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
Exceptional98
Comfort
Exceptional99
Cushioning
Exceptional98
Value
Exceptional98
Appearance
Excellent94
Durability
Decent72
Confidence
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.
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”
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.
Rating & Confidence vs. other shoes for sale
Each dot is one rated shoe for sale, placed by its rating and by how
much evidence sits behind it. Shoes toward the top right are both
well rated and well established.
Confidence
5060708090100255075100
Better Shoes Rating
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
406080100
982018992019932020
Release year
We use the reviews of past versions to inform this shoe’s rating.
See why.
I'm a neutral runner, 52 years of age. I average 35-40 mpw and still compete in 7-10 races per year from 5K to Halfs, no more marathons. I find this shoe to be a really good, no-nonsense trainer and a good race shoe. I would rate it better as a trainer but it's light weight makes it a good race shoe as well. The fit is very comfortable. 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. The heel to toe transition is one specific aspect that I especially like next to the cushioning, . I realize around 3-350 miles of wear before needing replacement. I was in hopes that NB would not change them but it looks like they have with the new collar, which I'm not crazy about so I've stocked up on the 1st version.
Anonymous runner · Aug 11, 2019
38 mpw·training for a half marathon
Comfort
5/5
Cushioning
5/5
Durability
4/5
Appearance
4/5
Value
4/5
Shoe holds up to all paces
5/5
Overall
I am on my third pair of this shoe, and I have worn them in the rain and on many different surfaces. They have held up great during long runs, easy runs and workouts. The cushioning is great, especially with the weight of the shoe. The durability on the outsole is not bad, but the lack of outsole material shows.
I had been struggling in my last pair of shoes that corrected for overpronation. I ended up having a nerve problem in my foot, but I was not able to run in the same shoes I had been in before even after my foot had healed. I was taking the return to training slow but still didn't feel right in my old "go-to" shoes. The Beacon's came to my rescue. I took a chance on them at my local running store and they are the first shoes I've been able to run in that I don't need orthotics in. The women's size also fit well, where normally I switch to the men's size to get the amount of toe box space I prefer. This shoe hugged my weird shaped foot very well. They are so light compared to the shoes I have run in before. Gave me hope that I can still do this running thing a little.
Great fit, great ride, insoles suck and they get hot 'n sweaty
5/5
Overall
These have become my favorite daily trainers recently, I think I've found "my shoe." I have about 120 miles on this pair.
They're flexible enough not to exacerbate my forefoot issues. The foam is decently soft (I notice the compression/ softness mostly on downhills). They're lightweight and can truly handle anything from easy pace to tempo. I'm considering giving them the nod for racing a marathon in soon.
The upper is really nice, simple and comfortable, and doesn't bother my left forefoot which tends to get sore in narrower fits. I'm on the cusp of a "wide" fit, but the regular width fit me perfectly.
I just did an 18-miler with 12 miles at race pace (6:50/ mi for me), and my legs are surprisingly not destroyed, at they have been in my other trainers (NB 880 v9, Brooks Ghost 11, Saucony Kinvara 9) after slightly shorter runs.
The exposed foam is holding up surprisingly well. I'd be I'll get 300-350 miles out of them, which is impressive given the exposed midsole.
The insoles are paper thin and don't grip the bottom of the shoe. Initially, this meant that one or both would slide back over the course of every couple miles and bunch up under my heel. I fixed this by gluing them with some 3m 77, other people have used Shoe Goo. Annoying but resolve-able.
Only other downsides are traction is poor in wet conditions, they run a bit hot, and they get waterlogged. To be fair, the v2 apparently fixed the latter two issues.
Lightweight with a surprising amount of forefoot room!
4/5
Overall
This shoe is lightweight and feels soft underfoot. I have an oddly shaped forefoot where I need a slightly larger that normal width but not as much width as a 2E. This shoe fits the bill. So far it's lasted about 150 miles and feels pretty good so far.
