Is there any consensus for which is better in this climate?
Also what is the best material and brands suited to here? In my home country my family always opts for sturdy leather hiking boots, but it feels like they’d be way too hot here.
Any help would be much appreciated!
Plastic rain boots. According to locals.
A sandal.
This way you can get your feet wet without consequence, and your feet WILL get wet in Taiwan.
Both replies so far can be ignored. I’ve done plenty of hiking and trail running in and around Taipei. My preference is (was, too busy these days) trail shoes because I prefer running, but many others also use proper hiking boots. I also had a mate who swore by Tevas.
So I guess my suggestion would be to bring what you have and see what suits you best considering the conditions and your own personal preferences.
FWIW
What would you put on your other foot then?
A sandal with straps, not blue white ones. The one with straps doesn’t come off.
Reportedly Roman soldiers used to wear them.
I wore tevas but one of my regular hiking areas has tall and sharp rocks. I switched to hiking boots and it is much more comfortable.
With merino wool hiking socks. Heat has never been an issue
Depends on the trail and the duration. The climate in the high mountains is very different to the steamy suburbs 
Is it a 10k through the concrete-laden hills of Taipei? Probably regular running shoes!
5 hours in the technical bits of sanxia below 2000m? Trail runners, optionally with a rock plate if that’s your preference. Watch also goretex vs non-goretex for those waterway crossings. Waterproof can be a bad thing in such humidity.
Overnight hike at 3000m+ ? You might appreciate the extra help and warmth the hiking boots provide. Unless you’re in the fast packing community, in which case: trail runners.
Well, sandals are fine for paved street, and preferable with the near certainty of getting your feet wet (due to sudden downpour that can often happen), not to mention allowing your feet to breathe.
In the woods, a hiking boot is probably necessary, especially with snakes and such.
But this heat and humidity really limits what you can wear, but I suppose high altitude hiking this is less of a problem.
There are many choices .
Light hiking shoes.
Light hiking boots.
Heavy himing boots.
Himing shoes with slick soles or soles for grip.
Rubber and plastic wellington boots (local thing ).
And I see people hiking in trainers and slippers too 
Get a couple of different pairs for different types of Hikes. I have a non waterproof breathable hiking shoes from decathalon that do just grand for three years frequent day hikes already . I have heavier boots for multi day high mountain hikes where you may need ankle support.
No need for fancy brands and no such thing as one boot to rule them all!!
P.S. I day hike quite often and very rarely get my feet wet , almost never in fact even though I have non waterproof shoes. Depends where you live and if you checked the weather forecast ,much of Taiwan is quite dry…
For multi day or rainy areas yeah you can get waterproif shoes and boots.
Agreed. Taiwanese must have a different physiology in their feet. I would die of infection after wearing plastic rain boots for more than 30 seconds; and I would lose a few fingers if wearing flip-flops during the winter, no matter how many geese worth of feathers I were wearing on the upper body.
Can’t go wrong with a pair of Berghaus.
I agree with all this. I have only worn running shoes, but my hikes have always been on mountains in Taipei, Xizhi, and Hualien City. I’m hiking mostly on roads and stairs.
Thanks, but I thought the main advantage of hiking boots as opposed to trail runners was that you had less chance of injuring your ankle due to the support they provide?
I want to go to the lost village 嵐山工作站 in the mountains in Hualien
It must be very windy…
Definitely , if you are wearing a heavy pack and going over knarly trails too I think it’s a good idea to have hiking boots.
Hiking shoes with a hard cover on the toes are definitely recommended as it’s easy to crush your toes on the trails
There was a time when I couldn’t conceive the idea of hiking without boots. But now I’m just happy with trekking shoes. Most hiking boots don’t offer a rigid enough ankle area to protect effectively anyway, so the extra weight and heat aren’t worthy.
If you are prone to ankle strains or you’re doing some harder stuff like Brianjones said, then they might be worthy.
Agree with this. Lightweight hikers with super sticky tread. I like being able to cinch down laces all the way to the toes. Coming down off a mountain, I’ve bruised my toenail bed where the nail rams into the top of the shoe too many times. Large toebox is no good. I strongly recommend not buying online so you can try them out. Read reviews. A good pair can save your ass.
Certain trails here, I’ve nearly rolled my ankle several times, which had me researching this recently, and many things I read said it’s better not to have boots which limit ankle movement, because then you’ll just twist your knee or something instead, which is much worse.