Ok, so had these for a bit over 24 hours and have listened to them for about 3 hours at work and at the gym. Here's an overview:
Build, looks, and comfort
They fit slightly closer to the sides of my head, but the padding on the top of the headband is stiffer, making them sit higher on the head. Any aesthetic gains for wear are offset by this.
They do feel lighter, but they also feel cheaper. Less premium. The padding and the headband feel like they belong to a less expensive headphone.
They are plenty comfortable. Maybe slightly more than the previous model because the cups are bigger. The cups have similar foam to the headband. I don't care for it.
I do like the matte black cups, but they gave the band metallic paint, which looks cheesy. Matte black all the way around would have been ideal. I think they could have taken a lesson from the V Moda wireless on build quality. Those are beautiful headphones, but the drivers suck.
That said, the copper accents are similar to v moda rose gold, ie feminine and poorly thought out.
Overall, it's bit more comfortable and the cups fit my ears now, but there are trade offs. The headphone could use further refinement.
NC
Seems about the same. Improvements are slight. Still noise at the gym, but not much and it's clear when compared to other non NC headphones. I noticed a mild improvement when deadlifting. Just as good as Bose, if not better.
Sound
The biggest ticket for me. It sounds... Better. Better clarity, and better base. Instead of just booming, it has a thud to it when I EQ it.
When I compare to DT 1770 with ES100, the 1770 is more detailed in the high end, and the bass has more body, with more detail in the mids, but doing an A/B between them, while they sound different, the 1770 is not that much better, meaning that the Sony improved over the last iteration. Is it amazing? No. Is it better? Yes.
Overall
Frankly, I have unrealistic expectations. I'll keep these, but I'll likely at least try the Lagoons when they drop later in the year. This is a step in the right direction, but I think it will take 2 more evolutions to really get it right. To tick every box, they may have to raise the price. We will see what happens.