Union Strata Bindings Review

The Union Strata have the kind of performance you would expect from higher priced bindings. One of the best, if not the best value-for-money snowboard bindings going around, IMO. 

In this review I will take a look at the Strata as freestyle snowboard bindings.

As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Strata a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how they compare with other freestyle bindings.

Overall Rating

Bindings: Union Strata 2026

Price: $279 (USD recommended retail)

Style: Freestyle

Flex Rating: Medium (5/10)

Flex Feel: Medium (6/10)

Rating Score: 89.9/100

Compared to other Men’s freestyle Bindings

Overview of the Strata’s Specs

Check out the tables for the Strata’s specs and available sizes.

Specs

Who are the Strata Most Suited To?

The Strata are best suited to freestyle and all-mountain freestyle riders who want bindings with enough support to be able to hit some of the bigger features, but still flexible and tweakable enough to get playful on and allow you to really get good board feel, without sacrificing shock absorption. 

If you also like to just cruise the groomers at times, then they're real nice for that too, in my experience. 

Not easy going enough for most beginners, IMO, but anyone from lower intermediate and up should gel with these bindings. 

Best matched to boards in the 4/10 to 7/10 flex range and most ideal for 5/10 to 6/10 flex boards, IMO.  

Test/review details for the Strata

O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Strata are capable of.

Demo Info

Binding: Union Strata, M

Date: March 12, 2025

Mounting

Pretty straight forward overall.

The disc cover attaches to the disc, so you do have to unscrew that before mounting to the board. This requires a screwdriver, but you're going to be needing it to mount the bindings to the board anyway, so it's no biggie (screw on disc can be removed/tightened using the same Phillips #3 that you use for the binding mounting screws, so its the same tool).

Once that cover is off, it's nice and easy, because then you have easy access to the disc with nothing getting in the way for when you mount. 

Setting up your angles is straight forward too. 

Because Union's mini disc doesn't span 4cm (1.57"), you typically can't setup precisely on reference stance, but you can still get very close. On a twin, if you want to be perfectly centered, you have to widen or narrow your stance width just a touch (by 5mm (0.2")). Otherwise, to maintain the reference stance width, you would have to setback a little (but would be the equivalent of being setback only 2.5mm (0.1") on effective edge, which is unlikely to be noticeable).

In my case, the reference stance on my control board (YES Greats) is 545mm (21.5") (centered), but I usually ride it with either a 585mm (23") (centered) or 565mm (22.2") with a 10mm (0.4") setback stance (it's an asym, so I wouldn't want to set back any more than that). In this case I rode it with a 560mm (22") stance in the 10mm (0.4") setback position. I don't personally notice a 5mm (0.2") stance width difference.  

Flex

First we'll take a look at how the flex in hand felt, then how it felt overall on snow. 

In Hand:

The in hand flex below will include comparisons to the Burton Malavita (my control bindings) and other Union bindings I had at the time (namely, the Ultra, Source Pro and Atlas Step On). 

Highback Twist: The Strata doesn't have a lot of flex when twisting its highback. It's not super rigid either, but I'd say it's stiffer than average. My control bindings (Malavita) have a very rigid (not flexible) twist flex. 

After the Malavita, the Atlas Step On had the stiffest highback twist flex – just a little more twist than the Malavita. Then it was the Source Pro – just a bit down from the Atlas, then the Strata. Though I’d say the Strata was very close to the same as the Source Pro. Then the Ultra. Ultra also not massively softer flexing twist-wise vs the Strata, but enough to be noticeable.

Highback Pull-back: Zero on the Malavita, Source Pro and Strata. A tiny bit on the Atlas Step On and then noticeably more on the Ultra. 

Ankle Strap: In terms of the strap (not including any outer pieces that float over the strap), the Strata and Source Pros straps are similarly stiff but not quite as stiff as the Malavita. The Strata is more of a one piece deal but the Source Pro and Ultra, have the strap that touches the boot, then a harder plastic “skeleton” over top. Overall the Source Pro is stiffer than the Strata and similar to the Malavita. The Ultra is stiffer on the Lateral side vs the Strata, but softer on the medial side (subtly but its there). Strata is similar on both lateral and medial sides. As is the Malavita. 

Toe Strap: The Strata’s toe strap felt the stiffest, then the Malavita, then the Source Pro and Ultra.

On Snow:

On snow, the Strata felt very medium to me. I would say just a touch stiffer overall than the Malavita (my control bindings) but barely. Very much a 6/10 flex by my feel.  

Responsiveness

The Strata's favor maneuverability at slower speeds (aka shorter sharper turns) than laying big carves at higher speeds. But they have enough support/stability to drive them relatively hard. But they were a little better for slow speed agility than they were for big, fast carves. 

And as I've mentioned in previous reviews, they have a nice springy, explosive feeling response. A sharp "attack" when initiating turns. As opposed a smoother, more even feeling response that you get from some bindings. I really like that explosive turn initiation feel, but it may not be for everyone. 

Board Feel/Butterability

Their board feel was really good, as it's always been with these bindings. There are some downsides to that mini-disc, but when you get the board feel these bindings give, you quickly forgive them for their other shortfalls!

Pop/Ollie Power

 I felt they provided good pop/ollie power. Just a touch more than the average. I don't find there's much deviation from the average here, when it comes to bindings - the board, in my experience/opinion,  has a much greater impact on this, but there can be subtle differences made depending on the bindings and I detected just a hint more pop power from these. 

Adjustability

Heel Cup: Yes - which is great for boot centering.

Stance Width: Some adjustments can be made here, but it's pretty limited and, as described in the mounting section above, you sometimes have to subtly adjust your stance width to accommodate the mini disc.  

Highback Lean: Yes. Requires a screwdriver.  

Ankle Strap Position: No

Toe Strap Position: Yes, 2 positions. 

Ankle and toe strap length:  Tool-Less. 

Gas pedal/toe ramp extension: No. 

Highback Rotation: Yes 2 positions (independent of heel cup adjustments).

Compatible with: 2 x 4 | The Channel (Union's mini disc isn't big enough to span the 4cm gap in a 4 x 4 pattern)

Shock Absorption

On physical inspection, the baseplate feels like it’s just a circle around the disc space and then up the sides but pretty minimal baseplate footprint. The rest is just padding and nice and flexy. That padding goes right through from the top of the footbed to bottom where it meets the board and is nice and dense but springy.

The lack of rigid baseplate material not only helps it to feel super cush, comfy and shock absorbing - it also likely helps with board feel and is likely the reason the overall flex feel is less than what you might expect  after flexing the highback and straps. 

On Snow, they felt really good for absorbing shock from landings and absorbing chatter. As they've felt in the past, these bindings felt top-notch for absorbing shock. 

Entry/Exit

Ankle/Toe Ratchet Smoothness: Nice and smooth. Not ultra smooth, but as smooth as you need. If I had to say I’d say the Source Pro was the smoothest, then Ultra, then Strata, but not that much in between all of them.

Process: Pretty much standard strap-in process. Nothing special but worked fine. I found the straps can get in the way a bit when putting my foot in but if I didn't have other bindings with hinged straps that you can push out of the way more easily,  I likely wouldn't have even noticed that as a things - and it's the same for any bindings without hinging or some kind of fast/easy entry system. 

Comfort

Ankle Strap: I felt like it conformed well to my boots and had no ankle bite or anything. Nice and comfortable. 

Toe Strap: A little stiffer than average. But riding I didn't notice any issues. 

Canted Footbed: Yes.

Padded Footbed: See shock absorption section above for more, but yeah, really good padding. 

Highback:  No real padding on the highback. There's a section around the FLAD that is a little softer, but not by too much. But no calf-bite or discomfort from the highback when riding, which is the main thing.

Ankle Support 

Nothing over-the-top/extra-ordinarily supportive or anything, but decent enough and felt just the right amount for the style of bindings.  

Score Breakdown and Final Verdict

Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.

The Strata's continue to perform well above their pay-grade. 

There are some components/features of the Strata that contribute to their lower price vs other similar bindings. Things like a tooled FLAD, rather than tool-less, and components like the ratchets that aren't Union's high-end ones. They're not as light as they once were, when they were considered a more premium option in Union's Heirachy. But, in my experience, those things have very little effect as to their on snow performance. 

In terms of their overall performance as all-mountain-freestyle bindings, they have to be the best value-for-money going around, and by a good margin, IMO.