Details
Brand
Puma
Heel To Toe Drop
12mm
Breathability
10/10
Latest Version
No
Terrain
Road
Type
Neutral
Key Features
• Dynamic, no-sew upper uses breathable mesh and provides maximum support• Midsole keeps your feet comfortable without impeding the ride• Outsole constructed of a very rigid and durable rubber material• Flex grooves on the outsole give you springiness and responsiveness
Upper
The Puma Faas 500 v3 has an upper that is largely made up of a substantial breathable mesh that will allow air to get in to cool and dry your feet while running without letting most of the elements in. The great thing about it is that it fits snugly to the contours of the runner’s foot, mimicking the way a glove will hug the contours of a hand. There’s also breathable weave mesh that brings a high degree of structural support, so you won’t have to worry about falling out of your shoe. While this upper wraps around your foot, it’s also designed in a way that makes it not too restrictive or stiff.
Midsole
The midsole of the Puma Faas 500 v3 is a one-piece construction that is both responsive and lightweight. It doesn’t weigh all that much, so you’ll be surprised by how you aren’t really restricted at all. It also has underfoot cushioning that is both pliable and soft. This means that you’re going to have plenty of support during your run. There’s also a super comfy sockliner that will keep your feet feeling comfy while also preserving the integrity of the shoe’s inside. It’s located above the main midsole system. It has antimicrobial properties while at the same time delivering a high degree of support.
Outsole
The outsole on the Puma Faas 500 v3 is made from injected blown rubber. It’s been placed in key strategic locations to ensure durable protection to stand up to just about any road surface. It’s also responsive and springy, which means that you’ll get a great toe-off on every step. You’d expect your support to come from the inside, but the outsole is very supportive as well. The Puma Faas 500 v3 also has flex grooves in the forefoot area that allows for flexible movement even with the durable nature of the outsole.
Breathability
As we’ve touched on earlier, the Puma Faas 500 v3 has a very breathable mesh upper, a no-sew, one-piece construction that ensures you’ll get plenty of airflow in the shoe without having to risk the whole thing falling apart. The fit is snug while still allowing for a loose flow of air, something you won’t see in just any shoe. But then again, Puma isn’t just any shoe company. They’ve been known for shoes that are exactly like this, giving you excellent support and flexibility while being light enough to keep you moving. When you add to that superior breathability, you’ve got an excellent running shoe on your hands.
Comfort
The Puma Faas 500 v3 delivers a solid one-two punch when it comes to the area of comfort. Unsurprisingly, this comes exclusively from the interior of the shoe. It has you covered on all sides, but it all starts with the super well-cushioned interior that hugs both sides of your foot, as well as the heel. Needless to say, you won’t have to worry about any blisters cutting a long distance run short. The second punch, then, has to be the dynamic upper. It’s a no-sew construction, streamlined to get the job done. It’s breathable yet strong, and is cushioned just enough to keep the upper part of your feet snug and comfortable.
Style
No shoe is perfect, and unfortunately, the Puma Faas 500 v3 suffers when it comes to style. While it’s great that Puma put plenty of effort into the performance, comfort, and lightweight nature of their shoe, we can’t help but wish that they had extended that extra bit of effort when it came to the styling of the shoe. It isn’t an ugly shoe by any means, but it’s a bit plain. It utilizes a minimalistic style, but it’s almost a little too minimalistic. The color choices are lacking, and there isn’t quite something that makes the shoe as a whole pop. This isn’t a dealbreaker by any means, but definitely something to consider.
Durability
When it comes to features that are massively important in a running shoe, durability seems like it should be prioritized above all others. After all, all the features in the world will be meaningless if the shoe can’t stand up to repeated abuse. In this front, the Puma Faas 500 v3 performs admirably in some areas while lacking a bit of punch in others. For example, the durable rubber outsole of the product is incredibly tough and resistant to wear from even the harshest of road surfaces. The interior of the shoe, however, is prone to abrasion and wearing down over time.
Protection
If durability is one of the paramount concerns of a good running shoe, then protection is durability’s little brother. As you might expect, the bulk of this running shoe’s protection comes from the durable outsole. While this shoe is mostly meant for running on paved surfaces, this added protection means that you can also take it on even the most technical of trails without having to worry about rocks and branches. You should still exercise caution, of course. This protection extends to the shoe’s interior, where the excellent cushioning of the product ensures that you have plenty of leeways when it comes to absorbing shock.
Responsiveness
The Puma Faas 500 v3 is surprisingly responsive if we take into account how rigid and seemingly inflexible its outsole is. It has a responsive cushioning mechanic that supports your feet well on the interior and exterior of the shoe. The added flex grooves at the bottom of the shoe mean that it’s going to be even more responsive as a result. All of this comes at a potential price, of course. If you run on wet and muddy trails, there’s a chance that mud might cake in between the flex grooves, potentially slowing you down and affecting your toe-off while you run. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but still something to definitely keep in mind.
Support
As with many of the other aspects of this running shoe, the support for the Puma Faas 500 v3 all starts at the outsole. The outsole does a great job of supporting the foot as it runs, ensuring that no debris on the ground will seriously impact the quality of the run. This support extends to the midsole as well, incorporating the support into the interior of the shoe in order to act as a reliable sort of suspension system that keeps your feet steady no matter the treacherous nature of the trail you might be running on. This support moves to the underfoot as well, where the undercarriage of the shoe really steps up to keep your foot secure.
Terrain
The good news when it comes to the Puma Faas 500 v3 is that it’s pretty well-suited for just about any kind of terrain. Granted, it was specifically designed for road surfaces, but you should have no problem getting some good mileage out of it out on the trails. You should take heed, though, that while the flex grooves on the undercarriage of the shoe are especially good at giving you responsiveness, flexibility, and a springy step when it’s time for toe-off, the spaces in between these grooves are prone to collect mud and grass as you’re running, which will weigh your shoes down while potentially negatively affecting your stride. Gravel should be fine, though, so you shouldn’t have a problem running those sorts of trails.
Price
The best thing about the Puma Faas 500 v3 by far is its price. As of the time of this writing, it was originally priced out at $100 on Amazon but had since had its price knocked down to a paltry $64.97. That kind of price is what you’d expect for a simple pair of average gym shoes, not high-end athletic running shoes. Sure, there are some pitfalls that you run into with this shoe such as the flex grooves getting caught up in the mud and muck, but this running shoe has more than enough awesome features to make up for that. At the price it’s being offered at, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that you should strongly consider snagging a pair of Puma Faas 500 v3 running shoes for yourself.
Drop
Along with having a price point that is extremely hard to match in the category of athletic running shoes, the Puma Faas 500 v3 has a drop that is almost unheard of. Whereas most athletic running shoes that tend to be around 10mm, the Puma Faas 500 v3 offers a heel to toe drop of a minuscule 4mm on both the men’s and women’s version of the shoe. This means that you’ll be hitting the ground sooner and able to cover more ground in a faster amount of time. There will be almost no time at all between when your heel touches the ground and when your toe does, which means you’ll be dealing with far less stress.
Stability
The Puma Faas 500 v3 is surprisingly stable when you consider just how light the shoe actually is. Most lightweight shoes have an issue with stability, but the flex grooves tend to compensate for this fact in this case. When you couple that with the excellent cushioning on the inside of the shoe, it’s easy to see why so many runners stick with Puma with each new shoe that they release. And again, at the price point that this shoe is being offered at, you can definitely do a lot worse when it comes to the overall stability of the product. The upper completes the picture, keeping the top of your foot secure so that it doesn’t migrate in the middle of a run.
Flexibility
The feature that contributes the most to the overall traction of this running shoe is also what lends itself well to a high degree of flexibility. The outsole is durable and protective, but it’s also augmented by a number of dynamic flex grooves that act independently of each other and allow you to have a run that isn’t hard on your feet. The midsole is just as flexible as the outsole is, allowing your foot to take the natural shape that it will as you run. You should be aware that some runners have accused the shoe of being too narrow as they run, so you might want to order a half a size up to account for any possible swelling that might occur on a run, especially on a long distance run.
Traction
In a funny twist of fate, the feature that makes the Puma Faas 500 v3 perform relatively poorly on technical, muddy trails is exactly the feature that gives it a high degree of traction in other applications. It is specifically on the roads that this running shoe performs admirably, thanks in large part to the proprietary technology Puma has designed into the shoe: the flex grooves. These give the outsole a high degree of flexibility despite how rigid the rubber material is, while at the same time giving your run a springy feeling, each toe-off contributing to the success of your run.
Bottom Line
The bottom line is that the Puma Faas 500 v3 is loaded with features. Sure, it has its failings in terms of being a little too narrow and opening you up to the possibility of getting mud and much stuck on the undercarriage of your shoe on more technical trails, but it more than makes up for that with features like an upper that’s both cushioned and breathable, a midsole that doesn’t draw attention to itself as it supports your foot, and an outsole that will stand up to nearly any abuse you can possibly put it through. The one-two punch that brings it all home is the fact that this is one of the lightest running shoes we’ve ever seen, and it’s offered at a price that blows every other athletic running shoe out of the water.
