New smart running insoles pop up around once a year, and 2020’s effort is the Nurvv Run. It promises to help runners understand their gait and run injury free thanks to live coaching and feedback.
While running watches are getting pretty advanced the Nuurv Run certainly pips even the most advanced devices such as the Suunto 9 or Fenix 6 for data points.
The Nuurv Run insoles fit into the base of the shoe and connect to a unit, which talks to your smartphone. It uses 32 sensors built into the sole, which can capture data 1,000 per second.
The Nurvv Run analyses the usual gamut of advanced running data, including cadence, step length, footstrike, probation and balance.
Love running data: Check out our complete guide to running with power
All this is set back into the Nurvv app, which is analysed and turned into actionable insights before, during and after a run. The most interesting part of this feedback is around injury prevention, and it’s designed to figure out elements of running style that could cause issues over the long term.
It’s not just about form, and Nurvv will also help runners stay on pace targets – using live audio, as well as a partner Apple Watch app for wrist-based glanceable data.
It’s something we’ve seen before – and few running analytics wearables have really kicked on to become breakout products. However, Nurvv is a little different to the likes of Stridalyzer, Sensoria smart socks, Arion and others. It connects to Apple Watch and can use ANT+ to feed data to Garmin watches, which can also be used for alerts. The company has made strides to bring existing running devices into the mix.
But then there’s the cost. At $300 for the insoles, you have to be really into injury prevention to make the investment in Nurvv.
We’re big fans of the data from the Zwift Runpod which will offer interesting data for less than $50. Likewise, there are pods from Garmin and Suunto which will hook up to your existing running watch.
Nurvv also misses out on calculating running power, which is we consider to be the next big running stat, and something we’ve seen from Stryd.
But there will be people out there suffering with injury issues that will be interested in what Nurvv has to offer – and it will be about the power of the app experience that really makes the difference. And what’s refreshing in the era of on-going subscriptions is the app is free to use when you’ve purchased your insoles.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.