It's just about the same -- same sound quality -- same ease pairing it with a device -- little more durable because of the design (sits a little more sturdy) -- supposed to hold longer battery charge but haven't been able to fully test the difference -- main thing they fixed with the new one is the charging port -- on the old one, I had two where the charging port became loose to the point where it would no longer securely connect to the USB cable and would no longer charge (luckily I had gotten the 2-year Geek Squad protection on both, which was like $20 or $30 -- well worth it) -- only downside to the new one is it doesn't come with a USB wall plug -- comes with the USB cable only -- so you can charge from your computer, otherwise you have to buy a USB wall plug (or if you have the USB wall plug from the old one, it works, too)