I would also look at the Merida Big Trail (this is a new model).
Availability will/may also be an issue. I’m in Australia our local dealer (Trek) can’t get adult bikes.
So we did a 6.5 hour drive and talked to Specialized dealer he said that he hadn’t seen a bike since March. A Giant dealer said that he’d have 2 24″ bikes in for Christmas. So we went to a big multi shop and multi brand dealer ship and put a deposit on 3 bikes with a initial delivery date of 2 months away.