I ordered the Sony after returning the Samsung variant because the latter doesn't have the best noise cancellation (I see it is no longer available at coolblue either).
In particular, I wanted good noise cancellation in addition to, of course, good sound. The Sony is more than fine in both respects.
As expected from Sony, the sound is fine. The caps are very comfortable to wear, even for a longer period of time. I especially like the foam tips myself and there are more than enough sizes of tips included to (I think) fit in every ear.
The noise cancellation is also fine. As with all noise canceling headphones, especially the low tones are dampened considerably. This is especially nice in the metro. In the office, colleagues are also pretty well muted. Without music, your neighbors' voices are still clearly audible. But already with a soft music that disappears.
The noise cancellation is not as good as, for example, the mdr-1000x. I was able to compare this with a colleague. So if you really want to mute almost all ambient noise, it's better to go over-the-ear. However, if you want caps, I can definitely recommend this Sony. I personally find the wearing comfort of caps (as a wearer of glasses) better than over-the-ear.
There is a nice app with which you can set different levels for walking, running and driving. For example, when walking I have turned the noise canceling down a notch so that I can still hear some traffic when I walk in the city. However, when the metro is running, it switches to maximum cancellation. Very nice feature. It does take a relatively long time for the caps to switch to standstill mode. But that is more a 'lack' of the location service of the phone than of the caps of course.
The battery lasts a long time. I can take it to work in the morning, part of the day at work and then home in the evening and the battery is often still on medium. The promised 10 hours will therefore certainly be fulfilled.
I find the operation of the headset a bit less comfortable. With one button you can start/pause/choose next track/previous track depending on how often you press. You will eventually learn it, but for the best price, a button more wouldn't hurt either.
Although the wearing comfort of the caps themselves is very high, I find that of the neckband a lot less. It is a fairly stiff thing and just a bit too narrow at the open ends so that you always feel it. It is true that it has a soft padding where it falls over your neck, but not along your neck so that you feel the ends sticking in your neck. Not insurmountable, but a downside considering the price range. Wireless is, however, very nice and the neckband gives you a good battery life. So a reasonable compromise then.
Bluetooth also works fine. I always carry my phone with me so I don't really know the distance. But with the phone in the inner pocket, I have not experienced any connection failures yet. Pairing also went smoothly.
Finally, the sound is fine. I find it fairly neutral without overpowering bass. If you want more bass, you can always set it with an equalizer. I prefer a pure sound without that banging. So fine. Deep lows and clear highs. Nice stereo image.
Let me conclude by saying that the price is insanely high and I didn't want to spend that either. But if you're looking for really good noise cancellation, unfortunately you can't avoid it and there are actually no better ones than this Sony (except for the Bose variant, which also costs a lot of money). I dare say that all cheaper noise cancellation in-ear headphones will attenuate the sound considerably worse. Then think of the Samsung variant.
Have read an article somewhere in which the attenuation of the Samsung came down to, for example, 6-7 dB and the Sony/Bose about 20dB. That's a really big difference!
All in all, definitely recommended!
