I ran 40 miles in the Mizuno Neo Vista and it’s one of my favorite shoes of 2024

The Mizuno Neo Vista is one of the best running shoes available, offering an enjoyable and versatile ride that will appeal to runners of all levels. It’s bouncy, surprisingly lightweight, and comfortable over long distances, while the nylon plate in the midsole adds propulsion for faster runs,

It doesn’t come cheap, and there are certainly competitors to consider such as the Saucony Endorphin Speed 4 and Adidas Boston 12, but if you want a bouncy shoe that can handle a wide variety of training runs, the Mizuno Neo Vista should be on your list.

Mizuno Neo Vista review: price and availability

The Mizuno Neo Vista launched in June 2024 and costs $180 in the US and £150 in the UK from Mizuno's store. For a plated training shoe like this it’s actually good value in the U.K., and about par in the U.S., though there are strong alternatives like the Hoka Mach X and Saucony Endorphin Speed 4 available for less.

Mizuno Neo Vista review: design and fit

The Mizuno Neo Vista launched in two colors — the all-blue shoe I tested is the one men’s colorway, while the women’s has a white upper on top of the light blue midsole.

It has a high stack of cushioning in the midsole, standing 44.5mm tall at the heel and 36.5mm at the forefoot for a heel-to-toe drop of 8mm. Despite this towering stack height, the shoe is quite lightweight at 9.1oz in a US size 9.5.

I am generally either a US 9.5 or US 10 in running shoes and opting for the smaller size in the Neo Vista worked well. The fit is secure and comfortable — it’s a half size smaller than I used for the Mizuno Wave Rebellion Pro 2.

I’d say going for your normal running shoe size is the way to go, but if you’re often in between two sizes, the smaller one could fit better.

Upper

The Mizuno Neo Vista has a bootie-style one-piece knitted upper with an integrated tongue. It generally takes both hands to pull the shoe on as a result, but once on the fit was secure and comfortable for me even for faster runs.

Sometimes with bootie uppers I find my foot can slide laterally when rounding corners at speed, but this didn’t happen with the Neo Vista. However, I did find the upper could feel a bit warm and oppressive on hotter runs.

The material seems breathable, but the way it wraps the foot makes it a little more noticeable than a traditional upper with a separate tongue. It wasn’t a major concern for me, but could be more noticeable if you run in hot conditions most of the time.

Midsole

The midsole of the shoe is made up of two layers of Mizuno’s Enerzy NXT foam that sandwich a nylon plate. The plate is more flexible than the carbon plates used in racing shoes, and so is more comfortable and suitable for daily training runs at easier paces, and the EVA foam is impressively springy.

Like other Mizuno shoes including the Wave Rebellion Pro, the Neo Vista has the brand’s Smooth Speed Assist rocker profile to move you through onto your toes smoothly. 

The angle of the rocker is flatter than on the racing shoe, however. It’s 5 degrees on the Neo Vista, whereas it’s 11 degrees on the Wave Rebellion Pro 2, which has a much more aggressive ride as a result.

Outsole

There is a huge cutout on the bottom of the Neo Vista, which runs down the length of the shoe in the center. This helps to reduce the overall weight and also makes it a bit more stable by centering your foot over the cutout when you land.

I found that this cutout did have a habit of picking up rocks if I ran on light trails, so the Neo Vista is a shoe best kept on the road, but it does grip pretty well on gravel and wet roads thanks to the rubber that does cover all of the outsole around the cutout.

Mizuno Neo Vista review: running performance

I’ve done a variety of runs in the Mizuno Neo Vista, including a track session, an easy run, a long run and a progression run moving from easy to tempo pace, and it’s been great for all of them. It’s a very versatile shoe, offering a comfortable ride at easy paces and then having the spring and propulsive feel you want for speed sessions.

The midsole foam is squishy and soft, but rebounds quickly so your foot doesn’t sink in too much, especially at faster paces. The lightness of the Neo Vista is also welcome — despite the high stack it doesn’t feel like a very big shoe, and as a high-cadence runner I appreciated that when trying to run fast in it.

I took it to the track to run a session of five 1K reps, and then five 400m reps. It has the speed for this and I enjoyed using it, but I’d say this isn’t where the kind of run that the Neo Vista does best – I liked it even more for general daily training and long runs. There are plated trainers like the Endorphin Speed 4 that have a firmer, more aggressive feel for intervals. 

It was on my longest run in the shoe of about 13.5 miles that I enjoyed it most. The shoe never lost its bounce and as I varied my pace throughout the run it always felt great, whether I was shuffling up a hill or opening up and running hard on flatter sections.

It’s a shoe that helps to keep your feet turning over nicely thanks to its rocker, and would be perfect for racking up miles during marathon training. While I didn’t find it unstable myself as a neutral runner, I would say the Neo Vista wouldn’t be a good option for runners who overpronate and usually use a stability shoe.

It’s also not a great one for walking or standing on your feet all day, because of the instability of the soft midsole foam.

Should you buy the Mizuno Neo Vista?

I rate the Mizuno Neo Vista as one of my favorite running shoes that I’ve tested in 2024, and a great option for daily training. If you want one shoe to do it all, then it’s a very strong option, and if you have a running shoe rotation you could pair it with one of the best carbon plate running shoes for your races and occasional speed sessions, and then do the bulk of your training in the Neo Vista.

The price is high, as is often the case with plated trainers, and there are good alternatives both with and without plates. The Saucony Endorphin Speed 4 and Adidas Boston 12 both have a little more speed than the Mizuno, though aren’t as comfortable for regular training runs, while the Hoka Mach X is another comfortable plated daily trainer with a good rocker that’s a bit firmer than the Mizuno if you find it too soft.

More traditional daily trainers like the New Balance Rebel v4 and Hoka Mach 6 that don’t have a plate come in a lot cheaper than the Neo Vista and offer similar versatility, though you get more bounce from the midsole setup in the Mizuno for sure. If the price doesn’t put you off, it’s certainly worth considering as a springy and fun daily trainer that can handle pretty much any run you throw at it.