Brooks Hyperion Tempo vs Saucony Endorphin Speed – Which is The More Versatile Shoe?

Today, I’m taking a look at the Brooks Hyperion Tempo vs Saucony Endorphin Speed.

The Hyperion Tempo and the Endorphin Speed are definitely two of my favorite shoes and I’m really excited to put these two shoes head-to-head.

But why compare them?

Sometimes when I look at these two shoes, they seem like the exact same shoe, and other times, they seem so incredibly different, but at the end of the day, they’re both really fun to run in.

But which one really takes the edge over the other?

Let’s find out…

Related:

• Saucony Endorphin Speed 3 vs. Pro 3
• Brooks vs. Hoka

Brooks Hyperion Tempo vs Saucony Endorphin Speed

We are living in crazy times right now in the shoe world. A lot of the shoe manufacturers are racing to change the shoe game by innovating and creating technologies that will help their runners compete amongst others with other types of shoes on their feet.

If Nike are creating shoes like the Alphafly or the Vaporfly Next%, Saucony and Brooks are also trying to dip their fingers into this trend.

The Hyperion is one of Brooks’ two shoes in the Hyperion line to enter this elite fast shoe technology-based speed game.

We have the Hyperion Elite as Brooks’ carbon-fiber plated race shoe which is supposedly very fast. And then we have the Hyperion Tempo which is their more consumer-level but yet front of the pack-based speed model for longer distance runs and training.

So Brooks hope to encourage athletes to train in the Tempo and race in the Elite mixing all sorts of fast tech in both of the shoes creating a new top-level in their shoe lineup.

Saucony are also joining the race with two great shoes, the Endorphin Speed and the Endorphin Pro. The Pro is their most race-ready shoe and the Speed was designed for racing and training environments.

Then Saucony has thrown another shoe in the Endorphin range called the Saucony Endorphin Shift which is taking up the role as a heavy everyday trainer.

But for today’s battle, you have the bright loud and snappy Saucony Endorphin Speed and the featherweight low profile simple and soft Brooks Hyperion Tempo.

Related:

• Saucony Endorphin Speed vs. EndorphinShift

Specs

Weight, Stack & Drop

In the Endorphin Speed, we have an 8mm heel-to-toe drop but a bunch of stack height with this PWRRUN PB foam. There’s 35.5 millimeters of stack height in the heel and 27.5 millimeters in the forefoot.

The Speed comes in at a weight of 7.9 ounces (223 grams) for a men’s size 9 and 7.1 oz (201 grams) for a women’s size 8. This doesn’t make it the lighter shoe but still really light compared to other shoes.

In comparison, the Hyperion Tempo comes in it at an 8mm drop as well but with 20 millimeters of stack height in the heel and 18 millimeters in the forefoot.

So out of the box, the Endorphin Speed is the more cushioned of the two though still stable and solid. It’s an interesting yet very pleasant sensation.

The Hyperion Tempo has still got quite a bit of foam but not as much as in the Endorphin Speed. But when I put these shoes side to side, it looks like they have pretty much the exact same amount of midsole foam in them at least visually.

In terms of weight, the Hyperion comes in at a weight of 7.2 ounces (204 grams) for a men’s size 9 and 6.3 oz (178 grams) for a women’s size 8.

A lot of that weight is actually just the outsole rubber layer that they have across the forefoot and heel. I think the Hyperion is only trumped in terms of weight by the Reebok Run Fast Pro, the Vaporfly 4% Flyknit, and the Vaporfly Next%.

But even though the Hyperion feels really lightweight, the Endorphin Speed by no means feels heavy.

Midsole

Both of these shoes are real diamonds when it comes to the midsole. However, one of them is hyper-temperature sensitive.

Hyperion Tempo

The Hyperion Tempo has a nitrogen-infused midsole material known as DNA Flash. DNA Flash is just an amazing foam and it is just fantastic to run on. I find DNA Flash to be very similar to the Skechers Razor 3. 

Even though the Hyperion is just a half-ounce lighter, that half ounce seems to make a really big difference in the Hyperion Tempo.

The Hyperion feels like a much lighter and a much more nimble shoe, and I think part of that is the weight and the fact it doesn’t have quite as much stack height.

This midsole leans into that firmer and slightly less forgiving responsive snappy realm, which over time becomes more comfortable and malleable as you kind of rack up those miles.

While it is cushioned and they do advertise it as a cushioned yet responsive shoe, I definitely feel it’s more on that responsive end of the spectrum.

You’re not going to get a ton of cushioning or absorbent material, but what I’ve experienced with the DNA Flash has been nothing short of fun. This midsole surprised me, it impressed me, and it makes me want to kick faster.

However, I think the Endorphin Speed is better than the Hyperion Tempo.

In terms of the midsole, the Endorphin Speed is certainly a shoe with real wide appeal and one perhaps more alluring than the Brooks Hyperion Tempo.

The Hyperion is also a great shoe at faster paces, but I just feel that the PWRRUN PB foam in the Endorphin Speed has a very slight edge over the Hyperion Tempo.

But why exactly?

The Endorphin Speed has two secret weapons inside.

Endorphin Speed

The Endorphin Speed has an amazing stack of PWRRUN PB in the midsole. This is a PEBA-based foam which is much like the Zoom X in Nike’s VaporFly.

It is cushioned, soft, and plush yet responsive. Energy return in PWRRUN PB is wonderful especially when you have this amount of it.

Plate

To make this PWRRUN PB midsole perform even better, Brooks has thrown in a nylon plate throughout the shoe which gives it an extra level of springiness.

The idea behind this nylon plate is as your foot hits the ground, your foot is loading that nylon plate. And as it wants to straighten itself out as you’re lifting your foot, it gives you a little bit of extra bounce as you pick up your foot and push off to the next stride.

Honestly, I’ve really been enjoying the Endorphin thanks to that nylon plate. I do like the amount of rigidity it provides, and on pavement, I could really feel the springiness of that plate and it’s just so pleasant.

So, if it’s a course where there’s going to be pavement, I’ll definitely reach for the Endorphin Speed because I love the way that it feels.

The plate is enough that I feel it but not so rigid that I have a hard time loading it properly. It feels like the shoe is really tuned for me and that’s very apparent when you’re running at anything faster than an easy-day pace and you’re on pavement.

Speed Roll

The second weapon is the Endorphin Speed has what they call their Speed Roll technology. Spee Roll is basically designed to roll you through your footstrike in an efficient manner and then kind of get you exploding off your toes.

So, the adoption of the Speed Roll technology with that rocker in the midsole and the nylon plate appears to provide a really great option for pretty much all types of runners.

Thanks to this rocker geometry, I think that:

• Heel strikers won’t feel that this shoe is fighting against them,
• Midfoot hitters all really enjoy the slight flex of that nylon plate,
• The more elite and able athletes all no doubt enjoy the fatigue-lowering foam and the snap-on toe-off.

Also of note, the DNA Flash midsole is hyper-temperature sensitive.

Hyper Temperature Sensitive

If you’re running in colder climates, it’s going to feel a lot more responsive than if you’re running anywhere from 75 degrees or above, which is very similar to a lot of midsoles.

I felt that this nitrogen-infused midsole was more sensitive to temperature than others that I have in my lineup. Again, if it’s cold out, it’ll run hard but it won’t take away the joy though.

So, it’s the Endorphin Speed for midsole supremacy.

Performance

Hyperion Tempo

The Tempo is certainly geared towards those workouts or tempo runs where your speed is going to be increased.

It’s not necessarily designed for those long slow runs and bigger runners don’t necessarily benefit from a shoe like this in those plods.

I definitely felt the benefits of the shoe in my mid-distance tempo runs where I just wanted to increase the kick a little bit. The simplicity of the shoe helped cater to that sensation.

The Hyperion excels at faster fun tempo runs, speed workouts, or race efforts. I had no problems running distances anywhere from 10 to 15 miles in this shoe and anything beyond that and I could certainly see myself weighing down the shoes a little bit too much.

Again, the Hyperion Tempo is going to be geared towards faster efforts, but there’s a little bit of plush in there to go along with the snappy and the flexy.

Endorphin Speed

Pitched as the Endorphin Pro’s training companion, the Endorphin Speed is an amazing versatile do-it-all shoe and a fantastic option for a lot of runners out there. I really think the Speed is only very slightly behind full carbon-plated shoes when it comes to performance.

Obviously, the Speed does shine at faster paces. But I think the Speed is a lot better and it does have that edge over the Hyperion Tempo because of its impressive versatility.

Let me prove that for you…

• It was impressive as a racing shoe for 5k distance.
• It did great when I did speedwork and track sessions in it.
• It did great when I took it right up to a sub-five-minute mile pace.
• It has the durability and comfort to use for your daily training.
• It’s even comfortable if you have a huge amount of easy running in your training.

Surprisingly, the Endorphin Speed has never let me down in any way. It’s always been fast enough, it’s always been comfortable, and I just love running in it.

Outsole

The carbon rubber on the Saucony Endorphin Speed does seem reasonably durable. Traction is superb across all major terrains that you or I will encounter on a daily basis.

The Hyperion Tempo outsole also showed excellent levels of durability. I took it up to 100 miles and there’s barely any sign of wear whatsoever.

So, both shoes are certainly up the top there in terms of hard-wearing, surface resilient, ground-contact longevity.

Traction

In terms of traction, I was a little bit concerned for both of these shoes given the way that the outsole tread looks on them.

I thought I might slip around a little bit on the dirt or the crushed limestone surface that I was on. But I had no problems with traction at all for either of the days that I ran in these two shoes.

In terms of wet grass grip, both shoes are certainly better than that outsole on the New Balance FuelCell TC, but I’d suggest that both shoes are superb on road and pavement.

I can’t really split between these two outsoles, so I’m going to call it a tie.

Upper

Both are very good uppers and both have some nice heel support and no heel slippage experience. 

The Speed is a shoe that’s nice and roomy in the toe box in terms of width and the Tempo is soft and exceptionally thin.

During hot days, neither of the shoes created any sort of problems in terms of the upper being too hot or having any sort of uncomfortableness. The structure from the overlays as well makes for a really great upper.

Fit

Again, the Endorphin Speed offers decent space in the toe box, but the Hyperion runs a little bit narrow.

This is another one of those shoes that are sort of geared towards that fast environment and the front of the pack, but it doesn’t mean any of the mid-packers and back of the pack can’t enjoy the shoe as well.

This shoe is geared more towards the narrow end of the spectrum in that mid and forefoot area.

If your feet run wide, you’re going to run into some issues. Luckily, the upper is a bit more flexible and compensates for bigger feet. It’s just not going to be an ideal shoe for the wider end of the spectrum.

But if you’re looking for a shoe to go a little bit faster without forking over the big box, this is one that you’re going to want to look at.

Laces

I’m a stickler for a good set of laces. The Endorphin Speed has them, but the Hyperion Tempo doesn’t.

The reasoning is that on the Hyperion, they’re very thin and stretchy. When you get laces that are the combination of both thin and stretchy, getting them to tie down tightly or comfortably is difficult.

They don’t stay in one place and they want to shift around a lot, which led to me having a number of issues with the tongue just wanting to slide all over the place and not giving me a perfect fit and lockdown across the midfoot.

Speaking of the devil…

Lockdown

Again, the upper on the Hyperion is a little bit more form-fitting. That being said, I would say that the upper on the Endorphin Speed feels a lot more secure to me in terms of getting up to speed. If there are any turns, it just feels a little bit more locked down.

The materials are a little bit stiffer but a little bit less breathable I would say than the Hyperion tempo, but that all makes me feel like I’m more secure in the Speed.

A knock that I’ve had on the Hyperion Tempo from the beginning is that while the upper is a bit tight-fitting, it seems a little bit too loose and a little bit too comfortable. I think part of that is the stretchy laces don’t seem to give great lockdown. The faster I go, the more that I tend to notice that.

I mentioned that the Hyperion Tempo might be a little too comfortable, but there are times when you certainly want that comfort. So, on a day where you’re not necessarily racing but want to go quicker, the comfort definitely comes in handy.

It’s not every day that you want to feel like you’re strapping into your race shoe. So, a day when you can run fast in a shoe with a fantastic midsole foam and a comfortable upper can sometimes be a plus.

So in the area of comparing which of these two uppers I prefer, I definitely am preferring the Endorphin Speed.

Value

At the time of writing this comparison, the Hyperion Tempo comes in around $30 cheaper than the Endorphin Speed. So the Hyperion is a quite versatile shoe in the midsole if your pocketbook is under strict watch.

I think if you have room in your rotation for a higher tempo shoe and prefer that slightly firmer underfoot feel, then the Tempo could be a great shoe for you.

Yes, both shoes are on the more expensive side, but I do feel that the enjoyment and unbridled excitement that you do get wearing these shoes is worth it.

However, the Endorphin Speed is one of those real wonders shoes that seems to feel good at almost any type of pace you throw at it. It’s just even more versatile than the Hyperion and can actually double up as your training and race-day shoe as well.

So for value, the Endorphin Speed just naps it in terms of its improved versatility, better lockdown, and a more fresh and more lively PWRRUN PB midsole.

Again, I think the Endorphin Speed is one of the most versatile running shoes out there at the moment. I do think that many a runner could get something really enjoyable out of the Endorphin Speed. 

Dislikes

In terms of the Hyperion, there are other shoes in the game that I think you’re ­going to get a very similar experience out of for a lower price point.

Examples include the Razor 3 from Skechers, the Kinvara from Saucony, and the New Balance FuelCell Rebel. So you’re getting similarly statured shoes with similar tech and similar ride experiences as the Hyperion for lesser price points.

The Hyperion Tempo is a standout shoe in the Brooks line, but it is not necessarily a standout shoe amongst all the lines.

Wrap Up

The Hyperion Tempo is one of Brooks’ best road running shoes in a long time that I’ve experienced.

With…

• A solid nitrogen-infused midsole material known as DNA Flash,
• A super lightweight and breathable mesh upper with minimal welded overlays,
• A light lacing system,
• A molded heel cup,
• A snappy yet responsive and highly flexible midsole,

… Brooks has brought the Hyperion Tempo into the less-is-more category but certainly something that’ll be great for faster environments, higher energy tempo runs, mid-distance to long-distance training runs, and racing.

The Hyperion tempo has been a joy. That simplicity wraps around your foot and you barely know you have the shoe on because of its overall comfort and simplicity. And when you have those types of experiences in a shoe, it’s a pleasurable one.

Again, the weight is low and the on-foot feel is subtle.

So the points go back and forth between each of these two shoes, but for me, ultimately I think that I’m going to reach for the Endorphin Speed when it comes to having these two shoes head-to-head.

But if you are inclined to get both of these shoes, they’re both really fun fantastic shoes to run in.

The way that I would use them is that I would use the Hyperion Tempo for your training and the Endorphins Speed for your racing.

Either way, you’re not going to go wrong with either of these two shoes and you’re definitely going to have a lot of fun in each of them if you buy both.

So those are my thoughts on the Brooks Hyperion Tempo vs Saucony Endorphin Speed.

I’m sure that you guys either will have questions or will disagree with me wholeheartedly. Either event, I’d love to hear about it in the comments down below.

That’s all I have for today’s comparison. Thanks for making it all the way to the end. Hopefully, you guys are staying safe out there on your runs and I’ll see you in the next one