New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon

Name: New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon
Brand: New Balance
Rating: 4.7 (32 reviews)

Daily trainer · Neutral · Road · 7.5 oz · 6mm drop · 29/23mm stack

Discontinued — we no longer see this shoe in stock. The New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon v2 replaced it

How it ranks

The New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon is one of the strongest daily trainers in our data. Comfort and cushioning are its strongest sub-ratings. Durability scores well below its other sub-ratings. The rating rests on 32 runner reviews and 2 other rated shoes in the Fresh Foam Beacon product line.

Exceptional

98/100

Overall

Exceptional 98

Comfort

Exceptional 99

Cushioning

Exceptional 98

Value

Exceptional 98

Appearance

Excellent 94

Durability

Decent 72

Confidence

How settled the rating is against every other rated shoe. A shoe can rate high on confidence with relatively few reviews of its own when its product line has a long record and external ratings from retailer sites agree. Confidence will score low when we have few ratings or when runners disagree.

See the product line's history

Confidence

97/100

Very high 97

What runners say

“This shoe is extremely durable. I've put over 50 miles between dirt, roads, and trail in this shoe, and the only true wear on it is the dirt it has accumulated.”

5/5 Full review 45 mpw training for a half marathon

“My legs are surprisingly not destroyed, as they have been in my other trainers (NB 880 v9, Brooks Ghost 11, Saucony Kinvara 9) after slightly shorter runs.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 880 v9

“Light enough for speed work and repeats, durable enough to last a reasonable workload of daily wear, and comfortable enough to wear during long runs.”

5/5 Full review 40 mpw training for middle distance came from the New Balance 890 v7

“It is responsive when you need it, but cushioned when you want it.”

5/5 Full review 45 mpw training for a half marathon

“I love that it's a super light weight shoe and provides plenty of cushion without having to go for a clunky heavy shoe.”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw came from the Altra Torin 3.0

“The cushioning is ample but not intense/overwhelming. It's also not as soft as I expected but that's not a bad thing, it means the shoe feels a bit more responsive.”

5/5 Full review 60 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Saucony Freedom ISO 2

“Beacon is cushioned, but somehow still has good road feel and feels responsive.”

5/5 Full review 35 mpw training for a half marathon came from the New Balance 1080 v8

“Excellent blend of cushioning (particularly in the forefoot), flexibility, and bounce.”

5/5 Full review 35 mpw training for a half marathon came from the Skechers GOrun Ride 6

“I've tried for years to find a shoe that I can put on, go for a run, and not think about my feet. These accomplish that.”

4/5 Full review 38 mpw training for a half marathon

“They are super comfortable at slower paces and have amazing energy return, making them good at faster paces/harder efforts.”

5/5 Full review 25 mpw came from the Saucony Kinvara 9

Prefer this shoe over another

53% 20/38

Where to buy

No offers available

Affiliate links included. They never affect our ratings.

Prices updated daily. Last checked Sep 14.

Pros

At 7.5 oz, reviewers still get enough cushioning for long runs.
Runners use it for easy days, tempos and marathons alike.
Many find the roomy toe box comfortable, and it comes in a wide.

Cons

The outsole carries little rubber, and several reviewers replace the shoe by about 300 miles.
Three reviewers report the thin insole sliding back and bunching under the heel.
One reviewer finds the upper sloppy on downhills, and another finds it hot and slow to dry.

Fresh Foam Beacon rates 98. This shoe has very high certainty. See how we rate shoes.

Better Shoes Rating of prior versions of the New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon

Each dot is one version of the Fresh Foam Beacon, placed by its rating and release year. The gold dot is this shoe.

Rating

40 60 80 100

98 2018 99 2019 93 2020

Release year

We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating. See why.

Fresh Foam Beacon v3

2020 · 2 reviews

93 Excellent

62 Confidence
Fresh Foam Beacon v2

2019 · 14 reviews

99 Exceptional

97 Confidence
Fresh Foam Beacon This shoe

2018 · 32 reviews

98 Exceptional

97 Confidence

Reader Ratings

32 ratings

5/5 23

4/5 9

3/5 0

2/5 0

1/5 0

See written reviews Write a review

Specs & fit

Sizing and ride details at a glance.

Weight: 7.5 oz
Release: 2018 Q2
MSRP: $120
Stack Height: 29mm heel - 23mm toe
Drop Height: 6mm

Runner reviews

Write a review

Beacon v1

4/5

Overall

New Balance found their balance in the Beacon. Lightweight, comfortable, and cushioning for days. Everything you need and nothing you don't. It's my go-to for anything, short, speedwork, long run. I only wish they added a touch more hard rubber under the toe box to increase it's durability.

bearxc2 · Dec 28, 2019

45 mpw came from the Brooks Launch 6

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Good All Rounder

5/5

Overall

I stumbled across this shoe when i needed a neutral lightweight trainer to log my marathon training miles. The Sale price was $64 which was another incentive. Overall very impressive, good comfort, good cushioning and still maintained a good lightweight feel. I logged 400 miles in these for training and still use as an everyday trainer. Wore on long runs and even Tempo runs. Good all round purchase.

Earlyboy · Dec 28, 2019

75 mpw training for a marathon

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 3/5
Appearance: 4/5
Value: 5/5

A great lightweight trainer

5/5

Overall

The NB Beacon is a great lightweight trainer with plenty of cushioning. I have wide feet and therefore have limited options outside of New Balance. This shoe fit fine in the wide version. I never had trouble with blisters or any foot pain. I ran long runs up to 25 km in these shoes without a problem and raced a road marathon in them. I was surprised at how durable they are -- I have 770 km on them and they are still going fine. The uppers got nicked in a few places when I ran on a rocky trail, but otherwise they are still going strong. The one thing, though, was that after wearing these shoes for a while I decided that I prefer heavier shoes for training so that my lighter racing shoes give me a psychological boost when I put them on before a race. I've switched over to training in heavier NB 1080s, saving the Beacons for shorter runs on recovery days. I don't usually pay much attention to running shoe looks, but I have to say that these shoes look great and I sometimes wear them around town in addition to running.

Anonymous runner · Dec 28, 2019

35 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 680 V2

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

Shoes for Running

5/5

Overall

Great shoes for every type of runs and every type of runners. Nothing much to complain except that insole slipped out time to time.

Anonymous runner · Aug 13, 2019

40 mpw training for a marathon came from the New Balance 1500 v4

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 4/5
Durability: 4/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 5/5

NB Beacon Review

4/5

Overall

Very versatile. Good for long runs and speed work. Could be used for anything really. I've done eveything from marathons to 400 repeats in them and they feel great. The only compaint is in the durability. They seem to wear out after about 150 miles.

EasternWash · Aug 13, 2019

50 mpw training for a marathon came from the Brooks Ghost 12

Comfort: 5/5
Cushioning: 5/5
Durability: 2/5
Appearance: 5/5
Value: 4/5

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Analyses

New Balance Fresh Foam Beacon

Exceptional