Reddit mentions of Rollerblade Men's Spark 80ALU Skate

I have size 13 Spark 80 ALUs, made by Rollerblade (the same company that owns the Bladerunner line), that I bought for $139 at the time (May 2016).

First: what is your budget?
Since you mention the FRX 80s, I'd guess at most $200?

Second: what type of skating do you plan to do, and how frequently?
I'm guessing that you're looking for something more suited toward recreation and fitness, and maybe short-range transportation, than, say, sliding down stair-rails?

For the above, I would recommend the Sparks, or their more-modern, still-in-production counterparts, the Macroblade 80.

I'd also recommend having a look at the specialty skate shops, like Inline Warehouse, InlineSkates.Com, ProSkaters Place, Roller Warehouse, Shop Task, and others that you may find - they will typically have a greater variety of skate makes/models available, and often have sales & promotional deals that could let you acquire high-quality skates for less than one might otherwise.
It would also be worthwhile to look into some guides like this one or this one, and forum discussions like this one, if you haven't already.

As far as any braking concerns for soft boot skates ("stumbled upon some comments saying... it's hard to stop with a softboot"), the comment I found here states that the writer "noticed that if there isn't enough rigid plastic in back, some soft boot skates make it harder to brake effectively" - this says more about poor design/construction of the supporting cuff on some specific makes/models, rather than an issue with soft boot skates (which tends to describe many, if not most, modern recreational and fitness-oriented skates) as a whole.
I have not experienced any such issues with my Sparks.