Two *separate* issues: (1) the "Granite" color of shoe looks like a man's shoe and that color doesn't match what arrived in mail and (2) quality of shoe is severely downgraded in "moab 3" model from prior version of same shoe. The most concerning issue is #2, and the reason I will request a "return" and not an "exchange."

First, the "Granite" color shoe that I was sent from Merrell.com website is much darker than what is depicted in the product photo (attached). It is even a bit darker than the photo I have attached but my mobile phone camera auto-increases the brightness to make certain images look more appealing (pretty common mobile phone tech among the Instagram culture). In real life however, this looks like a man's shoe - with the dark gray, black, and dark blue. Unfortunately, I didn't see any other reviews that photographed this color, so I only had the product description to go by - big mistake.

This second part is partly on me because I naively thought I could purchase basically the same shoe I purchased before. Back in 2022, I purchased the Merrell Moab 2 Mid Waterproof from the Zappos also in "Granite" (which seems to carry widely from year-to-year, see above paragraph). Anyhow, I loved that "moab 2" shoe so much, now in 2024 I purchased what I thought would be the same or even better (isn't that what a model number increase indicates?). However, as you can see from the second attachment of the two shoes of the same shoe size, the newer shoe model/"moab 3" (on the left), in my opinion, looks cheaper and like it has less ankle and side support. Also, stitching on the "moab 3" shoes looks a lot cheaper for some reason - I cannot quite put my finger on how it looks cheaper (maybe stitching is looser/wider?) but it reminds me of when someone buys a counterfeit "knock-off" of a luxury goods product; or when you go to the "outlet" version of a luxury goods store (big "ick" factor) - the quality is just severely downgraded to the point of being unrecognizable to what the brand supposedly stands for.

There is hard, Nylon plastic shank right underneath the ball of your foot because of a design oversight. Merrel must change the shank design back to the Moab 2 to regain comfort in smaller men's and larger women's sizes.

This is not an issue with a single shoe: I've purchased three different pairs in three different sizes to see if any are more comfortable -- all of them have the same stabbing pain right under the ball of my foot.

The Moab 3 have a redesigned footbed, including a longer, lower quality shank which is the same in many different sizes of shoe. The shank is about half an inch longer, and has been moved forward by about a quarter of an inch.
The shank is so far forward now that it's right under the ball of my foot. The shank in the Moab 2 was shorter and thinner, providing stability to the shoe without impacting comfort near the ball of the foot.
The shank has gone down in quality too -- the shank is now thicker has two holes which are punched, front and back. The holes when punched leave a "dip" in the shank, causing there to be dead space in the footbed, and a feeling that you're stepping on a ledge right on the ball of your foot.
With this design, the shank is so long and so far forward that the shoe doesn't bend except right in the toe, causing the ball of the foot to be compressed against hard plastic when pushing off. It's difficult to wear these for longer than an hour without serious pain.

I had to modify my shoes to get them to feel "okay-ish." I cut out the front part of the shank in my Moab 3 (women's 9.5 wide), and replaced some of the missing space with foam from another shoe.

@Merrel, if possible I would like to very briefly (< 15 minutes) discuss the issue with someone to articulate exactly the issue that I'm having and to help improve your product. I loved my Moab 2's. I'm really sad to see and feel a decline in comfort in the 3's, and I'm worried I might have to hike the PCT on a different shoe.

My local store did not have the womens maob 3 mid boot for me to try. They did have the mens moab 3 and since I prefer a lot of toe room (Birkenstock lover), I decided to try it after the salesperson suggested it. They apparently sell mens maob to women as unisex. Well, suprise...the mens mob 3 felt great. I walked around the shop for a while in them and decided to purchase the mens. They look really nice, not obvious mens boots. I normally wear a womens 10.5 and I usually always buy wide width. Size 10 in generous will fit me depending on the particular shoe or boot. I tried on several sizes in the mens and the mens size 9 fit and felt the best so that is what I bought. The next day I went on a 6 mile hike in them on one of the trails in Volcano National Park. The boots felt great through the whole hike, no issues at all. My feet felt great in fact so if you like a wide fit where your toes can spread out and be comfy, try a mens model. I'm glad I did. The grip of the boots were really good through dirt, mud, pavement and gravel on the trails. I got the walnut color in mens 9. Is a nice neutral color. I would have preferred the granite color (match my grey hair) but the most popular walnut color is all they carried in the location where I visited and is very universal. I may not ever go to womens in the moab although I would like to see more colors in the mens. Now that I know my size preference in the moab mens sizing, I can have more choices in colors in the future. As a reference guide, if you love a great arch support these are the shoes to try, Birkenstock anything, Vionic Tide sandals and tennis shoes, boots, Olukai sandals, Asolo Stynger boots for colder climates or 4 season climates, Asics Gel-Kayano tennis shoes, New Balance Fresh Foam tennis shoes, Chaco sandals. This was my first pair of Merrell boots and first pair of Maob's (always been an Asolo lover but they would be too hot in tropical climate and I prefer non-gortex in summer weather. Hope this info helps someone.

I can’t remember if I bought these at REI orginal for not, but I had a pair of these boots that I believe I bought before going to Africa. Over 2.5 months We hiked around in all kinds of terrain throughout the South African bushveld, and these boots were amazing. Comfortable right out of the box, durable, cleaned up nicely, just great. I brought them home with me and started a job as a biologist that led me to do walking surveys in really varied terrain anyway from 5 to as much as 14 miles a day. Again, boots still great. My only note is what finally killed rhem were fox tails. I think after some 10 miles one day in dense fox tails, the mesh, laces, and interior got so inundated with fox tails, there was no coming back. But again, that was years and years of heavy walking. And they were still very comfortable at that time. I would buy again in a heart beat, but probably get the waterproof or gore Tex ones now (that wasn’t an option before). And would advise if you are walking in dense vegetation like I was to invest in some kind of gaiters to keep the spikey stuff out of them. For my work purposes these days I tend to stick to a pull leather boot (blundstones) to fend off the fox tails, but those don’t provide good lace up support. Anyways, don’t hesitate to get these, they are great, you won’t regret. I bought mine 12 years ago and don’t know what’s kept me from buying another pair. I have some Oboz currently that are hot garbage by comparison.