“I wanted so badly to love the ES4 but the toe box taper made it unbearable just crushing my pinky toe.”

62% of 60 verified owners recommend the Saucony Endorphin Speed 5, based on real owner verdicts aggregated from Reddit, enthusiast forums, and YouTube.
Affiliate blogs here say 33% recommend, while the owner-based score is 62%. They earn a commission on every sale — so we show them for transparency but never let them move the score.
The headline score reflects owners (Reddit, enthusiast forums), independent lab tests, blogs with no affiliate links, and YouTube owner-comments when they line up with owners. YouTube and Affiliate blogs are shown for perspective but kept out here — hover the i for why.
Synthesized from what Saucony Endorphin Speed 5 owners say — not a spec sheet.
Retailers' own star averages, for comparison — separate from our vetted owner-verdict score above.
“I wanted so badly to love the ES4 but the toe box taper made it unbearable just crushing my pinky toe.”
“I use ES for speed workout but also for races (I don't think I have the performance to use carbon plates). I really enjoyed ES3. ES4 was a disappointment, requiring more effort to get good responsiveness”
“find it good for pretty much everything”
“More pep, more bounce, more comfort, very pleasant overall”
“I discovered that the medial side wing of the plate intruded into my arch in an unbearable fashion”
“I loved the 2s, didn't mind the 3s, despise the 4s”
“the last pair that I had had a hint of stability and man, they suck for my knees”
“Loved the speed 3, didn't like the speed 4, can't wait to give this another try!”
“That colorway alone is worth the upgrade”
“V2 was probably the most fun version but also had a crazy amount of instability. From there on I feel like each version after kept losing more and more of the endorphin identity.”
“way too overpriced for a daily trainer..”
“I am a V1 purist - was absolutely the best version but I'm always excited every time this shoe comes out.”
“I prefer that design to the speed 4 & 5”
“Nice to see they improved the fit, but shame they didn't add 2 mm of foam”
“The Speed 4 is a really fantastic shoe ! Its not an easy task to improve it! Well done Saucony”
“I have a love/hate relationship with that shoe”
“it was too narrow in the first place”
“I love the First version, definitely my favourite running shoe, I'm still running in them”
“TACO price increase. Thumbs down.”
“I very much enjoyed Speed 4 (I have close to 1000k in them)”
“I feel that ES3 is softer, more cushioned, and more bouncy than ES5. I am keeping my ES5 but also stocked up on another pair of ES3”
“I love my Speed 4, but you are spot on about the durability. I'm a shuffling heel striker and the heel is absolutely shredded.”
“I had three speed 3's which i love”
“la 3 me defraudado bastante”
Practical notes owners raise — setup, quirks, and issues to watch for. They don't say whether the person likes the product, so they're not counted in the score, but they inform the pros, cons, and who it's for.
“Looks like an incremental update”
“they felt much lower stack, more "grounded" and I could feel the plate working both medially and laterally. I wanted something for long runs and I thought those might not be the best choice for me”
“It is narrower in the forefoot and toe box than the standard-width ES3 (which fit me comfortably), but wider than ES4 (which I couldn’t wear at all, way too narrow). ES5 is a little tight around my 5th metatarsal.”
“The thinner upper, slightly softer ride and slightly early wear make me suspect the Endorphin Speed 5 will have average durability.”
“It's still firm but doesn't feel like it's bottoming out so I assume that would mean it would be less firm.”
“Those still seem to have quite a bit of life left to my eyes. Little warn in the heel but fine”
“They are still stretch laces. Compared to the ES4 they seem wider and a bit less stretchy.”
“I have the zoomfly and es5. If you forefoot strike, i would deffo say zoomfly.”
“Just standard wear without loss of performance.”
“Speed is better for more tempo efforts.”