn’t be much happier with how they performed.

The Umbro Geometra is a well-designed, comfortable pair of cleats that perform exactly how you’d expect. Even in the terrible weather we’ve had whilst testing them, controlling lofted balls and pinging passes through the wet grass has been a real joy.

If you don’t have wide feet, and aren’t looking for something super-light these boots are a real contender for your pair, regardless of your position.