update: went with the New Balance Fresh Foam More v4 -
link
They're not good. I was excited as I've had good results with New Balance shoes in the past but these are not it. The wide is actually quite wide which made me question if I needed a wide in the first place. I know different manufacturers will have different widths. The New Balance is very generous. I ran 6 miles right out of the box and it felt fine other than some lacing too tight. It was wider than I expected so I overcompensated on tying it too tight. I know it takes me a couple of runs to get the fit right in laces since I tend to tie them once and then slip on and off once good to go. I laced looser on the second run of 7 miles before realizing how strange the tongue was (see reddit thread below, this is a common issue it seems). It's not symetrical because one side has the Fresh Foam branding and has zero padding. It kept rubbing/slipping down into the show which applied pressure right below my ankle bone. The upper part of the shoe near the laces has no padding compared to my previous Hoka/Saucony pairs. I had some light pain there and thought it was something I'd get used to. Next day I took them on an hour long walk and the tongue issue persisted. I pulled the tongue up but it kept slipping back down into the shoe. It was very uncomfortable on my ankle bone. The following day I ran in my Saucony's and had no issues with the tongue. I took these out again for a run this morning, only 4 miles. The tongue issue was still there but didn't hurt like they did previously. However, later in the day, I started to get soreness in my foot and leg and a charlie horse in my thigh which had to have been brought about by these shoes. The weird thing is that the pain is only in my right foot/leg. My left is totally normal and fine. The slippage is still there but the pain is just the right.
I had an Amazon giftcard so it's not a huge loss but still annoying. I just grabbed some Hoka Clifton's from Fleet Feet so I can return if I need to.