Risewear Halo 720 Performance Review

 Executive Summary: I know 99.99999999999% of people will brush these off but if you’re looking for a bang for your buck shoe that does it all or just an outdoor shoe to beat up, these are it.

Risewear ? More like Surprisewear! 

I don’t know much about Risewear or it’s backstory but I’ve always been curious how a discount brand performs on court. I could have bought some Shaq’s but to tell you the truth, the design and look of the Halo 720 looks better than Shaq’s and a lot of the whack jobs out there today.  It seems Risewear pulled a play from the Hyundai or Kia playbook and made an nice looking for less than the big boys. I find these very Air Jordan 1 and  Hyperdunk looking for the crazy low price of $29.99 available at Kmart using coupon code SHOE10. I even got 4% back on befrugal. (Just looked today, they are $34.99-29.99 without coupon)

The Halo 720 is named after The Air Up There’s 720.

I can’t do that on a 7 foot goal without a ball . Lol

Ah the word Kmart. I remember back in the day Kmart was a demeaning word.
“Oooh your mommy buy those at Kmart? ”

“Is that a Blue light Special?”

I have no idea if Kmart is still looked at in that light anymore nor do I care because I’m a mature man now.  Sadly there are no more Kmart stores around Texas as Walmart and the internet basically killed off everyone.

But I digress and I applaud Risewear for making a good looking inexpensive shoe. I also applaud Shaq for bringing a huge superstar name at an affordable price to an “uncool” segment of the footwear industry.

Pros: good indoor traction, great outdoor traction, outsole durability, fit, materials, decent cushioning, support and stability, containment, price

Cons: traction needs some break in time indoors, needs a lot of wiping on dusty floors, no half sizes past size 11, deadspace on top of forefoot, could use more midfoot support

Sizing: runs short about 1/4 size

Best for: guards

Buying advice: I don’t think they get much cheaper than $29.99.  Retail: $44.99 and $39.99 mid and low respectively

Weight

Surprised it was only half an ounce difference between the low and mid. Usually it’s about an ounce.

Traction:

I get asked all the time about a good outdoor shoe and this pattern and compound will be durable outside. Look how deep the herringbone runs. It says “non marking” which is usually something you see only on outdoor shoes.  Would make sense the old And1 guys are called STREETballers eh?

Indoor performance was great on clean floors (what isn’t ?) Dirty floors do require a lot of wiping which is expected since the rubber isn’t ultra soft; that’s the trade off you pay for durability.

I would have preferred plain full length herringbone but the idea to make lateral side like the did was to help with side to side movements and stops. In theory it’s a nice idea but but those flat spots caused some sliding on dusty floors indoors.

Not the best traction ever but a great pattern for outdoors they will last. Indoor performance is similar to the Lebron Solider 10 to give perspective.

Cushioning

There isn’t much on the Risewear or Kmart website so I’m guessing it is just EVA or something similar but it feels pretty good overall all. It actually has a nice bounce to it although you won’t mistaken it for Boost, Bounce, Micro G or Zoom.  Feels similar to Nike Phylon. I like it better than the Bounse on the Wade 4. By the way, I can six of these for the price of one Wade 4. 

It is low profile so you feel close to the floor and I didn’t have any bottoming out. If this is just EVA or Phylon, I don’t expect it to last long because once that foam compresses it pretty much stays that way.

Risewear also took a play out of the Adidas playbook and gave us a thin insole.. or maybe it was the other way around ? Time to play insole swap.

Overall, I expected the cushioning to be below average since the shoe retails for so little and there probably isn’t a bunch of RnD or proprietary foam. So it was nice to be surprised that it actually felt better than average. No knee pain or other aches after 90 minutes pickup sessions so I’m more than pleased.

Fit
I went true to size with my size 11 and I feel it runs about a 1/4 size short. However there aren’t half sizes above 11 so I made due. No issues with width for my wide feet.

Why are there no half sizes above 11?

My guess is that half sizes above 11 don’t sell well and that’s a money saver to cut out unpopular sizes.

Regardless of length, the Halo fit me perfectly width wise and I had no movement side to side and my ankle was locked in from the get go. There is some dead space in the toe box but it sits on top of the foot which is perfectly fine.  No frills, no gimmicks. Heck they only have two colorways instead of thirty and that helps keep costs down for everyone.

I took both the mid and the low out for a spin and surprisingly, I had no heel slip in either. 

The mid does an excellent job sucking the heel and ankle back with the use of the synthetic straps around the ankle.

The low does a great job holding the heel down due to the overall design that grab the Achilles like fingers.

No need to poke holes anywhere right YEEZY 350 ?

Also the low has a midfoot strap that actually works and puts extra lockdown at the midfoot.

I really think they need to cut the strap 3/4 of an inch or add more Velcro though because that overhang starts flipping upward and gives it a worn out cheap look.

Overall, the fit is great even with a little deadspace in the toe box. I feel the mid gives a better one to one fit due to the ankle collar though.

Well done Risewear!

Materials 
Before I picked up my pair at Sears ..yes Sears still exists..I thought that the materials and build quality would be total garbage but I was wrong. No crispy cracker Kyrie 1 fuse but instead it’s a softer fuse similar to what you’d find in an older Hyperdunk or midlevel Nike.

No hotspots and very little break in time needed to eliminate the bit of stiffness there is in the upper.

The rear lateral and almost the entire medial side even features a nice synthetic leather.

I thought it was leather until I smelled it. I think the synthetic leather on the lateral side would have made more sense but oh well.

Even the tongue is decently padded and features a nice synthetic leather

Overall great materials which you’d expect to find on much higher priced shoes.

Support and Stability 

The support comes mainly from the fit and the heel counter which is surprisingly stiff.

It is stiffer than what you’ll find on the Curry 2, KD 14, Hyperrev 2016 and does a nice job holding the heel and Achilles in place.

It also has a small plastic midfoot shank . I really couldn’t tell it was there but I can see it. The Halo is already low to the ground but is also stable at the heel and passes my heel test easily. I had no qualms or worries playing in these.

I should also note that the shoe is very flexible in the forefoot due to two deep flex grooves. No break in time required to get a natural feel.

Well done Risewear!

Lateral Containment 

No raised midsole or physical barrier to contain the foot had me worried but the extra layer of fuse did a good job holding the foot in place on the footbed on hard cuts. Using stiffer synthetics definitely helps with lateral containment.

Conclusion 
Dear Nike, Adidas, and UA,

Please take a step back (not jumper) and look at what can be achieved with a minimal budget. No outstanding modern tech, no storytelling, no frills or gimmicks. Just a basketball shoe that you can pick up on the cheap, lace up, look good and play well in. There is no shame buying a pair of shoes at Kmart especially when you’re (blue) lighting up your opponents in a shoe that costs a fraction of the big names.

The biggest hurdle for Risewear will be competing against big names at discount stores like Marshall’s and Ross because they are typically priced around $50 and below. Given the choice of similar products, the big names will win every time. However to go out and start at a retail price of $44.99 and bringing the And1 guys on board is fantastic and I wish them best in the future.