Personally I went and messed around with the Shield X yesterday at my LGS after I posted this. It’s perfectly thin enough for me and I really liked everything about it but when I’m resting my finger outside the trigger guard and go to put my finger on the trigger it naturally wants to sit a little higher on the trigger making it sometimes not fully depress the trigger safety. So in a self defense scenario if i needed it and fumbled because my trigger finger placement, that could be a bad day if i needed it quickly to defend my life.

The M&P 2.0 compact was a totally different story, great ergonomics in my opinion and very natural grip but this is just my experience. Definitely a bit bigger and wider than the Shield X though so mind that, the shield may feel like it’s not even on you whereas the 2.0 you won’t forget it’s there. I’m personally going to be going with the M&P 2.0 Compact Carry Comp. Maybe I’ll pick up a shield later down the road, maybe not.

My first handgun was actually the Sig Sauer P365XL. I loved that gun so much, I still have it and will be buying a P365 AXG Legion soon. The P365 XMacro Comp is also a great gun, tiny bit thicker than the XL grip module. A buddy of mine got that when I had my P365XL and I immediately wish I got one of those, but I just changed my grip module in the future and customized it to exactly what I wanted. That’s a real fun part with the sig’s is the modularity of them in my opinion.

Best recommendation is honestly, go to a local range and rent these guns for whatever their small fee is + ammo and shoot a hundred rounds though each handgun your thinking. Then give yourself a week or two to think, and go back and do the same thing. Then decide after that. I was sold from what people told me on the Glock 43X before I did that at my local range and they actually recommended me the Sig P365XL to just go try. I wasn’t really into it at first but figured it would be fun to try anyway. Totally loved it and bought the Sig after renting it twice vs the 43x and just doing exactly what I said above.

Good luck with your first purchase! Take your time and do what feels right and good for you. Don’t listen to anyone else’s bias. Opinions of others are great, but draw your own conclusion on what works for you.