Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 review

The Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 is a great choice for:

• Runners who liked the Endorphin Elite 2 but wanted a more stable ride without fully sacrificing its wild character.
• Anyone looking for one of the softest and most responsive super shoes ever done.
• Marathon runners who want maximum cushioning, outstanding comfort, and elite-level performance on race day.

The Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 is not the right super shoe for runners who need even a small amount of stability. If that's a priority, we believe the Saucony Endorphin Pro 5 is a far better (and cheaper) option.

We also don't recommend this shoe to runners who prioritize the lowest possible weight in a racing super shoe. In that case, the ASICS Metaspeed Ray or the Nike Vaporfly 4 are more interesting alternatives that cost almost the same.

Runners wanting a super shoe with maximum protection will love the Endorphin Elite 3, as it's truly built for that purpose. It delivered staggering results in our lab with 160 SA in the heel and 131 SA in the forefoot, making it an outstanding choice especially for bigger runners tackling the marathon distance.

The foam is once again IncrediRUN, which comes as no surprise. After all, the Endorphin Elite 2 set a new benchmark in our energy return test, leaving Saucony with little reason to replace it.

And the numbers speak for themselves. We measured an outstanding 80.6% energy return in the heel and 81.0% in the forefoot, putting IncrediRUN among the absolute best foams we've ever tested.

As expected, the Saucony Endorphin Elite 3 pushes right up against the World Athletics stack height limit for road racing. The maximum allowed is 40 mm in the heel, and we measured 39.8 mm, reinforcing that the Endorphin Elite remains a marathon-first racing shoe.

We believe that maximizing the stack height is essential here given the ultra-soft nature of IncrediRUN. Using less foam would have increased the likelihood of bottoming out, especially for heavier runners over longer distances.

The forefoot packs more foam than ever before in the series, as we measured a generous 34.1 mm. In our opinion, that's excellent news for midfoot and forefoot strikers seeking maximum protection over long distances.

As expected, these two measurements make Saucony's stated 8 mm drop impossible. Instead, we measured 5.7 mm, which also aligns much better with how the shoe feels on the run.

In our view, this geometry pairs exceptionally well with the ultra-soft foam, making it especially appealing for midfoot strikers.

IncrediRUN is a foam that you'll either love or hate, with very little middle ground. It's remarkably soft (15.5 AC) yet rebounds with explosive force, delivering a uniquely springy ride that few foams we've tested can match.

However, that extreme softness comes with trade-offs. Heel strikers may find themselves sinking deeply into the foam, while maintaining stability becomes a real challenge, especially during slower paces or tight turns.

The shoe has a late forefoot rocker, which promotes lightning-fast transitions and helps the Elite 3 perform exceptionally well at faster, 5K-like paces. However, runners who prefer a smoother and more progressive ride may find this geometry less appealing.

One of the defining features of the Saucony Endorphin Elite series is its forked carbon plate, which delivers a bit more torsional flexibility through the forefoot while maintaining the high longitudinal stiffness expected from a race-ready super shoe.

Its curvature also closely matches that of most modern super shoes, featuring a spoon-shaped profile that dips toward the end of the midfoot before rising sharply through the forefoot.

The Endorphin Elite 2 received some criticism in this area, as runners with narrow feet sometimes struggled to achieve a secure foothold and often had to overtighten the laces. Therefore, we turned to our gel test to find out whether Saucony changed the fit.

Indeed, our first width measurement came in at just 93.8 mm, narrower than both its predecessor and the average racing shoe. This confirms that the Elite 3 offers a snug fit through the ball of the foot.

The toebox is heavily tapered and closely matches the shape of many other super shoes, measuring just 71.8 mm.

There's very little room for natural toe splay here. In fact, the fit encourages the opposite, locking the toes into a compact racing position.

We also measured the toebox height to gain a more complete, 3D view of the fit.

Our caliper returned 27.5 mm, providing generous vertical clearance that helps improve comfort while allowing better airflow inside the toebox.

The outsole has been completely redesigned with an aggressive weight-saving approach. Instead of using large rubber sections, Saucony only placed thin rubber strips only in the highest-wear areas.

Even there, every gram was carefully trimmed away through extensive cutouts and minimal coverage, especially around the medial heel and forefoot.

As we hinted earlier in our assessment of the carbon plate, the Endorphin Elite 3 feels remarkably stiff in the longitudinal direction, and our custom-built machine confirmed that impression.

It took 18.2N of force to bend the shoe to 30 degrees, highlighting the high level of stiffness expected from a modern racing super shoe.

Weight remains the biggest drawback of the Endorphin Elite series, as v3 gained a few grams and tipped our scale at 7.4 oz (210g).

There are two ways to look at this result. On one hand, the added weight is understandable given the more structured and padded upper, along with the increased amount of foam underfoot. On the other hand, most direct competitors come in noticeably lighter, and considering the Elite 3's premium price tag, we expected Saucony to move in the opposite direction with this update.

The new upper may appear more structured and less ventilated at first glance, but it delivered a positive performance in our advanced breathability test. Here we simulate a sweating foot inside a temperature-controlled chamber over a 3-hour period, providing an objective measure of how effectively the whole shoe manages moisture.

The Endorphin Elite 3 earned a strong 77 BR, outperforming the vast majority of running shoes we've tested so far.

The new engineered mesh truly stood out in this test, delivering an outstanding result. Over the same 3-hour assessment, the Endorphin Elite 3 released 65% of the moisture introduced during testing, significantly outperforming most running shoes we've evaluated.

This excellent drying potential confirms that Saucony spared no expense with the upper of the Elite 3.

The Endorphin Elite 2 was one of the least stable racing shoes we've ever tested, and while we believe that unpredictable ride was part of its charm, many runners will appreciate that Saucony has dialed it back this time.

But make no mistake, this is still a highly unstable super shoe built around an ultra-soft midsole. However, it now feels noticeably more controlled than its predecessor, especially at slower paces. As a result, it strikes a much better balance between delivering an exciting, energetic ride and providing the confidence needed to tackle a full marathon.

This test perfectly highlights the Endorphin Elite 3's forked carbon plate design. Combined with the ultra-soft midsole, it resulted in a torsional rigidity score of just 10.0 Nm, making it noticeably more flexible than most racing super shoes we've tested.

The real-world implications are immediately noticeable. The Elite 3 feels less harsh than many of its competitors, and that added compliance is a key part of its personality. Instead of following the trend toward increasingly rigid race-day shoes, Saucony chose a more playful approach.

The heel counter is built with racing in mind, collapsing effortlessly under pressure and earning the lowest possible score of 1/5 in our assessment.

Additionally, we must give Saucony credit for significantly improving heel lockdown through a redesigned padding layout and a more supportive upper construction.

Our caliper returned the exact same forefoot platform width as the Endorphin Elite 2, measuring 116.2 mm. Therefore, the improved stability of the Endorphin Elite 3 in the forefoot clearly isn't the result of a wider base, a conclusion strongly supported by our precise lab measurements.

On the other hand, the heel platform grew by 3.6 mm, reaching 94.2 mm. 

This noticeably improves lateral stability for rearfoot strikers, although it likely contributed to the weight increase we observed earlier.

We weren't expecting much from the upper in this durability test, as racing super shoes frequently earn the lowest possible score. Sure enough, the Endorphin Elite 3 followed that trend with a 1/5 rating.

The heel padding held up much better, which was reassuring to see. It earned a respectable 3/5 in our durability test.

For most runners considering the Endorphin Elite 3, this is arguably the most important durability test.

Fortunately, the shoe delivered an outstanding result, as our Dremel removed just 0.5 mm of rubber, confirming excellent outsole durability for a race-day super shoe.

The outsole measures just 1.7 mm thick. Given the shoe's slight weight increase and the outstanding durability we recorded, we even wonder if Saucony could have shaved off a bit more rubber.

The insole is thicker than those found in most rival super shoes, measuring a generous 5.1 mm.

You can replace the insole if you prefer, but considering how good Saucony's stock insoles usually are, we think you're better off keeping the original one.

The TPEE-based IncrediRUN also excelled in our freezer test. After spending 20 minutes in freezing conditions, it became just 7% firmer, allowing the Endorphin Elite 3 to retain its ultra-plush ride even in the coldest winter conditions.

Reflective elements are exceptionally rare on modern super shoes, but Saucony included them here, and we were genuinely happy to see that rare touch.

There's a growing trend among brands to pair engineered mesh uppers with knit tongues, and we're all for it because it combines the best of both worlds. That's exactly what Saucony delivers with the Endorphin Elite 3, plus an elastic lace keeper that prevents the laces from bouncing around during the race. It's not the most weight-conscious addition, but we found it genuinely convenient.

The tongue measures just 1.2 mm thick in our lab, leaving no doubt that this is a purpose-built competition shoe. On the downside, we were surprised not to find sawtooth-style laces, as they've become almost standard across today's flagship racing shoes.

The knit tongue integrates seamlessly with the upper thanks to its fully-gusseted design, completely eliminating any unwanted shifting. For those of us who appreciate the fit of shoes like the Nike Alphafly 3, this setup is hard to beat.

The heel follows Saucony's familiar design language, featuring a strip that conceals the upper stitching while doubling as a convenient finger-loop pull tab.

The Endorphin Elite 3 carries a premium price tag that, excluding hyper shoes like the adidas Adizero Adios Pro Evo 3, places it at the very top of the super shoe category. But if you're after one of the most amazing foams on the market, we believe it's a worthwhile investment.

However, it's not among the fastest super shoes available due to its relatively high weight. In our opinion, that's the biggest factor holding it back in terms of overall value, especially for runners chasing every possible second on race day.