Category: Water Shoes

How to wear these: The DigiHero Water Shoes are best to wear during water activities, so bring another pair to change into for lunch afterward. However, they come in so many colors and patterns—from neon to black—that you can match them to almost any swimsuit.

Why they’re great: For 12 bucks, these basic booties are comfortable and functional, and they cost a fraction of the price of other shoes we recommend. They’re easy and quick to order with Amazon Prime, so they’re ideal if you’re planning an upcoming vacation and need a basic pair of water shoes delivered to your door as soon as possible. Compared with the two other pairs of nearly identical cheap shoes we ordered from Amazon, these shoes protected our feet better and dried more quickly. DigiHero Water Shoes come in a bunch of colors, too, from subtle to bright.

The DigiHeros are comfortable and lightweight, thanks to their thin polyester construction (we’re guessing about the polyester part, since the company doesn’t specify). So they’re also easy to flatten for travel. Their thick soles protected our feet from rocks and twigs during testing, and the elastic around the ankles was snug enough to stop any errant objects from sneaking in. The stretchy material took more time to bounce back into shape than higher-quality-yet-pricier shoes we tried. That, combined with the flyaway threads we spotted, indicate low-quality materials and construction—but again, these cost $12.

The DigiHeros dried in 1 hour 45 minutes (about half an hour less than other aqua socks we tested), which set them apart from the competition. As of this writing, they come in 19 colors, ranging from leopard print to rainbow. If you prefer something simpler, we would recommend the basic “black 2” pair we ordered.

We noticed some discrepancies between the images on the Amazon listing and what we received. In the photo, the “black 2” shoes we ordered have a white logo, but the shoes we received had no logo or branding whatsoever (a look we actually prefer). We ordered a second pair to be sure it wasn’t a fluke, and we received the logo-free design again. We think DigiHero recently changed the design but didn’t update the photos. We’ve reached out to the company to confirm this, but at the time of writing, we haven’t heard back. A printed pair we ordered came exactly as advertised.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Although the shoes received largely positive reviews—4.4 stars from more than 4,000 Amazon customers—a quick scroll of the one-star reviews highlights various complaints, from the shoes being defective upon arrival to immediately developing holes. And multiple reviewers say they were sent two left shoes. We didn’t have these problems with our three orders, but if you do, Amazon has a 30-day return policy.

Shoe sizes: men’s 4½ to 12½, women’s 5½ to 13½
Color options: 18 colors
Return window: 30 days