Magnify Nitro 3

This is an easy shoe to enjoy at easy pace. The ride is soft and cushioned first, with the tall NITRO foam soaking up impact so your legs stay fresher deep into a long run. There is a little bounce back from the foam, enough to keep the shoe from feeling dead, but do not mistake it for a peppy trainer. Push the pace and the 287g weight and soft stack start to work against you, so the Magnify is happiest cruising rather than surging. Turnover is smooth and rolling rather than snappy. If you want the same Puma feel with more pop for faster days, the tempo-focused Deviate Nitro 4 is the sharper tool. Kept in its lane as a daily cushioned cruiser, the Magnify 3 is relaxed, protective and very repeatable, which is exactly what most easy miles ask for.

Cushioning is the whole point of this shoe and it delivers. The NITRO midsole gives you a deep, protective bed of foam that stays soft underfoot without collapsing into a vague, unstable feel. It leans plush and forgiving rather than firm and connected, so heavier runners and heel-strikers get real impact relief, and long runs feel kinder on the joints. It is not the bounciest max-cushion foam on the market, and runners who like a firmer, more responsive platform may find it a little muted, but for soaking up daily mileage it does the job well. Over 20km the protection is what stands out: your legs simply take less of a beating than they would in a firmer trainer. As a pure comfort-per-pound proposition at £140, the cushioning is hard to argue with.

The Magnify Nitro 3 is a neutral shoe with no medial post or guidance features, so it is built for runners with efficient, stable mechanics rather than those who need correction. That said, the wide, generously footprinted platform gives it a reassuringly planted feel for such a tall, soft trainer, and most neutral runners will find it steady enough for relaxed daily miles. The trade-off with any deep, plush stack is that it can feel a touch tippy at slower, more careless paces or on cambered pavement, and that softness means it is not the shoe for sharp cornering. If you are a mild overpronator who wants this much cushioning with a bit more support, a dedicated stability trainer will serve you better. For neutral runners the stability is fine for its intended easy-day job.

The upper is a soft, cushioned engineered mesh that prioritises comfort and lockdown over raw breathability. Straight out of the box it is plush against the foot, with a well-padded tongue and heel collar that make it an easy, no-fuss shoe to pull on for daily miles. The gusseted tongue keeps things aligned and stops pressure hot spots, and the lacing gives a secure, even hold across the midfoot. In warm summer conditions it runs a little warm rather than airy, so hot-weather runners should expect a cosier fit than a thin racing upper. Durability looks solid, with reinforced high-wear zones, in keeping with a shoe pitched as a high-mileage workhorse. Overall the upper matches the shoe's brief: comfortable, secure and built to last rather than featherlight.