First impression: Asics Jetray Elite

Asics claims that it is more suitable to call Jetray as an “upgrade from X-Fly Pro.” Getting clear on what the “upgrade” means is important in order to understand the relationship between the two products. One, the upgrade can mean that the same ideas and philosophy but rebuilt with new interpretation or design, so same form different content; or two, some of the ideas are taken out as the prominent ones and rebuild the product in an extreme way to carry out these ideas more significantly (and at the same time the other ideas in previous design are sacrificed and gone.) In the context of Jetray Elite, I think it's quite obvious that Asics is doing the latter one. And sorry I forgot to take more pictures for the details.

    Asics remakes the Jetray Elite as the brandnew speed silo in replacement of X-Fly Pro 3. Of course, the X-Fly Pro always has speed element in it but does not take away other ideas coming from the whole DS Light series, which means X-Fly Pro is more of a reinterpretation of the DS Light X-Fly with more speed boots aspect than a whole different model. We can still see more tradition aspects in X-Fly Pro such as the leather material and the emphasis on touch and softness with such material. Now Jetray Elite can take as much speed element as Asics wants it to have. In other words, Jetray Elite does not “beat” X-Fly Pro 3 in the style of X-Fly Pro but creates a different path from the original X-Fly Pro series.

The upper material Silkywrap Lite may look like it's just Silkywrap but lighter. However, when actually having the boots on feet it does feel a bit different from Silkywrap. Very difficult to explain in words but it seems to me that it does not have the same kind of softness and ever so slightly feels thinner. The cage structurer also makes the upper feels less leather like compared to the stitching patterns from X-Fly Pro 3. Do notice that the cage does not cover whole upper (recall Mizuno Alpha 1) but leaves out some spaces for areas where the feet touch the ball and where the folding of the upper happen the most, such as the base of big toe and the instep. And when the upper is bent or folded, the cage does not get in the way or cause any discomfort. I do have an impulse to compare these with the old Nike Vapors which had Teijin synthetic leather, but I don’t have any pair so can’t do anything about this thought.

The soleplate has an obvious change that it now has two sections: forefoot area covering the toe area (black part) and the rest of the soleplate. Asics claims that they made the former section easy to bend and the latter section has strong rigidity for support. If my understanding is correct then this makes sure that the soleplate can bend at ergonomically correct point. Also, the fact that it’s easier to bend does not mean it lacks rebound. But that since it’s easier to bend and has good bounce back making the soleplate works corresponding to human’s feet. (Ah yes, they have done sports science tests blah blah blah) My understanding is that this philosophy is different from Mizuno’s Alpha. Alpha aims to improve speed performance by adding additional technology (KaRVO) and by which you can feel resistance when bending the soleplate because the force of KaRVO plate trying to return to the original form is strong. Jetray Elite, however, emphasizes more on the coordination with the original human body movements. Thus, based on my experience it does not bring about the same amount of pressure on joints as much as the Alpha would. I can say I personally prefer the philosophy of Asics’s Jetray Elite instead of Mizuno Alpha (lmao never like them.)

There is another change on the soleplate that is difficult to see but now the studs are closer to the edge of the soleplate (besides the obvious change of the triangular studs on the toe area). It seems to me that this change is meant to create a wider base underneath the foot when the studs are gripping on the ground which would help the stability and balancing while sprinting or running on field. However, the 4th stud on the lateral side has some stud pressure onto my lateral arch which does not happen with X-Fly Pro 3.

The stud pattern is not the only thing that becomes wider. The fit in general also feels wider. On X-Fly Pro 3 the wrap around feels of the upper comes from the side of the foot; on the new Jetray Elite the wrap around feel goes the opposite direction. It now feels like from top of the foot to the side of the foot, creating a low-profile but horizontally wide shape. This new shape allows (1) that the toes can separate and grip in the boots, which is natural and common when we sprinting ;(2) the low-profile setup can still provide good lockdowns and the fit to the foot without sacrificing the width (if you ever wear shoes with too much volume between the space above the toes and instep you can prob understand what I am trying to say.) This change is probably my favorite part of the boots. The fit around the ankle has also been improved. On X-Fly Pro 3, it tends to have a small gap on the last lacing hole on the lateral side. Not anything crucial but derbies or rubber pullets may get into the boots more easily. Jetray Elite does not have this small gap anymore. As a whole the change on fit is probably my favorite part of the new model.

But lastly there is one major issue that stops me from wearing the boots (thus perhaps I won’t do a longer review on Jetray Elite). The heel in static wearing fits nice but when I start to move around especially when the boots are bent (like the form during sprinting,) it creates an obvious pressure on the area above my heel bone where the material and shape of heel structure “hook” on my heel. I do not dare to move with intensity due the discomfort. I usually wear size JP 27cm/ US 9/ EU 42.5 and Jetray Elite I believe JP 26.5cm fits me the best in static state. However, this size causes the heel discomfort when the foot is bending. I also tried the normal size 27cm which didn’t have the heel discomfort, but it lost the fit and lock down 26.5 has. I believe that I run between sizes for some Asics models like the previous Ultrezza 3 I have similar feeling. Maybe the HG 5mm model will fit me better (didn't manage to try these) but the price at the moment is higher than what I would take. Let’s just hope that they will eventually have a good discount in near future.

The new Jetray Elite does feel quite different from X-Fly Pro 3 on feet but at the same time retains some traits of the predecessor. If you already have X-Fly Pro 3 that still works well, I don’t see an immediate interest of buying Jetray Elite. But if your X-Fly Pro 3 has retired and you are looking for a new pair with more “speed boot elements” or if you just want to experience the new flagship model from Asics, then Jetray Elite certainly is a good product. If it were not for the heel issue, after the disappointments towards Nike Vapor 17 and Superfly 11, Jetray Elite would probably be one of my favorites and the best speed boot model of 2026.