Puma Deviate Nitro 3 vs Puma Deviate Nitro 4:
Which to Choose

These two share a skeleton: a full-length carbon PWRPLATE, PUMAGRIP outsole, breathable engineered-mesh upper, a neutral platform, and identical high responsiveness — both are fast trainers that reward a committed midfoot roll and feel slightly businesslike at very easy jogging paces. The differences are refinements rather than a reinvention, but they add up. The Nitro 4 is meaningfully lighter, at 247g versus the Nitro 3's 268g (men's US 9), and it sits lower and closer to the ground — a 34mm heel and 27mm forefoot against the Nitro 3's 37.4mm heel and 27.3mm forefoot. That drops the effective ride from a taller ~10mm offset on the Nitro 3 to a flatter ~7mm on the Nitro 4, which the metrics reflect as a small step down in cushioning (from high to above-average). The other substantive upgrade is the foam itself: the Nitro 3 uses Puma's nitrogen-infused Nitro compound, while the Nitro 4 moves to a PEBA-based NITROFOAM — the same family of material Puma uses in its race-day shoes — for a springier, more energetic rebound. The Nitro 4 also gets a newly wider engineered-mesh upper for a more accommodating fit. The net effect is that the Nitro 4 feels quicker and more agile as you lean into pace, trading a sliver of the Nitro 3's underfoot plushness and heel comfort for a nimbler, more propulsive ride. Both still peak as half-marathon shoes and both handle 10K through the marathon, so the use case hasn't changed — the Nitro 4 just executes it with a lighter, snappier character.