The Asics Novablast 5 and Nike Vomero 18 are two of our favourite new daily trainers and if you’ve been sizing up going for one of them and still can’t decide, you’ve come to the right video.
These two shoes sit at similar price and promise to be ones that can soak up plenty of your running mileage. Testers Kieran and Mike have spent plenty of time in both and break down their experiences of how they match up and differ to help you decide whether you go Vomero 18 or Novablast 5.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Intro
00:31 – Price and key differences
01:27 – How do they fit?
04:13 – The Run Test
12:20 – Verdict
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Hey this is Mike from Run Testers This Is the Ask No Blast 5 and this is the Nike Vomero 18 Now two very accomplished New daily trainer shoes Now if you're Looking at these two shoes and trying to Decide which one is the best shoe or Maybe the best fit for you we're going To answer that question in this video First we'll take you through the key Stats and key differences between the Two shoes get you into our initial run Thoughts and then let you know whether You should go for the S6 Plus 5 or the Nike Vomero 18 So let's run you through those key Details and differences with the Nike 18 And the AS6 Nolast 5 Let's start with Price and the Vimera 18 sits at £135 or £150 while the Novlast 5 cost The same £135 and is £140 in the US So They're the same in the UK and the Novlast is cheaper states side Weight Wise the Fam 18 is the heavier of the Two shoes and features a 10 mm drop Compared to the 8mm drop on the Novlast 5 At the upper 18 has an engineered mesh One with a more padded tongue while the Novlast 5 has a jacard mesh one and Features a gusseted style tongue Both Offer similar levels of padding at the Heel collar The Novlast uses FF Blast Max foam to provide comfort and bounce And sits on top of an AHAR low hardness Outsole The Verome uses Zoom X and React
X foams and features an outsole that's Designed to contribute to providing a Smooth overall Ride Fit then and I ran a UK 8 and a Half which is my regular size in the Nike shoe and the AS6 shoe I really like The fit of the Vimera 18 It's all about Plush comfort with a roomy enough toe Box Padded heel collars hold well No Rubbing just soft comfort These big Plush padded tongues really sit nice Offer plushness on those long runs help You lock the laces down without any Unwanted pressure The uppers have a Really nice amount of flex They are Secure across the toe knuckles without Being tight And the uppers really flex With your feet So I had no problems Getting good lock down good comfort from The Vomero 18 In the Asex I found the Fit secure but really roomy with a Decent amount of wiggle room in the toe Box as well Again I find there's good Hold across the midfoot You've got a Flatter tongue here but it wraps really Nicely holds down well Uh got a good Secure kind of heel as well And unless You like your shoes really snug I think I would recommend going true to size in Both of these shoes I really like the Fact they're roomy up top uh give you Plenty of room to flex particularly if You want going to use these shoes for That longer hall mileage So in terms of
Fit I've got both in a UK size eight That's my typical running shoe size I Would say based on my experience these Are true to size fitting shoes and I Think they will be for most people I Think the key differences that I would Take away from my experience is when you Look at the space up front of the toe Boxes I think with the No Plus 5 maybe Getting a little bit more room in the Same size shoes I think particularly the Front and the sides of my toes that's Where I really noticed it I think the Vimera 18 sits a little bit closer but It hasn't caused any issues in terms of My runs Now you get further back in These shoes the midfoot areas feel very Similar relatively broad I think very Accommodating as well and tells you that These are going to be generally very Accommodating shoes to wear Maybe the Nova Blast 5 slightly more but there's Not a huge amount in it With the laces Nothing too kind of unfussy there I Think you know they play it pretty safe On that front The tongues the Nike has Got the significantly more padded tongue If you like that inner tongue then That's what you're going to get on the Vimera 18 The No Blast 5 one is a little Bit skinnier and you know hasn't moved Around for me But you know and hasn't Caused any issues either But if you like A little bit more padding than a Nike
Shoe is going to give you that The Padding in the heel collar again very Similar It kind of raises in a similar Kind of fashion I think maybe the Padding on the MER 18 feels more Noticeable and more prominent when You're out running in it just maybe Because it sits a little bit closer but The actual level of padding isn't very Different between the two shoes So I Think the key takeaways for me would be That maybe getting a touch more space in The same size on the No Plus 5 You're Getting a more padded tongue on the Knife 18 and you just feel that heel Padding around the heel collar a little Bit more on the Vera 18 as Well Now in testing I've run well north Of 50 miles in the Asex Nova Blast 5 I've done north of 30 miles in the Nike Vomero 18 I've done a big mix of miles Done some longer runs up to 90 minutes I've done a solo marathon test in Lovlast 5 That'll be on the channel I've Done some shorter faster efforts in both Shoes including 5Ks around marathon pace All of that's been on the road but I Have thrown in the odd river path as Well to test the stability of the shoe And a bit of the durability Now from all Of that I would say that these are two Very capable daily trainers They're both Bringing big stacks lots of cushion I Really like what I've seen from the
Vomero 18 From the giant 46 mil stack of Foam to the big soft padded heel collars And tongues there Everything about this Vomero 18 screams soft plush comfort But The interesting thing I think is that It's not overbaked The dual foam setup Makes for reliable stable cushioned ride That actually has a little bit of pop All that extra padding in the uppers and The big stack makes it a heavier shoe That's kind of well documented but I Think you're trading weight for Guaranteed comfort And I actually think The shoe runs lighter on the foot than It really looks from the numbers on the Scale Part of that is that it's quite Narrow and pre precise compared to some Of the bigger stack shoes For a max Stack shoe I think it doesn't kind of Almost doesn't feel like a max stack Shoe It's just not big and cumbersome I Wouldn't say Now the Note Plus 5 offers A really nice smooth ride that responds Well on toe off It feels springy and Controlled when you're feeling good Running with good form and pushing the Pace The O Bllast 5 it feels kind of Energetic but it's also cushioned enough To accommodate things when you kind of Drop to those slower paces or you're Back further on your heels If you're Running on heavier legs though sometimes On those heavier legs I think it can Feel a bit soggy I've had slow runs or
Runs where I felt a bit tired where the Softness in that kind of slower paced Form further back makes it feel a little Bit like the shoe is working against you Somewhat But I've had runs where I'm Full of energy running in good form and Really working off the forefooter and They feel kind of nice and energetic Smooth all of those things that you Would look for in a good daily training When you're picking up the pace a bit Now one of the major differences here I Think I've talked about is kind of the Heft So I'm not talking about the weight I'm because the Nova Blast is lighter But it's got a wider platform The Vomero More compact platform I think offsets Some of that weight So for me you get a Ride between these shoes that's not a Million miles apart in terms of the Overall sort of feelings of energy and Lightness on the foot But to tease out The differences in a more detailed way I Also did a sidebyside mile And here's What I found So I've just done a Sidebyside mile I've got the Nobel Blast 5 on the left foot I've got the Nike Vomero 18 on the right foot This is Another one of those where when I before I put them on I thought these were going To feel marketkedly different in terms Of the ride under foot And then when you Put them on it's surprising how close They are in terms of the ride There are
Some big differences or some significant Differences I should say I think the Nova Blast 5 gets to its energy with a Bit more bounce There's a bit more Spring There's a bit more compression in The foam and a bit more return I think The Vimeo gets there It's soft and it Does spring back but it's got a bit more Rockering that kind of takes effect You Do notice the fact that the Nova Blast 5 Is slightly lighter weight but it's Wider in the platform which means that The precision of the Vimeo 18 I think Offset some of that weight a little bit So it doesn't feel really I don't find Any less agile or really to me any less Energetic overall Maybe for the Lightness an overblast will be better at The faster paces than the Vomero 18 for Some people The other thing you'll Notice is the Nova Blast 5 is the sort Of more voluous in terms of the overall Fit There's a bit more room in the toe Box It feels a bit bigger on the foot Than the Vomero 18 So if you like it Nice and roomy maybe the Nova Blast 5 is Going to be for you But actually I Expected there to be a whole lot more Difference between these shoes I thought The Nova Blast 5 would feel so much Lighter and so much spritlier than the Vomero 18 because the 18's heavier but I Think Nike's done a good job here of Making a shoe that's max stacked a
Little bit heavier but doesn't quite run Like it So in terms of my running time With these two shoes I've done 50K in Both Now this is the first time I'm Running a Veromero shoe I've run in Various different versions of the Nova Blast so I know this shoe well So I'll Start with the Vomero which is the new Of the two shoes in terms of launches Now if we look at the stats particularly The stack height this is a shoe that's Very much veering into that kind of max Cushion kind of max stack kind of shoe Territory That does mean that it is the Heavier of the two shoes Though I do Think it handles its weight pretty well Never felt like a kind of clunky heavy Shoe to run in but it definitely is Heavier than the Nova Blast 5 You look At the midsole makeup it's a dual Density setup You've got ZoomX here Which we know from other Nike shoes It Gives you that kind of bouncy lively Feeling And then you've got React X um Which we've seen in a couple of other Nike shoes as well and that sits below That ZoomX foam You can see where it Sits from looking at the back of the Shoe Now what I think that React X foam Does and its presence there with the ZoomX foam it's kind of tamed down some Of the wildness from ZoomX particularly What we've seen in something like the Invincible and ensure that this is a
More stable shoe in comparison I think That's also delivered from the fact that This is quite a broad shoe You can kind Of just see from the forefoot here and It does open up pretty much at the heel As well too that when you spread that Foam here and that kind of bigger stack Of foam it does create a very stable Feel And I think what that React X foam Particularly offers a bit more Protection over those longer runs again Where maybe that kind of wilder feeling ZoomX foam on its own maybe might cause A bit more issues when you start to tire I think it it ensures that you still get That kind of bounce that kind of nice Rebound from the ZoomX foam You get a Nice rocket in this shoe as well too but I just think it makes things feel a bit More controlled and a bit more stable It's quite a smooth feeling shoe as well Too which I really liked And it's just Been a very good shoe to put on and get Out in and run I think particularly easy Runs particularly up to kind of moderate Pace runs uptempo I think or kind of Tempo style runs I think it can just About handle that but I think the weight Kind of holds against it I think There'll be other shoes in Knight's Range which would handle that up tempo Running a bit better We get to the Nova Blast 5 Now this is I said the light of The two shoes and you do notice that
That it is lighter than the Vimeo 18 Now This has a single kind of foam or single Cushioning kind of midsole setup It's The FF Blast Max here that we're getting Which is kind of new to the Nova Blast Range Now what that does is create Something that's a bit softer You Definitely sink in a little bit more Than you do in the Vimeo's kind of Midsole You're still getting something That's pretty stable Again like the Nike Shoe it's a pretty kind of broad base That you're getting that foam spread Across It's pretty um kind of smooth I Think as well in terms of that ride I Think what I found is when particularly I've wanted to run longer in this shoe It feels very comfortable to do that That softer feel that midsole while Might in some instances create something That's probably a bit more unstable Because it is on that wider base make Sure that that it's spread across a nice Base and you get that comfort and Protection that softer feel that some People might prefer and I think what That does is create something that works Very well for easy runs Again I think it Can work for moderate pace runs as well I do think that maybe if you like Something that feels a little bit more Pronounced in terms of that Bounce 18 at that moderate pace just Feels a little bit nicer from an outsole
Point of view I mean there's you know Good amount of rubber in both of these Shoes There's a bit more in the lateral Areas on the Nova Blast shoe and you Know there's still exposed areas on both I think you know if you want to do Lighter trails or go going running in Your parks then both are going to be Absolutely fine I think the Vomero 18 is Probably going to give you a little bit More on that front and it's probably Going to not get beaten up as quickly if You're going slightly off-road in this Shoe but from roads and pavements it's Been absolutely fine I think the grip Overall has been very good and it kind Of tells you you're going to get good Life out the shoes and they're going to Be well suited for you know regular Daily mileage So I've had a good Experience with both I do think they Work for similar types of runs I do Think the experience and what you're Getting in the midsoles will dictate Which shoe is going to be the best fit For you Which one I pick and which one I Think you should pick I'll get into that Next verdict then And I find this one a Little bit tricky I like both of these Shoes I find they're both very capable Big cushioned workhorse daily trainers That get a lot right They're shoes that You'd likely use for the same kinds of Runs I'd say anything up to marathon
Pace basically these will cater for But For me the distinction breaks down like This If you're looking for a shoe that Offers enough protection for slow miles But has slightly more capacity at the Faster paces say up to your marathon Pace I think the lighter marginally Lively Nova Blast is probably the shoe To go for If you want a shoe that maxes Out on comfort particularly at the Slower end of things cruises really Nicely but can also cope with the Occasional uptempo run and isn't far off The Nova Blast in that sense I think the Nike Vero 18 is the way to go I think There's margins here between the two It's not a huge discrepancy overall Now If I were choosing a utility training Shoe as a casual runner occasional 5K That kind of thing I'd probably go Vero 18 If I'm choosing a shoe that looks Good and I can get away with wearing With jeans I think the styling of the Mero works better as well However for Pure running and more mixed pace Training I think the Nova Blast 5 Probably just about shades it on that Versatility It's a teeny bit lively a Bit lighter I think that's how most People are going to enjoy it more However the shoe I keep going back to at The moment during a lot of my marathon Training is the Vomero 18 Just really Kind of suits the mileage that I've been
Logging Easy stuff Head up regular runs On a daily basis When I want to go Faster I tend to move to a much speedier Training shoe than either of these two Like a Mac X2 or Sock Endorphin Speed or Summit of that So I personally would get More miles from the Vomero 18 But Honestly I don't think you can go wrong With either of these for a big chunk of Your everyday mileage They're both Really good and I think actually priced Pretty keenly So my take whether you Should go the AX No Plus 5 or the Nike Fero 80 Now I do think these are two of The best new daily trainers that you can Buy in 2025 And if you're looking for a Daily trainer that really prioritizes Comfort for that daily mileage but also For your longer runs where you're not Running at your fastest and hardest then These are absolutely two shoes that can Do that On top of the comfort side of Things they're very well protective over Those longer runs I think they're very Stable very controlled to run in And Also I think from a ride point of view They are smooth but also give you enough In that kind of experience to make these Want to be shoes you're going to want to Spend time in over extended periods Now If it was my money and I had to buy one I would be going for the Vimera 18 I Think given the fact that this is the Shoe that I reach for most post like
Kind of multitester or you know multi Tester reviews of these shoes that you Know that's the biggest indicator of how I feel about these shoes As I said I do Think they work for the same types of Runs but I think I slightly prefer the Feel of the midsole on the AT It's not As soft and I think for those moderate Pace runs particularly I prefer that Feeling compared to the softer feel of The Nova Blast 5 I think if you like a Softer feeling shoe in general but that Can still handle those kind of same Types of runs that easy up to moderate Pace shorter daily runs and longer runs In your kind of math and training cycle Absolutely this is a shoe can do it I Just think that for me personally I Preferred doing that same type of Running in the Vimera 18 overall Okay so There you have it That is my multi test To take on how the ASX No Blast 5 Compares to the Knight Verra 18 Now if You've got any questions about this Video or you want to see any other shoes Compared to either this shoe or this Shoe do let us know in the comments As Always like and subscribe Hit that Little bell to find out about our latest Videos And yeah we'll see you for next Run testers video [Music]
