Design & Construction

Finally, Sennheiser updates its wildly popular Momentum series of wireless headphones. But just how much have improved since the previous generation? Let's dive straight into the design. Once again, in typical momentum fashion, Sennheiser stuck to the classic chromed finish on the arms of the headphones themselves and a full matte black/white plastic finish for the sides, All controls for music playback and calls are controlled via the physical buttons on the right earcup (From Top-Bottom): LED indicator, Noise-cancelling rocker, NFC tag, Volume +, play/pause button, Volume - and smart assistant/Bluetooth pairing button, USB-C port and 2.5mm audio-in port. There is no power button as the headphones turn on when they are unfolded and off when they fold up. Sliding the ANC switch to the lower position and release it to acti­vate Transparent Hearing. and two beeps can be heard. To deactivate Transparent Hearing, Slide the ANC switch to the lower position again and release it. and one beep can be heard. Single press the Volume + increase volume and single press Volume - to decrease volume. Single press the middle button to play/pause the music or answer/end a call, a double press will skip forward and a triple press to skip backwards. Pressing the smart assistant button activates Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa or Siri and holding it down puts the headphones in pairing mode. Pairing via Bluetooth or NFC is simple and quick It is also worth noting that the headphones only requires 10 minutes of charging for 1.5 hours of playback. Throughout long listening sessions, I never experienced any wearing fatigue, but I do feel a bit of weight due to the premium materials used in the headphones. Both sides of the headphones bear the Sennheiser logo. The headphones have thick earcup cushions which are meant for providing a comfortable experience and will not cause discomfort to those who wear spectacles. On the headband, there is also leather cushioned headrest which provides a decent amount of comfort. The exterior of the headphones gives off this matte understated colour scheme, but it resists fingerprints smudges very well. On the top, the headband holding the structure is made of metal and the earcups pivot left and right and folds flat for easy storage. The earcups do a great job of encasing your ears, hence there is no wearing fatigue even after long listening sessions. Some may be concerned over the exposed cables under the arms of the headband, but the cable is rather strong and proves to survive rough handling. Sennheiser also integrated Tile into the headphones so that you can locate the headphones in case you left them behind, or someone steals it. This feature requires the Tile App, available for download via the App & Play Store. The app can make the headphones make a beep for you to locate the headphones and also track down the GPS location of the headphones with the help of other Tile users who may pass by. However, the usefulness of the tracking can vary differently based on the location where there are lesser Tile users. 

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Sound Quality

The Sennheiser Momentum Wireless produce a very dynamic sound signature. Users can also tune the sound settings to their liking via the Sennheiser Smart Control App available on the App Store and Play Store. In the app, you will find an equalizer which allows users to tune the sound signature to their liking. Fiddling with the in-app equalizer, you will hear a bass boost or treble boost depending on which side of the equalizer you raise. Highs are crisp and mids have clarity and bass is resonates strongly for the impressive thump. The soundstage was not bad with distinct left and right channels being heard clearly. This makes the headphones great for all genres of music ranging from soothing jazz to fast-paced EDM tracks. There was minimal sound leakage at full volume and no high-volume distortion. Based on user experience, the noise cancellation is top-notch, I could not hear much of my surroundings even when I had no music on and when I am using it at a low volume level. There are three modes of noise-cancelling: Anti-pressure, Anti-wind and Max. Max for flight use and maximum reduction of noise, Anti-wind for combating wind and movement noise outdoors and Anti-pressure to comfortable pressure-free experience indoors. Call quality was mediocre, the caller managed to hear me on the other end but feedbacked that I sound muffled.

Connectivity & Portability

The headphones support the AptX Low-Latency, AptX, AAC and SBC codecs together with Bluetooth Version 5.0. In the app, you can configure the smart pause feature which allows the user to stop music from playing when the headphones detect that you remove them. There is also a Transparency Hearing feature which allows users to listen to both environmental noise and music for safety or striking up a quick conversation with someone without removing the headphones from their ears. The battery life peaks at 17 hours per use which unfortunately is below average for a headphone at this price point. The package also comes with a USB-C cable for charging. The headphones' connectivity to the app is perfect as I never experienced it being unable to detect my in-ear headphones. If you are planning to watch videos or movies with these, I am glad to report that they do not suffer from any latency.

PROS​

• Durable Construction

• Premium Materials

• Bluetooth 5.0

• AptX LL & AptX Support

• Physical Controls For Music Playback, Volume & Calls

• Transparent Hearing

• Smart Pause

• In-App Equalizer

• Quick Charging

• USB-C Charging

CONS​​​

• Heavy & Bulky

• Short Battery Life

The Bottom Line

The Sennheiser Momentum Wireless have proven themselves in a saturated market of noise-cancelling wireless headphones. With a dynamic sound signature, customisable sound settings and premium build, it makes it worthy of its rather high price. Sennheiser does offer these in a two colours, black and white.