The Prio model from Xero Shoes is a staple in many barefoot shoes wardrobes. It’s the first minimalist shoe for many, a popular seller, and a reliable workhorse for everything from running, to weightlifting, to daily living. In our house, my oldest, who just moved up to a 40 EU/Men’s 7.5 US/Women’s 9 US is a huge fan, and has been wearing them since the start of our drop into barefoot shoes nearly 2 years ago.
Disclaimer: I am a Xero Hero and Affiliate, but we bought/stockpiled these ourselves from an initial launch colorway that has since been retired. New colors are listed below and if you purchase through any of the links on this page a small portion will be returned to support this blog, but it costs you nothing extra.
Lastly, before we dig into the shoes – I have stringently avoided showing my kids’ faces until now, but at the oldest of 3 boys he’s growing up and is seen on his Twitch, so there’s no reason not to show him here too. You can totally see my shoe stacks encroaching into his camera view. Sorry, son! They’re everywhere.
See my Alpine review here, and looks at sandals, Daylite Hiker Fusion, and Aqua Sport.
Sections
Technical specifications
- Model: Men’s Prios (old colorway)
- Sole: 5.5 FeelTrue rubber
- Insole: 2 mm
- Weight: Men’s 9 is 7.6 ounces
- Color options: 7 in Men’s, and 5 in Women’s
- Check out the video at the top of the product page for a detailed explanation of different features
Company
Xero Shoes is based in the USA, has been around for more than a decade, and was started by a husband and wife team. I honestly cannot tell the story any better than it’s already outlined here. You can learn more about their team here.
Appearance
The Prios are firmly in the category of an athletic-looking sneaker. They use a design and materials that speak directly to that market. They’ll fit in nicely anywhere you’d wear mainstream athletic sneakers. They usually feature contrasting colors with a pronounced strap at the heel and another at the midfoot. This is one model where the strapping completely fits in and looks great.
Boys aren’t much for playing dress up, so here’s the one and only picture I got of him in them for this review. But picture after picture of daily living with us and his friends show he’s wearing these more than he’s not.
The shoes come with color-coordinating traditional laces, but he much prefers elastic Lock Laces, so they’re always instantly switched out.
Fit
Xero Shoes offers the Prio model in Men’s, Women’s, and Kid’s. Right at the start of our journey, I bought the kids and I’ll say clearly that they are not for wide, high-volume kids. If your kids are narrow or medium, go for it. They’re a great shoe. But they never worked for my middle son.
For adult sizing, they are marketed as Men’s and Women’s, but I think they should be viewed as Wide/Medium Wide versus Medium Wide/Narrow. Xero will even say that, directly encouraging people to ‘cross over’ to the other side, depending on their feet. This is great! Women can have wide feet. Men can have narrow feet. We need 2 widths EVERYWHERE.
With that said, the Men’s are not extra wide. I’m pretty solidly a 10 men’s in closed-toed shoes but go up to a 10.5 in Xero Shoes for adequate toe splay. Their volume is a bit more medium, as well so if you’re on the wider side you definitely want to go Men’s and may need to do what he does with elastic laces set open. He uses them like slip-ons but the padded collar and general design means they stay firmly on his feet.
The toe box is fairly straight, with a slight curve inward at the big toe (not a fan – big toes should not curve inward at all!), and a noticeable slope down the outer toes. It will work well for most, but not those with wide toe splays + an overall wide foot. If your splay is wide on a narrow foot, you have a lot more width to work with.
Sizing
These particular shoes are from an older run that was about 1/2 a size off. Xero has since updated the model to more accurately match expected sizing. I love that Xero says has a sizing tip on every product page, telling you either that it does match, or how to adjust if it doesn’t.
The JP sizes should be the actual internal mms, but I don’t find that always to be the case. I’ve never found the shoes to come out longer than the chart, but have found other models come in short against the chart.
Note: Xero Shoes does not publish widths, and I wish they would. I understand the problems inherent in that, especially using insoles because they are almost always smaller than the feet that will actually fit in the shoes, but we need the industry as a whole to give us more information.
Plus12 measurements is another great thing that a couple of companies now use to check their sizing, but most do not. Some EU retailers take the shoes they sell and make their own measurements. This has been done for Prios, so you can actually get the internal lengths and widths (remember, as above, that widths don’t always tell the story, though) here for men’s and here for women’s.
To get your size, I always recommend that you measure your feet in the way you plan to wear them (with socks or without) and then add a target of 12 mms of extra space. You can get away with less if your foot shape is an exact match to the shoe shape, or may need more space if you are not a good match.
How do they feel?
To my son, they are the most comfortable shoes in existence. When I insist he wears something else like his Wildling, Freet, or Bedrocks, (all of which he likes) he’s not a fan because his Xero Shoes Prios just “feel so good.” While writing this he said he wanted to put them on to think about his thoughts and then he walked. off. with. them. Seriously, he loves them. I have to go hunt him down to finish the review.
My analytical take on it: they aren’t cushy under your feet, more medium in firmness, with a light cushion, but the upper is padded. They’re quite minimalist, flat, and highly flexible.
When held, they look like they have a lot of toe spring but there is only a very minimal upward tilt when they are worn, and even that will fade with more wear on his newer pair.
Kids aren’t as cognizant of issues like toe splay, in general. When pressed, he tells me they squeeze one foot a bit at the toes. This lines up with my expectations. Xeros are fairly wide, but not the widest even in Men’s, and if you’re a super-splayer (which he is becoming, thanks to switching to toe socks) you may not get the best fit here.
How do they last?
This is one pair of shoes we can really show the durability of because he wears these almost daily. He’ll only wear sandals or boots for special reasons, otherwise it’s Prios every. single. day. And kids are not easy on shoes.
When we first moved to barefoot shoes, we were used to massively – I’m talking at least 3 sizes – up-sizing because my kids all have wide, high-volume feet. It was no problem for me, at the time, to do the same in minimalist shoes. I also hadn’t made the mental shift yet to seeing that good shoes are worth the cost, and sizing right, so when I saw this colorway (he loves yellow) on clearance, I bought every size we could, and that meant he started out with them too big. And he then proceeded to wear them 18 months straight, through basketball season, park excursions, and everything else, with barely a break.
The sole looks basically new, which lines up with Xero Shoes‘s warranty of 5,000 miles. They know they have a durable product. The only sign of wear on the sole shows up when you compare the new and old directly, where you can see some of the texture has rubbed off.
The upper shows wear at the front and it wouldn’t surprise me if an adult did NOT show this level of wear. Have you seen kids with shoes? They drag them. They kick things. They dig into the ground under swings. They throw them around. They do all the things adults never would do, and the shoes show it.
There is some separation of the upper and the sole, which some Shoe Goo should fix right up if/when my middle picks up these shoes in a few years.
Overall, durability is great, in my book. No shoe lasts forever, and none last long on kids’ feet.
Xero Shoes also has a separate warranty/customer care approach for dealing with manufacturing defects. If you have a quick failure for some reason, calling them usually gets it handled quickly.
Cleaning and Care
Some of you may cringe, but his originals have never been cleaned. I’ve literally done nothing. Kids get dirty, shoes dry, they run around some more and the dirt rubs off somewhere new. I do have him wear a boot if I know he’s going to get really dirty, or sandals if I know in advance he’s going to get really wet, but these shoes have been dirty and have been wet, and we just keep going.
Xero Shoes recommends hand-washing and air drying, not machine washing or drying. When you air dry shoes, it’s a good idea to remove them insoles for faster drying and do not put them next to heavy heat sources such as radiators.
Purchasing and Returns
Xero Shoes Prios can be purchased directly from their site and through some retailers across the globe. They do run sales to clear out colorways they are retiring, launch new collections, and, more rarely, a general sale. They also can sell out popular colors/models and the wait for a restock can get in the way of your adventures.
They do ship internationally and do both domestic and international returns and exchanges. Some types may have shipping covered, but not all, so check their full policies here for details.
Final Thoughts
I’m not personally that into the athletic shoes, more of a casual sneaker fan, but I can see the love my son has for his Xero Shoes Prios. That, combined with their durability against kid abuse, flexibility, and lower-than-average-for-the-market price point leads me to give them a good recommendation. I’m also a fan of how many color options they have. In my book, the more fun people have with their footwear, the better!
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