New Balance Women's WW812 Walking Shoes - Black, Size 9.5 XXW US - Comfortable Sneakers for Walking, Jogging & Everyday Wear

I join the chorus of others who are diehard WW811 fans (there are also reviews at Nordstroms by customers who bought the 812 and want the 811 back). The 811 shoe was a better fit, the tongue stayed more centered. The heel of the 812 is higher/longer than the 811 & I am concerned this will cause a digging into my skin of my heel as I walk, which I won't find out until I've "worn" the shoe & then I wouldn't be able to return the shoe. The 812 fits a little smaller (thicker lining?) & I am concerned the fit will not improve with wear, yet I don't want to move up to the next 1/2 size. Color-wise, I ordered the white (again) because black was out of stock in 9AAAA & the white 812 has fewer gray accents than the 811, which is too much white! I got started with this 811 shoe model because of the stabilizing device/bar in the sole of the shoe & because it was available in a 4A width. Now I am a loss, may need to try SAS shoes. I wore SAS when I was working in the hospital because the shoe came in a slender/4A width. New Balance should bring the 811 back & keep it as a classic. I have a VanEli flat that I bought some 20 yrs ago that is still in production, now costs $128 at Zappos (got mine on sale for $20)! I'm thinking these need to be returned.I've had foot surgery and my doctor recommended I wear New Balance shoes. I recently ordered another pair from Amazon, and I had them two days later, as promised. It wasn't Amazon's, nor New Balance's, fault that the size I ordered was just a tiny bit too small. I went online to see about exchanging them, and the process was so simple and quick. I made the exchange for the next size, and they provided a label to print out and attach to my return. They didn't make me wait until they received my return, but went ahead and shipped the new ones and said I would have them in two days. I returned the first pair by dropping the newly labeled package off at a nearby UPS. The only reason I'm giving 4 stars instead of 5 is because the insoles inside the shoes were too short to fit the whole inside, and I could feel the edge under the middle of my toes. But both Amazon and New Balance are great!I must echo the the other fans of the WW811. I wore mine until they were falling apart and they were some of the most comfortable shoes I've had.The WW812 isn't as nice as the WW811 they replaced. They are wearable and I quite usable but a definite "step down" from my beloved WW811's. Fit is good for my wide and difficult feet but subjectively they are just not as comfortable.Appearance-wise they are nice as the WW811 to my taste. While they are good I'm spoiled by the WW811 which were a favorite for the couple of years they lasted with almost constant wear and excellent comfort for my unusually wide feet. Still, these are good so I'll give them 4 stars.I have the 810, 812 and 813. Like many reviewers, I did not like the changes in the 812. First, although the foot support is still good, it is all synthetic, not with the leather upper, so my feet sweat and develop odors. Second, NB has made the sizing somewhat smaller. Combined with the synthetic material, this makes the shoe hot and tight by the end of the day. And for this they increased the price by about $20.The 813 restored the leather upper and the previous price with no loss in quality that I can detect. The sole is just as supportive and the shoe is more breathable. The sizing is still smaller, so I compensated by going up half a size. (For a frame of reference: my street shoe size is 7.5, my sneaker size has been 8 to allow for thicker socks, and my NB size is now 8.5.) The 813 in size 8.5 matches exactly the sole of my old 810 in size 8, whereas the 812 in size 8 is slightly shorter and narrower at the ball of the foot than both the others.With the compensated size and the better breathability of the leather, I find the 813 is infinitely better than my 812, and I can wear it comfortably all day like my old 810. Better than the 812 and at a lower price.These are great shoes, and one of the few I can wear all day an still feel comfortable. The model before, the WW811 was a better shoe, but its been long gone. Now this shoe has been replaced with the WW813, which is made out of the USA. I was luck enought to find this pair in my size. My complain is even though I have both bone and black colors and rotate, they only last about 18 months. The interior begins to wear, especially at the heal and after that fails, the inter sole begins to deteriorate. New Balance customer services will tell you its Wear and Tear, and not a warranty issue. If it was not within 30 days of purchase, don't bother to call them. Bad customer service, but the best fitting walking shoes I found yet. Sorry to see they will not longer make this in the USA.I have "low volume" 4A feet and have never been able to find a truly slender athletic shoe. Tightening the laces enough causes wrinkles in the toe area--the toe box is a bit deep for my foot. I wear a 9 or 9.5 and ordered the 9.5. The length was as expected. Some the interior space is taken up by padding which will be fine if the padding does not compress too much too soon. The shoe comes up low enough around the ankle so that it does not dig in and is comfortable. The shoe is more like a somewhat narrow 2A fit than a 4A slender. I will keep the shoe but the arch support is poor and I will add an insole for that as weak as to fill in some of the space. The shoe is blindingly white but won't be for long.The ONLY reason I rated these only 3-star is because I've gotten two pairs now, and with both pairs, the tongue on the right shoe is, apparently, defectively sewn because after about 20-30 minutes of walking in them, the right shoe tongue shifts way to the right, or outside of the foot. The longer I wear the shoes, the farther the tongue shifts to the right. It becomes quite uncomfortable, and requires that I readjust the tongue several times during the day. I only wore each pair three times, and I don't have any reason to believe this problem would spontaneously resolve over time. The tongue in the left shoe on both pairs is perfect, never moves out of place. And, I haven't had this problem with any other walking shoes, which is why I believe the problem is defective sewing.Fit a bit large and do not have the support features I've come to expect from New Balance. Just rather less than average.