Puma FAAS 300 v3 Review

Puma FAAS 300 v3 Review

The Good

Meaghan The Puma Faas Family ranges from 100-900, based on the amount of cushioning. I’ve tried out several models, my favorite being the Faas 500S. The Faas 300 v3 comes with a lot of the same great qualities, without as much shoe. Weighing in at 6.0 oz, they feel crazy light on your feet. If I had to guess, I would say these were closer to 5.0 oz. The new FaasFoam+ is 25% lighter than the previous version, but it still has that nice cushy feel I love. I really like the upper. It’s a women specific design, made of seamless mesh and reflective accents across the top. The no-sew overlays create a comfortable, secure fit without causing any hot spots. I’m also a big fan of the colorway. I’ve never owned a pair of black running shoes. If nothing else, they look fast.

Jenny: As was the case with the 100’s, these 300’s are super light–even lighter and I’m all abouts the ounces. Any sign of weight to a shoe and I poo-poo it. Puma’s proprietary Faas Foam is some sweet shiznit. As for the upper, the midfoot had a really nice fit. It wasn’t just the lightweight upper but it was the contour as well. It just seemed to flow well from toe, to mid-foot to heel. Part of the novelty of the midfoot is some systematic stitching that gives it its shape. As the midfoot flows into the toebox, the seams become heat welded. One other note and I know this is random but the tongue is a good length. I’m finding that manufacturers are getting a little out of control with their tongue length (insert your own joke) and they end up coming too high up on the ankle. On the 100, it was almost flush with the ankle and I had no trouble with it migrating.

Thomas: I will start with the look of the shoe because I liked it a lot. The FAAS 300 v3 has a really clean simple design with minimal overlays. The teal and fluorescent orange color way Puma sent me POPS! With the winter crushing us on the east coast, I have had to move a lot of my runs to the treadmill. The FAAS 300 v3 are a good choice for treadmill runs. The upper fits snugly and the more minimal firm cushioning keeps things from getting sloppy. Any where from 0mm-10mm drop seems to work for me depending on the shoe. The FAAS 300 v3 has an 8mm drop, but it feels even lower. The shoe is light weighing in at 7.4 oz.

The Bad

Meaghan: Puma suggest these shoes for racing 5 to 10K distances, but it doesn’t quite feel like a race flat to me. I am huge fan of FaasFoam, but I prefer a firmer ride for shorter speed work. I also could have used a little more room in the forefoot. The shoes are designed with a pretty narrow toebox.

Jenny: I feel like Puma’s sizing is all over the place. I’m usually a really solid sz 8. Every other pair of Puma 8’s I’ve tried out have been a half size big, so I went with a 7.5. These seemed to run truer to size and are too short on me. I noticed that the toe was pointier than most shoes nowadays. The trend is more of an anatomical fit and unless your toes tier down at a pretty steep grade, those lil outer ones may rub.

I’m not sure this is worth mentioning but for the sake of review, why not. I felt that for a more minimal shoe, there was a big difference between the heel and the toe. I know in theory there is an 8mm difference (which really isn’t huge) and maybe it was because I typically run in a lower drop but the pitch was very noticeable to me. With a heel height is 24.4mm and toe of 16.8, the amount of cushion seemed to drastically drop off in the forefoot. For the amount of heel there was, there was starkly less forefoot/toe underfoot.

Thomas: More of a suggestion for improvement rather than a complaint, I would give 4mm extra midsole to the midfoot and turn the shoe into a 4mm drop shoe. When I run fast I typically land on my forefoot. I could use a smidge more cushion there.

The Overall

Meaghan: The Puma Faas 300 v3 hasn’t replaced my #1 spot in the Faas Family (the 500S), but they are a close second. It’s a great shoe for shorter distance and every day running. They’re comfortable right out of the box and easy on the eyes. I’m sure I’ll be sporting these around the house even when I’m not running.

Jenny: While this wouldn’t be my first choice to train for a 50-miler in, I can see tossing it on for a 5 or 10k. It was actually a very comfortable lifestyle shoe. I’m on my feet all day in a running store and choose only those shoes that will get me through a shift–this has been added to my rotation. Perhaps cutting the heel down slightly and flattening out the end of the toe would make these a crazy awesome shoe.

Thomas: I think that I actually like the FAAS 300 v3 more than the FAAS 500 and would consider using them for up to and longer than 10k races. The price is also reasonable at $90. I would compare these to Kinvara like shoes. The price and feel is similar.