Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Overall- Good! If I could, I'd give these 3.5 stars. Update 10/27/2017: Adding a rating based on activities. (1-10 with 10 being best) Much more detail below. a) Running or Exercising: "2"- Don't use these for intense (sweaty) activities for 2 big reasons- they are not water resistant and if you keep your phone in your pocket, they will cut out constantly. b) Travel: "9"- for trips under three hours with a declining rating after that because they will need to be recharged c) Walking: "5"- better than 5 if your connected source is not in your pocket. If your phone is in your pocket it will cut out every time you turn your head d) Home activities like cleaning, or working on projects: "9" If your phone is laying on a flat surface, you can get 30 feet or better range. It's really great for this. You can go silent with noise canceling or allow ambient sounds to come through. I tested these with: 1) Galaxy Note 8 2) Galaxy S7 Edge 3) iPhone 6 Plus 4) iMac 5) Samsung Spin 9 Pairing was easy. They can pair with NFC but I did not try that. Standard Bluetooth setup was easy, no quirks. At first, I had issues with the iMac and choppy sound in one ear but that went away quickly and did not come back. They work well with both Android, iPhone, and PC. The sound is better than average- especially if you have an equalizer function on your phone. It has 3 modes: a) Ambient Sound: Ambient noises are enhanced so you can hear them.The ear tips seal out most ambient noise otherwise. (this can also be managed in further detail using the "Sony Headphones App" for iPhone or Android. b) Digital Noise Cancelling: white noise sounds are electronically muted c) Off There is just one button on the left earpiece that changes the modes, turns the unit on and off, and sets it in pairing mode. There is another button on the right earpiece in the same place that controls pausing and starting as well as skipping tracks. They are easy to get at and manipulate without dislodging the earpieces from your ear. At first, these seemed comfortable but even the smallest ear tip options were slightly uncomfortable after a few hours. I will see if any of my Comply foam ear tips will fit. It comes with 7 tips. One set is a thicker, more firm set of S, M, and L while the second set is a lighter, more flimsy tip also in S, M (2 pair as one comes on the unit), or L. The charging case is a bit bigger than I would like but it is included and it will charge the earbuds from dead to fully charged twice for a total of 9 hours. I get a bit less than that- about 8 to 8.5 hours but I have been playing the volume high and using the sound features a lot. The case is also slightly off balance when open so it tips over. The exterior of the case is metal. It's double hinged to swing over the earbuds inside. There are no external meters. The earbuds glow red when charging and then off when charged. The case has a small red light that indicates it charging. It too goes out when charged. The earpieces "snap in" lightly and are held securely by the case lid. Volume is controlled 100% by the connected device. There are no volume controls on the earbuds themselves. For some, the volume is not going to be enough. If the volume was measured numerically, with 8 being good sound, fairly high volume, 9 being "jamming loud", and 10 being "just a little too much", these would max at 8.5. (I hope that makes sense!) Some earbuds can tell when the unit is in your ear and stop playing when you take one out (ex: Samsung iconX). These are unable to sense this but it's not an issue for me. Phone calls are just okay. People complain it was a little hard to hear. You should know the sound only comes out of the left ear and I know of no way to swap or change that. The app was disappointing. I'll keep it for a more detailed battery reading and to manage the detailed ambient noise features but I did not like any of the equalizer settings offered. They all sounded terrible to me. Fortunately, my everyday phone (Note 8) has a good equalizer tool built in. It does have a feature called "Adaptive Sound Control" which lets you choose or have the device choose what types of sounds you hear based on the type of activity or situation you are in. On another site I saw a complaint about "body-blocking", where your body blocks the signal. I have experienced this only while walking when I turn my head to the left or right. If I kept my head more or less straight, it was no problem. I connected it to my Gear Fit 2 Pro and while that stops the body blocking issue, I have not figured out how to control volume. Not for sweating or rain. Do not use to exercise and no "Singing in the Rain"! They lose one star for the app equalizer, the slightly above mediocre noise canceling, lack of independent charge level indicator, and slight discomfort after a few hours, and the cut outs while walking with your phone in your pocket when you turn your head.