New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 Introduction

The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 is the brand’s max cushioned trainer using New Balance’s Fresh Foam technology.

The Fresh Foam X technology provides soft cushion while also giving it a bouncy feel to help provide a smooth transition. This is a shoe that compares to the Saucony Triumph 23, Brooks Glycerin Max, and Asics Megablast or Superblast.

All of these are the brand’s max cushion shoe that is typically used as an easy or recovery day trainer. At $159.95, it is priced right in line with many of the options from the other brands.

This shoe provides more Fresh Foam than the New Balance Fresh Foam X 1080 v14 or v15. It will be cheaper than the 1080v15 when it is released in 2026.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 First Impressions

When first taking this shoe out of the box, what stands out is the amount of foam in the midsole. There’s a lot of it. In spite of that, the shoe doesn’t feel overly heavy but don’t get me wrong, it’s not light either.

When putting it on for the first time, you feel your foot sink into the shoe and the there is a noticeable bounce to it when you hop up and down.

My first run in the shoe was an interval workout in the rain (4×800 threshold, 4×400 V02Max, 4×100 all-out). Surprisingly, I was able to get close my typical speed paces in spite of the heavier shoe and the slick conditions. It was the shoe that was slowing me down but I also know that this shoe is not meant for these type of workouts.

In spite of that, if you packed the wrong shoes you could still attempt a speedier workout. One noticeable result was that my legs felt great after the run and into the next day. The shoe seemed to absorb the workout really well, leaving my legs feeling great.

My second run in the shoe was a 2x2mile threshold run. Again, I chose to challenge the shoe for a run that I know it was not meant to handle. I struggled to hit my threshold paces and I do think that the shoe played a big part in it (the other reasons would be from it being a summer morning with high humidity).

While I couldn’t hit my paces as scheduled, once again my legs felt great after the workout when usually my legs feel slightly beat up.

The high stack height of the shoe is limiting in terms of speed but is great in terms of reducing unwanted fatigue and soreness afterwards.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 Upper

The construction of the upper on this shoe is great. The tongue and heel collar are premium-level soft. I had no issues with hot spots, blisters, or discomfort. es with hot spots or blisters for me.

The tongue is gusseted (i.e. attached) and the heel collar is padded. The laces were fine and never came undone when tied with a single knot.

The whole upper is made of a soft knit mesh that is very breathable yet can handle some of the colder air. The shoe fit true to size for me with plenty of room in the toe box without making it too roomy.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 Sole Unit

The midsole is the feature element of this shoe with the Fresh Foam X technology. There is 42mm of cushion in the heel and 38mm in the forefoot for a 4mm heel drop. This is the same as the previous version. The weight of the shoe is roughly 11 oz which is similar to the previous version.

This shoe has a rocker technology which helps with the transition from heel to toe and helps propel you forward. In my experience, the rocker seems to make easy runs even easier. For a 10k run at the fast end of my easy pace, I felt great during and after the run. The shoe never got in the way of the run and, in fact, it felt like it was helping me along the whole time.

The traction on the shoe is great. As mentioned earlier, my first run was in the rain and I had no issues with the outsole grip. I also did an easy 9-mile run on wet grounds after a rain shower. No issues with the traction and again my legs felt comfortable during and after the run. There is good stability with the shoe, but with a higher stack height you need to be careful going around sharp turns. I don’t think a shoe company can do much about that as high-stack height shoes are inherently less stable.

My last run in the shoe was a 15-mile long run with a few miles at Marathon pace sprinkled in. Once again, I was not able to hit my marathon pace during those miles and I’m sure it was the shoe this time. The easy miles to begin and end the run were great.

Once again, the cushioning of the shoe helped my legs feel great after the run and I felt like I recovered faster from this run that I typically would.

New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 Conclusions

The New Balance Fresh Foam X More v6 is a great easy-day or recovery day trainer that will remain a part of my rotation. It is best to use as part of a rotation of shoes where this is for your easy miles. The shoe is meant for comfort and NB delivers on that.

For the price, I think you’re getting a great deal. I can imagine that beginner to intermediate runners could use this as their everyday shoe if you’re not doing many speedier runs.

There are even some half-marathon and marathon runners who would use this to keep their feet and legs fresh throughout their race. It’s not going to help you get a PR but it will help you feel good during and after your run.