Stuff - UK (2020-05)

TESTED NURVV RUN

60

Nurvv’s smart insoles promise to help you run better

and stay injury-free. But are they really the track

stars your feet need, or should they just jog on?

QNurvv’s system combines smart

insoles – each with 16 pressure

sensors – with a GPS tracking

unit that clips to the side of your

shoe and an app offering real-time

coaching insights. It’s all designed

to help you fine-tune your running

form, improve your efficiency and

ward off preventable injury.

QFor every run, Nurvv captures

the basics – pace, distance and

route – but it also tracks details

that affect your technique. This

includes cadence, stride length,

balance, foot strike and pronation.

Post-run, you get feedback and

advice on your weaknesses.

QThe two core features are

Pace Optimiser, using real-time

guidance on stride length and

cadence to help you hit a target

pace; and Running Health,

combining training load, pronation,

balance and cadence data into

one overall score. There’s no

running power data, no heart-rate

monitoring, no training plans, and

no Zwift or Strava syncing.

QThe IPX7-rated tracking units

are tough enough to withstand

rain, puddles and even mud, while

the soles are much more robust

than others we’ve seen. Nurvv

says they should last between

900 and 1500 miles of running.

QThe tracker’s battery provides

just five hours of run time. By

contrast, Stryd’s footpod clocks

20hrs and UA’s HOVR Machina

shoes never need charging. There

is an auto-power-off feature for

absent-minded runners, but it’s

frustratingly unreliable.

This is a product with good intentions; but with very limited features and a confused

approach, it rapidly runs out of puff. There’s not enough here to satisfy serious

athletes, while it’s too complicated and too pricey for beginners and goal-chasing

amateurs. It feels like an expensive work in progress. If you want to run better, save

your money for a real-life coach.

A neat idea,

but it’ll end up

just getting on

your Nurvvs

Kieran Alger

Complete our soles

STUFF SAYS Short on features, confusing and impractical, and really expensive ++,,,

Sizes 5.5-14 (men), 2.5-12 (women)

Water-resistance (trackers) IPX7

Battery life 5hrs Weight 2x 70g

Q Sole searching

The real-time coaching falls into

a familiar trap for form-tracking

tech: it’s incredibly hard to hit the

sweet spot, and that leads to a

robocoach voice barking at you

every 20 seconds to increase or

decrease something.

Q Soled short

Nurvv claims to provide the very

best accuracy for distance and

pace; but in our 13.1-mile test, on

an official half-marathon course,

it clocked just 10.64 miles – while

a Garmin Fenix 6 gave us 12.97

and a Stryd nailed it at 13.11.

£250 / stuff.tv/Nurvv

Tech specs

Soler eclipse

There’s no heart

monitoring, so Nurvv’s

training-load estimates

are based on mileage

alone. It has no idea

how hard you ran

those miles.