Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 Review

The many variations of PWRRUN foam that Saucony uses always impress. In this shoe, it's a thick slice of PWRRUN PB that manages to bring a highly cushioned ride to an extremely responsive and lightweight shoe. With the Endorphin Speed 3, Saucony widened the base and fit, which was a welcome change for some runners but created some hotspots and abrasions for our lead tester.

Performance Comparison

Cushioning and Landing Comfort

We've already mentioned the PWRRUN PB foam which is lightweight, extremely bouncy, and plush. We measured 36mm and 27mm of it in the heel and forefoot, respectively. That doesn't qualify as a maximalist trainer, but it's a lot of cushion on a lightweight daily trainer. This cushion has a nice give on impact but never bottoms out and has excellent energy return that makes this shoe very enjoyable to run in.

Saucony gave the Endorphin Speed 3 a winged nylon plate, which we think is a great middle ground. Often, plated daily trainers can be a little too stiff or harsh at easy paces. The nylon is less intrusive while also directing the energy return of the foam well. Between the thick chunk of padding and the nylon plate, we never bottomed out in this shoe and rarely felt rock strikes.

We measured 9mm of drop, which corresponds well to how the shoe feels on the road. Saucony's Speedroll geometry is among our favorites on the market, promoting quick turnover while not intruding on our natural footstrike in the way some aggressive rockered geometries can. However, we do think this cushioning is optimized for slightly faster running. At slower paces, the extra bounce from the foam can feel like a bit much.

The Endorphin Speed 3 does well on smoother dirt roads, even the occasional washboard road, but we didn't like it on gravel. We felt that most of the enjoyable nature of the foam was neutralized by uneven and loose surfaces. Similarly, the traction of the Speed 3, while fine on pavement, wasn't great on looser surfaces.

Responsiveness

We've already touched on the bounciness of the foam and the enjoyable rocker. That should tell you what you need to know — this is a very responsive shoe. We felt that the only shoes in our test that were more responsive were race-specific models that cost significantly more.

True to its namesake, we love the Endorphin Speed 3 for faster efforts. Runners who prefer a less intrusive rocker will likely find this shoe to their liking (as well as its race-oriented twin, the Endorphin Pro 3). We'd also be more than comfortable racing any distance in the Speed.

While you absolutely can dial it back in this shoe, it thrives at marathon pace and faster. We didn't enjoy it on easy days as much, simply because it was constantly encouraging us to run faster. That may say more about our lack of self-control in a fun pair of shoes, though.

Compared to other (non-race specific) shoes with equivalent amounts of cushioning, this shoe is more responsive. It's a really impressive blend of comfort and responsiveness that we think most runners will appreciate.

Stability

The Endorphin Speed 3 doesn't rank highly in support or stability. It's a neutral, lightweight daily trainer oriented towards faster paces. As such, we wouldn't recommend it for runners seeking support or a stable platform. The nylon plate gives it some rigidity, but not much. We found this shoe performed well on loose dirt and grass but felt unstable on washboard surfaces.

Upper Comfort

If it weren't for the upper, this shoe would likely have fared better in our current lineup. Unfortunately, we found the fit to be finicky and difficult to dial in properly. Of all the shoes we tested, the Endorphin Speed 3 was the only pair that consistently gave us hotspots or blisters in several places. This surprised us, as the old Speed 2 was one of our favorite shoes. So we did some research and found that a number of other users were having the same issue. While the updates to the 3 include a wider, more stable base, the upper itself is also widened in a few places, including the forefoot and heel.

To get enough lockdown on our forefoot at faster paces, we had to crank the laces down as much as we could. To be clear, we don't have particularly narrow feet and still felt the toe-box was a little too roomy. But, with enough tension on the laces, we could solve that issue. The wider heel wasn't an issue — but the new heel counter was. The stiff heel counter, designed to give good lockdown, gave us consistent blisters and abrasions on the back of our Achilles, regardless of socks and fitment adjustments. This is an issue other users have noted as well. This was worse at faster paces when our toe-off was more pronounced — which is, unfortunately, the type of paces the shoe is best at. Because of these reported and experienced issues, we couldn't give the upper a high score.

Outside of the fit, the shoe has a high-quality upper. It's lightweight and breathable while also remaining comfortable. For some runners, the Endorphin Speed 3 will likely provide a fantastic fit. To them, we really recommend this shoe. Trying the shoe on before purchasing is highly encouraged.

Weight

This is a pleasantly lightweight daily trainer. Our size 10.5 weighed in at 8.58 ounces, which is impressive. Often, we expect a tradeoff between weight and cushioning. Here, that tradeoff doesn't exist. This is a soft and responsive shoe in a light package. Sure, the outsole could be a bit more aggressive, but it really isn't bad, even on wet pavement.

Should You Buy the Saucony Endorphin 3?

We think this is a great shoe that outperforms its price point. If you're looking for something at home on faster runs, this is a good place to start. This is a popular model for good reason; aside from the fit issues we experienced, there really isn't anything to dislike. If you can try it on, we think you should!

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