New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 Performance Review

You’re not imagining it – there’s a lot more New Balance on the feet of everyone (not just your dads), and the company’s record revenue in 2023 is a reminder of just how much the brand has become an inescapable part of modern fashion.

And New Balance has become a hot brand in running, too – from the FuelCell Rebel, to the FuelCell SC Elite, to its variety of daily trainers, including the popular max cushion Fresh Foam X More series.

But in this world of max cushioned trainers from every major brand, is this latest iteration of the Fresh Foam X More still king of the hill? Or has it been lapped (Editor’s Note: Oh no, the puns have started) by its competitors?

The fine folks at New Balance seemed to have read our collective mind and sent pairs to the WearTesters School For Gifted Youngsters (Editor’s Note: Someone’s been watching X-Men ‘97) so we could test the Fresh Foam X More v5 in the blazing summer heat of Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Denver.

What is the New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5?

New Balance describes it as:

“Designed to provide a plush yet stable underfoot experience with 360 degrees of comfort.”

Fit

Arune: One of the great things about New Balance shoes is that they’re so accommodating to a variety of foot shapes, including those with Hobbit feet like mine that have wide forefoots (Editor’s Note: I’m gonna also throw out “forefeet” as an option, but this one almost broke my brain) but relatively normal width midfoots (Editor’s Note: Arune, why are you like this?).

I recommend going true to size (TTS) with your standard running shoe size, which is a men’s 9.5 in my case. I will say that lifestyle New Balance shoes like the 990 always feel half a size too big when I go TTS but their running shoes have never felt like a problem for me.

Drew: While the upper on the previous version was cavernous and felt borderline too big for normal footers, the Fresh Foam X More v5 reels it in just enough to feel great without excess space. It’s still a great shoe for airplanes and the day after that hard workout when your foot needs some extra space, but now it feels a little more secure without having to depend so much on the laces.

And removing some extra space in the normal version is made even better by the fact that New Balance is offering the More v5 in Wide (2E) and Extra Wide (4E). This brings the More v5’s fit in line with the rest of the New Balance lineup. Generous, but not to the point that you need to be the next width up to truly enjoy it.

Upper

Arune: Part of the reason for New Balance’s growing popularity is that they make very comfortable shoes, and that begins with their uppers.

The engineered mesh upper perfectly hugs your foot and expands with it when you go on those long runs. I had no issue with breathability during heatwaves in two states; and I never really thought about the upper once I laced up the shoe, which is a sign that you’re dealing with a whole lotta comfort. Full toe splay, here we come.

While not as plush as in other shoes, the heel padding is quite comfortable and provides added support to keep your foot in place along with the wonderful gusseted tongue.

Plus, believe it or not, no complaints from me about the laces – they’re the perfect length and stay laced during your long runs, never needing re-lacing because of lost tension or coming untied.

As for looks, these are not only max cushion shoes, but they’ve got quite the stack for a 4mm drop – with 44mm in the heel and 40mm in the front – which gives it quite the chunky dad shoe look that you’ve come to expect (and love) from New Balance. That means these might not be the running shoes you wear to transition from your run to a lunch meeting, but, as we’ll discuss later, that may not matter once you take them for a spin.

Drew: Very little has changed in terms of the Fresh Foam X More v5’s engineered mesh upper. New Balance fixed last year’s flopsy tongue (which wasn’t a problem) by adding a little more height and foam. It’s part of what helped dial in the fit. The pattern (the engineered part of engineered mesh) is slightly different and feels a bit softer against the foot, but it’s not much of a departure from the More v4 – which is good because the More v4 was a widely lauded and enjoyed daily trainer. A couple small tweaks were all it needed to keep the good momentum.

Midsole/Ride

Arune: As a 200lb+ runner, I have a different relationship with running shoes than lighter runners – some foams get crushed by the weight, some foams are squishy to the point of instability – and it feels like there’s a more limited (albeit growing) selection of shoes that will work.

And that’s what makes the More v5 so impressive.

You know how you see all those videos of people squishing the heel foam to show how comfy it is? And how rarely does that seem to happen in real life?

The Fresh Foam X More v5 delivers that elusive cushioning feeling the minute you put your foot in, and you never lose it – from short runs to your longer efforts. This isn’t a shoe for speed sessions, but it’s the kind of shoe that makes running fun with the way it pushes you through long, steady runs.

I tend to be a heel striker, but I found myself midfoot striking more with this shoe and rolling through on my toes. For such a thick stack of foam, I always felt quite connected to the ground, and my gait felt completely natural. No second guessing how my feet hit the ground or rolled through, thanks to the rocker.

The high stack shouldn’t be a concern either. While I would roll my ankles in something like the HOKA Bondi or find that super squishy foams could lead to back pain given the resultant instability, there’s an incredible stability in the More v5.

That’s what makes this such a special “Set It and Forget It” kinda shoe – once you hit your pace, this shoe keeps you effortlessly moving without thinking. Even more impressively, that doesn’t change on the road or on the treadmill since both are equally smooth, effortless rides.

I’ve run in a lot of max cushion and high stack shoes, but New Balance is a brand where I’m less experienced – have I been missing out, Drew?

Drew: Well, until 2023’s 1080 v13, 2022’s More v4 was the best version of Fresh Foam X. New Balance makes it hard to tell exactly what you’re getting, as they’re constantly tweaking the durometer (plushness/stiffness) of Fresh Foam X. The only way to really know if the Fresh Foam X in a particular shoe is the softness level you like is by trying it on (Editor’s Note: or by reading a WearTesters review 😉).

The More v4 had that squish, roll, and stability that impresses Arune so much about the More v5. But, owing to the theme of the entire More v5 experience, it’s dialed in just a bit better.

The stability improved slightly at the heel to prevent some wasted side to side motion due to New Balance filling in some foam in between the lateral and medial heel rubber. The More v4 lets a sizable scoop out of foam do some of the heavy lifting in terms of impact protection (while saving weight), but I think the foam being there in the More v5 is better for both stability and heel impact protection.

Nothing was wrong, per se, with the way it was done in the More v4, but the More v5 is just a bit better.

As for the overall midsole foam and rocker, fans of the More v4 will feel right at home in the More v5. As Arune so eloquently put it, it’s both squishy and effortless.

Traction

Arune: I didn’t take these out in anything but sunny weather and onto some gravel trails near the LA River, but I also didn’t have any issues.

Drew: One of my chief complaints on the More v4 was outsole durability. I was quickly tearing through the soft outsole rubber and worried it wouldn’t last that long. That assumption was backed up by hearing from others that the outsole just didn’t hold up over time.

But New Balance figured that out too and added more and harder rubber to the More v5 to fix the problem. There’s some wear after the test period, but it’s nothing even close to what happened with the More v4. I feel confident that New Balance has delivered an outsole that will last 300-500 miles, which makes it easier to see the More v5 as a value.

Is the New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 worth $155?

Arune: Yes.

If you want to have some fun, easy paced runs and/or need a recovery run shoe, there are few that I can imagine being more fun and more reliable.

There are shoes like the ASICS Novablast 4 ($140) or Brooks Ghost Max 2 ($150) that cost less but cover more uses, so paying an additional $5-$15 above those suggested retail prices may turn you off.

But I do know that anyone lacing up the More v5 is guaranteed a fun time – and it’s your call if that’s worth the higher price.

Drew: A $5 increase from the previous version is normal in the shoe industry during these highly inflationary times. At $155, the Fresh Foam X More v5 sits towards the top end of the competitive $140-160 price band that contains a lot of great daily trainers. You’ll find many of them on our Best Running Shoes lists.

I think the More v5 delivers enough value as a daily and long run option to justify the price point; but if you’re only buying one daily running shoe, you may want something a little more versatile for your speedier days. If you have a rotation with speed days covered by another shoe, then the More V5 may be the perfect easy, recovery, or go-long shoe.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 Summary

Arune: There’s never been a better time to be a runner given all the amazing options, and the New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 is one of the most fun, easy run options on the market.

I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this shoe, and for many folks, it will be the only shoe you need – one that makes running fun and something you want to keep doing.

Drew: The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v5 is an all around improvement from the previous More v4 released two years ago. And it was already a very good shoe beloved by many. New Balance eschewed the urge to completely revamp it, instead tweaking the look, upper, midsole, and outsole just enough to take it up a notch.

By doing so, New Balance delivered the best version of a model that’s been on an upward trajectory since the first one released in 2019. This is a shoe that excels for those that want a nice chunk of squishy cushioning, plenty of stability, and a smooth, efficient ride built to last for a ton of miles.

How does the Author Run?

Drew Whitcomb (age 42, 6’6″ 195lbs): Runs daily with a once a week rest day. Runs a lot of miles due to testing needs and a growing affinity for long-distance races. Regularly competes in marathons, half-marathons, 10k, and 5k races.

Arune Singh (age 42, 5’11”, 220lbs): Trains daily with functional fitness programming from Deadboys Fitness, founded by Colby “Seth Rollins” Lopez and Josh Gallegos, along with logging 30-40 miles of running per week. He also has a medical history of Sleep Apnea and Myasthenia Gravis, meaning Arune’s focus is on lean muscle mass.

Disclosure

While New Balance did send a pair of the Fresh Foam X More v5 to facilitate this review, the company had no involvement in this review, didn’t receive an advance look at it, and has not attempted to influence it.