Design & Construction

Since the start of time, Sennheiser has never been a big player in producing sports-ready true wireless earbuds. If anything, it's them adding some form of water-resistance to their earbuds and calling it ready for the gym. But this time, everything has changed. Sennheiser is now ready to take on their competitors with their new offering, the Sport True Wireless. But can it outshine the competition? Well, it has a few unique features under its sleeves. So let's dive in. From far, you will definitely be hard pressed to tell the difference between the Sport True Wireless and CX Plus SE since both models uses almost identical designs. And that simply means that the Sport True Wireless earbud shape has been tried-and-true to promise a secure fit. Do note that the overall earbuds shape is quite large, so its indeed difficult to forget that there are earbuds in your ears. The earbuds houses additional ear-wings to keep it stable for sports but for my use case, I had to swap out the originally fitted ear-wings to use none at all as the wings do hook into your ears pretty deep causing wearing fatigue after an hour of so. Personally, having no ear-wings on for my gym use prove to be okay as the earbuds do stay in for light exercises. If I were to take on more intense sports like running, I would pick out the small size ear-wings to keep it stable but at the expense of having wearing fatigue after an hour or two. Just like before, Sennheiser went ahead with touchpads that feels responsive even when you tap them with sweaty fingers from workouts. Now for the controls, a single press on the left or right earbud will play/pause your music and a triple press will bring up Google Assistant, Alexa or Siri. A double press on the right will skip forward and holding it down will increase the volume. A double press on the left will skip backwards and holding it down will decrease the volume. For calls, there is yet another set of controls that does the same command on either earbud. A single press will pick up the call and a double press will reject the call. When you are in a call, a single press will mute/unmute the microphone. Now, it is worth mentioning that though these are the original out of the box settings, you can customise the touch controls to any command you would like to either earbud and the app will sync the new settings immediately. If you need to pair another device, you can hold down both earbuds for 3 seconds to enable Bluetooth pairing. With a larger earbuds shape comes a bulkier charging case as it needs to house the ear-wing contours. I found that it is rather uncomfortable to carry it in regular pants pockets and not to mention impossible to fit in tight jeans pockets due to it bulging out too much. Though its far from the huge cases of the Powerbeats Pro or the Beats Fit Pro, I would still prefer keeping it in a gym bag if I carry one. Like all true wireless earbuds, the earbuds dock in fairly easily and will not fall out when the case is flipped since there are magnets inside to keep them secure. Although the case of the Sport True Wireless have a matte finish, I found that in day to day use, the case do get a large amount of scuffs and scratches just from my first use, casually leaving it in my bag with a power bank. Therefore, I would caution against leaving the earbuds case together with keys or coins if you are concerned over how the earbuds case may look with scuffs. In terms of durability, I would say the earbuds case feels hollow and it may not survive well with drops. One added feature to its case is the lanyard slot for you to hang the included long lanyard anywhere from gym equipment or to the side of your bag. There is a USB-C port at the back of the case with a rubber cap to cover up the port to prevent water ingress, indeed a well-thought feature for a sports earbud. In front, you will see a small LED indicator that notifies you of the case charge when closed. It takes about 1.5 hours to charge both the case and the earbuds from a dead battery. However, if you are in a rush, there is always quick charge which will allow for 1 hour of playback with a 10 minutes charge. Both earbuds bear the gold Sennheiser logo and have subtle LED indicators on the inside that will only light up when necessary such as in situations of pairing them. In normal usage of music playback or calls, they never light up to attract unwanted attention. Since the Sports True Wireless is a sports earbud, it boasts a IP54 dust and water resistant rating for those intense workouts or rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind. The earbuds itself also do a great job at resisting fingerprints smudges with a matte finish. 

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Sound Quality

Exciting, bass-focused and energetic is how I would describe the sound of the Sport True Wireless. Let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep, punchy, and tight. It never managed to distort at loud volume and never bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. It hits as deep as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 thanks to the similar 7mm TrueResponse transducers. The highs sound decently bright and filled with plenty of details similar to that of the Sony Linkbuds S. The mids do sound extremely crisp especially with the help of the equaliser tuning that is found in the Smart Control app that really help to configure the sound to your ears. The soundstage isn't quite as wide as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 but definitely on par with the similarly priced Nothing Ear (1) or the Jabra Elite 4 Active. The instrument separation is excellent with distinct left and right channels being heard clearly. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone ear tips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Notably, this is one of the most unique features I have seen in years of R&D for true wireless earbuds. There are two different ear adaptors with the first being the standard closed ear adapters with a black cross inside. When used with this particular set of ear adaptor, 'Focus' mode minimises surroundings noises for passive noise isolation and allow for maximum seal for full music immersion in safe and controlled environments like the gym or running on a treadmill. Next, there are the open ear adapters with blue marking inside that is to be used with 'Aware' mode in cases of running in outdoor environments that you need to be more aware of surroundings such as traffic noises as well as helping with reducing body borne noise such as breathing, footsteps and clothes rattling. In my experience, I found it to open ear adaptor to be useful for my outdoor running use case, though I do see it becoming less relevant and somewhat over-engineered in two contexts. First, I didn't found it anything different from fitting the Focus ear adaptors when you pump up the volume above 70% since I couldn't hear much of my surrounding noises. Secondly, many competitors have delved into using Transparency Mode in their app softwares to open up the internal mics and take in surroundings noise with some advanced models filtering out noises and taking in voices selectively. Therefore, I felt that Sennheiser could have put more effort to improve their Transparency Mode on the levels of the Sony Linkbuds S or the Apple Airpods Pro (2nd Gen) to be more selective in the sounds the mics can pick up instead of physically developing new ear adaptors. So, the question on everyone's mind is this. Why would I need to switch between the two modes of Focus and Aware when technically changing the earbuds does the job? Well, you will be in for a surprise. For starters, the 'Aware Mode' with the open ear adaptors will pump the overall loudness in volume, mimicking the experience of having a portable speaker playing music as you run. Since it is more of an open sound, the bass does get bloated somewhat like what you hear on the outsides of the club. The mids take a backseat and isn't as forward as it is in Focus Mode. While the highs do lose some clarity and it may be sound a little sharp when you listen to it near maximum volume. I know what my bass-heads are thinking at this very moment. 'Is Focus Mode the ultimate bass-boost cheat code to extract more bass out of the earbuds?' I would say yes to a certain extent. Personally, I tried using the closed ear adaptors together with the Aware Mode to get a sense of how bass-heavy it can get. It is pretty fun to start with but after a while, it gets tiring to listen to. For our hardcore techno lovers, I will say it is undeniable that having Aware mode with the equaliser set to Pop and closed ear adaptors in, gives you the best of both worlds but indeed at the expense of the clean Sennheiser sound signature. On the other side of the spectrum, those looking to forgo changing modes in the app by using the open ear adaptors with the mode set as Focus, will find that it is not impossible since both the modes and ear adaptors do not communicate. You can expect a balanced yet energetic Sennheiser sound that is somewhat low in volume but retains all the great aspects of that the open ear adaptors features, making it seem like that the sound engineers have over-designed the earbuds to be more complex that it needs to. Well not to disregard innovation, but personally having tried many sports-focused earbuds, Sennheiser deserves to be applauded for standing apart from the crowd but this time, I felt that the entire experience could have just being simplified to have CX Plus SE with ANC, Transparent Hearing, ear-wings and better water-resistance or even reducing the earbuds size for a much secure fit. Very much referencing the Jabra Elite lineup which has the premium sports option of Elite 7 Active with a cheaper alternative of the Elite 4 Active. Similar builds and specifications with different sets of features for universal use of sports and commuting purposes. Now, if you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Sport True Wireless works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz after you fiddle with the customisable sound settings in the Smart Control App available for download from the App & Play Store. In the app, you will first see the My Devices page where you can select which compatible Sennheiser device to delve into. Thereafter, you will be greeted with the selected devices' settings where the battery life status is shown as well as the option to manage your earbuds' connections to your devices. As mentioned above, since there are two types of ear adaptors, the option to change the adjustable acoustics is shown here with the need for you to switch the modes on your own using the app itself. There ain't no fancy advanced 'ear adaptor detection' that can do so without the app. On one hand, it saves some engineering and R&D cost that may potentially the price of the earbuds but on another, it handicaps the earbuds to being app-controlled, so you are literally stuck on whatever mode you have set previously if you happen to pair it with your smartwatch for music playback. If you are wondering if the Smart Control app in your Apple Watch is the way to change the modes, I unfortunately didn't get it to work independently. So indeed, I felt that it was a big missed opportunity here. Below. you will find the Equaliser setting which you can choose to customise your very own or choose from the presets. There are presets like Rock, Pop, Dance, Hip Hop, Classical and Movie. Different presets do work well with different music genres and I personally prefer the Dance preset. You may also select any presets available and further tune and rename it to become your custom setting. Additionally, there is a Podcast mode where the equaliser will be disabled fully and set to Sennheiser pre-made settings for enhanced speech clarity. Should you happen to mess up doing custom presets, a simple tap on the Restore all Sennheiser presets will revert all changes made. Now, you can further take this experience deeper using the Sound Check feature where you can play your favourite songs in the background while you choose from the 3 options in the low, mid and high frequencies that the app boosts to compensate for your hearing needs. Personally, I find that amongst the 3 options, I could hardly tell a difference, but you will definitely hear a slight difference in the sound if you pay attention and listen closely. At the end of it, I couldn't find a huge difference before and after I use the Sound Check feature. Well, some additional tuning is definitely better than nothing, I guess. Unfortunately, with the inclusion of Adaptable Acoustics, the Transparent Hearing option is dropped. There is also no Active Noise-Cancellation on the earbuds, only passive noise isolation that can be achieved with the Focused ear adaptors. You may enable, disable or customise the Touch Controls or switch SideTone from Off, Minimum or Maximum. SideTone is basically how loud you would like to hear yourself in your earbuds when you talk to another party over the call. Onto the Discover tab, you can read and catch up on the latest Sennheiser press release and news where they will share their latest product offerings and possibly entice you to buy them? In all case, its possibly the least important and useful feature in the app. In the settings, there is a lack of Smart Pause for you to pause the music when you remove one earbud but you can set the duration for auto power off ranging from 15 minutes to an hour or choose to use either both tones and voice prompts, use tones only or just turn it off completely. At the bottom, a factory reset of the app settings is possible together with the ability to show or hide the individual tiles to show on the homepage. You can easily check the current codecs used or the model name too. In terms of call quality, the Sport True Wireless uses 2 beam-foaming mic arrays of 4 mics to capture your voice. In my opinion, the quality is usable though it can be easily affected by wind or traffic noise and my voice sounds a little robotic and muffled. However, all things considered, the mic pickup quality was indeed on par with competitors of the same price point like the Jabra Elite 4 Active or the Nothing Ear (1).

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the latest and greatest AptX, AAC and SBC codecs together with Bluetooth Version 5.2. The earbuds also automatically power on/off when docked and taken out from the case. The battery life peaks at strong 9 hours per use and up to a maximum of 27 hours with the case. The package also comes with a short USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the Sport True Wireless unfortunately does not support it. If you are wish to use only one earbud at any one time, either earbuds will allow for one-sided listening. The headphones' connectivity to the app is perfect as it is able to detect my headphones when its already connected via Bluetooth all the time. If you try to watch videos or movies with these, they do not have any latency in audio transmission.

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PROS​​

• Durable Construction

• Secure Fit

• Customisable Equaliser

• Energetic, Exciting Sound Signature

• Adaptable Acoustics

• Transparent Hearing

• Responsive Touchpads For Music Play & Calls

• Bluetooth 5.2 with AptX Adaptive

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Long Battery Life

• IP54 Dust & Water Resistant

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CONS​​​​

• Only One Colour Available

• No Wireless Charging

• No Active Noise-Cancelling

• No Transparency Hearing

• No Sound Zones

• Low Quality Case Materials

• Bulky Case

• No Multi-Device Bluetooth Pairing

 

The Bottom Line

In all, the Sport True Wireless is a commendable innovative earbud from the Sennheiser lineup. Although most of its features seem a little over-engineered, I could still see a niche group of athletes and sport enthusiasts potentially enjoying the unique acoustics feature. Meanwhile for the rest of us, I would recommend the CX Plus SE being the better buy. Still, if you happen to be that targeted demographic of sportsmen and women, the great customisable sound signature, familiar app interface and intuitive user experience are indeed compelling features for you to consider giving the Sport True Wireless a try to see if it is worth your money spent. The earbuds does however only come in one colour option of Black.