Nike Alphafly 3 Review: Worth the hype?

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.

Nike claims their Alphafly is their fastest running shoe ever. With a lineup that includes the record-breaking Vaporfly, that’s a bold statement to make.

But bold is at the core of the Alphafly 3, built with two springy Nike Air Zoom units in the forefoot, a full-length carbon-fiber plate and a thick stack of responsive ZoomX foam underfoot. The original version of the Alphafly was worn by Eliud Kipchoge in 2019 when he finally broke two hours in the marathon, proving that “No Human Is Limited.”

While I’m nowhere close to breaking two hours in the marathon, I couldn’t wait to get these on my feet and see what the hype was all about. I’ve worn super shoes before, but never ones with big air pods embedded into the midsole. Mandy and Travis also tested the Alphafly 3, which is available in Nike’s Fast Pack colorway at select Fleet Feet locations. Here’s what we thought.

Mandy, Travis and I all wanted to see how the Alphafly 3 stood up to some tough workouts. Coincidentally, all three of us have been dealing with either illness or injury recently, so our test runs also served as our first workouts after taking a bit of time off. I knew I’d need all the help I could get to run at my sub-threshold pace for the first time in over a month.

My workout was four sets of five minutes at 6:45 pace with 90 seconds of jogging recovery. With all the hype around this shoe, I wondered if they would feel like rockets on my feet and I wouldn’t even need to try to hit my paces. Sadly, this was not the case. But I did notice, about a half-mile into my warm up, my pace was much faster than it would normally be. That was a good sign, I thought to myself.

Beginning the workout, my first interval felt tough. It was hard to get down to the pace I wanted to be at and I was worried for the rest of the workout. But the next three intervals actually felt a lot smoother and I found myself faster than my planned pace! While the shoes don’t feel like rockets on my feet, they do feel propulsive. They’re really chunky looking, so part of me wondered if they would feel a little bit bulky underfoot, especially when trying to run fast and turn corners, but that was not the case. They felt nice and smooth, even when making tight turns in my neighborhood, and I was able to forget about my feet and zone in on the intervals.

I’d really like to test these shoes on a steadier effort, like a tempo run, to see how they feel. This is exactly what Travis did, although his tempo effort is much faster than mine!

“A great sign for a racing shoe like the Alphafly is when you look at your watch at the end of a workout and are surprised with how fast you went,” he says. “I was trying to run at my marathon/half marathon effort for a three-mile tempo. I’m just getting back into the swing of things coming off a bout of bronchitis, so I don’t feel sharp right now. I was running based on feel and not looking at my watch. I was expecting to be around 5:45 to 5:55 pace, but I was shocked to see that my average pace was 5:29. While the Alphafly 3 didn't feel like I had jet packs attached to my feet, it did feel like a super comfortable and snappy shoe. I can definitely see myself racing a half marathon or full marathon in these!”

Travis is the only one of us who had worn a previous version of the Alphafly, and he thought the latest version was a big improvement.

“I always felt like the original Alphafly was a bit too soft for me and I wished it was just a tad bit firmer to give it more energy,” he says. “The extra softness felt like it tired out my legs at the end of long races. From the start of my warm-up in the Alphafly 3, I could tell that Nike read my mind and adjusted the foam a bit with some more responsiveness. I also felt the added support from the wider carbon-fiber plate, which made me feel like I could power through my stride more efficiently and not have to tire out my stabilizer muscles too much.”

Mandy, an ultra-marathoner who detests shorter races, surprisingly found herself Googling “5K races near me” after her first test run.

“I did speedwork in these shoes and, my goodness, I felt as if I were flying,” she says. “I'm naturally a forefoot runner and these shoes really encouraged my gait. I felt a quicker turnover as I ran, the geometry of the shoe made it so that I wanted to quickly take off again after striking the ground. Part of me, okay most of me, hates speedwork and running fast but this shoe made it feel effortless.”

So what exactly makes the Alphafly 3 so fast? There are three key technologies to know. First, Nike’s proprietary Air Zoom Units. The Alphafly has two of them, both located in the forefoot. Inside the units are tensile threads that act as springs, contracting as you land and popping up as you take off.

And if springs under your feet weren’t enough, the Alphafly 3 also uses a full-length carbon-fiber plate. The plate works in conjunction with Nike’s ZoomX foam, their lightest and most resilient foam, to provide even more of that responsive energy. These technologies combine to return energy back to you, helping you increase your efficiency and decrease the time it takes to fatigue.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I think you’ll see me wearing these on Marathon Monday this year!

It’s rare that I enjoy the fit of a one-piece knit upper. It’s doubly rare for all of our reviewers to enjoy it. But Nike nailed the Atomknit upper on the Alphafly 3.

The stretchy material seemed to wrap perfectly around my feet, offering a secure race-day fit. I don’t like a ton of extra room in my shoes while trying to run fast, so the fit felt perfect to me. The laces are very textured to create a more secure knot when you lace up.

I noticed that there’s no way to tie the marathon loop in these shoes, which may have been a problem in combination with the one-piece upper, but my feet stayed securely in place thanks to some nice padding on the back of the heel. I wore my OS1st Plantar Fasciitis compression socks, which I’ve found have the perfect level of tightness and thickness for most racing shoes. They’re definitely my “PR socks.”

“The Alphafly 3 fits like a dream, hugging my feet in all the right places and making me feel incredibly light on my feet,” Mandy says. “Most superheroes put on an outfit when they unleash their powers and the Alphafly may be my new superpower shoes.”

“I am typically not a fan of thin, knit uppers, but this one fits my foot like a glove,” Travis says. “I barely even felt like it was on my foot. My normal size 10.5 fits great and is very true to size for me.

If you typically wear an insole in your shoes for extra support, it’s worth noting that the Alphafly, like most racing shoes, doesn’t have a removable sockliner. I usually wear Currex RunPro Medium Insoles, but I go without them on race day.

While all three of us adored the fit and ride of the Alphafly 3, there’s one thing we had issue with–the noise. Every step I took made the loudest THWACK noise against the pavement. I was giggling to myself during the warm-up, but I don’t know if I would find it funny during a serious PR attempt. Only time will tell if this noise goes away after a few runs.

We took a look at some similar models to see how the Nike Alphafly 3 stacks up. Here’s what we found.

The Nike Alphafly 3, Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 and HOKA Cielo X1 2.0 are all their brands’ version of the super-est super shoe possible. Nike, Saucony and HOKA all offer what one might describe as a basic-level supershoe (the Nike Vaporfly, the Saucony Endorphin Pro, the HOKA Rocket X), the Alphafly, Endorphin Elite and Cielo X1 all take the supershoe benefits to the next level.

When it comes to Nike, that next level is the inclusion of Nike’s Air Zoom pods in the forefoot. The Saucony Endorphin Elite 2 features a more innovative foam and a slotted carbon-fiber plate for added flexibility. And the Cielo X1 2.0 uses a winged carbon-fiber plate rather than the spoon-shaped plate used in the Rocket X.

All three shoes are incredibly similar when it comes to weight, stack height, heel-to-toe drop and price.

Simply put, the Alphafly 3 is best for runners with a need for speed. No matter how you define “fast,” this shoe can help you get there. From elite marathoners to back-of-the-pack runners, the light, springy feel of the Alphafly 3 is something everyone can enjoy.

“I’ve seen forums online that say the Alphafly 3 is only a shoe for those who run under a seven-minute mile pace,” says Mandy. “I had a great experience running in it, even though I’ve never run a seven-minute mile in my life. My running coach once told me that even if you’re not an elite runner, your goals don’t matter any less. If you want a little edge to chase a PR, get an age group award or just have an extra fast and fun run, the Alphafly 3 is a great shoe for you.”