On the plus: Just like the last generation, these earbuds have great sound and do a decent job blocking external sound. Plus they have the advantage of lasting much longer between charges than the previous generation. I use these at work and my old earbuds would need a recharge at some point. This set I can use straight through work without having to charge them.On the negative: Taotronics opted to replace the on/off button on the previous generation for touch controls. These controls frankly suck I often find myself rasing/lowering the volume when I want to stop, accidentally changing the song/video and even starting up the earbuds when I was removing them. They're Frankly a challenge to control and I find myself reaching for my phone when I need to pause my audio.