Nike Mercurial Vapor Elite XIII football boot review

Nike. Mercurial. Vapor. These three little words will always have us dreaming of amazing things. The gloriously smooth original Ronaldo step over, ghosting past a defender prime Henry style, and firing a free-kick into the top corner a la Ronaldo vs Portsmouth. Some boots come and go without a trace but the Mercurials, Nike’s longest-serving silo, will live long in our memories. The question is; are the new Nike Mercurial Vapor XIII Elites the best football boots ever created?

Are Nike’s Mercurial Vapor Elite VIII football boots worth buying?

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Appearance – 10/10

Who doesn’t love a blackout boot? For us, blackout football boots will always scream absolute class. And these Nike Mercurials are no exception. They’re sleek, understated and utterly beautiful.

They have a classic black base that shows off the criss-cross of the Flyknit and glints as the light crosses it. The classic Nike swoosh is positioned on the outside of the boot, merging with the sole and never quite joining at the end. This swoosh may look a little plain to the untrained eye but on closer inspection you can see it has a cool iridescent effect with greens, blues and purples peeking through as your viewing angle changes.

Under the swoosh is the MERC branding starting on the sole and creeping its way towards the heel. It’s backed by various Mercurial tag lines. These are all black so they’re subtle but a nice touch.

Sitting on the inside, in the same shimmering material as the swoosh, is the MERC branding alongside a classic Nike Sportwear logo in an incognito black. ‘Just Do It’ runs from beside the logo onto the split sole plate (more on that later) and is backed by some subtle text quoting various Mercurial tag lines as well as ‘Nike Football’ in multiple languages.

Design – 9/10

The Mercurial Vapor XIIIs are built on the success of the Vapor XIIs. They make full use of the 360-degree Flyknit construction that wraps the whole way around the foot and the split sole design that made the previous Vapors so popular.

New to the Vapor XIIIs are Nike’s ‘high tenacity yarn’ that are designed to keep the upper soft and pliable, whilst adding some extra stability and strength. This is a massive improvement on their predecessor and the Mercurial 13s hit the sweet spot when it comes to fit and feel. They’re just like that one piece of underwear that you wear way too often but feels oh so right and delightful.

Split soles are in. Nike uses them and Adidas have begun to use them again (yes, again.. think classic Predator Mania or Nike Vapor 3, 4 or 5). They’re nothing new and nothing special but they are the fashion. What’s puzzling is that a split sole isn’t split at all. A split sole is still a soleplate that runs from front to back as any other soleplate would, but on a ‘split’ sole plate the upper (360-degree Flyknit in this case) wraps around the actual sole plate and then the stud plates are attached separately. We do think that they look great though and they bring a suitably aggressive vibe to an aggressive stud configuration.

Features – 8/10

The Mercurial Vapors will always and forever be based on speed, alongside an as-close-as-possible touch and feel on the ball. And the Mercurial Vapor XIIIs are no different.

The previously mentioned 360-degree Flyknit upper is designed to wrap around your foot for a thin, secure sock-like fit. Whilst the NikeSkin overlay brings you close to the ball and, combined with ACC, ensures that even at top speeds your touch on the ball is immaculate. A one-piece inner lining and a soft padded heel provide extra comfort and lockdown.

The chassis within the soleplate is slightly stiffer than the Vapor 12s. Whilst this may sound negative it’s actually an improvement that focusses on increasing speed. The stiffer chassis with a forefoot plate featuring a Nike Aerowtrac zone snaps back into shape quicker which gives a more reactive, natural and free-moving feel. The studs are slightly longer than usual (we could all do with some extra length) and these offer a slightly more aggressive feel, but nothing you would notice instantly in a good or bad way.

Value for money 9/10

The Vapor Elites are top of the range boots. As the name suggests, they’re ‘Elite’ boots. Whilst we can’t promise your ability will match the name (ours certainly doesn’t) these are the best performing and most comfortable boots that we’ve tested to date. The Vapor XIIIs are exceptionally good value for money – especially considering the other boots available for a similar price.

Pro advocates – 10/10

We’ve chosen to feature the blackout colourways because they’re so damn sexy. But it’s very rare that you’ll find a professional footballer wearing blackouts. This is mainly because the branding is harder to notice and what kind of marketing strategy would that be? Money talks in football and Nike wants their brand as visible as possible on the pitch.

So whilst no big players are sporting the gorgeous blackouts on the pitch for the aforementioned brand reasons, its a testament to how amazing the Vapor 13 boots are that loads of top players are wearing them. They’re just wearing the bright colourful colourways rather than the sexy little black dress versions.

These crème de la crème players include Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe who wear the Mercurial Dream Speed colourways. In the Premier League you’ll spot them on Marcus Rashford, P-E Aubameyang and Tammy Abraham.

Final verdict on the Nike Mercurial Vapor Elite XIII football boots

When it comes to football boots it pays to be sceptical about specific feature claims, especially as many of them are invisible. After testing out the Mercurial Elites these might be the most comfortable, best-performing football boots we have ever tried. That’s right. The best-performing football boots we have ever tried. Ever. And we’ve tried a lot! Pair that with their beautifully sleek design and you absolutely can’t go wrong no matter what position you play.

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