A Difference between 2E and 4E: Shoes Widths Explained
This article will look at how much shoe size differs between 2e and 4e, the difference in widths between 2e and 4e, and why you might want to consider 2e or 4e.
The difference between 2E and 4E is that 2E represents a wide width for men and extra-wide width for women. 2E is also represented as “EE.” On the other hand, 4E width is only considered for men’s shoes as an extra-wide width. This difference of widths occurs across the ball of foot area of the foot. Compared to women’s feet, men’s feet are muscular and have a wide ball of foot region, due to which they might need extra-wide i.e. 4e wide shoes to fit correctly.
However, the logic of these shoes widths is quite skeptical in the case of athletic shoes or your trainers. Like, if you wear your shoes width on the Brannock device, it isn’t necessary that this would translate directly into your desired shoes width in the concerned shoe model you’re looking for.
If you check out my guide on dress shoe vs. sneakers sizing, I’ve explained in detail their sizing difference. The foot width, determined using the Brannock device, works almost fine with dress shoes and casual sneakers.
As far as athletic sneakers or running shoes are concerned, they have thick padding inside and a thicker midsole. So, you always have to switch between different sizes for such type of footwear to determine the correct width of the shoes for your feet.
Also Read: What size is 7y in Women’s Nike
A Buying Guide for Wide Shoes: How Wide is 2E and 4E?
It depends on the shoes brand you’re interested in. For a rough idea, you can measure your foot width on Brannock device in centimeter (cm). There’s a scale on Brannock, on which the widths are mentioned from A to E, corresponding to the measurement in centimeter. So, using this method, you can get a rough idea about the 2E width in centimeters and the difference between 4E and 2E widths.
However, for different running shoes and athletic sneakers brands like ASICS and New Balance, there’s some difference between 2E and 4E widths.
New Balance Shoes 2E and 4E Width
For New balance shoes, generally, there’s a difference of around ½ inch or 1.27 cm between 2E and 4E shoes width. If you keep the shoes width the same and only go for a half size up, there would be about 0.3 cm of width difference between those two sizes.
You can also check out my guide on New Balance shoes sizing and fit if you need more information regarding the fit of New Balance shoes.
ASICS Shoes 2E and 4E Width
For ASICS, I couldn’t find the exact answer of how wide is 4E. On different forums, I’ve found that ASICS shoes are narrower than New Balance shoes with the same width. The space in the midfoot of ASICS shoes is fine, but the toe box is narrower than the New Balance shoes. Regarding the width of ASICS shoes, some users have said that the 2E width of ASICS offers 10mm more room than a standard width shoe, i.e., E width. Similarly, a 4E width ASICS shoe offers around 20mm more room in the toe box than E width shoe, provided that the shoe size is the same.
Also, I tried to crawl through sizing reviews of several ASICS shoes on amazon. For ASICS Gel-Venture 7 shoes, a customer said his foot length 10.5 size ASICS shoes fit his length. His foot width was around 12.5cm in the ball of foot region, but the 4E width with 10.5 sizes couldn’t fit his feet in the toe box.
Nike Shoes 2E and 4E Width
As far as the width of Nike shoes is concerned, the difference between the widths of Nike shoes is around 1 cm or 1/3 inch. Extra-wide Nike shoes are 1cm wider than Nike wide-width shoes. Nike is a brand mainly known for making shoes in standard widths i.e., E width or narrow widths. The brand has also started making few shoes in 2E and 4E widths. Currently, at the time of writing this article, there are only 8 Nike shoes in wide (2E) width and only 11 shoes in extra-wide (4E) width.
You can go for Nike Pegasus 38 shoes as they’re available in 2E and 4E width options. However, beware that although Nike Pegasus wide shoes offer plenty of room in a toe box, they’re crazy narrow in the midfoot region compared to the New Balance shoes.
Nike Air Force shoes are also good if you’ve too wide feet as they stretch out comfortably, but this technology is ancient now and no more suitable for providing sufficient cushioning. You can find other options of Nike shoes in 2E and 4E wide fit from here.
What Is EEE In Shoe Size?
EEE or 3E is the width of a shoe that is midway between 2E and 4E width. It is also called triple-wide width. In most of the shoes, you will only find E and 2E widths. I didn’t find any shoe brand that still makes shoes in EEE widths. If you find the label on extra-width on the shoe, it means it is of 4E width for men and 2E width for women. So, if your foot width is 3E, I’d recommend you to select 4E width in shoes.
