Brooks Ghost Max 4 Review

The Brooks Ghost Max 4 is a shoe ripe with counterbalances. It's tall, which could mean instability, but it's wide enough to thoroughly accommodate for that. Its cushion stack is thick, but the built-in rocker keeps it from feeling like you're walking on a mattress topper. It ends up being a balanced, comfortable, and capable walking shoe.

Comfort

The comfort you can get out of the Brooks Ghost Max 4 is more than just a measure of the amount of cushion and padding built within the shoe — though it has both of those in spades. The reality is more complex than that.

Starting with the basics — yes, the 40 mm heel stack of DNA LOFT v3 nitrogen-infused midsole foam is substantial, and it is comforting to stand on and walk with. And the gentle GlideRoll rocker feels like it was made specifically for a walking pace, which is to say it only minorly assists you in transitioning through each step you take. It's not aggressive at all.

Then, you have the lushishly soft and padded uppers. The heel collar features a thick cake of padding. Its structure is soft, too, which feels nice but could make shoving your foot into the shoe a little difficult, as the heel can collapse. We didn't really experience that anticipated issue during our testing, though, thanks to the helpful heel finger loop.

Breathability suffers a bit because of the lovely padding, but not terribly so. Ventilation felt about average during our testing period, with longer walks on sunny days making our feet sweaty. For short walks, though, the shoe wasn't too hot.

But what really dials up the comfort of the Ghost Max 4 is its structural width and overall interior spaciousness. Those with wide feet or bunions will find this to be a much more comfortable shoe than most others. We found the regular-width size to be almost too wide for our feet, though the padding kept it from feeling too cavernous. Wide and extra-wide options are available at purchase as well — wide-foot havers rejoice!

Support

The same “it's more complex than what you see at first glance” mindset applies to judging how supportive the Ghost Max 4 is as well. It's technically a neutral shoe, and it's not loaded with traditional supportive tech like hard internal rails or dense blocks of structural foam. But it is a good shoe for those who desire some sort of stability assistance.

What it truly boils down to is the broad, stable base and the way your foot stands upon it. Despite its tall stack height, the base is wide enough to prevent unwanted lateral movement that could result in a twisted ankle or sore peroneal tendon. And the GlideRoll rocker shape reduces ankle flexion by encouraging your foot to roll forward naturally. The Ghost Max 4 sole showed low-to-medium flex overall during our torsion test.

The interior space may be a bit more spacious than the typical walking shoe, but the extra padding helps hold your foot in place, so it doesn't quite feel oversized. The standard lacing system features an additional heel-lock eyelet that you can use to further secure your foot.

Perhaps best of all, the Brooks Ghost Max 4 is a highly orthotic-friendly walking shoe. Its wide and flat platform, coupled with the large amount of interior foot space, creates the perfect setting for a variety of orthotic inserts. Just pull out the removable Brooks insole and swap in your desired custom orthotic or your favorite over-the-counter insert. Even thicker inserts shouldn't be a concern. It's an easy way to get the individual support your feet need in an otherwise great walking shoe.

Durability

After walking well over 10,000 steps in the Brooks Ghost Max 4, we saw no signs of wear in the shoe and have no grave concerns regarding its long-term durability.

The engineered air-mesh uppers feel tough and are decorated with even tougher overlays all over the shoe that increase overall abrasion resistance. Every lacing eyelet is thoughtfully reinforced for added strength, and even the heel pull tab is reinforced with extra fabric and stitching. These are all excellent signs of long-term reliability.

The outsole is coated fairly significantly in rubber, indicating good sole durability. The exposed section of midsole foam may easily take damage when stepping on sharp objects like rocks or branches, but if you generally avoid those, the sole should hold up well.

Traction

The most significant change to the Ghost Max 4 over its previous iteration is improved traction. Fitted with a softer RoadTack rubber than older models, the Ghost Max 4 now has better overall traction in dry and wet conditions.

Our biggest gripe with the Ghost Max 3 was that we found it to be super slippery in wet conditions, whether that was on rain-soaked concrete sidewalks or wet tile. We're happy to see that Brooks addressed this concern and made the Ghost Max 4 much, much more grippy on wet surfaces.

Off the beaten path, the Ghost Max 4 does ok on hard-packed trails, but it's not ideal for loose surfaces like gravel or grass. It just doesn't have the lugs or texture depth to reliably find secure traction on such surfaces. It performs drastically better on hard, flat surfaces. One thing to note, though, is that we did find it to be exceptionally squeaky on linoleum, wood, and flat concrete — though that will likely fade with use.

Weight

We put the Ghost Max 4 on the scale and weighed our men's size 10.5 normal width shoes at 11.03 each. That's leaning toward the heavier side of the walking shoe spectrum, but just barely.

The shoe weight can increase if you opt for the wider width options. Likewise, thick orthotic inserts may add weight as well. Still, even though it's not the lightest shoe, its weight isn't all that noticeable, especially on shorter walks. You may start to notice it if you've had them on your feet all day, though.

Should You Buy the Brooks Ghost Max 4?

The Brooks Ghost Max 4 is easy to recommend for anyone who has wide feet or bunions, or those who need to use orthotic inserts to dial in the specific support their feet need. It's a highly accommodating and adaptable shoe fit for those purposes. Those with narrow feet or seeking more energy from their walking shoe will likely prefer more performance-oriented walking shoes.

What Other Men's Walking Shoes Should You Consider?

Another wide platform shoe with excellent support and stability is the Hoka Bondi SR. It's a great shoe for standing at work all day, thanks to its supreme grip on both dry and wet surfaces. Or if you want a highly supportive shoe with more bounce in its step, the Asics Gel-Kayano 33 is fantastic. It is also available in multiple width sizes.