A giant in sports retail, Decathlon sells affordable products through its in-house brands. Kipsta is one of the best known and forms Decathlon’s football division.
As part of a big push at the elite end of the game, Kipsta now manufactures the official match ball for Ligue 1, Ligue 2, the Europa League and Europa Conference League. Decathlon’s emphasis on affordability can be seen in its football boots, with Kipsta’s range promising to offer elite level performance at a fraction of the price of the best football boots.
I tried the Kipsta Viralto IV Pro, the brand’s kangaroo leather boot and was thoroughly impressed by what is, in my opinion, one of, if not the, best value football boots currently available.
Kipsta Viralto 4 Premium Leather review
The use of natural leather in football boots is slowly being phased out with brands increasingly opting to use synthetics. Puma and Nike have stopped using it altogether and Adidas has significantly reduced its use. As a result, the best leather football boots, particularly kangaroo leather, occupy a much rarer place in the market than at any point in the past.
The upper on the Kipsta Viralto IV Pro is made up of soft kangaroo leather in the forefoot and towards the midfoot, with a synthetic material towards the heel area and a knit to house the lacing. It’s a mix similar to that of recent Adidas Copa iterations.
Out of the box, the leather is soft and the boots take no time to break in. One of the biggest compliments I can pay the boots is that on the first wear, they feel as if they have already been worn a few times. The leather part of the construction bears a physical resemblance to the Nike Tiempo Legend 6, one of the best-ever generations of one of the best leather (until this year) models around.
With this comes the nice soft touch on the ball that only leather can provide. The synthetic that makes up the rest of the boot does the job, but does not feel as high in quality as some used in similarly mixed material pairs. It’s not a major problem given the quality of leather that makes up most of the boot, but it’s a small area for improvement. I found the transition between the two materials far from seamless.
The soleplate is simple and does a good enough job. It features conical studs throughout and is relatively flexible overall with some good stiffness where needed thanks to the Dual Hardness tech used by Kipsta.
Like the best firm ground football boots, this boot is best for natural grass, but this soleplate shouldn’t pose any extra injury risk on artificial grass despite a little bit of stud pressure when I wore these on a slightly lower quality, older AG pitch. I think these would be absolutely fine on a newer AG pitch with a little more depth to it – though I’d still always recommend looking at the best football boots for astro turf around if you play the majority of your football on that surface.
For Kipsta, half sizes within a size (e.g. an 8.5 vs 8) are sometimes only different in terms of width and you have to go up a size entirely for a difference in length. What this will mean in practice will vary depending on foot type and preference, but I would recommend wearing a pair a half size smaller than your usual in terms of length. If you’re looking for the best football boots for wide feet, though, opting for a slightly larger size might help.
The Kipsta Viralto IV Pro is pretty wide fitting so if you do have slim feet then the unique sizing style means you may have to sacrifice on length for a tighter fit, though this boot will be wide enough for most. Kipsta also offer a unique ‘XP’ number to indicate how many uses a pair can be expected to last. The Viralto IV Pro bears a 95 XP.
Of course, one of the most eye-catching things about the Kispta Viralto IV Pro is the price. These retail for around £90, making them comfortably one of the best football boots under £100. By comparison, other leather options available include the Adidas Copa Pure 2 Elite at £200, Umbro Tocco IV Pro at £220 and the classic Adidas Copa Mundial at £150.
At the very top end of the price scale are Mizuno Morelia II Made in Japan leather that will cost you north of £300. After wearing these, I would say that if you are looking for a new pair of leather football boots, the Kipsta Viralto IV Pro should be near the top of your list unless you’re looking for the very best money can buy.
I thoroughly enjoyed wearing them and they have quickly become part of my regular rotation. Boots such as the New Balance 442 V2, Adidas Copa Gloro and Nike Premier 3 offer a similar experience around the same price point but the Viralto IV Pro is either cheaper or simply better than all of these.
Two things we are seeing less of in the football boot market is affordability and natural leather. The Kipsta Viralto IV Pro has both of these and that makes it a pair that should be on the radar of many people who may never have even heard of it.
I was first able to try them briefly during FourFourTwo’s visit to the Decathlon’s Kipstadium HQ and I don’t think I have ever been as surprised by a pair as I was by these. They punch well above their weight and if there is a better value for money football boot available, I haven’t tried them yet.
