Puma is having a great 2025, having already released two of the best running shoes of the year in the Puma Fast-R Nitro Elite 3 racer and Puma Velocity Nitro 4 trainer, two of the three shoes I’d pick up for my own rotation if starting from scratch.
The Puma Magnify Nitro 3 is another strong addition to the brand’s line-up, offering a little more comfort for daily training than the Velocity Nitro 4. It’s a comfortable trainer with a bouncier ride than most rivals at its price.
It has some drawbacks, like the narrow design, and those who want a particularly stable daily trainer won’t find it in the Magnify Nitro 3, but it’s a good cushioned all-rounder for neutral runners that I loved racking up the miles in.
Puma Magnify Nitro 3 review: price and availability
The Puma Magnify Nitro 3 launched in summer 2025 and costs $160 in the U.S. and £130 in the U.K., which is a rise of $20 on the price of the Puma Magnify Nitro 2. Despite this, it’s still about the same price or cheaper than most equivalent cushioned shoes in the U.S., and cheaper than average in the U.K., though the Puma Velocity Nitro 4 offers a more affordable alternative in both countries.
Puma Magnify Nitro 3 review: design and fit
The Magnify Nitro 3 is available in five colors, including the black design I tested. It’s not currently available in a wide version, which is a shame as the shoe does have a narrow fit. I was fine in my normal running shoe size, but I have a narrow foot, and if you have a wide one, it might be tight around the midfoot in particular.
It has a stack height of 40mm at the heel and 30mm at the forefoot for a 10mm drop, so it is certainly well-cushioned if not as maxed out as some shoes on this front.
For its height, the Magnify Nitro 3 is pretty lightweight, tipping the scales at 9.9oz in my US men’s size 10 — most cushioned shoes in my size weigh over 10.5oz.
Upper
The Magnify Nitro 3 has an engineered mesh upper with padding around the collar and tongue of the shoe. It’s quite a thick upper in general, and while this wasn’t a major problem for me, if you’re regularly doing long runs in hot conditions then you’ll notice this in a negative way.
Midsole
The star feature on the Magnify Nitro is its midsole, which is made from Puma’s nitrogen-infused Nitro foam. In this case, I believe it’s a PEBA version of the foam — on other shoes, Nitro foam is made from an aliphatic TPU.
What the exact material used doesn’t matter so much, though; it’s the enjoyable, bouncy, and comfortable ride the midsole produces that I care about. It’s a livelier ride than you usually get on cushioned shoes like this.
Outsole
The layer of PumaGrip rubber on the outsole of the Magnify Nitro 3 provides reliable grip in wet conditions, and it’s also a durable material. You can use the Magnify Nitro 3 on light trails without fear that the rubber will melt away at the first sign of gravel, and it’s a great option for winter runs because of the grip on wet and even icy pavements.
Puma Magnify Nitro 3 review: running performance
I used the Puma Magnify Nitro 3 for a range of training runs at various paces, including some flat-out easy and recovery runs, plus faster efforts, including a 10-miler progression run finishing at around 5:50/mile pace.
The midsole foam certainly has a more responsive ride than you usually get from a shoe in this category, which is thanks to the PEBA midsole foam. It is comfortable at easy paces, but then comes to life when you push a little harder, returning energy well to give a good amount of bounce off the forefoot.
This makes the Magnify Nitro 3 more versatile than many cushioned shoes, something also helped by the fact that it is lighter and narrower, which makes it feel more nimble.
The downside to the narrow design, especially around the midfoot, is that the Magnify Nitro 3 is not as naturally stable as shoes with wider bases like the Asics Novablast 5. It makes for a great cushioned daily trainer for neutral runners, but if you need some added support on the run, then you might find it lacking with the Magnify Nitro 3.
Should you buy the Puma Magnify Nitro 3?
The Puma Magnify Nitro 3 is one of the best cushioned shoes on the market, as long as you don’t have a wide foot. It’s comfortable and versatile, and has excellent grip as a welcome bonus for the winter months.
If you want an even more cushioned and bouncy ride, and don’t mind paying a bit more, the Nike Vomero Plus is an excellent option that I prefer to the Magnify Nitro 3 for easy and long runs.
If you don’t need so much cushioning underfoot, the Puma Velocity Nitro 4 is a strong alternative, though. It’s lighter and cheaper, and still comfortable despite having a 4mm lower stack height than the Magnify Nitro 3.
The primary drawback to the Magnify Nitro 3 is its narrow design, and if you have a wider foot or want a more stable shoe to run in, I’d look at the Asics Novablast 5 or Hoka Clifton 10 ahead of the Puma. Neither has quite as impressive a midsole foam as the Puma, but both are still top daily trainers with comfortable rides and wider designs.
