They have slight improvements such as being able to see how much the cradle is charged, and the % of each individual earbud. ***UPDATE***Its now late 2020 and I have bought another pair since this original post. It is hard to put the book, which is more than the sum of its parts, down as the extensive footnotes as well as the movie plots are part of the magic that the author has created. Haven?t tried to drop it active or put it into water, but the Anker Sound core seems like it could take a lot of abuse if needed. Dennoch ragt die Ferse drüber und an den Zehen hat man übertrieben gesagt noch meterweit Platz. Ive used both to great success. So, they are recyclable in a sense. Everyone has been asking where I got these they are Birkenstocks but with a twist. I have to thank everyone for excellent reviews, because its how I managed to choose the correct size for myself (Im normally a 9), especially because my ballet teacher told me that the shoes are generally two sizes off. the bars are sturdy enough, but they havent really been put thought the test yet so.