New Balance 990v6: Long Term Review
Price: $200
Why Buy?
The New Balance 990v6 is American made, high quality, and will be comfortable for a lot of people.
Why Avoid?
The New Balance 990v6 isn’t cheap, and might not be the kind of comfort traditional New Balance wearers are used to.
| Model | 990v6 |
| Height | Low |
| Materials | Suede / EVA / Rubber |
| Size | 13 Standard |
| Weight | 440 g / 15.52 oz |
| Construction | Cemented |
| Country of Origin | United States |
History
It’s been nearly two years since 100wears first took at look at the New Balance 990v6. At the time, the sneaker had just come out, and the hype was real. It was the latest model in what might be the second most famous sneaker line of all time after the main line Air Jordan.
If you’re interested in taking a look at the full review, you can check it out here.
There were definitely a few things I can tell you I got wrong right off the bat. For example, at the time New Balance never put these on sale. Today, it’s nearly impossible to not find these on sale.
However, since I wrote that review, we’ve seen something that was very un-990-like on places like Reddit. There have been a huge number of quality issues posted. As these have now have (slightly more than) 100 wears, I thought this could be a good time to show everyone how my early run pair has held up.
For background, here at 100wears we make sure we wear footwear in the environment it’s meant to be worn in. Comfort focused sneakers like this are worn typically in long days in city and suburban environments. This pair in particular was primarily used for travel – it’s been to 6 different countries, 30 different states, and more airports than I can count.
They were never worn hiking, and I did maintain them as part of a broader rotation, however they were not treated lightly.
Alright, with that out of the way, let’s dive in and see how the New Balance 990v6 held up.
Looks
Upper
Over time, I have to say that the upper of the New Balance 990v6 has held up really well. As you would expect, the suedes look great. There has been a bit of yellowing over time, though that is really only noticeable when I look at them compared to the pictures in the original review. There is one area where the suede has started to fray along the eyelets, but it’s not a huge deal.
Similarly, the mesh on both the exterior of the sneaker and on the lining have held up really well, too. If you look really close you might find the start of some abrasion on the ankle area, but you’d need closer to 500 wears than 100 before it starts to really look bad.
There are a few areas where you might be less pleased. The “990” logo pressed onto the exterior heel area looked kind of cheap when new, and starts to wear almost immediately. That part of the shoe never touches anything, so the wear is just from light flexing as I walk. New Balance can and needs to do better here.
Further, the grey poly structural panels get a noticeable crease as you walk. These are sneakers, not shell cordovan boots, so it’s important to have reasonable expectations here. Still, it’s worth noting as these are the only structural component of the upper that shows any wear at all.
Mid- and Outsole
Here is where the big negative reviews come in. Looking online you find everything from the outsole panels wearing through in just a few dozen wears, to the rubber panels actually falling off.
Personally? I don’t see anything to justify the concerns. Of course, everyone’s use case and experience will be a bit different. But, as I said above, I didn’t baby these.
That isn’t to say the midsole and outsole don’t show any wear.
Visually, the biggest draw back of the new design is here. The Fuel Cell foam, in white on this colorway, creases immediately. That may or may not bother you, but I have a pair of 990v3s with similar wear and you wouldn’t be able to tell they were worn more than 5 or 6 times based on the midsole compression.
The big chunky midsole also means you’re going to bang it on things here and there. Again, probably not a surprise if you’ve owned a sneaker this wide before, but the fuel cell foam is not at all abrasion resistant.
As for the biggest complaint from Reddit, that the outsole wears out? Mine looks fine.
Summary
The New Balance 990v6 definitely looks more worn than earlier models given a similar amount of wear, but doesn’t justify the concern that it gets online. It’s clear that New Balance wanted to take the 990 line in a different direction, and that required some tradeoffs.
Fuel Cell foam simply isn’t as durable as the primarily PU heavy midsoles of previous versions – and the PU section in grey on this pair looks brand new as well. Now, if the comfort is worth the trade off is something we’ll get to in a bit.
As for styling these, I was a bit concerned these went too far from the retro vibe of the earlier 990 lines, but it turns out New Balance was just early. Soon after these released, everyone wanted to rock nothing but 2000’s sneakers. In fact, the biggest issue with styling the 990v6 in 2024 is that it doesn’t go far enough in being extreme.
All that being said, for a casual look, these are great.
Fit & Comfort
Fit
Initial impressions were correct. The New Balance 990v6 fits a bit big.
This pair of sneakers are padded enough that most people will want to get their standard size. You could probably get away with going a half size down if you needed. However, I never felt like I was stepping out of the sneaker. And there are internal plastic pieces that I would not want pressing down on me – more on that later.
Remember, the New Balance 990v6 comes in a huge number of sizes and widths. If you get the opportunity, I’d really suggest going to a full line New Balance store. When there, you can try all the different sizes and widths to really nail down the right fit.
Comfort
OK, here is the big one. Comfort. As I mentioned above and in the previous review, New Balance changed this shoe to improve comfort. Does the New Balance 990v6 live up to the hype?
Well, kind of. First, you should know there are two different types of fuel cell foam New Balance uses. One is very soft, one is a bit springier. Which one you prefer is entirely personal preference, but the 990v6 uses the one that is very soft. This means it doesn’t really provide much in the way of support. Further, this foam has a tendency to bottom out during a long day.
There was one other issue that I had. The final lace hole for the eyelets is reinforced with an internal piece of plastic. This isn’t a problem on its own, and is there for durability. However, in my own use case, this dug into my foot after wearing them around for a long day. You may or may not have a similar issue depending on the shape of your foot.
All this being said, there are plenty of shoes that I wear a few times and then pass along to a new owner due to their comfort. This pair wasn’t one of them. However, this is a very, very different form of comfort than older New Balance models. If you prefer the ultra soft feeling of something like Boost, you might like these better. Though, personally, I prefer my New Balance sneakers to be a bit more supportive.
Price
When I first wrote a review of the New Balance 990v6 I thought pricing wouldn’t drop much – boy was I wrong. While it’s true that if you want a specific colorway at a specific time, more likely than not you’ll be paying MSRP, if you can wait it’s fairly easy to get these at a real discount.
If you don’t care about colorway, at any given time sites like Bodega or SneakersNStuff have a few colorways in the $150-170 range. If you have time, during big sales days like Black Friday, it’s pretty easy to find the 990v6 for $150 in any existing colorway.
And, if you don’t care about colorway and have time, you can even find some of the more questionable colorways for $130 or so.
Honestly, these prices are pretty amazing for a sneaker that is made in the United States.
Are the New Balance 990v6 Worth It?
I’m going to start out and be up front – as soon as this review was written, I had this pair up on eBay and when it’s posted the new owner is already wearing them. While it’s true that I kind of need to – if I kept every pair, I’d never actually get 100 wears on anything – the big problem with these was a pair I picked up a few weeks ago. The New Balance 991v2.
In many ways, the 991v2 does everything the 990v6 does but better. It has great materials and is made in a first world country, but doesn’t have the cheap plastic and printed on components. It has a modern fuel cell midsole, but it retains the retro design (and is actually more comfortable in my opinion).
I knew that with the grey 991v2 in my closet, I would simply never take out my grey 990v6 pair ever again.
That being said, the 990v6 can easily be had for half the going rate of a 991v2. Further, the durability concerns have been way overblown – these should easily last you as long as a reasonable sneaker should. Further, the comfort concerns I have are really personal preference over objective fact. A lot of people want squishy shoes over bouncy.
During my first review I said these are the 990’s you should probably buy. While I’m not sure I would be quite so definitive after wearing them 100 times, I still don’t think you’ll regret it.