For the price they are posting for the blue shoes, it can not be beat. I've been wearing semi-barefoot and barefoot running shoes for the past year including the reebok realflex and the vivobarefoot running shoes. I've been looking at the merrell trail gloves for quite some time, but they were too expensive at the time. When I saw that these were on sale I snatched up a pair immediately. These are light and seem to give adequate protection at the bottom. However, since these are almost identical to the trail gloves, which are made to be used on trails, you lose more "feel" than the vivobarefoot. Also, the realflex seems to be more flexible than the sonic gloves. However, the quality of this shoe is top notch and seems better than the other two. I also like how this shoe keeps debris out of the shoe, unlike the vivobarefoot. I'll continue to rotate the shoes and see which one I like best for everyday wear/running/lifting.

Update:
For those that worry about the aesthetics of the shoe: I bought the black gradient one. The back seems to be black and transitions to a hue of blue near the toe area. I know a lot of runners prefer the flashy shoes, however, I like mine more low key. I would have preferred the shoes to be one tone, the material with the black gradient on it would look better all black, dark grey, or white. Just my opinion. The shoes itself are still great.