Mizuno Neo Zen Review: Striding Into Serenity?

The men's Mizuno Neo Zen in WHITE / FRONTIER BLUE

All shoes are reviewed by the Fleet Feet tester team, which represents a wide variety of goals, foot shapes, running locations and terrains. Reviewers pound the pavement, climb the hills, tackle the trails, then come together to compare notes. Debates ensue over the feel of the cushioning, the purpose of the shoe, and how it compares to last year’s model. While each reviewer has their own individual preferences, we hope that capturing our debates will help you make an informed decision.

For many runners, myself included, running is a way to find peace and calm within ourselves regardless of the world around us. It’s the perfect way to find your inner zen.

Mizuno’s brand-new model, the Neo Zen, uses a nitrogen-infused TPU midsole foam and rocker shape to deliver smooth strides. Mizuno showcased this model in their very own Zen Garden at The Running Event 2024–a peaceful spot amongst the bustling and chaotic expo.

Can the fit, feel and performance of this shoe bring us closer to inner peace? We may not be able to answer that question, but we can tell you how it feels on the run.

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Tech Specs

Mizuno Neo Zen

Weight 7.1 oz (W), 8.5 oz (M)
Stack height (heel/forefoot) 39.5 mm/33.5 mm
Heel-to-toe drop 6 mm
Category Elevated daily trainer
Surface Road
Price $150
Comparable to… ASICS Novablast 5, New Balance Fresh Foam X Balos

Ride

Between balanced and plush ride

Cushioning

Between moderate and maxiumum cushioning

Energy

Between responsive and propulsive energy

Bouncing and rolling in the Neo Zen

The women's Mizuno Neo Zen in HINT MINT / INDIA INK

Some running shoes simply get the job done, while others are seriously fun to run in. The Mizuno Neo Zen falls into the latter category, thanks to a peppy midsole foam that seems to spring you along with each stride.

“What a fun ride!” says Heather. “The immediate step-in feel was soft, and there’s a decent amount of stack height [the distance between your feet and the ground] on the shoe, so I was a little nervous about feeling unstable as I ran, but that wasn’t the case at all. It was a fun, bouncy ride. I took it out for an easy run, as that’s mostly what I’m doing these days, but I threw a few little pickups in and it performed well. It was soft yet responsive.”

The responsiveness comes from the nitrogen-infused thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) midsole. Nitrogen-infused midsoles have become more and more mainstream in the running industry as they allow designers to fine-tune the feel of the cushion based on the sizes of the nitrogen cells. Nitrogen-infusion also helps keep the overall weight down, making it possible to create a maximally cushioned shoe with minimal weight. The Neo Zen is remarkably light for a shoe with such a high stack height.

My first run in the Neo Zen was an easy eight-miler with some friends. The shoes felt very bouncy and responsive as I was walking around in them, so I was excited to wear them on my run. I noticed that the bouncy feeling didn’t feel as pronounced during the run, which was interesting. The cushioning still felt great, but as soon as I stopped my watch and stopped running, I felt the bounciness return in full force as I walked back to my car. That’s not to say that the shoes don’t feel bouncy while running, but just not quite as bouncy. They stayed comfortable on my feet for the entire run, and I enjoyed them so much that I wore them on my next run, a 6-mile run with 5K at tempo pace. The bouncy, responsive foam held up to the increased pace. I felt like I was working a little bit harder than when I ran that same pace in carbon-plated shoes, which is to be expected as the Neo Zen doesn’t offer the benefit of a plate. For an elevated daily trainer, the Neo Zen really nails it.

However, some of our wear testers found the shoe to be too soft for faster efforts.

“The first run I went on in the Neo Zen was a 10-mile easy run around my hilly Pittsburgh neighborhood,” says Travis. “I was just trying to run based on feel and I felt like I was able to cruise around pretty easily in this shoe. There was a subtle roll to it, which gives it some momentum. It also has a surprisingly stable platform. It felt a lot softer than I expected. I tried to pick up the pace during the last mile and it felt a little too soft to pick up the pace efficiently.”

The rocker shape Travis mentioned comes from Mizuno’s Smooth Speed Assist technology, which gently rolls you forward. This technology is also used in other Mizuno models like their carbon-plated racing shoe, the Wave Rebellion Pro, or their nylon-plated super trainer, the Neo Vista.

One-piece upper gets one-star review

The women's Mizuno Neo Zen in HINT MINT / INDIA INK

While we loved the ride of the Neo Zen, we weren’t as crazy about the shoe’s one-piece knit upper. One-piece uppers can be tricky as they’re hard to cinch down and adjust the fit as needed. Depending on the shape of your foot, you may find the Neo Zen to be too tight, too roomy or just right!

I have low-volume feet (feet that don’t take up a lot of room within the shoe) that are medium width, and I found the fit to be okay. However, I did not like the large heel tab, it felt so uncomfortable on the backs of my legs that I had to immediately change into my Balega Enduro Quarter socks to mitigate the rubbing. I felt my heel slipping a little bit when I walked around in the shoes, but when I started to run I didn’t notice anything. It’s worth noting that I took the liners out and replaced them with my Currex insoles, which I do with all my running shoes.

Heather, who has high-volume feet (feet that do take up a lot of room within the shoe), had a different experience.

“It took me a while to wiggle my big old feet into these shoes. But hey, I could count that work as a warmup for my run, right?” she says. “While my toes and midfoot were happy in the shoe, it lacked depth and that soured the experience for me. The top of my foot hurt within the first half mile of my run, which was super unfortunate. With the way the shoe is constructed, there is no way for me to utilize an alternate lacing technique or anything to make it a better fit for me.”

Mandy agreed, saying “They always say the hardest part of the run is the first step, but with these shoes the hardest part of the run was getting them on my feet. I am just not a fan of the bootie construction and do not want to wrestle with my shoes for 10 minutes to get out the door.”

To find out the width and volume of your feet, your best bet will be to head into your local Fleet Feet. Fleet Feet outfitters use 3D fit id® foot scanning technology to gather information about your feet and the support they need by taking precise measurements of your foot length, width and arch height, so you can learn a lot about your feet while you’re there.

Mizuno Neo Zen versus Mizuno Neo Vista


Tech Specs

Mizuno Neo Zen

Mizuno Neo Vista

Weight

7.1 oz (W), 8.5 oz (M)

7.4 oz (W), 9.4 oz (M)

Stack height

39.5 mm/33.5 mm

44.5 mm/36.5 mm

Heel-to-toe drop

6 mm

8 mm

Category

Elevated daily trainer

Supertrainer

Price

$150

$180

Mizuno described the Neo Zen as the “baby brother” to the Neo Vista, and it’s easy to see why. The Zen has less stack height and no plate compared with the Vista’s absolutely whopping stack height and responsive glass-infused nylon plate.

Both shoes feel peppy, but the Zen a little bit less so than the Vista. We categorize the Neo Zen as an elevated daily trainer, meaning it offers more than your basic daily trainer (like the Mizuno Wave Rider, for example), but it’s not yet on the same level as a supertrainer, which offers even more foam and premium technology, like a glass-infused nylon plate.

The women's Mizuno Neo Zen in HINT MINT / INDIA INK.

How does the Mizuno Neo Zen compare?

We took a look at some similar models to see how they stack up against the Neo Zen. Here’s what we found.

Tech Specs

Mizuno Neo Zen

ASICS Novablast 5

New Balance Balos

Weight

7.1 oz (W), 8.5 oz (M)

7.9 oz (W), 8.9 oz (M)

7.3 oz (W), 9.2 oz (M)

Stack height

39.5 mm/33.5 mm

40.5 mm/32.5 mm (W),

41.5 mm/33.5 mm (M)

38.5 mm/32.5 mm

Heel-to-toe drop

6 mm

8 mm

6 mm

Price

$150

$140

$200

The Mizuno Neo Zen, ASICS Novablast 5 and New Balance Fresh Foam X Balos all fall into the “elevated daily trainer” category I mentioned above. The Novablast and the Balos offer thick, responsive midsole foams similar to the nitrogen-infused TPU foam used in the Neo Zen. ASICS uses their new FF BLAST MAX foam in the Novablast, while New Balance utilizes a blend of soft Fresh Foam X and responsive PEBA.

All three shoes are similar in weight and stack height, too.

The men's Mizuno Neo Zen WHITE / FRONTIER BLUE.

Who is the Mizuno Neo Zen best for?

If you like to feel like Tigger bouncing on his tail during your runs, this shoe may just be your jam. If you prefer a firmer ride with more ground feel, you’ll probably prefer another model, like the Mizuno Wave Rider or the Wave Inspire.

How you use the shoes will depend on your preferences, too. I enjoyed the Neo Zen for a little bit of tempo work, but Travis felt they were too soft for faster efforts and preferred them for his easy runs.

Because of the one-piece upper, I recommend it to runners with low or medium volume feet. If you have high volume feet, you should try on the shoes in-store at your local Fleet Feet to ensure correct sizing.

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