Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 vs 2 Comparison Running Shoe Review
The main difference between the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 and the Saucony Endorphin Pro 2 is the elevated stack height, with the Endorphin Pro 3 being higher off the ground and offering a snappier feel while the Endorphin Pro 2 stays more honest to the original Endorphin Pro.
Changes were minimal between the Saucony Endorphin Pro 1 and Endorphin Pro 2, having identical specs on paper. The Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 puts a game-changing spin on the franchise, with all engineering components receiving beneficial updates as our running shoe expert Josh Willoughby explains in his shoe review below.
As Saucony’s ‘super shoe’ for race day, the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3’s weight has been stripped back with a lightweight, well-ventilated upper and a foot-hugging heel counter for a race-ready fit. Being lighter weight, it's less supportive than its cousin, the Saucony Endorphin Speed 3, so this tempo shoe is certainly worth a look if you find support is essential for you to maintain an efficient running gait. As an extra plus, it also comes in a variety of width offerings.
The Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 features a redesigned midsole that packs in more PWRRUN PB foam than its predecessor – staying true to the trend of racing shoes in recent years to offer more springy protection. This allows you to conquer everything from 5K events to your next marathon without fatigue wearing you down.
It’s an ultra-responsive ride with S-curve carbon plate and aggressive SPEEDROLL rocker geometry ensuring smooth and snappy transitions from heel-to-toe while preserving your energy.
It features thinner XT-900 rubber underfoot compared to the previous generation, providing coverage to cater to midfoot and heel strikers without increasing weight. Keep this fast running shoe purely for racing and intermittent training sessions to crush your PBs and inject excitement into every stride.
Check out the review with full transcript below.
Hey guys, welcome to Sportitude Running. My name is Josh and we have a very exciting shoe review to get through today. I'm smiling from ear to ear because it is one of my favourite racing shoes of 2022.
In front of me we have the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 and to my right we have the Saucony Endorphin Pro 2. In today's review we're going to jump into all the specific details of the 3 to the 2 because Saucony have gone back to the drawing board over the last couple of years and re-engineered what we now know as the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
The outsole, midsole and upper have all had an update and in today's review we're going to jump into all those specs so without further ado let's get stuck in.
Runner Profile
First things first this shoe is a racing shoe. What does that mean? It means this is not going to be a shoe you're going to be using for much of your daily training. I would encourage you to grab a race day shoe and introduce it into your running program in the lead up to your chosen event, however we're not going to be putting too many miles on the road inside this shoe.
It's a very lightweight shoe. It's been engineered to create a really snappy toe-off, reduce your ground contact time and keep you remaining efficient over your race distance. Being a race day shoe it's going to be a refined shoe with not much support on offer.
This is a neutral shoe like all other race shoes out there. If you're a mild overpronator or a neutral foot type to a mild supinator this is going to be A-OK. To be completely honest if you're an overpronator that tends to roll in over that middle of your arch it’s still going to be OK as long as you are using this intermediately through your training and obviously for race day only.
It’s been the same situation for the last 30 to 40 to 50 years - a race shoe is a shoe that has a reduction in support. Back in the day it also had a reduction in cushioning although this isn’t so much the case now. It's all about making you feel light, fast and snappy on performance day.
Outsole
Let's jump into the fun part of the shoe review and talk all things outsole. Let’s start from the ground and work our way up. With the Saucony Endorphin Pro 2 and Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 side by side you can see straight away there's quite a difference regarding the outsole coverage.
Talking about the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3, you can see through the forefoot that the XT-900 compound is called out with that pink rubber, the same rubber they used in the Saucony Endorphin Pro 2. It is slightly thinner regarding its thickness, however I really like the forefoot coverage with this shoe. A lot of the friction is going to be through the front half as you get ready to exit out of your gait cycle because that carbon plate is really aggressive regarding the angle of decline through the front half.
The exposed carbon plate through the front is calling out that SPEEDROLL technology. However, what we have is that really good coverage coming down to the midfoot section. If you're a midfoot runner you're going to get a really good purchase with the ground, as well as if you’re a heel striker. One of Saucony's #1 athletes Jared Ward, a US based marathon runner is a heel striker. This shoe covers that back half the entry point really well.
Upper
I'm going to skip the midsole and go straight to the upper because I love what they've done. Saucony have looked at every possible way to reduce weight but not sacrifice performance and ‘support’. I say that in inverted commas because it is a great shoe.
Let's look at the tongue first. We have 3 roughly 5c coin sized holes - for those of you in Australia you know what I'm talking about. We have a weight reduction in the tongue. It's a very thin tongue.
The upper itself in comparison to last year is again a lot lighter. They've really considered what they can and can't do regarding reducing the weight and creating more ventilation. With this engineered construction up top they've really looked at where they can get some weight reduction and not sacrifice support.
The midsole where it meets the upper on the medial side as well as lateral side has a little bit of reinforced materials to make sure that it does stick. However, up top it’s incredibly light and very breathable.
As we come through to the tongue, as I touched on those holes there will provide a little bit extra ventilation. It’s a gusseted construction so the tongue is attached to the midsole both on the medial and the lateral side.
Coming back to the heel counter, probably my favourite part of the overall upper is how this heel fits. What we find with race shoes or carbon plated shoes, being a bit stiffer through the front half is that we can get a little bit of heel slippage. However, they've really attacked this by leaning in that heel counter to the base of your Achilles. That gives you a really nice and secure lockdown.
There's no internal heel construction as such, but the amount of padding will conform around the back of your heel to provide the comfort on race day. In comparison to last year they did tilt it in quite a bit but not quite as much as what we have found in the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
Midsole
Let’s jump to the midsole because when you're talking super shoes, we all know we want to talk all things midsole. Just to touch on the specs first, we've got the PWRRUN PB midsole, Saucony's proprietary product. It’s very light and soft but really responsive underneath the foot.
Saucony have addressed the midsole by increasing the stack height. In the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3 we have a 39.5mm heel and a 31.5mm forefoot so the variance there is 8mm. Last year it was a 35.5mm heel to a 27.5mm forefoot.
Saucony have increased the amount of shoe underneath your foot. By increasing it to just under that legal height, remembering that 40mm is that cap that the Athletics Association have put on the stack, we can get a little bit more aggressive with how we come down to the forefoot with this carbon plate.
Increasing the actual height of this shoe has been a beneficial part of their engineering because they can get really aggressive with that angle of dip through to the forefoot with the carbon plate. That’s going to provide an enhanced rocker feel through that front half with SPEEDROLL coming into play.
Since they have done that, they needed to address the overall support of the midsole and you can do that with the S-curve carbon plate. It provides almost like a bucket on the medial side and the lateral side of the foot, so when a foot comes down on entry, be it heel or midfoot, that S-curve technology keeps the foot on the platform on the X and Y axis.
On the Z axis as you go through to your exit your gait cycle, during that plane of movement your foot is going to stay on top of the platform to give you the performance benefits of this midsole.
The Wrap Up
In summarising the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3, it’s going to be a very popular shoe this race season over the next 12 months. As we touched on in this review, Saucony had the Saucony Endorphin Pro 1 and Saucony Endorphin Pro 2 being very similar so it gave the engineering department two years essentially to execute and produce what we have in front of us, being the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
The biggest changes are an increase in the stack height which takes you higher off the ground and they addressed that by making the surface area a bit broader for counterbalance. Going up, you want to make the shoe a little bit wider as well underneath the foot.
By going thicker you can get a little bit more creative regarding the positioning of that carbon plate. This shoe feels a lot snappier and springier through the forefoot than what we experienced last year with the Saucony Endorphin 2 and obviously in comparison to other models out there.
If you're having a conversation around carbon plates or you've used other carbon plate models I'd encourage you to give this shoe a go.
The philosophy behind racing shoes hasn't changed for 50 years. You're looking at a shoe that's going to be lighter with less support, however the biggest change over the last half a decade has been the amount of cushioning and obviously the stack height that's come into play with those carbon plates.
It's really all about the conformed fit and feel and what actually gives you that fast feel underneath the body. All of them have different ways to execute that performance and Saucony have really nailed it regarding their midsole performance in the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
Just touching on those key statistics, we have a slight weight reduction. We have 204 grams in a men's size 9 compared to last year’s model that weighed 213g grams. This year we have 176 grams in the women’s size 7 from 179 grams so again, a slight rate reduction.
A lot of that's come from the execution of the upper because we've increased the amount of surface area and height of that midsole. Well done to Saucony for bringing that weight down but still keeping and improving the overall performance of this shoe.
If you've used the Saucony Endorphin Pro in the last couple of years or even if you've used the Saucony Endorphin Pro+ - let's not forget about that shoe - let us know. Saucony launched that around about 12 months ago and it was a great way for them to get a bit of market feedback regarding executing some of the changes in that upper and what we see now in the upper the Saucony Endorphin Pro 3.
If you've used any of those shoes let us know your performance, your feedback and how you've gone. Contact our Sportitude shoe experts and let us know even what your favourite race day shoe is. We'd love to hear from all of you all around the world regarding your running shoe selection.
Until next time stay safe, be kind to one another, happy running, go chase those PBs and we'll see you on the road. Take care.
FEATURES
Saucony Endorphin Pro 3
- Support: Neutral, Lightweight
- Upper: Mesh
- Midsole: Saucony PWRRUN PB
- Heel Height: 39.5mm
- Forefoot Height: 31.5mm
- Offset / Drop: 8mm
Men
- Weight: 204g / 7.2oz (US 9)
- Width: D (standard)
Women
- Weight: 176g / 6.2oz (US 7)
- Width: B (standard)
Saucony Endorphin Pro 2
Please subscribe to the Sportitude YouTube channel to stay updated on all things running shoes.
For a more in-depth shoe fitting experience, you can book a free 15 minute video chat in a Live Fit session or make an appointment to discover your RunDNA at Sportitude Running@Hindmarsh.
Happy running!