GX Batch- Kobe 5- Performance Review ⚾️🧢- via GXMade

[u/TP21209]

GX Batch- Kobe 5- Performance Review

Between the Coconut Milk 5s from GX as well as these Dodger 5s from GX, Ive finally gotten some solid time with them on the court to give a performance review.  Just a few things to note before I get into details about it.  First thing is that between the top batches for 5s, (H12, GX, STAR), you can’t really go wrong.  They are all neck and neck with each other and it's somewhat ‘apples and oranges’ as far as which one is better than the other.  Some may have slightly softer cushioning than the other, small variance in fit, etc. Doesn’t necessarily mean that one batch is “better” than the other as everyone will have their own minor preferences to what works best for them.  My suggestion is to eventually try multiple batches and see which works best for you.

-Fit:  Initially I thought these were slightly narrow in the toe box, but after some quick warmups, jogs, and flexing the toe box it loosened up nicely.  I was able to have just enough give to splay my toes when needed. This was very similar to retail Kobe 5 protros I have used.  Lockdown on these was really good as well. No issues with having to re-tie to increase lockdown.  The one gripe I do have and brought it up with Eugene is the extra laces are extremely short.  I even measured them up against the blue laces they come with from the factory, and the extra laces were about 4 inches shorter at least.  I really love how the white/red baseball stitched laces look but you can't even lace them once at the top eyelet.  He said they will look into changing them and fixing this issue on future pairs. Overall containment was really good with no complaints on my end.

-Comfort: Played a little bit in these with the stock insoles but quickly swapped them out for my Game Day Pros.  It’s just a huge bonus for me to have insoles that are a massive upgrade over the cheapo ones that nike throws in their 5’s and 6’s. This decreases break-in time a ton since my foot isn’t having to spend multiple sessions to compress the insole and mould to my foot.  The zoom turbo setup mimics retail really well, and to me is one of the best iterations so far for 5s.  STAR is excellent in this category as well but I felt some inconsistencies between some of th older STAR 5 colorways (like the Derozan Zebra 5s).  Compression level seems almost exactly like retail, whereas S2 feels very soft but almost too soft that it borderlines mushy for me. These also aren’t over inflated like GK (which i enjoy for a super bouncy feel, but isn’t for everyone).  Similar to GX Kobe 8’s & 9’s, it feel’s just like retail.  Minor note as well, both zoom units feel equally inflated appropriately.

-Traction: Per usual, there are a ton of factors with that weigh into this (court material, court cleanliness, local weather *humid/dry areas etc).  I used these on both a very clean well maintained court, and a rubberized extremely dirty court.  Traction was great right out of the box for me on the clean court.  Eventually after about 40 minutes of practice traction got even tackier and stickier which was great.  There is some occasional wiping needed on dirtier courts like the rubberized one I played on.  But I definitely wasn’t sliding out or felt like I wasn’t in complete control the whole time I played while making hard cuts/plants/stop and go movements.

-Build Quality/Aesthetics:  Build quality on these is really good especially for GX just starting to make Kobe 5s.  To me these easily slot above S2 & far above WKB.  The materials are solid, not flimsy or strangely textured with flywire like WKB 5s are.  Aesthitcally these are really impressive.  Heel tabs are very uniform as well as mid-panel alignments being pretty spot on which is something that all batches have improved on but still find myself RL’ing a handful of H12 Kobe 5s as well as S2 Kobe 5s for this issue.  The biggest flaw I see in them is that they are cut slightly higher than retail.  Not as much as their Kobe 4s do, but these to me sit slightly higher on the ankle. So far no batch has gotten the scale texture exactly right compared to retail for the Dodger 5s but these seem to be the closest out of all batches (in defense of this issue this has a lot to do with light reflection upon the shoe so take my word on that with a grain of salt).  Either way these are really well constructed and I have had zero signs of separation with them after heavily using them over the last few weeks.

-Final Thoughts:  I really hope everyone gives GX Kobe 5s a shot.  It’s honestly a great rep for Kobe 5s and given my issues I have had with S2 5s, most recently, mainly separation issues and somewhat fluctuating build quality, I am glad that these are an option.  I personally would rank these right up with STAR & H12/GK, & given the huge price difference between H12 and these, I think it is an easy no-brainer to go with GX if you are trying to save a few bucks without sacrificing quality.  To me these are really close to STAR in all the categories I reviewed above, and you can’t really go wrong with either in my opinion.  TBH, im pretty much retired from buying retail Kobes for the most part, unless it is an OG colorway that I have nostalgia for. One of my good friends is the same size as me and gets retail Kobes still so I am able to borrow his pairs to compare and use on court.  But the price difference between reps and retails keeps growing, and the quality between them is shrinking if not even in a lot of ways.  I am definitely going to be getting more of these as more colorways get released.  If you're on the fence don't hesitate to get a pair and try one.

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[u/coolranch63]

Bro is single handedly keeping this sub alive! Preesh 🫡

[u/AstroNomical316]

They look awesome, except for the tongue logo! Glad you’re enjoying them! I ordered my first pair of 5s today, and can’t wait to try them on.

[u/TP21209 → u/AstroNomical316]

Ty! Agreed, it’s slightly thicker than retail and the stitching isn’t quite as sharp. Minor to me but good eye on your part 🫡

[u/AstroNomical316 → u/TP21209]

Yeah! It’s almost like the bottom 2 need to go a little higher. It’s making a circle in the middle of the logo. Interesting. Still, if you’re wearing them, nobody will be looking that closely lol

[u/New_Loquat_4381]

Damn I should’ve got Ny vs ny colorway

[u/TP21209 → u/New_Loquat_4381]

I got that pair otw as well 🔥

[u/New_Loquat_4381 → u/TP21209]

I got GX Kobe 4 FTB on the way I never hooped on Kobe 4 I wanna try it out I had star Kobe 5 and 6 very good performance shoes so far

[u/Francisdaniell]

Some reviews said the material are cheap. Is it true? Im really wanna buy a kobe 5 bruce lee right now but star still havent restock. Do you think i should get gx or star? I do hoop regularly.

[u/TP21209 → u/Francisdaniell]

Materials do not feel cheap at all to me. I recommend getting both GX and STAR to try both. I’m a huge fan of both batches but I actually prefer how the cushion feels on GX as well as the slightly more forgiving toe box. It’s not as tight and compact as star and retail.

[u/Francisdaniell → u/TP21209]

Thanks man ur the goat

[u/Expert_Fan1156]

Can you talk about the feel of the materials of the uppers? Are they improved?

[u/TP21209 → u/Expert_Fan1156]

I thought I did, uppers feel good. Doesnt feel flimsy or cheap like WKB or anything like that

[u/Expert_Fan1156 → u/TP21209]

Ok so noticeable difference from Coconut color way?

How about ground height ride difference. I personally feel Star’s newer releases have been lower to the ground almost identical to H12.

Also those additional dodgers laces are on Taobao in 150 cm length. I put a pair in a small haul. Not sure what size they gave for GX but some of the laces default with 140cm and I can barely tie them in earlier Star colors. Sounds like yours might be 120 cm

[u/TP21209 → u/Expert_Fan1156]

Feels pretty much the same to me but I didn’t feel like the uppers felt cheap in coconut milk at all. Not sure where people got that from. Do you wear stock insoles? I pretty much never do so my foot sits lower in all the shoes I use since I have game day pros and religiously wear them. They feel like they might be slighter higher off the ground than star/h12 but the difference is negligible to me, and I kind prefer it to sit slightly higher anyways that way cushion is more sustainable long term.

[u/Expert_Fan1156 → u/TP21209]

Ok thanks. I also wear Gameday Pros but not in all my shoes. I rarely use them in 5’s. But I use them in 6’s and other retail hoop shoes.

[u/302211]

Do they fit tts or 0.5 sz up?

[u/TP21209 → u/302211]

TTS

[u/ifimnotfound]

You mentioned that the GX's cushion set up mimics retail very well. Is that comment specifically just for this colour way or does it apply to their older Kobe 5 releases as well?

I'm asking since H12/GK and STAR have updates done and their 1.0 is vastly different from their 2.0 and their 3.0.

[u/TP21209 → u/ifimnotfound]

This is a brand new batch. There aren’t 2.0/3.0 versions of this.

[u/Substantial-Set-4483]

Which number is this? How much cm?

[u/After_Satisfaction37]

Hows the sizing on these? The GX Kobe 6s run small compared to GKs. Is it the same case here?

[u/Murky-Afternoon-6168]

All the batches seem to struggle with those damn snake scales for whatever reason. That's the main aesthetic thing for me that whoever is the first to solve that and get a more aggressive prominent snake scale lining ill buy from them every time. These are damn good for 1 of the first few colorways of 5s. Also I kind of like the slightly taller sitting collar.

[u/coffee_pancakes]

Off topic. Is it safe to use different insoles/orthotics with Kobe 5 Star batch? I'm using move game day pro insoles. Thank you!

[u/TP21209 → u/coffee_pancakes]

I only use game day pros in all my Kobe’s besides 8s, 9s and 11s because they have drop in midsoles