Sardines
Hall of Fame
I just played some doubles with the new just released 2025 Sonicage, the replacement to the Sonicage 3 in Tokyo. The store literally got stock this morning, so it was fresh off the truck and box, and on to the court. I got the men's SHTSCMA version, but esthetically really preferred the women's version which is all white upper, logo included.
I normally walk about a mile in new shoes to break them in, because the Sonicage 3 needed a bit of break in, with its PU upper. The new Sonicage has mesh on the top of the forefoot area, blending into the apparently much thinner PU cage, and as before, has a mesh layer underneath with a cushion layer inside the shoe. The design reminded me of the Ubersonic 4 upper, but slightly thicker with more texture and design, and more durability elements. It looks like a slight beefed up Ad Accel. I decided to just play in the new shoes.
The lacing system extends further down the forefoot area, which gave me a bit of pause, since I had serious discomfort with the Ubersonic 4 on 5th metatarsal, something I had to use a serious shoe stretcher to make tolerable. I had some discomfort with the Eclipsion/Fusion Rev 5 as well, but that was alleviated by skipping the 2nd lateral lace hole. There is no extra hole at the collar to do a runner's knot but the uppers do close up very well when laced up.
The shank is a little longer, but disappears into the outsole, unlike the previous SC3, where the shank could be seen on the medial outsole.
So how did it perform? Fitwise, it feels more spacious than the SC3, Ad Accel or Eclipsion 5. It is listed as a 3E width, and fits my D foot spaciously without being too loose. It loosened up quickly, so I had to recinch the laces about 20 mins into play. For people with wider and fuller feet, I suspect there will be a 20-40 minute break-in period.
The padded tongue is comfortable, and the support from the uppers can be comfortably felt on the arches, when tied tight, unlike the Ubersonic thinly padded tongue, where you could feel the laces. Initially, I did feel a little pressure from the uppers pressing on my V metatarsal, because of how it bends in the upper, but that dissipated quickly as it wore in. Stability while serve volleying and scrambling for wide shots was good, but not like the wider outsoled maximalist E5. Heel stability was good and effective. While I never felt insecure, I had that same airy feel as the SC3, vs the snug security of a runner's knot shoe like the other Yonex shoes. On sprints for drop or wide shots, the shoe felt light enough but not as springy as the AA. Cushioning is very good, feeling more firm than cloud like cushion like the Diadora Blushield. The feel is very much in the middle, comfortable, and not a low to ground competition grinder.
The Yonex rubber is still the grippy and squeaky outsole, and I sort of now use the squeaking to gauge my footwork. After 2 hours of rigorous doubles, the outsole showed a little wear, but that was the same with the SC3 and AA, which turned out to have below average outsole durability for speed shoes, especially compared to the Diadora Speed Fly 3/4. The outsole of the SC3/AA were actually thicker than the Speed Flys by a few 10ths mm, but wore faster in use. I also should add the newer design of front outsoles have a gentle curved front medial/big toe area, is a little annoying to toe draggers like myself, as that is a major wear point for me, besides the lateral side of the outsole from stopping. Adidas has a more squarish profile, which gives a bit more rubber to wear through.
The upper held up ok, with minimal scuffing from my occasional left foot top of toe and medial side drag. It is definitely thinner than the SC3's PU cage, so sliders beware, this is not a shoe with an upper that will stand up to medial side heavy hard court dragging abuse. The only thing I couldn't ascertain is ventilation. Mind you, it is in the low 50s in Tokyo now, so any ventilation review is more about my toes being colder in the Sonicage than my CG1s. So by that, one can deduce it has very decent ventilation to let all that cold air in.
Overall, I think the shoe is a slightly beefed up Ad Accel, with D+/2E wide feet in mind. Note there is a wide version, which is 4E. It's a shoe I'd use to travel with, doing double duty as a white sneaker, and casual tennis play. I would not use it in competition, because it's doesn't have the sock like snug fit I like to feel secure and go all out with, as I get with other speed oriented shoes like the Ad Accel, Speed Flys etc. This is down to the lack of a 2nd hole for a runner's knot in the collar. I burned through the SC3 in less than 1.5 months of casual play, so even at $65, it was not a great deal. I bought these at around $80, and it uses the Endurance rubber compound of the SC3/AA, and not the Endurance II of the E5. So I won't be buying these unless they are on sale under $65. Hopefully my next trip to Tokyo, they'll be on sale.
I normally walk about a mile in new shoes to break them in, because the Sonicage 3 needed a bit of break in, with its PU upper. The new Sonicage has mesh on the top of the forefoot area, blending into the apparently much thinner PU cage, and as before, has a mesh layer underneath with a cushion layer inside the shoe. The design reminded me of the Ubersonic 4 upper, but slightly thicker with more texture and design, and more durability elements. It looks like a slight beefed up Ad Accel. I decided to just play in the new shoes.
The lacing system extends further down the forefoot area, which gave me a bit of pause, since I had serious discomfort with the Ubersonic 4 on 5th metatarsal, something I had to use a serious shoe stretcher to make tolerable. I had some discomfort with the Eclipsion/Fusion Rev 5 as well, but that was alleviated by skipping the 2nd lateral lace hole. There is no extra hole at the collar to do a runner's knot but the uppers do close up very well when laced up.
The shank is a little longer, but disappears into the outsole, unlike the previous SC3, where the shank could be seen on the medial outsole.
So how did it perform? Fitwise, it feels more spacious than the SC3, Ad Accel or Eclipsion 5. It is listed as a 3E width, and fits my D foot spaciously without being too loose. It loosened up quickly, so I had to recinch the laces about 20 mins into play. For people with wider and fuller feet, I suspect there will be a 20-40 minute break-in period.
The padded tongue is comfortable, and the support from the uppers can be comfortably felt on the arches, when tied tight, unlike the Ubersonic thinly padded tongue, where you could feel the laces. Initially, I did feel a little pressure from the uppers pressing on my V metatarsal, because of how it bends in the upper, but that dissipated quickly as it wore in. Stability while serve volleying and scrambling for wide shots was good, but not like the wider outsoled maximalist E5. Heel stability was good and effective. While I never felt insecure, I had that same airy feel as the SC3, vs the snug security of a runner's knot shoe like the other Yonex shoes. On sprints for drop or wide shots, the shoe felt light enough but not as springy as the AA. Cushioning is very good, feeling more firm than cloud like cushion like the Diadora Blushield. The feel is very much in the middle, comfortable, and not a low to ground competition grinder.
The Yonex rubber is still the grippy and squeaky outsole, and I sort of now use the squeaking to gauge my footwork. After 2 hours of rigorous doubles, the outsole showed a little wear, but that was the same with the SC3 and AA, which turned out to have below average outsole durability for speed shoes, especially compared to the Diadora Speed Fly 3/4. The outsole of the SC3/AA were actually thicker than the Speed Flys by a few 10ths mm, but wore faster in use. I also should add the newer design of front outsoles have a gentle curved front medial/big toe area, is a little annoying to toe draggers like myself, as that is a major wear point for me, besides the lateral side of the outsole from stopping. Adidas has a more squarish profile, which gives a bit more rubber to wear through.
The upper held up ok, with minimal scuffing from my occasional left foot top of toe and medial side drag. It is definitely thinner than the SC3's PU cage, so sliders beware, this is not a shoe with an upper that will stand up to medial side heavy hard court dragging abuse. The only thing I couldn't ascertain is ventilation. Mind you, it is in the low 50s in Tokyo now, so any ventilation review is more about my toes being colder in the Sonicage than my CG1s. So by that, one can deduce it has very decent ventilation to let all that cold air in.
Overall, I think the shoe is a slightly beefed up Ad Accel, with D+/2E wide feet in mind. Note there is a wide version, which is 4E. It's a shoe I'd use to travel with, doing double duty as a white sneaker, and casual tennis play. I would not use it in competition, because it's doesn't have the sock like snug fit I like to feel secure and go all out with, as I get with other speed oriented shoes like the Ad Accel, Speed Flys etc. This is down to the lack of a 2nd hole for a runner's knot in the collar. I burned through the SC3 in less than 1.5 months of casual play, so even at $65, it was not a great deal. I bought these at around $80, and it uses the Endurance rubber compound of the SC3/AA, and not the Endurance II of the E5. So I won't be buying these unless they are on sale under $65. Hopefully my next trip to Tokyo, they'll be on sale.
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