Head to head
Brooks Hyperion Elite 5vs
HOKA Rocket X 3
Choose the Hyperion Elite 5 if…
- You want something more forgiving. This is the steadier platform — useful if your form goes late, or if you are on your feet longer.
Choose the Rocket X 3 if…
- You race off a strong, repeatable stride and want the more aggressive ride rather than the safer one.
What does this
mean for you?
Every figure below is recalculated from your race and your current time. The gap between two shoes is not fixed — it grows with how long you are on your feet.
Over marathon from 3:45:00
- Time back
- Hyperion Elite 5: 138s–213sRocket X 3: 145s–219s
- Cost per second saved
- Hyperion Elite 5: £0.19Rocket X 3: £0.17
Ranges, not promises. Both figures are against a standard trainer, and the honest answer for most runners is that the difference between two shoes of this class is smaller than the difference a month of decent training makes.
Every number.
What you pay
- Street price
- Hyperion Elite 5~£151
- Rocket X 3£140■
- RRP
- Hyperion Elite 5£230
- Rocket X 3£220
- Cost per race
- Hyperion Elite 5£34
- Rocket X 3£32■
- Cost per second saved
- Hyperion Elite 5£0.19
- Rocket X 3£0.17■
A tilde marks an estimate: no shop we read is currently listing that shoe, so the figure is RRP less the discount comparable shoes are actually selling at.
List price. Almost nobody pays it for a race shoe.
Street price divided by the races the foam stays fast for.
The whole-life question: what each second of race time costs you.
What it does
- Estimated saving
- Hyperion Elite 5138s–213s
- Rocket X 3145s–219s■
- Economy gain
- Hyperion Elite 52.8–3.9%
- Rocket X 32.9–4%■
- Built for
- Hyperion Elite 510K · Half · Marathon
- Rocket X 310K · Half · Marathon
- Best use case
- Hyperion Elite 5Unfashionable and quietly good. Firmer and more controlled than most of the field, which suits heel strikers and heavier runners.
- Rocket X 3HOKA’s legal racer, and much the better shoe for anyone who actually needs to comply with the rules. Balanced and predictable.
Against a standard trainer, over the distance and time set above.
How it is built
- Weight
- Hyperion Elite 5196 g■
- Rocket X 3200 g
- Stack (heel)
- Hyperion Elite 539 mm
- Rocket X 339 mm
- Stack (forefoot)
- Hyperion Elite 531 mm
- Rocket X 334 mm
- Drop
- Hyperion Elite 58 mm
- Rocket X 35 mm
- Foam
- Hyperion Elite 5DNA Flash v2
- Rocket X 3PEBA
- Plate
- Hyperion Elite 5carbon fibre
- Rocket X 3carbon fibre
Manufacturer figure at men's US 9.
Rules and fit
- Road legal
- Hyperion Elite 5Yes (39 mm)
- Rocket X 3Yes (39 mm)
- Fit
- Hyperion Elite 5standard
- Rocket X 3standard
- Stability
- Hyperion Elite 5stable
- Rocket X 3balanced
- Race life
- Hyperion Elite 5~280 km
- Rocket X 3~280 km
- Data confidence
- Hyperion Elite 5estimated
- Rocket X 3estimated
World Athletics caps road racing shoes at 40 mm of stack.
Neither is better in the abstract — it depends on your stride.
How long the foam stays fast, not how long the shoe survives.
■ marks the better figure where one is genuinely better. Fit, foam, drop and stability carry no mark — they depend on your foot and your stride, not on which shoe is superior.
In your size.
Where to buy
- Alexandra Sports£168Go to size at Alexandra Sports ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.
Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.
Where to buy
Best price today — some sizes£140at Interval Running — £80 under RRP
- Interval Running£140 was £220Go to size at Interval Running ↗
- Alexandra Sports£165 was £220Go to size at Alexandra Sports ↗
- Run North West£175 was £220Go to size at Run North West ↗
- AmazonPrice not published hereSearch at Amazon ↗
- SportsShoesPrice not published hereSearch at SportsShoes ↗
9 retailer checks failed on the last run, so their prices are missing rather than wrong.
Prices are captured when the site is built and stamped with the time of that check. We never rank a retailer by what it pays us; where a link earns a commission it is marked sponsored and the price you pay is unchanged.