These earbuds are meant to allow as much outside noise as possible so some sacrifices has to be made on the sound quality due to the doughnut shaped driver, but there's some massive improvements over the last generation in terms of sound quality and designs on the earbuds. These earbuds have much more bass and less treble than the previous model but they can be more easily eq with the Sony app. More importantly the speaker has a more open design that's protected with a mesh where it's easier to clean where the last generation it easily gets clogged and ruins the driver. The case has its improvements it being easier to open and nicer looking but while it's generally around the same dimensions I feel its not as comfortable to put in pockets and still no wireless charging. Overall these are a major improvement in almost every aspect and should work well for their intended purpose.