Last year’s New Balance FuelCell Prism was a perplexing shoe. It featured a number of stability elements but somehow seemed to run better than a lot of its counterparts within the neutral category. Its design was pretty basic though and the colorways were lacking, but people still love the shoe. The Prism V2 is the perfect follow-up for that original edition because it maintains all of the performance and moderate stability elements but add a whole new upper and packages it in a much better-looking way
Quick Details, Specs, and Availability
- The second version improves on the first in almost every way.
- Neutral runners will be just as happy with these regardless of the stability elements.
- Weighs in at 9.5oz or 269g for a US Men’s 9, 7.7oz or 218g for a US Women’s 7.
- Features 30mm of cushion and has a 6mm heel/toe drop.
- Retails at $119.99 USD and comes in 4 colors for Men and Women.
Run Test
This is going to be a really weird thing to say but we kind of love the Prism V2. We say it’s weird because who would have thought that we would be praising a stability-oriented medium cushioned road shoe as one of our favorites right now. The reason for this is due to two primary factors, the upper redesign, and the FuelCell midsole.
First, the redesign of the mesh upper just works really well for a number of people. Not only is it breathable, but the way they handled d stability elements within the materials, while hidden, will work really well. The FuelCell midsole is almost at the performance level on here as it is on something like the Rebel V2 and then you get some medial support which can be great when your foot is recovering or as your feet start to tire. The shoe also just feels great on your foot and the toebox design and overall last maps really well to the contours of the foot.
The Prism V2 just fits your foot really well and it sounds crazy, but it makes running in the shoe that much more appealing and nowhere did we notice any rubbing or biting against the foot. The curvature of the toe box allows for some room on both lateral medial sides, and then at the tail-end, your heel stays tightly situated in locked in place. It is hard to describe and definitely worth a try on if you get a chance. You do not need to be looking for extra support to enjoy the shoes, that should be the biggest takeaway.
As for how we bring it into our workouts, it pairs really well with the Rebel V2 and then even the RC Elite. They all share a similar last, use FuelCell, yet each is targeted for a distinctly different purpose. The Rebel is your tempo and speed day trainer, the RC Elite 1 or 2 is your race day shoe, and your easy day or recovery day shoe is the Prism V2. It may seem odd to work a stability shoe into this lineup, but it just fits well for us.
Construction: Upper
The Prism V2 uses a mesh upper system with some minor overlays to help increase later stability. The heel cup locks you in well and is moderately padded for comfort, identical to the V1. It shares some similarities in terms of design to the Rebel V2, the RC Elite, and RC Elite 2 all of which are designed to map to the foot incredibly well. It is more breathable than the first edition and the upper redesign is honestly the big success here.
Really solid new mesh upper 
Different, but highly functional lacing system 
Moderately padded tongue, and collar along with pseudo elf heelcup.
Construction: Midsole
This shoe is all FuelCell which means a nice explosive amount of pop while in run. Given the Prism skew more support, New Balance has added a medial post to help control pronation. It definitely doesn’t slow these down at all and they run almost as well as the Rebels, maybe not as poppy, but still a ton of responsiveness.
Midsole – lateral view 
Midsole – medial view
Construction: Outsole
New Balance has placed a decent of rubber on the forefoot and then on a j shape around the heel and extending down the medial side. This means solid traction and increased durability.
Solid rubber on the forefoot and wrapping the heel
Style and Aesthetics
New Balance has made some visual updates to the Prism V2 which definitely make the shoe more appealing and even better they are offering it in 4 colors for men and women. Our test version with the yellow midsole… really solid.
Overall Conclusion
Again, we cannot reiterate enough how good a job New Balance has done between the Prism V1 and the V2. The shoe is not just a stability trainer despite how it’s billed as almost any runner will enjoy this. Those moderate support elements that they did include just seem to service the midsole during longer runs. It is definitely not a performance shoe, but a lot of people will find it to be a great daily trainer and even better as a rest or recovery run day shoe. Those with stability needs will find themselves incredibly happy with the shoe as well because it allows them to kick it up a notch when they want to. Did we mention it also looks better than ever?
Learn more on the New Balance website
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Check Out Other Reviewers Thoughts
As always, we gather together some of our favorite reviewers so you can get a well-rounded view of the shoe. Here are our favorites.
