Whether you’re walking through the store or going on a hike, few things are more important than your footwear. If your feet hurt… Well, it just kind of ruins the whole day, doesn’t it? That’s why, when you’re choosing a new pair of sneakers, it’s important to focus on the features that matter to you: comfort, style, longevity, etc.
That’s where the Nortiv 8 FlyLife sneakers come in – a versatile pair of women’s footwear that check many of those important boxes (including price). So, let’s dive in a little deeper and explore what they have to offer, shall we?
Nortiv 8 FlyLife Overview
Nortiv 8 was established in 2019 for the purpose of creating comfortable and affordable shoes. I would argue that their mission to pursue high quality at a value-friendly price has been accomplished, as they have a growing variety of styles to choose from that are suitable to most people. Hiking shoes, tactical shoes, lifestyle shoes…they offer quite the valuable collection to fit your fancy!
Disclaimer: Before we continue, I just want to mention that these are women’s shoes, and therefore, this review was created with extensive input from my wife. She is the one who tested them, so it is written from her voice and perspective.
Where They Shine
Shoes are some of the most important garments that we own. We’re more mobile than in the past, having the capacity to summit mountain peaks, climb sheer cliffs, wander through rainforests, wade through rivers, and more. Practically speaking, they are what allow us to move through our lives with ease and comfort, and we’ve turned them into personal expressions of who we are as well.
That’s where the Nortiv 8 FlyLife shoes come in. They feel a little like walking on a cloud and are designed to take you from the city streets to the paved trail. As lifestyle shoes, they’re more generalized than performance shoe-wear (like running shoes or tennis shoes), so don’t expect them to be a perfect fit if you mostly spend your time outside and off the beaten track. As far as everyday wear goes though, let’s see how they shape up:
Style
It’s in the name; these shoes were built to be stylish. As modern trends go, the FlyLife sneakers know how to balance what’s cool with what’s practical for our everyday lives. I chose the beige color that comes with a splash of vibrant peach, but these shoes come in a total of 4 different colors, all sleek and made to suit women with different tastes. The only problems I can see as far as style goes are…
…that the lighter colors are trickier to pair to make a non-tacky ensemble
…you’ll have extra maintenance to keep the light styles clean, and…
…that I wouldn’t really call these beige.
Nerd-alert, I was an art major in college, and as such can get a bit finicky on naming colors. But, even though these shoes are more of an off-white or a pale, pearl gray, calling them beige doesn’t change the fact that these have some pretty killer style. They even have some very cleverly-placed reflective highlights if you’ll be out on the town in the dark. So, I digress. Nortiv 8, you got me on this one.
Price
There’s no getting around it; price is one of Nortiv 8’s biggest selling points, and this doesn’t change with the FlyLife sneakers. At the time I’m writing this, they’re priced at $56.99 before tax, so they’re quite a bit cheaper than many other sneakers! If you’re not too picky on what you walk around in, as long as it’s cute, then the affordable cost of these shoes makes them well worth it.
Sizing
Overall, the sizing and shoe width of the Flylife is a win. By most people’s standards, these would be a wonderful shoe. They’re fairly true to size, though most reviews mention that these fall on the narrower side – having narrow feet myself, I can say that while these are actually well-fitted, I still have a little wiggle-room from side-to-side.
With walking, I didn’t run into my feet slipping forward and hitting my toes against the toe box, so they’re not that loose thanks to the laces. Still, if you have narrow feet like me, there’s no real way to avoid your heel slipping around uncomfortably.
Durability
These shoes have stood up to walks in sand, rocky terrain, and even through a mountain-biking trail. I am known for being hard on my shoes, and these shoes have held up pretty well. They now have a scuff mark where my foot glanced past a tree while on my bike, but they honestly don’t look too worse for the wear, aside from dirt marks.
After a couple hundred miles of walking and a few months in, they’re only just starting to see wear on the soles of the shoe, notably where I land the hardest when I’m walking. The mesh uppers, however, are not quite as durable as the rest of the shoe seems to be. On the insides of both of my sneakers, the mesh has torn and created small puncture-like holes. The mesh is damaged over where my shoes crease to allow for range of motion in my foot, so my guess is that these holes were formed due to stress on the fabric in these areas.
Potential Pain Points
As much as I’d like to say the FlyLife are the perfect pair of sneakers… Well, such a thing doesn’t exist, now does it? So, before you jump ahead to buy these shoes, take a look at some of the potential pain points I encountered while testing them.
Comfort
When I first put these shoes on, I thought I was walking on a cloud of comfort. They felt soft with just the right amount of bounce to maintain a comfortable walking experience. After walking in them for about 45 minutes straight, I started to realize that there can be uncomfortable truths about things that are generally good as well.
The FlyLife sneakers have a nice, comfortable, and removable insole, which rubbed the inside portion of my heels in such a way where I developed hot spots. I even tried adjusting where the insole sits in the shoe to no avail. The adjustments just changed where I would feel discomfort in my foot.
Break-in periods are a thing to be sure, but the temporary nature of wearing-in new shoes doesn’t make heel rubbing any more appealing. I’m not known for my coordinated walking, however, and so this fact in conjunction with my narrow heels (that often have me slipping around in shoes) is likely to blame. As an aside, I mostly used these shoes for fast trail walking and mild hikes. I even walked a trail made of sand, so it’s hard to say that my experience with hot spots and developing calluses on the insides of my heels is completely due to the shoe design itself.
These sneakers are comfortable for most situations and good for leisure activities. Once you’re past the break-in period, which was uncomfortable for me due to hot spots, these shoes work wonders for the casual errand run. I would also recommend them for leisure-paced mid-distance walks around the neighborhood or lake, mostly stationary exercising in the gym, and other low-key daily activities. Lifestyle shoes are best for urban environments and paved trails.
Versatility
Overall, I wouldn’t recommend these shoes for intense exercise. It would make for a pretty good pair of shoes to transition from running errands to casual running at the gym, though you’d probably find that “pretty good” is where it stays.
It’s great for everyday use, for the can-do-it-all shoe, for the minimalist person that only wants one pair of tennis shoes. But if you want the most comfort and best quality from a shoe for a specific sport, you’re better off getting a pair of running shoes elsewhere.
Final Verdict
Despite my personal hesitations about the Nortiv 8 FlyLife sneakers, I would still say they’re good overall… for the right person. They are good quality for the price, great for everyday moving around and casual walks, and splendid if you have average width feet. Probably better as well if you have no known walking idiosyncrasies. So, while they’re not the best fit for me, I do appreciate how affordable and stylish these shoes are on the whole. I personally, however, would still rather shell out $80 or more on a better-for-me pair of shoes that works with my narrow feet.
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