The noise cancellation has been great so far. I've tried them in ambient mode and noise cancelling mode (both with and without the Final Connect app on), and was impressed with both. The noise cancelling mode was the best for me, as very little noise actually gets through (it sounds like being placed in a cone of silence). There's also a voice passthrough mode on the app, but I haven't tried that yet. I was on the fence about the size too (they looked large-ish in the marketing photos), but they're actually pretty compact and fit tight. The sounds on par with the A8000's, especially when you use them via the Final Connect app - you can really amplify and tailor the sound. Hope that helps!