Puma’s ultra-light daily trainer has speedy specs, but is it an Evo SL killer?

Introduction to the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro

MEAGHAN: There’s a strange phenomenon that happens at The Running Event every year: brands put shoes out on display, let media take photos, sometimes even allow early reviews — and then turn around and slap an embargo on everything. It’s one of the more maddening realities of being a running media outlet, but here we are.

All of that is to say that we weren’t even permitted to pre-record footage of the Deviate Pure Nitro from The Running Event last year, despite the shoe sitting right there in plain sight. And yet, Puma was talking about this one in a big way; we heard phrases like “Evo SL killer.”

Fast forward to May 2026, and the shoe finally arrived for testing. I had a backlog to work through, so it took a couple of weeks before I actually laced it up. Thomas had already started testing the shoe, and his notably muted reaction gave me a hint that this might not be quite what the hype suggested. So what exactly is this shoe?

The Deviate Pure Nitro is Puma’s uptempo daily trainer: light, built around a race-day foam, and notably plate-free. It features a 38mm heel and 30mm forefoot stack (8mm drop) with a full slab of Nitrofoam, which we’ve been told is a PEBA compound. The upper is breathable mesh, and the shoe features Puma’s excellent PumaGrip outsole. Most impressively, my W7.5 came in at just 6.4 oz — a weight you’d expect from a race-day shoe, not a daily trainer.

So was the hype warranted, or did the shoe fall short of its own billing? Let’s get into it.

THOMAS: Puma doesn’t get enough credit. Full stop. They’ve quietly built a lineup that covers almost every use case on the road, and most runners have no idea. That’s not a product problem. That’s a distribution problem. Walk into your average running specialty store, and you won’t see Puma on the wall. It’s a shame, because the shoes are legitimately good.

That said, the latest Deviate Nitro had minor issues. A bit stiff. Maybe a little blocky. So when the Pure showed up, I was ready to give Puma a redemption arc. The specs read like a shoe I’d actually want to run in. Clean stack, PEBA-based Nitro foam, reasonable weight. On paper? Excellent. But we don’t run on paper. We run on pavement. And the pavement has opinions.

What we like about the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro

MEAGHAN: The mostly-white colorway is right up my alley, but beyond that, Puma just nailed the overall aesthetic here. The shoe looks fast and nimble — with clean lines and simplified overlays — while still being unmistakably Puma. The step-in feel matches the visual promise. Despite being remarkably light and minimal, the upper feels comfortable and premium, with a gusseted tongue, light padding, and flat stretchy laces that lock the foot down securely. Fit-wise, they run true to size with a generous toe box.

Underfoot, you’ve got a substantial stack of Nitro foam paired with PumaGrip, still our favorite outsole for grip and traction. And the weight? Pretty impressive. My US W7.5 came in at 6.4 oz, which puts it in the same conversation as some dedicated race-day shoes.

THOMAS: The upper on the Deviate Pure Nitro is smooth, like Starbucks Sweet Vanilla Cream Nitro smooth. The jacquard construction is elegant without trying too hard, and the fit is dialed. The thin mesh has personality woven into it, literally, and breathes like a screen door on a summer porch. It moves with your foot instead of fighting it. That’s the goal. That’s not always what happens. Here it does.

Underfoot, the Nitro cushioning does its job absorbing road chatter without going marshmallow on you. PumaGrip stays tacky. And at under 8 ounces in a US M10.5, the Pure Nitro wears like a slipper. That kind of weight makes turnover feel effortless.

Meg’s take on the look? She’s giving it a hard 10. I’ll admit, she’s a beaut, Clark.

What we don’t like about the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro

MEAGHAN: I really wanted to love this shoe, and going in, I fully expected to. But the midsole falls flat. There’s no real bounce, no propulsive energy, and at quicker paces, I found myself working harder than I should have just to get my legs to turn over. That’s a tough pill to swallow for a shoe this light.

I was hoping for something similar to what Saucony pulled off with the Azura — taking the energy of a plated shoe and translating it into a lighter, plate-free package that still feels lively and propulsive. I expected the Deviate Pure Nitro to deliver the same sensation as the Deviate Nitro 4, but it didn’t quite get there. The absence of a plate was noticeable in all the wrong ways — the pop and drive I was looking for just weren’t there.

THOMAS: The midsole is where the Pure Nitro loses me. And it’s not a plate thing — plenty of great shoes run without one. This is a foam thing. The Nitro compound in here feels engineered to absorb sound in a recording studio. Energy goes in. Energy stays in. There’s no return, no pop, no conversation between the shoe and the road. It just sits there while you do all the work. The toe spring is essentially nonexistent.

I took it out for a nine-mile workout to give it a fair shot, and I hit my paces, but the shoe wasn’t a factor. It was just along for the ride. That’s the problem. The Pure Nitro shows up, clocks in, and stands there, hands in pockets. I expected more from the shoe than it could deliver.

The resiliency just isn’t there. If you’ve run in the Evo SL or the Novablast 6, you know what foam that actually works back feels like. This isn’t that.

Final thoughts on the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro

MEAGHAN: The Puma Deviate Pure Nitro is a well-constructed shoe, and there’s genuinely a lot going for it: the weight, the outsole, the upper, and a $150 price point that’s hard to argue with. For the right runner, this could be a great fit, and you’ll certainly get plenty of miles out of it. But for me, the ride just never came alive. It lacks the bounce and energy that make a shoe truly fun to run in, and at the end of the day, that’s what I keep coming back to.

THOMAS: The stats look great. If the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro were a ’90s basketball star, it’s David Robinson, aka The Admiral. Consistent. Hardworking. Just a little short on pizazz in the era of Jordan, Rodman, and Reggie Miller. The story of almost.

Drop this shoe in alongside the OG Nike Pegasus Turbo, and it’s legendary. But timing is everything. You get judged by your peers, and right now, the competition is ruthless.

The Pure is a genuinely good shoe at a fair price. It just doesn’t have that thing. The midsole gets you there but never makes you feel it. I’ve been going back and forth trying to separate what I like about it from how it actually rides, and those aren’t the same conversation. The fact that Meg landed in the same place I did is the only thing keeping me from thinking I’ve completely lost the plot.

You can pick up the Puma Deviate Pure Nitro for $150 from Running Warehouse (featuring free shipping and 90-day returns) by using the buttons below.