I haven't gotten to wear them much yet (haven't had much snow to deal with this winter) but when I did get to wear them, they kept my feet warm and dry. They are snug around the ankles, but not painful. The boots do have a strange tight or snug feeling against the back of the ankle/leg which makes my legs feel weird when walking in them. I've never owned boots like this so maybe that is normal.  The boots offer stability as a feature so I'm sure that explains how it fits on the ankle area. I think it might be hard to do a lot of walking in these but hopefully that gets better in time. For me, I just needed a good gripping winter boot for when I am shoveling snow on the driveway and sidewalk.

Regarding size; I normally wear a 9 wide so I purchased a 9-1/2 standard size and it fits just fine. The 9-1/2 does have a little more room but a slightly heavier sock would be all that is needed for a perfect fit. I did find these boots at a local sporting goods store (after I got these from Amazon) and just for kicks I tried on a size 9. For me the standard size 9 did fit surprisingly well on my wide width foot but the snugness in the ankle was very painful (too painful to return for a size 9) so I am happy that I have the 9-1/2 from Amazon. These boots do seem to run true to size so unless you have a wide foot you could probably just order this boot in the size you normally wear.