Skechers Aero Tempo Review: More Aero than Tempo

Introduction to the Skechers Aero Tempo

KALEB: Skechers has been swinging for the fences in 2025. The California company has always made solid shoes, but this year has been something new for the brand in terms of performance, feel, and even aesthetic. We’ve reviewed two of the trio of shoes in the new Aero line, and we have been more than pleased so far. The Aero Burst is as good a max cushioned cruiser as any, and the Aero Spark is a great daily trainer with a dual-density midsole at a far better price than the competition.

Personally, the Spark didn’t thrill me as much as the Burst, because I was hoping it’d be a little livelier to live up to its name. “Spark” connotes some speed in my mind. However, Skechers had other things in mind, leaving the speed to the third member of the Aero trinity: the rather on-the-nose Aero Tempo. The Aero Tempo is kitted out with a lightweight TPU mesh upper, a HyperBurst midsole with a HyperBurst Pro sock liner, a full-length “carbon-infused” winglet plate, and classic Goodyear rubber on the outsole.

The Aero Tempo is the spiritual successor of the (rather flopped) Speed Beast-turned-Alpha Tempo. Rather than marketing it as a marathon racer, Skechers has wised up and chosen to try to do a workout shoe well. Let’s see how they did.

CHAD: They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, Skechers is the most flattering shoe brand around. It’s no secret that Skechers… borrows a lot of its design elements from other brands. Earlier this year, we reviewed the Skechers Aero Burst and Aero Spark, which, if pressed, reminded me visually of the Asics Superblast and Novablast. Instead of the more angular design of the midsole on the Asics shoes, it was curved, but had a similar look to the upper and midsole combo. However, the same cannot be said about the Aero Tempo.

Kaleb highlighted the features of the Aero Tempo, but one of the nice things is that, from an aesthetic perspective, it doesn’t look much like any other shoe on the market. For a brand that has a history of cribbing their designs, opening this box when it arrived was a pleasant surprise. But is there more than meets the eye with the Aero Tempo?

RYAN: Alright, I’m not gonna lie — I’m just here so I won’t get fined. Well, not really. I still review shoes whenever I get the chance, but I didn’t want to write about this one. Despite my pretty decent experiences with the first two Skechers Aero launches (the Spark and the Burst), I couldn’t find a place in my rotation for the Tempo, as you’re about to learn. But, since I have 15 miles in the shoe to my friend Lindsay’s 5, here I am.

Yes, I know, that sounds like Debbie Downer brought back to life outside of the SNL 50 special, but it’s true. Everything about the Aero Tempo should be good. Skechers has the technology to make it a fun shoe. We’ve seen it before in the GoRun Razor 5 and even found bright spots in the Speed Beast, so I thought we might get more of the same from the Aero Spark.

Then, I looked at the spec sheet. Some things may look the part, like the loosely woven TPU upper, the Goodyear rubber outsole, and the carbon-infused winglet plate, but for every step forward, there’s just as big of a leap back. It rides on a pretty thick stack of basic HyperBurst rather than HyperBurst Ice or Pro, and it simply trusts the HyperArc geometry to keep you rolling through your stride.

I fall somewhere between Chad and Kaleb in just about every measurable way, so let me play the man in the middle the rest of the way out.

What we like about the Skechers Aero Tempo

KALEB: Chad already covered the unique looks of this shoe, and I’ll double up on that. At first, the all-orange, swoosh-shaped silhouette with the sparkly purple heel felt too loud, but it honestly really grew on me as I realized the Aero Tempo meant business. It looks like something built for speed, and from top to bottom, it delivers.

Stepping into the Skechers Aero Tempo, I was immediately intrigued by the fit. Volume-wise, it was just about perfect. The TPU-woven upper reminds me of the uppers on Brooks’ Hyperion racing lineup, and the lockdown is similar: snug but comfortable. I was initially concerned about the heel collar because it sits strangely low, and I was concerned about slippage. However, I experienced no problems with heel slipping in this shoe, so the upper gets the green light from me. (Chad DID in fact experience lots of heel lift, so if you’re considering the Aero Tempo, be sure to try it on in person, or buy from a site with a good return policy just in case!).

Underfoot is a midsole setup that we’ve seen most prominently in shoes like the Tracksmith Eliot Racer, placing the plate directly beneath a deep sockliner of beaded foam. Beneath the plate is a different formulation of Skechers Hyperburst foam that makes up the midsole. I saw on a Reddit thread that the foam is fully TPEE, while some random Q&A response on Skechers’ website claimed it was just hypercritical EVA.

Either way, the compound itself is less important than how it rides in the shoe. One of the most notable underfoot sensations is the dampening property of Hyperburst Pro. Some foams are responsive but don’t dampen much impact, leaving the legs to absorb shock themselves. The Aero Tempo absorbs force exceptionally well, which is always welcome in long sessions of road-pounding tempo work up and down rolling hills.

I felt like I could focus on the pace I was trying to maintain, and the softness of the foam didn’t rob the Aero Tempo of responsiveness either. The carbon-infused plate is like a parallel set of skis connected by a piece across the middle rather than a full-length, full-width plane of carbon fiber, but it’s still stable, snappy, and noticeably propulsive.

My opinion of the ride will differ from Chad’s, and that’s likely because I weigh a buck and a quarter, while Chad is a muscle-bound enforcer of the law (as all lawyers are). We compress a midsole differently and get a different response from it based on our footstrike and form. I really enjoyed the Aero Tempo ride. I felt that it was responsive and smooth without being overly aggressive.

This is not the tempo shoe that will snap the reins, crack a whip, and drag you on your rear end through the workout; this is the shoe that’ll just keep nudging you, reminding you that you can go faster. It’s not the most aggressive, rockered, or springy shoe, but it’s a quality shoe for those long-haul threshold runs. Even doing some 800 m race pace strides, the Aero Tempo was able to keep up and not feel mushy despite its softness.

CHAD: This shoe is visually striking in the best ways. For a shoe designed to go fast, it has that look about it. The neon red/orange upper with the purple accents creates quite the visual experience; it may not be for everyone, but I really dig it. The same goes for the design elements used in the shoe, such as the midsole shaping. All in all, Skechers killed it when designing this shoe.

The fit of the Aero Tempo is also pretty solid… for the most part (I’ll get into that later). The toebox is accommodating, and even though the shoe tapers into the midfoot and heel, the shoe still has plenty of room for my feet to feel moderately comfortable, in addition to being breathable. It definitely had that race day fit you want in a shoe designed for fast-paced miles.

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised by the geometry of this shoe. The HyperBurst midsole and rocker profile combination provided a shockingly stable and fairly smooth ride. Normally, stability can become an issue with tempo or race-day shoes in an effort to keep the weight down and make the shoe fast. Even at slower paces during my warm-up and cool-down of the workout runs, I didn’t feel much instability.

RYAN: Alright, let’s start with the positives: Skechers has truly learned a thing or two about the size and shape of its uppers. It used to be that every time Robbe and I teamed up on a Skech’ review, we had the same complaints about over-structured toeboxes and just a bit too much room all around. It was the main thing that would sink otherwise great shoes like our beloved MaxRoad 5, but I’m happy to report that the beefy boxes are no more.

Instead, the Aero Tempo’s wide-open, loosely knit upper is as breathable as they come. I’ve had no problems with my feet overheating in the oppressive Baltimore heat, whether tacking on miles with Believe Run Club or tackling 800-meter repeats around a track. The lightly structured upper comes with other tradeoffs, mainly a lack of security that I’ll get to in a minute, but man, if it ain’t breathable.

Underfoot, I once again fall somewhere in the middle. I do think HyperBurst is a good foam, and I know that I can answer Kaleb in saying that it’s just a fat stack of good ol’ hypercritical, but I’m not sure that it’s the right foam for the job. In my head, it’s a good pick for a daily cruiser like the Ride or MaxRoad, and I think it’ll last a freakin’ eternity on the Aero Tempo, but it’s a foam that makes the runner do most of the work. If you’re like Kaleb (young and nimble), that’s probably great, but I like a little more response from my midsole.

Uhh, so, this is supposed to be the section on things I liked, so I should at least throw Skechers a bone for its Goodyear outsole. The rubber coverage is mostly concentrated in the forefoot and has a pattern similar to that of a tire, so I’ve had no issues with grip on any surface. Of course, the most moisture it’s faced is my sweat more than rain, but still, the Baltimore promenade is no laughing matter.

What we don’t like about the Skechers Aero Tempo

KALEB: Because of the way the upper sits above the shoe, I found that my foot tended to want to roll inward. If you have any problems with overpronation, this may not be the shoe for you. Also, if you’re looking for a tempo shoe that easily doubles as a top-tier racer, the Aero Tempo might not be the pick.

Its smooth-riding nature is great for workouts, but might not give you the edge on race day you’re looking for. Hyperburst, in general, is a really smooth feeling foam, but in all three members of the Aero line, all-out speed is not the main characteristic. Which is fine: it’s called the Aero Tempo, not the Aero Racer. Just be aware of what you’re buying.

CHAD: Remember that fit I said was good for the most part? Yeah, so about that, this shoe has some of the worst heel lift I have ever experienced. Even just walking around in the shoe, I felt like I was going to pop right out of it. It didn’t get any better on the run.

Usually, I would say size down or try heel lock, but sizing down would cram the toes too much up front, and I don’t even think heel lock would work on this shoe. The upper is also a bit rigid, which is good for holding the foot over the platform, but also good at causing blisters. I had a decent size one form on my right arch and a bit on the heels from the heel lift.

The ride is also nothing special, something you wouldn’t expect in a shoe tabbed as a tempo or race day shoe. I was able to hit my paces in my workouts in them, but I felt like I was having to do all of the work rather than getting some assistance from the shoe. For the price this shoe costs, you can find significantly better options, like the Saucony Endorphin Speed series, for example.

RYAN: Yep, so this time, I land closer to Chad. I didn’t have quite as much heel lift as he did — I definitely had some — but I had a bit of rubbing around the very lightly padded collar. Our would-be fourth reviewer, Lindsay, had some rubbing too, which gave her bad enough blisters to pull the ejector seat. It’s… not a great feeling, especially when I have other uptempo shoes with better padding that I’d rather run in.

In that same vein, there’s just not a whole lot about the HyperBurst midsole that gets my blood flowing. I guess you could point to the winglet plate as a reason to wear this one more often, but the rest of the formulation makes it so that I don’t even care about the boost I’d get from the plate.

The fact is that HyperBurst doesn’t have enough bounce to make me smile, while Adidas’s Lightstrike Pro and New Balance’s FuelCell do. And when the Evo SL and the Rebel v5 are cheaper than the Aero Tempo, I will recommend them instead.

Final thoughts on the Skecher Aero Tempo

KALEB: Another day, another review in which Chad and I differ in our perspective on a shoe. And that’s okay, because as we’ve said before, the benefit of Believe in the Run’s diversity of reviewers is that you can find whichever of us is the most similar runner to you and base your decisions on that.

By and by, I’d say the Aero line has really done a dang good job breaking into the scene and providing a legitimate rotation. If I met a runner tomorrow who used the Spark, Burst, and Tempo as their three go-to shoes, I’d give them a nod of respect. The Aero Tempo isn’t the most aggressive workout shoe out there, but it’s a really solid pick that I’ll be logging plenty of miles in when I want a shoe that works with me but not necessarily a shoe that does all the work for me.

CHAD: Overall, I feel like the Skechers Aero Tempo is a fairly average shoe; not great but not awful either. There are a good number of positives, like the design, race day fit, and decent stability. But there are also negatives, like the insane amount of heel lift and a disappointing feel for a shoe advertised as a race day offering. For $170 (or $160 at Running Warehouse, apparently), many options will provide the positives outlined here while not having as many negatives. It’s hard to drop this much on what I would consider to be a C-tier shoe.

RYAN: Sorry, Skechers, but Cs don’t get degrees in the world of running shoes. I know that Kaleb loved the Aero Tempo, but I will have to say that I didn’t. I think it looks great, and the breathable upper feels much better than past models, but I can’t make myself love the feeling underfoot.

If you want an uptempo trainer, like the Aero Tempo is positioned as, you could get anything from the Puma Deviate Nitro 3 to the Adidas Evo SL to the Nike Zoom Fly 6 for within about $20 of this shoe, and I’d recommend you do that instead.

You can pick up the Skechers Aero Tempo for $160 from Running Warehouse (featuring free shipping and 90-day returns) by using the buttons below.