From Adidas MiCoach to Nike+ Training, over the years, smart running shoes have come and gone. No one has managed to nail the design, or convince runners out there to adopt shoe-based tracking tech en masse. But maybe that’s all about to change. There’s a new wave in run-tracking from the foot that might just have more endurance and Arion smart insoles are in the mix.
From Stryd’s power pod to Sensoria Socks, the battle for the foot has been reignited with newcomer brands, not the big names, breaking the new ground. Among the new products are Arion smart insoles and shoe pods. Pairing sensors that track a huge range of running dynamics with a smartphone app and intelligent coaching system, Arion hopes to help you ward off injury and become a more efficient runner. That’s the aim at least, but how do they stack up? Here’s my first impressions of the insoles that tell you how to run better.
Arion smart insoles first impressions
With eight pressure sensors in each 2mm insole, plus a multi-axis accelerometer, gyroscope, bluetooth and GPS built into the partnering pods, Arion smart insoles track an impressive array of running form stats, including foot strike (heal, midfoot, forefoot), step length, cadence, balance, contact time, pace, impulse, stability, flight time and vertical oscillation. But it’s not just about seeing the numbers post-run, all of the collected data is fired to a partner smartphone app that serves up real-time feedback in the form of live heat-map style animations of your foot strike and, more interestingly, audio feedback based on the other metrics that ‘coaches’ you as you run.
The soles slip under your normal insoles and the sensors then clip onto the outside side your shoe on the cuff. It’s not the most streamlined system but I’ve been testing the Arion system with a variety of runs at different paces and on different terrain and in the main the design doesn’t affect the comfort of your run, in fact you don’t really notice they are there.
I did have a couple of occasions where the connecting cables that run from the soles to the pods twisted and rubbed a bit but it was easy to fix. If you wear your running shoes when you’re not clocking up miles, you’ll also have to either remove the Arion smart insoles or walk around with slightly weird clips hanging over the edge of your shoes. The fact that you can change the colour of the pod lights to match your shoes is a nice, if a bit novelty, touch.
I’ve not spent long enough with them comment too extensively on the real-time AI run coaching but from a pure data perspective I’m really impressed with the range of run dynamics information you get. It’s about as comprehensive as you’ll find, eclipsing even the Lumo Run and the Garmin Running Dynamics Pod.
There are some neat tricks too. The real-time heatmap visuals that show exactly where the pressure is with each foot strike – both left and right – are impressively responsive, with rapid and accurate readings of each foot strike. You can also scroll through your run timeline for each metric to see second by second how your dynamics changed.
The app lacks some of the clarity of explanation that you get with something like Lumo Run. There are lots of new metrics here even for the experienced runner and it’s not always immediately clear what’s a good result, the benefits of improving them and also how to improve them. For example, there are currently no pre or post-run video drills that might help you improve areas of your form like you get with Lumo.
Smart adaptive coaching
When it comes to the coached runs, each time you fire up Arion it tells you what you need to work on, for example a cadence run or a foot strike run. You target that area for improvement and once you’re regularly running in the right zones for that given metric, Arion will move you on to something else.
The whole thing learns as you use it and adjusts accordingly, though as I mentioned, I’ve not yet run enough to make a serious judgement on how accurate, effective and useful this is. I did find the frequency of the audio notifications when you dropped in and out of target zones very quickly became irritating. Though the founders assured me when I spoke to them that they’ve listened to feedback on this and are working on making it less interruptive.
You can also pair a heart rate monitor in the app to add another layer of data to your stats. Unlike the Stryd power sensor, Arion is not currently compatible with Zwift which is a shame. Though over the air firmware updates mean the whole system can improve with age and the founders were keen to point out that plenty of these upgrades are coming soon. For example, there are plans to make it smartwatch compatible so you can see more of your in-run data on your wrist and they’re working on improving the frequency of those ‘coaching’ notifications too.
Arion smart insoles and shoe pods are available for €259.00 at arion.run.
Now read this: How to choose the best running watch for you
