New Balance Fresh Foam X More v4 Review

The key feature of the New Balance More line of shoes has always been the high stack of cushioning, and it only gets higher with the More v4, which offers a very comfortable and smooth ride for easy training.

It’s not a versatile shoe, or a light one, but it does the job it was designed for brilliantly and is the perfect companion for faster options in a shoe rotation. 

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v4 Review: Price And Availability

The Fresh Foam X More v4 launched in September 2022 and costs $150 in the US and £140 in the UK. In the US that’s actually a drop in price from the More v3, which cost $165. The news is less good in the UK, since £140 is a £10 rise on the price of the More v3.

Design And Fit

Given how gargantuan it looks, the listed stack height of the New Balance is surprisingly low at 34mm at the heel, dropping to 30mm at the forefoot for a 4mm offset. That’s still a big stack, of course, and it looks higher because your foot sits within sidewalls of foam that create more stability.

The More v4 also has a wide base to aid with stability, and it’s one of the more stable options available in the max-cushioned category. The Fresh Foam X midsole is soft, but not squishy like the ZoomX foam used in the Nike Invincible 2, so that also helps with stability. The midsole stack is a little higher and wider than on the More v3.

Thanks to the pronounced rocker, the ride is smooth rather than soft and bouncy, and the groove on the outsole at the heel also helps to create a fast transition from heel to toe. There is good rubber coverage on the outsole in key impact areas, and I found the shoe gripped well on wet and slightly icy pavements.

The upper is a standard engineered mesh with ample padding around the tongue and collar, and added structure at the heel for more stability. The shoe fit me well in my normal size, with a good amount of room in the toe box, and even with a narrow foot I found the fit secure enough at the midfoot.

At 11.1oz/316g in a UK 9, the New Balance More v4 is not a light shoe, but that is par for the course with a max-cushioned trainer like this.

How I Tested This Shoe

I have run 50km in the More v4, mostly sticking to easy runs, with my longest run being 19km. This is the first time I have tested a shoe from the More v4 line, but I have tested most of the other best cushioned running shoes available.

Running Performance

My early outings in the More v4 were recovery runs done in the aftermath of running the Valencia Marathon, and the shoe’s comfortable ride was just the ticket for getting the legs moving again while looking after my muscles and joints.

Despite the size and weight of the shoe, I barely noticed it while running at an easy pace. The rocker creates a smooth ride and helps you to tick over on runs of any length. The foam is soft but not noticeably squishy, and the ride feels the same no matter how long you run for.

When I tried to increase my pace to steady or tempo efforts in the More v4 it did start to feel a bit cumbersome, and it isn’t a shoe that I’d enjoy using for faster daily training. There are some cushioned shoes that do better on this front, like the Saucony Triumph 20 or Brooks Glycerin 20. But the trade-off is that the More v4 is a little more comfortable on pure easy runs, especially over long distances.

That makes it a shoe that fits well into a rotation, since it’s best to use it in combination with faster shoes, while runners who prefer to just use one shoe will probably get more out of the Glycerin 20.

Is The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v4 Worth It?

The New Balance More v4 has a lot of similarities in design to other max-stack shoes with rockers like the Hoka Bondi 8 and Saucony Endorphin Shift 3, but feels so much better on the run. It has a more fluid ride, and is softer and more comfortable. 

There are other excellent cushioned shoes that rival it, though, such as the Nike Invincible 2 and Brooks Glycerin 20. The Nike is softer and less stable but very bouncy and a lot of fun, while the Glycerin 20 is almost as comfortable as the More v4 while being a touch more versatile for daily training. 

The choice between the three might come down to the type of cushioned ride you like: the Invincible 2 is squishy; the Glycerin 20 is a bit firmer and more responsive; and the More v4 is buttery-smooth and has a lower drop than the others.

Looking at the New Balance line-up I much prefer the More v4 to the 1080v12, which is a firmer and slightly more versatile shoe but still doesn’t feel great for faster daily training, and the More v4 is more comfortable for easy runs.