Adidas gave its Supernova range a proper refresh in 2026, and the Prima — long one of the standout shoes in that lineup — has finally caught up with its stablemates, the Rise and the Solution. After sitting out the previous round of updates while those two shoes got their revamp, the Prima 3 arrives with a similar look and feel to the rest of the family, and that's no bad thing.
A Quick Recap of the Lineup
For anyone unfamiliar, Adidas launched the Supernova range a few years back to plug an obvious gap in its shoe wall: a proper, affordable daily trainer sitting below the Ultraboost and Adizero tiers.
The range was built around a pea-based foam called Dreamstrike, and it split into three main models — the Rise as the everyday trainer, the Solution as the more stable option, and the Prima as the max-cushioned, go-the-distance version. All three earned a reputation as excellent value, especially once they started showing up at steep discounts.
The Prima 3 keeps its spot as the plushest shoe in the range and now runs on Dreamstrike Pro, an upgraded version of the foam used elsewhere in the lineup, paired with an engineered Primeweave upper and a light traction outsole.
Adidas has packed noticeably more foam into this version and ditched the separate EVA "energy" strips that sat under the earlier models, replacing them with a single EVA layer running along the base of the midsole for stability.
The stack height has shifted slightly too, from 39–31mm to 39–30mm, taking the drop from 8mm to 9mm — a change that's honestly hard to notice on the run. The shoe now weighs 295g in a US men's 10, about 10 grams heavier than its predecessor, a trade-off that comes from the extra foam and a slightly thicker upper. It retails at £150.
Dreamstrike Pro rides a touch firmer than the standard Dreamstrike compound, but with more of it underfoot, that firmness translates into a really pleasant, almost stable platform rather than anything harsh. There's enough give and rebound to keep things lively without tipping into overly soft territory, and losing those old EVA strips has cut out any slappy feeling from the outsole.
It's a genuinely versatile ride, capable of handling everything from easy days to marathon-pace efforts without complaint, and there were no issues with heat or rubbing even in warmer conditions. For runners who find shoes like the Vomero Plus a little too plush, the Prima 3's slightly firmer, more stable feel could be a welcome alternative. It also holds up well against rivals in the category — edging out the latest New Balance 1080 and giving the Brooks Glycerin a run for its money, even if it's not quite a fair fight against max-stack shoes with considerably more foam underneath them.
The Prima 3 is a well-judged update: more comfortable, more stable, and a genuinely nice shoe to log long, easy miles in. But the improvements over the Prima 2 are fairly marginal, and at full price, £150 is a tough ask when the outgoing model is already so heavily discounted.
That's the real story here. The Prima 2 can be found for around £65–70 in the UK right now, and it remains an outstanding marathon-training shoe for the money. Unless the upgraded foam and extra cushioning in the Prima 3 are a must-have, most runners would be better served picking up the previous version while it's still cheap. Once the Prima 3 inevitably gets discounted itself, it'll be a genuine bargain and an easy addition to any rotation — just maybe not one to rush out and buy at full price today.
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