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Burton High Fidelity Review

It is best suited for expert riders with smaller feet looking for serious float, stability, and pop from an everyday freeride board
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Burton High Fidelity Review (The rounded tail and blunted nose work together to maximize float on this freeride board.)
The rounded tail and blunted nose work together to maximize float on this freeride board.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Price:  $680 List
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Manufacturer:   Burton
By Isaac Laredo and Ross Patton  ⋅  Nov 3, 2024
73
OVERALL
SCORE


RANKED
#4 of 8
  • Edging - 25% 6.5
  • Float in Powder - 20% 8.5
  • Stability at Speed - 20% 8.0
  • Playfulness - 20% 6.0
  • Pop and Jumping - 15% 8.0

Our Verdict

The Burton High Fidelity is a snowboard inspired by the lines of your dreams. It's a highly capable and efficient board that helps keep you on top of the snow and charging hard. The board's float is exceptional for the free-ride category, while the stiffness, directional camber, and construction allowed us to pop high, ride fast, and carve in firm snow. The narrow waist width provides a quick and responsive edging style for quick adjustments and slashing around with your friends. The narrow waist width is our only gripe with this board, and our testers got noticeable amounts of toe and heel drag that impeded our ability to make deep turns on groomers. Overall, this board is a great option for expert riders with smaller feet looking for that everyday board that excels when the resort calls for a foot of new.
REASONS TO BUY
Stable at speed
Great float in powder
Responsive
REASONS TO AVOID
More potential for toe and heel drag
For expert riders

Compare to Similar Products

 
burton high fidelity
Awards Top Pick Award
Top Pick for All-Mountain Powder Performance
Editors' Choice Award
Best Overall Snowboard
Editors' Choice Award
Best Overall Directional Snowboard
Top Pick Award
Best Alternative Freeride Snowboard
Top Pick Award
Best Snowboard for Intermediate Rider Progression
Price $680 List
$679.95 at Evo
$599.95 at Evo
Compare at 2 sellers
$750 List
$749.95 at Backcountry
$629.95 at Evo
Compare at 2 sellers
$700 List
$699.99 at Evo
Overall Score Sort Icon
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Bottom Line The board is ideal for experienced riders seeking top-notch float, stability, and excellent pop from a regular freeride boardThe versatile performance and sheer enjoyment make it a top choice for the teamAn all-mountain ride of exceptional quality and capability with a flex pattern that is friendly to intermediates and expertsJones produced a highly adaptable and enjoyable board that excelled in all aspects of performanceA capable board that is reasonable for intermediates to ride and progress yet still satisfying as an expert rider
Rating Categories Burton High Fidelity Yes Standard Uninc DC Cardiff Goat Enduro Jones Stratos Never Summer Proto FR
Edging (25%)
6.5
8.5
7.5
8.0
7.5
Float in Powder (20%)
8.5
7.0
7.5
8.0
6.5
Stability at Speed (20%)
8.0
8.0
7.5
7.5
7.0
Playfulness (20%)
6.0
9.0
8.0
7.0
8.5
Pop and Jumping (15%)
8.0
7.0
7.5
7.0
6.5
Specs Burton High Fidelity Yes Standard Uninc DC Cardiff Goat Enduro Jones Stratos Never Summer Proto FR
Shape Tapered directional Directional twin Tapered directional Tapered directional Tapered directional
Camber/Rocker Camber, rocker Camber, rocker Camber, rocker Camber, rocker Triple camber
Flex 9 7 6 7 8
Tested Length 158 cm 156 cm 162 cm 156 cm 156 cm
Measured Weight of Tested Length 5lb 11oz 6lb 10oz 6lb 8oz 6lb 10oz 6lb 14oz
Available Lengths 150, 154, 158, 158w ,162, 166 149, 152, 156, 159, 162 150, 154, 156, 162 149, 153, 154w, 156, 158w, 159, 161w, 162, 164w 156, 169, 157w, 161w, 165w, 162df ,166df
Core Material Wood and carbon Poplar, paulownia, bamboo, carbon Poplar, paulownia Paulownia, poplar, basalt Poplar, paulownia, bamboo, birch, carbon
Waist Width 25 cm 25.8 cm 26.5 cm 25.4 cm 25.6 cm
Radius 7.8 m 7.5 m 10 m 7.2 m 7.2 m

Our Analysis and Test Results

The Burton High Fidelity is our favorite all-mountain freeride powder board. The shape and directional camber help reduce back leg fatigue and help you stay on top of the deep stuff despite its narrow waist width. The narrow waist width can be a significant drawback for those looking to lay deep carves on the fresh corduroy as you will likely have toe and heel drag on deep turns. It's a great board for advanced and expert riders looking for incredible performance in deep snow and technical terrain.

Performance Comparison



burton high fidelity - the burton high fidelity is an excellent addition to the family tree...
The Burton High Fidelity is an excellent addition to the family tree line and is positioned for expert riders.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Edging


The Burton High Fidelity is a predictable and easy-to-turn model that provides a strong on-edge experience with plenty of grip in firmer snow. The narrow waist width of this board makes it challenging to lay down deep turns and drag your gloves on the snow, as you'll likely have toe or heel drag on most sizes if you are above a US size 8.5 boot aside from the 158W.


The directional camber of the board provides a locked turning experience and great edge hold on firm snow. The early rise of the nose helps the board release from turns easily. The stiffer tail provides power out of the turn that advanced riders can begin to harness. The narrow waist width allows quick, easy, and responsive turn initiation across medium to small-radius turns. The rounded, egg-shaped tail helps slash out turns with moderate effort. We enjoyed this board's responsive, predictable, and versatile nature; however, our testers, who love carving, found the narrow waist width and amount of drag to take away from the overall experience. Those testers said they would want a wider board with less drag for those epic corduroy days.

This board has a lot of snap and acceleration at the end of the turn.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Float in Powder


The High Fidelity was designed with powder in mind, and in our testing, the model shined in this element. Despite the narrow waist width, the board provided significant float, which stemmed from the 7mm taper, an elongated blunted nose, and a squashed egg-shaped tail coupled with a set back stance; the board rises and floats in the deep stuff to keep you on top.


The stiff flex pattern helps the board through takes-offs, landings, and chopping up powder as it pops, stomps, and charges through bumps in the snow. The EST channel gives quick and easy stance adjustments if you feel you need to set the stance back for even more float. This snowboard's shape draws on elements within the family tree line, a renowned freeride line of boards. The blunted nose increases the surface area to produce float and drive down the lower-volume egg-shaped tail. The board provides a lot of float at medium to high speeds, but we found a bit more fatigue at slower speeds due to the stiffness and waist width. Our test team avoided quite a few tomahawks that, on other models, may have ended up with a bit more snow in their goggles.

burton high fidelity
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Stability at Speed


The High Fidelity thrives at speed and uneven snow surfaces to help you charge confidently along your favorite lines. The stiff, cambered profile is resistant to chatter and moves through chop easily.


Boy, this board is built for speed. Our confidence was high as we pointed it down groomers, chutes, and bumps. The Super Fly II™ 700G Core utilizes parallel and perpendicular woods to help increase the board's overall and torsional stiffness, contributing to its stable ride. We found the ride very stable in various terrain, conditions, and uneven snow surfaces. The directional camber provides hard-to-rival tip-to-tail stability due to the platform's long nose and stiffness. In packed powder, you can ride fast and absorb bumps while still being nimble enough to make micro-adjustments. The sintered WFO base is one of the fastest in the review. If speed is the name of your game, you won't be disappointed in the stability this model provides.

burton high fidelity - this board's ability to track, absorb chatter, and move over uneven...
This board's ability to track, absorb chatter, and move over uneven snow makes it very stable at speed.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Playfulness


Not every day is a blower powder day where we demand the same stability required for Natural Selection. There are days when conditions warrant slashing around and blasting methods of side hits. The High Fidelity is surprisingly playful, given its design intention. The playfulness of the board generally comes from its responsive edging style and ability to pop off side hits.


The nimble, slashy, and responsive edging style of this board makes this board more playful across the mountain. We smiled as we did party waves with our friends, blasted methods, and slashed in the sun. The pop is perfect for side hits and other features around the mountain. The very stiff flex pattern limits the buttering potential on this board. It's not impossible to butter, but it takes excellent technique and stiffer boots to sit into the board's flex.

burton high fidelity - an attempt at doing a toe carve into a 360 butter. you can see how...
An attempt at doing a toe carve into a 360 butter. You can see how much effort this board takes to butter and flex.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Pop and Jumping


If you have ever seen a method from Ben Ferguson you have seen the power of pop. While no board can make you do that, the High Fidelity is a step in that direction for advanced to expert riders. The pop is plentiful, and expert riders will be able to harvest its true potential. While this board didn't have the most pop in our review, it has enough for the most demanding riders to send jumps, cliffs, and side hits with the stability to be a reliable piece of landing gear.


The stiff camber profile with a shorter tail helps you gain leverage and maximize the pop that the unique core can produce. It's not as user-friendly to capitalize on the board's full potential, but it is not as challenging as other boards in the review. We found it appropriate for small side hits and large jumps. The profile and flex pattern provide a solid foundation to stomp the landings. Advanced and expert riders will find this board offers plenty of pop and stability for your freeride adventures.

burton high fidelity - plenty of camber to be found here.
Plenty of camber to be found here.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Should You Buy the Burton High Fidelity?


The High Fidelity is a great board for advanced to expert riders seeking to push themselves in steep off-piste terrain, whether in powder, hard pack, or jumping cliffs.

burton high fidelity - the main trade-off with this board is that executing these turns is...
The main trade-off with this board is that executing these turns is more challenging. After a few runs, we learned how to manage the drag on our size 8 boots.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

What Other Snowboard Should You Consider?


If you're looking for a board to try and progress your carving on, consider the Yes Standard Uninc DC because the wide waist allows you to go full tilt with less concern over toe and hell drag. If you are more into freestyle and looking for loads of pop, look at the Arbor Candle Rain as it delivers loads of pop and stability for your next session, building booters in the backcountry.
burton high fidelity - the high fidelity board is available in a wide range of sizes and is...
The High Fidelity board is available in a wide range of sizes and is designed to be gender-neutral.uetral board offered in a diverse size run.
Credit: Natalie Kafader

Isaac Laredo and Ross Patton