I didn't had an experience with the 1st Cortana, but since there were such good reviews I went for it.
Too close to the ground, not bouncy, not enough cushion.

It's a great shoe maybe for races since it's very lightweight, but not for training IMO.
In that price, the Asics Cirrus33 2.0 is better in any aspect. The sole problem with the Cirrus is its sizing (narrow), but if you have the time to actually measure and find out your size at store - worth it.

I'm very sad to give the Cortana 2 only 1 star but honestly, they feel cheap and perform cheap. Not a 150$ shoe, sorry.