ASICS Sonicblast Review | A Plated Trainer for The Middle of the Pack

If you’ve ever wanted a super shoe, but knew that the $300 styles simply weren’t made for your stride, good news. ASICS has been hard at work developing the Asics Sonicblast to meet the needs of the everyday runner who wants something a little faster.ASICS really found a new life for the brand when creating the blast line up of shoes a few years ago. We previously outlined the differences in the Megablast vs the Sonicblast, but wanted to give you a little more feedback on this PEBAX plated trainer here.

4 hour marathoners looking for a training and race day shoe are going to have some fun here.

ASICS Sonicblast Overview

A large contingent of runners have been asking ASICS for a Novablast with a plate, aka something light with nice cushion that can go just a hair faster. Instead of just inserting a plate, they came up with this new foam and put in a PEBAX plate to make it more widely accessible and usable than the carbon plated race day shoes.

The 3/4 length PEBAX plate (called an Astroplate) is going to be more flexible, which is important as the gait of a 4 hour runner is different than a 3 hour marathon runner.

Many of the front pack race shoes are too stiff for everyday athletes and could contribute to lower leg injuries.Let’s talk a second more about the plate because it’s important. We don’t want to run in a carbon plated shoe daily, but PEBAX and similar materials are showing up in daily trainers for a reason. It’s basically a highly compressed foam to create a firmer plate-like structure. And it seems like being more flexible it allows for more usage without issue.

While the Megablast is entirely the new Flyte Foam Turbo Squared, the Sonicblast kept the same bottom layer as the Superblast (FF Blast Max). This is where we start to understand how different foams give us a different feel and speed in a shoe.

Personally, I enjoyed the ride of this shoe more. I think it’s entirely related to that bottom layer of foam that’s also used in the Novablast. I actually think that heavier testers have gotten a more bouncy feel and enjoy the Megablast more.

The Sonicblast has an immediate feel of a shoe that’s ready to pick up the pace.

Not a bouncy super shoe, but a shoe that’s going to feel really good for a 4 hour marathon. Yes, this is the cheaper of the two shoes which is surprising since it has a plate, but again shows you that foam makes a difference.I’ve used this shoe for a couple of easy runs and some tempo runs. It performed well in both, but was really nice on that slight pick up.  I would happily take it out on longer miles with goal paced efforts knowing that it will still feel fine on those easy miles in between.

Even with the big stack height, this one never felt like a max shoe to me. That’ s a very good thing.

Coach Mary Johnson: The Sonicblast felt extremely firm but also fast–its rocker geometry was very noticeable and pushed me on my toes from the very first step.

The downside: it’s much heavier than the Megablast–the weight is very noticeable when you have each shoe in your hands. The heaviness didn’t seem too distracting while running; but it’s not a shoe I’d reach for in a race. It’s a shoe that I’d personally limit to workout days, making it not the most versatile plated companion shoe on the market right now.

The Sonicblast is night-and-day different to the Novablast, and is clearly designed to be the Nova’s workout companion shoe. The upper is simple and effective and the forefoot doesn’t feel as sloppy/clunky as the Novablast 5.

Quick Take

Asics Sonicblast Fit

Oddly or sadly they didn’t extend the textured laces to this shoe, but I feel like that could be the next update which will also drop a tiny amount of weight. Otherwise, no issues with the fit.It’s true to my normal length and with women’s sizing, it goes back to a bit more narrow fit. Would not complain if they found a way to increase the toe box in both shoes, but I also didn’t have any issues with rubbing.

The tongue is thin and attached, while the upper feels extremely breathable. That makes me want to take this out for some hard summer miles feeling like my feet would stay cooler, but also could swell a bit and feel fine. Right now 8 miles is my longest run in them.

Coach Mary Johnson: The Sonicblast is more of a natural fit for my narrow heels, and I had no sliding or fit issues while running. As a Novablast lover–I appreciated the lighter upper with the Sonicblast, giving the shoe a performance feel. And while I’ve heard people complain about the VERY wide toebox of the Novablast; Asics tidied that up with the Sonicblast, with a tapered midfoot that still provides plenty of room without excessive space.

Because of the wide forefoot, the shoe feels stable…however, at faster paces (I was hitting 5:50s-6:15s in my workout) the ¾ length Pebax Astroplate plate felt extremely stiff, and almost too harsh for me. I didn’t feel like the FF Turbo foam gave me any additional bounce with the toe-off, but this could also be because I prefer really bouncy foams and this just wasn’t it for me.

While ASICS doesn’t want to call this a supertrainer because they want it to be seen as a more approachable shoe, it basically falls in to that new category of running shoes. It’s got a plate that’s not carbon, it’s designed for daily usage but to also pick up the pace…where it differs is that some others feel even bouncier.

And I know we use the word bouncy a lot, but it’s the best way to describe landing and feeling a bit like the shoe is rebounding vs sinking in to a cushion.

Have more questions, let us know!

And if you’ve tried it, we want to know what you thought. Would you change our rating?

What to read next?

• Best Asics Running Shoes for Every Need
• Is it ok to run in carbon plated shoes daily?
• Get our tips to save more on your next shoe purchase