The Burton High Fidelity is a snowboard that feels most at home when its being pushed and challenged. If you try to ride it slowly and playfully, you might be forgiven for thinking it's bland and planky.
But give it the speed it needs and it turns into whole different kind of animal. Once you have some speed under it, lay it on its edge. Now we're talking the High Fidelity's language.
In this review, I will take a look at the High Fidelity as a freeride snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the High Fidelity a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other freeride snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: Burton High Fidelity
Price: $699
Style: Freeride
Flex Rating: Mid-Stiff to Stiff
Flex Feel on Snow: Stiff (8/10)
Rating Score: 85.3/100
Compared to other Men’s Freeride Boards
Of the 27 current model freeride snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The High Fidelity ranked 16th= out of 27
Overview of the High Fidelity’ Specs
Check out the tables for the High Fidelity’s specs and available sizes.
STYLE:
FREERIDE
PRICE:
$699 - BUYING OPTIONS
Ability Level:
flex:
feel:
DAMPNESS:
SMOOTH /SNAPPY:
Playful /aggressive:
Edge-hold:
camber profile:
HYBRID CAMBER
DIRECTIONAL HYBRID Camber - Burton's "Directional Camber"
SHAPE:
setback stance:
Setback 25mm (1")
BASE:
Sintered - Burton's "Sintered WFO Base"
weight:
Felt normal
Camber Height:
10.5mm
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
150 | 245 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
154 | 248 | 120-180 | 54-82 |
158 | 250 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
162 | 254 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
166 | 260 | 180-260+ | 82-118+ |
158W | 258 | 150-200 | 68-91 |
162W | 260 | 180-260+ | 82-118+ |
Who is the High Fidelity Most Suited To?
The High Fidelity is best suited to advanced to expert riders who are strong and well conditioned or snowboarding and like to ride fast and carve trenches. If you also need a board that can take on deeper powder without too much back leg burn, when you get those expected or unexpected powder days, then the High Fidelity has that trio of speed, pow and carving well covered.
Could be a one-board-quiver for some, depending on how you ride. But also makes a great compliment in a 2+ board quiver. In a multi board quiver, you could have it with a mid-flexing all-rounder for daily driving, this for hard charging days and medium pow days, a more pow specialized board for really deep days, splitboard for backcountry and a playful freestyle deck for park days. Or just a two board quiver with any one of those, depending on your riding style.
Definitely not for beginners, unless you want to scare them off snowboarding. Too stiff and hard to initiate turns on for beginners - and this board doesn't reveal it's best qualities until you start to really push it, which beginners won't be doing.
High Fidelity DetailS
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the High Fidelity is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: Burton High Fidelity 2025, 158cm (250mm waist width)
Date: February 7, 2024
Flex
It's pretty stiff. I felt it at around an 8/10, maybe breaking in to more 7.5 through the peak of its life.
I would break that down even more by saying it’s stiffer torsionally than it is along the length. The nose and tail are fairly even with just a little more give in the nose which keeps it slightly less demanding and adds some versatility in.
Powder
Nothing to test in on the day, but based on how the board felt and its specs, it should do pretty well in powder.
Not likely to be a top tier powder board, but certainly better than the average board with its rockered nose, 25mm of setback on effective edge, longer nose than tail and 7mm of taper.
Carving
This is where the High Fidelity shines! It felt so good to drive the edge in and rip carves at high speed without worrying about washing out.
Turning
Ease of Turning/Slashing: Not a slashy board, but that’s not what it’s designed for. The torsional stiffness makes it want to hook up rather than whip the tail out to the side, but if you put in some effort you can make it happen.
A little better than I expected, but not a board that would boost a beginner’s confidence.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Again, a little better than expected but you do have to work for it.
Catchiness: It’s designed to respond to being on edge. When you're not, it can be on the catchy side, but it’s nothing horrible.
Speed
No surprise, it felt great at speed! The glide didn’t seem super fast starting out, but that could be partly due to the small amount of new man made snow. Once it got going it was fast and stable and helped me feel comfortable pushing the limits. If there was a limit to this board's speed, I didn't find it.
Uneven Terrain
Crud/Chunder: The High Fidelity handles choppy, variable snow quite well. I didn’t get bucked around and felt like I could access plenty of versatility to manage the conditions. There was just a little bit of new manmade snow on top of hard and even icy conditions, so the strong edge hold and carve-ability of this board served it well for the day I took it out on.
Trees/Bumps: Decent enough, but did take work and got fatiguing fairly quickly. The fitter/stronger you are, the less you'd feel this, but it's worth noting. It would tick up a notch if there was powder.
Jumps
Everything related to jumping and side hits is pretty predictable if you’ve paid attention to how this review sounds so far. It’s really solid at speed in the approach and also running out the landings. A bit tough to access pop, and if you want to spin you’ll be better off doing a big carve up the take off rather than trying to generate spin all on your own. High speed straight airs are a pretty good choice though because of its dampness and stability going fast.
Overall, it's not the board I'd be taking out for a day in the park or for a day finding side-hits but some cliff drops and ollies over rollers etc, is OK.
Switch
I had to keep my concentration during transitions or it would end up feeling catchy. The even tail/nose flex helps out, but you want to stay focused for best results.
Spins
It takes some effort to get around. It’s definitely not the type of board that you can easily revert out of spins on the ground but also definitely doesn't over spin.
Can feel a bit catchy for take off and landing too. Trying to whip it around just from an ollie doesn't work great with it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, the pop is pretty hard to access, and secondly, you really want to make sure you're off the ground before making any lateral movements. As mentioned in jumps section, you're better off with bigger air spins and setting up your spin with a big carve and let that natural angle help to start your spin.
Jibbing
Not really on the menu for this board. The quick, light, agile feel that you want on boxes and rails doesn’t overlap well with this board's characteristics.
Butters
As mentioned in the Flex section, the nose and tail are fairly similar in stiffness, so you can get ok presses on it, but that’s not what it’s built for.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
| Factor | Rating (/5) | Weighted |
|---|---|---|
| Powder | 4 | 20/25 |
| Speed | 4.5 | 18/20 |
| Carving | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Turns | 3 | 6/10 |
| Crud | 4.5 | 9/10 |
| Trees | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Jumps | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
| Switch | 2.5 | 2.5/5 |
| TOTAL (after normalizing): | 85.3/100 |
The High Fidelity is one of those boards you could easily mistake for being a little dead/dull if you were only to ever ride it moderately. But you'd be missing out on everything that this board was designed for and everything that gives it that fire in its belly.
While there's some agility there when riding it slower, it takes effort and this board is most at home when charging and pushing the limits. Only then can really understand what this board is all about.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
To learn more about the High Fidelity, or if you're ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below
To check out some other freeride snowboard options, or to see how the High Fidelity compares to others, check out our top rated freeride snowboards by clicking the button below.
Hi Nate,
I love your reviews and I’m glad that you finally got to review the High Fidelity. I bought this board but I havent gotten a chance to ride it. I was also entertaining the Yes Standard Uninc.
I wanted to get your thoughts on how the two boards compare and which board you think is better for my style of riding. I like to bomb the mountains and do jumps occasionally starting off on small jumps and hope to progress into medium. I’m not much of a carver though I do enjoy carving at times.
Thanks in advance!
Hi Michael, thanks for your message.
I would this, comparing the two:
– The High Fidelity is a little better at speed – able to handle more speed and remain more stable at those speeds vs the Standard Uninc – and better for carving at those higher speeds. At moderate speeds, I’d say I’d prefer the Standard Uninc for carving, but at moderately high to high speeds, the High Fidelity is better, in my experience.
– High Fidelity also more suited to riding powder. You don’t mention powder, but just in case you go in powder sometimes
– The Standard Uninc is better for jumps, in my experience, particularly if you were going to be doing any spinning
So yeah, I’d say the High Fidelity is going to be better for when you want to really bomb it, but the Standard Uninc better for when you’re hitting jumps or side-hits. The Standard Uninc is something that can bomb though, just not quite giving the same stability as the High Fidelity when you’re really going for it.
Hope this helps (if it didn’t come too late – have been hectic testing gear recently)