Last week, I traded in my old pair of WF1000XM4's for these, and much like the previous model, they are excellent noise cancelling earbuds with long battery life, and great portability. In the interest of full disclosure, I use non-standard memory foam eartips from Comply, which in my particular case improve comfort and noise isolation. Sound quality is crisp and clear, the touch controls are relatively intuitive, the earbuds themselves feel relatively light, and can sit comfortable in my ears for hours at a time. The multiple-device connection feature works pretty seamlessly too, and it's very convenient for any situation that may require you to switch back and forth between two audio sources. For anyone looking for a set of ultra-portable noise cancelling headphones, I can highly recommend these.

Despite my general satisfaction, I do have a few minor gripes about this new model. The glossy plastic finish on the earbuds looks excellent, but it makes them feel a little slippery. I can't help but think it's going to lead to them getting dropped a few times. I've also run into a few bugs when using these earbuds to control Audible playback, especially when connecting to multiple devices at once. I'm hesitant to blame Sony for that, as I've definitely found Audible to be one of the most temperamental apps I use regularly when it comes to playback control, regardless of the device controlling it. Finally, while these do feel more comfortable than the outgoing model, I find it a little harder to get them in and out of my ears than the previous model due to the rounded design and glossy plastic surface. Adjusting how I hold them has helped, but it just doesn't feel as natural as it did with my old pair. Perhaps that's habit more than anything, as I had that pair for almost 3 years. All of these are minor issues, none of which would lead me to choose a different product over these, but I felt compelled to mention them nevertheless.

Aside from the week long delivery time, these came in a simple package, and came with absolutely everything you'd see in a normal box. It had the earbuds, the case, the tips (in a separate bag as to not damage them, good.), and of course, a USB-A to USB-C cable. I seen a few tiny scratches or just inperfections on the case, but they were tiny and I was nitpicking because it was my first time buying refurbished, so I had to be sure. The ANC is amazing, as expected. You can activate it either through the app (which also allows you to change how to), or by clicking the left earbud. If you have never tried foam ear tips before, it will be a bit strange putting these in, as it was for myself. But, you can always try to squeeze the ear tip before putting it in to try to mitigate this problem as it will then conform comfortably to your ear size. Make sure you are using the correct ear tips. The Battery Life, my favorite part about this. I don't know how it's possible, but I used these things for like 40 minutes straight, and I kid you not, they dropped a total of 0% battery, in both earbuds. Safe to say, the battery life is nothing short of incredible. The charging speed of the earbuds, is absolutely amazing too. I believe it's 3 minutes for a hour of playback. There is also wireless charging, if you enjoy that type of thing. Many of the features are things you need the Sony "Headphones" app for, which you can get on either IOS or Android, so make sure you get that as it will allow you to use the rest of the features on these. The earbuds themselves, they are rather glossy and hard to get out of the case like you would normally (by pulling them up). My solution is to press from the outside of the earbud (the part that resides in the middle of the charging case, which is also very smooth), and just press inwards. They pop right out like this. The earbuds are pretty bulbous in my opinion, but they still stay in your ears, so I don't think it matters. The Mic quality is decent, I've tested it a few times, never with much background noise, though. Reviews I've seen on these say that the background sound removal isn't the best, but that it works. I would say that calling on these is super easy and possible, though. Features if you don't like reading: Active noise cancellation Ambient sound mode Hi-Res Audio Wireless Adaptive Sound Control Bluetooth 5.3 Speak-to-Chat Touch controls Up to 8 hours of battery life (with noise cancellation on) IPX4 water resistance Quick charging (up to 1 hour of playback with 3 minutes of charge) Multipoint connection support LDAC support for high-quality wireless audio (Android Only) DSEE Extreme for upscaling compressed audio files

Three months in and im finally ready to review. As a summary, exceptional sound, but poor fit and controls bring it from peak quality to meh.

So the sound is great, i feel like I'm live and in person. Others have expounded upon this point way better than i ever could and they speak truth, its pretty excellent. The connection on these buds is solid even through walls and ive only had it drop out twice which was concerning, but rare enough its hardly even worth mentioning. There is no distortion and the connection is totally stable so in a technical sense its pretty perfect.

One minor problem is with the touch controls on the buds. they are different on each bud (one controls noise canceling, the other does play/pause) which was not ideal for me as i frequently use just one bud at a time, though i know thats a rare case for most people. The companion app allows some control over touch functions but not much. I'm optimistic that they may update the functionality in the future, but no guarantees.

The MAJOR problem is with the fit. I was prepared for this after reading reviews but i didnt realize the extent of the design flaw. First off the tips that come with the earbuds are extremely firm meaning if you go too small, they just fall out, but if you go one size bigger they expand and continuously squeeze out your ear canal. Again, i was prepared to change the ear tips and ended up with some great silicone ones.

While the comfort and fit was better with the new tips, the design and the weight distribution on the bud makes it so that unless you are sitting still and in an upright position, they simply start wobbling out of your ear and eventually work their way out. Coming from the Creative Outlier Air series this was a MASSIVE disappointment as, with those, i could do full on head banging and dance thrashing without ever losing a bud.

In summary, these are not the buds for a physically active listener. But if you intend to use these sitting down you will definitely get a treat for your ears.

these are pretty good, but i ended up returning them and i will explain why:
I got both these and the Bose - QuietComfort Ultra, and as a BB total member, had some time to make the decision between the two. Went on 4 flights and compared overall performance between the two options, and the Sony fell a bit short on some key features for me:

1. Active Noise Cancellation: The Bose are way better in the ANC feature, especially in a flight, but even overall in a noisy environment, with high volume conversations in the background, The Sony were good, but in my opinion not even remotely close to the Bose.
2. Comfort in the ear: the Sony hve this foam like material that expands in the ear, which on the positive adds some more blocked noise cancellation, but on the negative after a while you start feeling in in your ear.
3. Sound wuality: I think the Bose are a better sound overall, both on phone calls and on music. Watched several TV shows and a Movie with both, and the sound coming from the Bose was more crisp and rich but the sound from the Sony was more bass and deep, so i guess it's a matter of individual preference.
4. App: having both apps, i can definitely say they both suck, but the Bose app sucks a bit less. I had some connectivity issues with the Sony on both my Samsung S24 Ultra and my Lenovo Laptop - maybe it was a local problem with the pair i had, but the BT kept disconnecting from the earbuds perspective once every couple of hours.

The only definitive advantage i found with the Sony earbuds was the microphone. the mic on the Sony is way better when having a phone call when compared to the Bose. the Bose have this echo resonance in the background but the Sony sounds good and clean. Verified with several calls to people and getting their feedback on how they heard the conversation from their perspective.

Overall, these are great, but for my individual needs the Bose were just a bit better (higher need for flights ANC).