GET TO KNOW: ASICS SONICBLAST 2
Published: 21/09/2026 | By: Alex Courbat
ASICS has built the second generation of the SONICBLAST around a pretty simple idea: strip out the excess, add in the bounce, and let the shoe do a little more of the work when the pace picks up. The result sits somewhere between a tempo shoe and a daily trainer, light enough to make you want to press on, cushioned enough to keep the miles coming.
Start with what's underfoot. The midsole runs two layers of foam rather than one, pairing FF BLAST MAX with FF TURBO SQUARED. FF BLAST MAX brings the softer, cushioned side of the equation, giving you that cloud-like landing and responsive energy return ASICS has built into its latest BLAST-series shoes. FF TURBO SQUARED sits above it as one of ASICS' bounciest foams, bringing a springier feel and a serious hit of energy return when you start turning the dial. Layer the two together and you've got a ride that's cushioned when you need it and lively when you fancy picking up the pace.
Then there's the bit that makes the SONICBLAST 2 feel like it means business. Under the forefoot, ASICS has added an FF TURBO SQUARED trampoline pod, a recessed section of the midsole designed to amplify the bounce where your foot is getting ready to leave the ground. It's a small piece of the puzzle, but it gives the forefoot a noticeably springier job to do, particularly when you're asking the shoe to move.
Running through the middle is ASTROPLATE, ASICS' Pebax plate, and this is where the SONICBLAST 2 makes its clearest break from the first version. The plate now takes a forked shape, wrapping around the forefoot trampoline structure to help drive momentum forwards. It's designed to balance propulsion with flexibility, giving the shoe some of that plated snap without making it feel like you're strapped to a carbon-plated rocket. That's an important distinction here. The SONICBLAST 2 isn't just chasing speed for speed's sake. ASICS has built it to work across tempo sessions and everyday training too.
Up top, things stay deliberately uncomplicated. The engineered mesh is lightweight and breathable, with the construction reducing the need for a stack of additional overlays. In other words, there's less shoe getting in the way of the running. No unnecessary theatre, just enough structure to keep things locked in while the midsole gets on with the fun stuff.
And ASICS hasn't forgotten the bit that actually meets the road. ASICSGRIP sits underneath, with the brand's proprietary outsole rubber designed to provide grip across a variety of terrain. That makes the SONICBLAST 2 less precious than some of the ultra-specialised shoes in the rotation. Pavement, paths, training loops, whatever your week throws at you, it's built to get on with it.
Put it all together and you’ve got a shoe that reads less like a specialist and more like the trainer you reach for when you don't quite know what today's run is going to become. Easy miles? Fine. Tempo work? That's more its thing. A run that starts steady and somehow ends up considerably quicker than planned? Now we're talking.
It won't pretend to be something it isn't. This is a speed-focused daily trainer, not a one-trick race-day weapon. But with a big stack, plenty of bounce, a forked Pebax plate and enough flexibility to keep things feeling natural, the SONICBLAST 2 has the kind of range that can make a weekly rotation considerably less complicated. Because sometimes the best running shoe isn't the one reserved for your fastest day. It's the one that makes you wonder why you weren't running that pace in the first place.
