I hope this is a good introduction to leather for Gen Z and may perhaps spark a newfound demand for leather, allowing adidas to develop full leather boots in the future outside of their heritage Copa Mundial line. Despite this downward trend, brands still keep their line of leather boots within their ranks to point to their storied past and display their long history within the boot category. This explains why adidas still produces the adidas Copa Mundial, one of the legendary leather boots from the 70s. However, it is increasingly difficult to market the Copa Mundial and their leather boots to a generation that has never even experienced a proper leather boot like an adidas Predator from the 90s to early 2000s. Senseframe a nice improvement of the Exoframe; external heel counter is solid and looks cool with the wavy design; soleplate itself has good rigidity in the midfoot, and the forefoot is very flexible, even softer than that of the Predator or Nemeziz; not as responsive as the X Ghosted Carbitex Speedframe; overall feels a lot like the soleplate of the New Balance Tequila

Reinforcing overlay on the elastic Primeknit tongue is improved; has pieces of breaks that allow the Primeknit to stretch width-wise but not necessarily length-wise; good for providing enough midfoot compression and not being too restrictive

7 Things About the Copa Sense You’ll Want to Know:

It's a surprise, too, that they're quite so good for that. The Predator is most associated with raking balls, yet the Copa Sense is extremely adept at taking the sting out of a heavy pass and returning it deftly. However, I am genuinely curious to see if this will be a commercial success for adidas. Leather boot enthusiasts are usually in the 30s to 50s age range having experienced great leather boots in their younger days. The three stripes did a bold move in having so little leather in the Copa Sense .1 which clearly shows that they only have Gen Z customers in mind for this. These are players who have only known synthetic boots like the Ace and the X – during a time where leather boots have been seen as passe. Price difference between the + and .1 might be a too much if you’re just after getting that added snug fit

Lastly, the new Senseframe tooling features conicals and rounded blades to make the configuration more aggressive in traction than previous generation. Two medial studs known as Softstuds are made of softer TPU to complement the touch function of the Touchpod. What we think of them… As for the rest of the soleplate, I don’t have much issue with it. Yes, it’s slightly weighty but it’s one of adidas’ best looking ones available as the wave effect is evident across the tooling. It also carries a nice glossy finish which will painfully get tarnished after your first few minutes on the pitch so please enjoy the look while it lasts. I first thought that the entire boot was covered in a thin layer of leather but I had come to find out that only the forefoot is made from leather. Look closely at the photo above and you’ll notice a different texture and grain between the forefoot and the midfoot. When it comes to width, they offer an accommodating fit. I wore them in my natural size and the length was pretty spot on, if you like a little extra room then I might consider going up a half size. Performance On Foot Last but not least, the soleplate. I love how classy this new design is with the wavy design stretching to the heel area with the external heel counter. It also looks great out of the box with a glossy finish (on the + and the .1 variants) that will be certain to break your heart with scuff marks once you wear it on pitch. The stud patterns are pretty standard from adidas, mostly moon-shaped and semi-conical studs for a good mix of manoeuvrability and traction on FG and AG ground.

In our Adidas Copa Sense review, we check out the boots worn by the likes of Jude Bellingham, Joao Felix and Melanie Leupolz

Leather is the footballing boot equivalent of vinyl – old tech that may have lost its popularity but still harnesses a cult-like fan base that swears by its eternal qualities. Like its musical counterpart, it’s slowly losing its appeal on a younger generation due to the influx of new synthetic boots and flashier options. The firm ground (FG) studs don’t pose too much of a problem for me on artificial ground (AG) and receives our seal of approval for dual FG/AG purposes. There is no stud pressure on AG and it provides sufficient traction without digging too deep into the ground. A very good boot built for Gen Z