Allbirds has become one of the most successful shoe brands of the past five
years and they've exploded so much in popularity that now even Amazon is
ripping them off. In this review what I'm going to do is I'm going to go over my
favorite features of the Allbirds shoes, how my pair of Allbirds have held up
not only over the past six months, but I also have a pair that are one year old
and another pair that are now two years old, so we'll be comparing and
contrasting all three pairs to see how these shoes hold up over a very long
period of time. I'll then take you through some things I don't like about
Allbirds and then finally my recommendation on whether or not you
should buy yourself a pair of Allbirds. Let's dive in. I tend to hate
uncomfortable shoes and I'll typically value comfort over style most of the
time, heck I'm, right now, trying to figure out how to work Allbirds at my wedding
much to my fiance and family's dismay, so when I finally found out about Allbirds,
I was so happy that I felt like I finally found this pair of shoes that
were comfortable that I could not only wear into the office but I could wear
outside, I could wear for a walk, I could basically wear them for almost any
occasion. I got my pair of Allbirds in 2017 soon after the brand launched. They
have a variety of colors and styles and even more so now than when I first got
my pair of Allbirds and they come in size 14 which is great since that's the
size I wear and not everyone who makes shoes makes them in that size. My first
impression of the shoes when I first put them on was that wearing them was like
walking on clouds/ I didn't need to wait to break them in, they were just
instantly comfortable from the moment I put them on. The thing that really blew
my mind about my first pair of Allbirds was these were wool shoes, like you know
wool? The gross material that you make Christmas sweaters out of, it's not a
great material, well at least here in the United States, wool as a material is
something that most people try to avoid, they don't go towards it. But, it turns out
that the wool most of us here in the US are used to is
not the same type of wool that Allbirds are made out of. Allbirds uses a
proprietary blend of merino wool for their shoes that is breathable so your
feet won't get super clammy, but also insulating, so they're okay for wearing
during the cooler months. Now these aren't boots, so your feet are going to
get cold when you start wearing all birds in below freezing temperatures,
however I will say that these shoes are much more insulating than your
run-of-the-mill sneaker, like a Nike mesh sneaker now when I first got my pair of
Allbirds, I started wearing these things everywhere. I wore them to the office, I
wore them taking a stroll in downtown Raleigh, I took them on trips to
Australia, New Zealand, San Francisco, and Austin Texas. I wore these things
everywhere and in every single scenario they were great and especially on
airplanes. You know when you're on an airplane, this is a situation where
you're going to want your feet to feel as comfortable as possible
and because Allbirds are the types of shoes that your feet are really never
gonna feel uncomfortable in, they are perfect for traveling on an airplane.
Another cool thing about Allbirds is they can be worn barefoot and have
properties that fight foot odor within the wool material. They're also washable
so if they do start to smell you can just throw them in the washing machine.
In the two years I've had my wool runners I can't recall situation where I
felt like these shoes didn't meet my expectations. Now after two years of wear
though, I will say that the treads on the bottom of the shoes have worn down quite
a bit to the point where I can no longer were these shoes on slippery surfaces
Allbirds just recently released Mizzles, which are made for performance
in the rain not only are the Mizzles water repellent, but it looks like
Allbirds has improved the treads on these shoes as well
to give you better grip. So after I got my first pair of Allbirds I ended up
getting another pair the next year and this year I got my first pair of the
tree runners. Instead of using wool, the tree runners are made using a
proprietary blend of eucalyptus pulp. They're just as comfortable as the wool
runners I wear, the only difference being that they're a little bit more airy and
breezy, so they're perfect for situations like walking in a downtown environment
when it's 90 degrees outside and humid. Alright now let's dive deeper into the
durability of these shoes. After two years of wear, my wool runners do look
worn down compared to when I first got them. The rubber at the bottom of the
shoe definitely wears down over time at least for my original wool runners so
that the grip is not as good and the cushion of the shoe has been reduced as
well there is also an occasional popping
noise on the heel of my right grace shoe now and I think that the heel support on
it has finally started to give way. For my second pair of wool runners that I
got last year, the material doesn't pop as much as it did when I first got them.
I think the gray blend color actually looks a bit better over time than my
blue wool runners do. After six months of use, my blue tree runners still look
great and I think this material in general will hold up a bit better than
the wool material they also seem to have an improved heel support system so I'm
hopeful I won't run into the same issues with my original wool runners with the
tree runners. Now let's talk about some things I don't like about Allbirds and
the first being the price. At $95 a shoe, $95 a shoe, that would be expensive...at
$95 a pair these shoes are just out of range for so many folks out there who
typically only spend about $40 to $60 per pair of shoes that
they typically wear day in and day out, I really would like to see Allbirds try
and make a shoe at a lower price point in that forty to sixty dollar range
especially as they continue to hit economies of scale with their production.
I think one, it would hedge off a lot of these low cost knockoffs that you're
seeing come onto the market right now and two, it would just open up the Allbirds
brand to many more people so they can experience for themselves
what it's like to wear the world's most comfortable shoe.
Another thing that I've run into with my tree runners that I've disliked slightly
is actually the new heel design, it incorporates merino wool into the heel
but for some reason I find that this material pills quite easily which can be
slightly annoying when rubbing against my heal. The tree runner material also
shows cutouts in the material so you can see the area of protection for your big
toe and it's slightly a different color than the surrounding area of material.
I'm not sure why that is but it is slightly noticeable. Now the last thing I
dislike about my pair of Allbirds is the treads on the bottom. I think they
wear a little bit too quickly and overall I think these could be designed
to grip surfaces a little bit better. The newly released Mizzles should improve
that grip design and I hope thatAllbirds takes the learnings there and
improves the treads on all of their shoes. Alright so to wrap things up, do I
recommend getting a pair of Allbirds? The answer to that question is yes,
even with all the downsides to the brand, the pricing, and the shoes themselves
that I just mentioned earlier, most of those I thought were minor and that
still doesn't erase the fact that these are the most comfortable pair of shoes I
have worn thus far. I can wear them into the office, I can wear them for pretty
much any occasion except perhaps my wedding, I can wear them with socks,
without socks, and they're machine washable very breathable and just
all-around great shoes. Plus, one thing I haven't mentioned so far is that Allbirds
are made using sustainable materials which is actually something
that sets this brand apart from most other shoe brands out there.
Sustainability is something really important to Allbirds and it shows an
every material choice they make. So if sustainably made products is important
to you and it probably should be somewhat important to you since you know,
we all have to share the earth than what not, know that Allbirds is one of the
most sustainable shoes you can buy out on the market today. If you're sold on
getting a pair of Allbirds but are still unsure about which material of
shoe is right for you, here are some of my
recommendations: if you know you're going to be wearing these shoes a lot in hot
weather or even mildly warm weather and making sure that you get enough air
circulation throughout your shoe is something that's very important to you,
then I would say go with the tree runner material. Now if you're planning on
wearing these shoes in a lot of situations where they could potentially
get soaked, obviously the Mizzles are going to be
the type of shoe to go for. For all other scenarios, my recommendation would be to
go with the merino wool material. It's comfortable, it's still pretty breathable,
just not as breathable as the tree runner materia,l and all around it makes
a fantastic shoe. Alright well that wraps up our long-term review of Allbirds
shoes. If you liked this video, make sure you hit that thumbs up button below and
subscribe to the channel if you'd like to see more product review videos like
this one. Well thanks so much for watching, for 6 Months Later, I'm Josh
Teder.