Recovery boots are having a moment with athletes from multiple disciplines raving about them. Footballers Earling Haaland and Paul Pogba have been pictured using them, along with basketballers LeBron James and Kevin Durant, not forgetting tennis star Venus Williams. Outside of the sports sphere people are raving about them too, even rapper Drake has called his Normatec boots a lifesaver after his shows. Could they benefit me? I put the new Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots, $779.99/£779.99, to the test to find out…
What are Urevo’s World’s first AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots?
These Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots, have been designed to bring professional sports therapy to the masses. It’s their AI driven capabilities which make them stand out, with Urevo claiming that at $779.99/£779.99 they’ve been developed to match the performance of systems which cost over ten times more.
The compression recovery boots have built-in AI algorithms, which analyse your muscle condition in real time and automatically optimise pressure across each of your legs and adapt the pressure applied through your chosen session for effectiveness and targeted relief. As well as AI-Smart Massage technology, the boots feature a whopping 32 intelligent recovery modes.
Customisation is key with these boots and Smart Area Massage allowing users to easily tailor their sessions to specific muscle groups or to avoid sensitive areas. Real-time AI recovery visualisation lets you see, and keep track of your own muscle tension and improvements as you incorporate them into your daily life.
Designed for a range of users including runners, cyclists, skiers, surfers, gym-goers and team-sport athletes, the boots use a matrix airbag compression system and eight customisable deep-massage nodes to relieve stiffness, flush lactic acid, and ultimately accelerate recovery after sports and training. The system supports 80–180 mmHg pneumatic pressure, which is a broad range with 180 mmHg being something to build-up to for many people, including me.
Although high-pressure recovery modes are the name of the game with these pro-level pneumatic compression boots, and indeed what most people will buy them for, they also feature lots of modes for warm-up and relaxation, too. Additionally, the Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots also feature temperature-enhanced options, at 38°C, 43°C and 48°C, which further aids their therapeutic scope.
Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots: Design
Designed to fit users ranging from 160cm to 200cm the Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots feature a multi-zipper adjustment design. I’m 170cm in height and although they feel a little big, it hasn’t hindered their performance at all. In fact, the fact they suit an array of heights means they can be easily shared – they look the perfect size on my husband who is 187cm.
The exterior of the boots are made in a durable, lightweight and flexible fabric. High quality, as you’d expect to withstand the high-pressure pneumatic inflation, after two months of testing they still look brand new. They are lightweight at 4.2 kg and fold easily for storage, which also makes them great for travel.
Another design feature which adds to their portability is the detachable wireless controller that fits on to each boot – these are really easy to remove and re-attach. Each controller has an 5,000mAh battery, which delivers over four hours run time – I get around 4.5 hours, but obviously this will depend on what programmes etc. you use. Handily, the controllers also allow you to power other mobile devices – so if your smartphone or headphones need some juice, you can plug them in.
Something I really liked and didn’t expect from the Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots is how quiet they are in use. They operate at <65 dB, which isn’t disruptive and hasn’t stopped me binge watching my favourite series while testing.
Using Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots
The Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots are one of those products that just work, straight out of the box. I downloaded the Urevo app, connected the boots, connected to my WiFi and got the boots on and analysing the condition of my legs within five minutes. This initial analysis (done for each user, who can have a separate account) was especially helpful as it showed me straight away that I had a buildup of metabolic waste. As it was my first time using recovery boots the pressure applied during the analysis was a little startling, although not painful, but I did appreciate that the app shows you a big stop button to immediately cut the boots off, if the test is hurting you. I found it helpful and encouraging to revisit this analysis over the testing period as I was especially keen to see if blood circulation had improved and monitor my muscle fatigue after upping my weekly exercise.
Using the boots is a pleasurable experience and I’ve used them a lot more than I anticipated. For recovery, after football, horse riding, mountain biking and the gym, they have provided real relief and I’ve found it easy to find a program on the accompanying app to suit my needs. I really like that the Urevo app shows you each stage of the recovery session and that every program is customisable – personally I like as much heat as possible and I often like to increase the time too. The boots are so effective that, although I’m far from a pro athlete, I’ve found myself doing more exercise than I usually do, as I’m a lot less sore than normal, which obviously is the whole point. Full leg recovery has been perfect for me personally, but I think it’s great that smart area massage can skip sensitive areas or target thighs, calves etc.
Other than for recovery, I’ve used the Urevo boots a lot, which has been unexpected. If I have time, I love the warm ups to activate my muscles and I’ve found I start workouts feeling more ready and indeed more confident than normal. The relax modes are also well thought out – I’ve regularly used the 15 minute Work Pause mode on my break, which is great for getting rid of tension caused by sitting. My favourite relax mode though has to be Falling Asleep, which I use while reading at night – leg muscles soothed and it also provides a general feeling of relaxation.
Would I buy the Urevo AI-Powered Wireless Recovery Boots?
For my household, with both my husband and I sharing use of the boots, I feel they’d be a worthwhile investment. We’ve often both used them twice a day. As you can share them and use them for warming up, recovery and relaxation, I feel they are worth their $779.99/£779.99 price point, too.
