Umbro UX-1 Concept | Blackout

Umbro might be a little lacking player presence at the moment, but when it comes to knowing what the people want – and giving it to them – they’re dominating at the moment. Case in point: the Umbro UX-1 Concept – Blackout.

Umbro’s rather tasty Power/Protection silo comes in two top tiers; Regular and Concept. Regular uses a premium microfibre for the upper (as we saw on the Team Royal colourway update earlier in the season), whist the Concept brings in the ArmorTex material that saw the boot heavily lauded in our review.

The Umbro UX-1 – Blackout will be available in the Concept edition, meaning as well as a killer look, you’re getting the top-tier of performance that Umbro produce at this moment in time.

What does that entail? Well, that ArmorTex material we mentioned earlier is a great place to start: soft and pliable like a textile upper, ArmorTex is great for dispersing the impact of a heavy tackle whilst having the tensile strength of steel, and is apparently tougher than Kevlar.

The ‘touch compound’ web across the lateral and medial parts of the forefoot and instep give an old-school Predator or T90 Laser vibe to the boot when striking and controlling the ball, without hampering the comfort of the soft upper.

Umbro’s trademark A-Frame cradle works with the lacing system to pull the upper closer to the top of the foot and the traction plater closer to the sole for reduced heel slippage and cutting down on break-in time.

Not only that, but Umbro have cleverly designed the instep to ‘bunch’ into an instep pass pad to give assured feel on the ball.

The soleplate is also worth a mention: a mixture of conical and bladed studs, the Umbro UX-1 is forgiving under the forefoot for dynamic twists and turns, whilst oblong blades in the back provide a stable platform when striking.