Ever since the Anta GH1 was first revealed, I quite liked the way it looked. I was definitely interested in getting a pair, given it had received favourable reviews. Anta put out some truly remarkable colourways as well, making the idea of purchasing a pair even more irresistible.
In the end, I was fortunate that the opportunity arose with Anta Sport for them to send me a pair of the Anta GH1 in the special “Girl’s Artwork” colourway for an unboxing & review.
To check out the unboxing video, which includes information about the colourway and the inspiration behind it, click here.
With that being said, full disclosure: the GH1s were given to me by Anta Sport and were completely free. I’ll attempt to put that aside in order to give you all an objective, unbiased review — this was fairly straight-forward, as the GH1 is a damn good shoe!
Let’s take a look!
Traction:
The traction on the GH1 works really well both indoors and outdoors. As detailed in the unboxing video, the outsole traction is made up of two distinctly different patterns. The forefoot features three pods with a tightly spaced radial pattern, while the mid-foot and heel features a fairly unique “tiger-stripe” pattern which is thick and widely spaced.
I have found the traction to be excellent on a concrete or multi-purpose surface court outside, and additionally is very solid on hardwood court indoors. In terms of an asphalt or blacktop court, I did experience some issues with debris or loose surface. There were a couple of occasions on a dribble move or a hard plant that I would skid/slide laterally for a moment, before the traction re-engaged. I believe this has to do with how tight the traction grooves are in the forefoot. It isn’t a major issue, as once you’re aware of it, you can compensate for that and take more care with any hard movements laterally.
While we are on the subject of traction and the outsole, I did want to note that the way the rubber wraps up around the upper on the toe-box (pictured) does do a great job protecting the materials from toe drags (as you can see). This feature is a staple of most basketball sneakers nowadays, I would say, but it’s still welcome, nonetheless.
Finally, the rubber used for the outsole held up extremely well over the testing period. It is a very solid compound which displayed very minimal fraying or damage with the majority of the testing taking place outdoors. It is a perfectly viable outdoor option in terms of traction performance and durability, which has come to be the expectation from Chinese-brand sneakers at this point in time.
Cushion:
The cushion Anta implemented on the GH1 is their A-Flashfoam E-TPU foam compound.
E-TPU or Expanded Thermoplastic Polyurethane is a foam compound formed from a plastic base and contains much more plastic than a traditional foam like an EVA (Ethylene-vinyl Acetate). As a point of comparison, a common E-TPU with which most people would be familiar is the BOOST offered by Adidas.
This midsole cushion is fantastic. It really does a splendid job of balancing a plush ride with impact protection for those unforgiving outdoor surfaces, with a responsive set-up that offers some bounciness and court feel. The way Anta achieves this is by caging the A-Flashfoam at the lateral forefoot with a TPU-rubber piece, while allowing the rest of the lateral side cushion, along with the entirety of the cushion on the medial side to be exposed. This allows the foam to expand and contract freely, allowing the wearer to experience all the benefits the cushion offers. And because the TPU-rubber piece at the lateral forefoot, the cushion is much more restricted, meaning it stays uniform throughout movements and offers that responsive feeling.
The heel feels very nice, as someone who appreciates cushioning in the heel, and as someone who can tend to do heavy heel-strikes. The heel is almost mushy, in stark contrast to the forefoot. In turn, the forefoot is springy with no feeling of lag whatsoever.
One last thing to mention about the cushion really quickly — the GH1 come with a really nice insole. The insoles aren’t a full-on memory foam or anything, but they are much thicker than a standard “paper stock” insole, and moreover add a small amount of additional cushion to the midsole E-TPU.
Fit:
When discussing the fit of the GH1, for clarity — I consider myself a wide-footer. And not just a little bit more width than average, I would say my feet are extremely wide, like, Flinstones-style feet.
With that caveat, the Anta GH1 fits narrow. Narrow-footers and normal-footers wanting a snug fit, go true to size. Normal-footers wanting a bit of additional wiggle room may want to consider going up half-a-size. Wide-footers should definitely go up half-a-size, unless you are someone that does want that super snug, almost suffocating fit, then you might want to consider going true to size. Having said that, it all depends if Anta offers your size at retail. For me, I have to go with an 11 as that is the largest size offered by Anta at retail; I have no option to try an 11.5.
I did experience a hotspot on the lateral side of my right foot. It was at the area of the shoe where the toe-box knit material is stitched to the mid-foot, and also where the TPU-rubber containment piece ends (pictured). Furthermore, upon inspection of the inside of the sneaker, it is also the area of the sneaker where the mid-foot elastic lockdown band under the shoelaces is attached. I had real trouble breaking in this area, and unfortunately it didn’t improve over testing for my right foot (only my right foot, I had no issues with this area of the shoe on my left foot.
The GH1 does offer a slight amount of extra length at the end of the toe, but not a significant amount by any stretch (nothing like the Dame 6, for example). I did appreciate this bit of extra room in comparison to the only other pair of Anta sneakers I had owned before these, the Anta KT4. The KT4s have a super snug 1-to-1 fit, while the GH1s are slightly more forgiving for a wide-footer.
The GH1 offers what is essentially a one-bootie upper. They have a tongue, but it’s a 3/4s and stitched in, almost like a “tech-fit” style construction.
Support:
The support in the GH1 is excellent.
There’s not that much to say with this section. It offers all the standard support features and does them really well.
Starting with the tooling, the forefoot base is super-wide and flat, it flares out in an exaggerated fashion and acts as the lateral outrigger. There is also the aforementioned TPU-rubber caging piece at that lateral forefoot. That piece does extend up slightly to act as a sort of bumper or barrier upon hard lateral movements (such as crossovers or plants), as you don’t sit very much within the midsole of this sneaker. There is a torsional bar at the mid-foot for added rigidity. There is an extremely rigid and heavy-duty internal TPU heel counter, which is paired with an external heel counter made from the same material as the forefoot cushion caging.
The lacing system is very secure, utilising the nylon strands popularised by early Air Jordan models. The lacing system is then paired with an elastic band-style overlay piece beneath the tongue for additional lockdown. You feel very secure in the GH1.
Materials:
There’s a mixture of textiles and synthetics that make up the upper of the GH1. It is what we have come to expect from a modern sneaker striving for a lighter weight and reduced break-in time.
The toe is comprised of a textile knit material Anta calls A-Web, which offers some ventilation and breathability up front, while allowing some give for toe-splays.
The mid-foot and heel are made up of a tightly woven textile which almost resembles canvas, backed by a synthetic material for additional support and containment. Anta has dubbed this A-Shock Fiber.
The materials are nothing special, but they do the job in regards to performance.
That takes care of it for the performance review of the Anta GH1.
Would I recommend them? Absolutely. Anta did a great job with these and they’re an awesome shoe.
Keep an eye out for the video review coming, I will link it here in the written review when it’s ready.
Thanks for reading!
~ Dan aka Hoops Sneakers.
Price:
The Anta GH1 initially retailed for US$99.99
Some pairs are currently reduced to US$89.99 and US$94.99 at Famuji Sneaker
The specific “Girl’s Artwork” colourway featured in this review is currently listed on Anta Outlet for US$299.99
Weight:
The Anta GH1 in a men’s size US 11 weighs 453 grams (16 ounces)
Score:
I give the Anta GH1 a score of 4.6/5, minor reductions due to the narrow fit and traction issues with loose debris on blacktop.
Hoops Sneakers 