Edging
A solid, stiff edge gave a lot of support for long sport climbs. The shoe was too stiff, however, to really feel the tiniest edges.

Smearing
Way too stiff to be a great smearing shoe, the X-Boulder demands pushing into smears with way more force than other, softer shoes require.

Pockets
I could get the X-Boulder’s pointed toe box into pockets most of the time, but due to the stiffness of the shoe, had trouble feeling if I was really in there or not.

Heel/Toe Hooking
A large swath of rubber atop the foot makes this an exceptional toe-hooking shoe, while the suction-cup fit of the heel dispatched heel hooks expertly.

Comfort
The X-Boulder delivers a great fit for medium to wide feet, with no dead space and no crunched toes.

The Velcro closure atop the foot helps suck the dead space out of the arch a little bit, but seems over-built and too clunky to be worth it. Plus, it made the shoe hotter than it needed to be. I ended up cutting the giant Velcro piece off the shoe, which made it easier to take on and off.

Value/Longevity
For being one of the most expensive climbing shoes on the market, the X-Boulder didn’t live up to my performance expectations.