Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless Review

Design

• Less stylish than previous generations
• Only fold flat
• Sensitive touch controls

The design of the Momentum 4 Wireless pretty much carries over to the Momentum 5 Wireless.

Subtle aesthetic tweaks have been made. The circular inner-ring on the earcup from the previous iteration is gone, the power button is closer to the battery indicator, the placement of the microphones is more obvious, there are fetching silver accents (including a ‘Momentum 5’ title). The design feels a little more ‘rounded’ from the edges of the headband to quite literally in the logo.

Sennheiser says it’s gone for a modern look with its latest headphones, and they stand out a little more, though they’re not as flashy as older Momentum over-ears, retaining the minimalist aesthetic of recent efforts.

Sennheiser hasn’t tried to change the formula too much. You still get the cushy synthetic earpads, the oval-shaped earcups offer enough space for my (slightly) large ears; and comfort is great. The clamping force doesn’t feel tight, the pressure on top of the head is barely there. These are fabulously comfortable pair of over-ears and feel lighter than their 290g weight suggests.

You’re presented with both physical controls (for power up) and touch/swipe controls for noise cancellation modes. The touch controls can be hit and miss – swipes don’t always work and take a few times before the headphones recognise them.

Sennheiser has decided to get rid of the auto-on feature, and while I liked it, I can see why it’s been omitted. Turning on even if it’s a slight nudge might annoy if you’ve paired the headphones with multiple devices.

There are three finishes to choose from in a fetching white, a standout Denim option and a standard black version. There’s a new carry case as well – 20% slimmer than before, with an indentation on the back for carrying about. The headphones fold flat rather than fold if that’s an issue.

There’s a pouch for cables but this time around there’s no plane adapter, as Sennheiser told me it was an accessory they no longer felt was needed. If you’re upgrading from the Momentum 4 Wireless and still have the adapter, it’ll work with the latest model.

From a sustainability perspective, the built-in batteries are replaceable. You can even replace them yourself if you have a Philips screwdriver on hand. You can buy batteries from Sennheiser’s service website, but when I chatted to Sennheiser, the price for replaceable batteries had not been settled on.

The packaging is free from plastic, though the headphones don’t use recyclable plastic with materials similar to the Momentum 4 Wireless.

Features

• Smart Control Plus app
• Strong wireless performance
• Dolby Atmos support

The Momentum 5 Wireless have a new app. Well, if you have the HDB 630 then it’s not so new, but Sennheiser’s Momentum series has graduated to the Smart Control Plus app.

You can control the level of noise cancellation (including enabling anti-wind reduction), manage the number of devices the headphones are connected to, adjust the sound through the Graphic EQ through an 8-band EQ, along with multiple presets and the option to create a new one via Sound Check (which includes listening to sounds that guide you to the best preset).

You can add more bass, switch to Podcast mode or find your sound through the Sound Personalisation that plays three tracks of a song, highlighting strings, bass and drums to find the best volume and balance. It’s interesting method of guiding you to your preferred sound.

Sound Zone automatically changes ANC and equalizer presets when entering or leaving geo-ringfenced locations. You can create up to 20 of them but you have to create a Sennheiser account to do so.

There’s not so much customisation of controls but an explanation of them (if you don’t like the touch controls, they can be completely disabled). You can also tinker with on-head detection, whether the headphones pause music when you take them off and auto-answer calls. A Comfort Calls option aims to give calls a more ‘natural’ soundstage.

The Momentum 5 Wireless also have Dolby Atmos support, which adds head-tracking, and in practice works very well without negatively affecting the sound itself, making these headphones a less expensive alternative to the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones Gen 2.

Bluetooth 5.4 support is not the most advanced but these headphones do support aptX Lossless through Snapdragon Sound. The wireless stability has been excellent – the connection hasn’t dropped, the only signs of interference is when the soundstage contracts. There’s Google Fast Pair for speedy connection to Android devices.

Battery Life

• Claimed 57 hours
• Fast charging
• Battery Protection Mode

There’s a slight drop in battery life from the Momentum 4 Wireless, and Sennheiser says that’s down to the improvement in ANC and the usage of more microphones (I’ll get to that in the next section).

The drop from 60 to 57 hours is not massive drop, though to clarify, this figure is with AAC Bluetooth and not aptX Lossless. If you stream at the higher bit-rate, Sennheiser told me the headphones will be closer to 40 hours. That’s still a figure that puts the Momentum 5 Wireless well ahead of the AirPods Max 2, Sony’s WH-1000XM6, Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 and the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2.

Battery life is better than before. It took 6 hours for the headphones to drop 10% playing a Spotify playlist at 50% volume (and on an aptX Adaptive connection), which suggests you’re getting at least 60 hours before the headphones conk out.

Fast charging is supported and 10 minutes provides an extra seven hours of playback. Want to extend the lifespan of the battery itself? There’s a Battery Protection Mode in the app that makes the headphones charge slower and prevents the headphones reaching 100% (which isn’t actually good for the battery).

Chatting to Sennheiser, they did mention that a phone with a poor wireless performance may drain more power from the headphones. If battery life is an issue, perhaps take a look at your phone before casting the first stone against the Momentum 5 Wireless.

Noise Cancellation

• Very competitive ANC performance
• Excellent transparency mode
• Call quality is fine

Noise cancellation in general is as good as it’s been and the competition between the main rivals – Sony and Bose – is tight. And the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless is right in the mix.

There’s an all-new hybrid system with an 8 microphone set-up to reduce more noise. A pink noise test against the older Momentum showed the Momentum 5 Wireless gets rid of more noise across all frequency bands.

Against the Sony WH-1000XM6 and it’s very close. I’d say that the Sony gets rid of more noise that’s directly in front of me but the Sennheiser is very competitive.

It’s also a close fight with the Bose QC Headphones Gen 2. I would say that the Sony bests the Sennheiser and Bose, but if you were to have three people wearing these headphones all huddled near each other, I’d say the performance between all three would be very similar.

The headphones work well in the real world, cancelling noise naturally. I still pick up people’s voices – especially that of a five-year-old child on the train into central London, which no headphone can really cancel; but with cars, traffic, public transport – the Sennheisers put the kibosh on all those noises. Wind noise is not much of an issue even with anti-wind turned off.

However, it did perform strangely on the Jubilee Line. When noises get loud, there’s distortion that rips through the left earcup. I’ve also heard it when trains go quickly past and on a bus goes through the (many) bumps of London roads. There seems to be a limit to how much noise the Sennheisers can take without crying uncle.

The Transparency mode is excellent. Clear and natural, it’s as if you’re not wearing headphones at all.

Call quality is simply fine. The headphones let in sounds and my voice has to compete with them. The person on the other end said the voice came through clearly, but in busy areas the headphones can suffer. The Sony WH-1000XM6 is a better option for calls, especially outdoors.

Sound Quality

• More mainstream tuning
• Impressively natural tone
• USB-C audio

The Momentum 5 Wireless differs from the HDB 630 which goes for a more audiophile sound (clear highs, midrange and controlled bass). Sennheiser has tuned the Momentum headphones for a slightly warmer, more bass rich, mainstream sound.

It’s that typical Sennheiser sound that’s smooth, but ladled with clarity and detailed. A spacious listen that carries plenty of insight and a tone that strikes me as being very natural.

Compared to the Momentum 4 Wireless and they both share the same approach and character, but this new pair isn’t as smooth. There’s an extra level of insight that the Momentum 5 Wireless provides – more clarity, definition and nuance can be heard. Compared to the older model, the latest version seem to have a tighter and clearer focus.

Highs are bright, clear and detailed without fatiguing. I always put my hand up for more brightness and detail, and I’d like a bit more here, but the Sennheisers strike a natural tone to my ears.

Bass is described in slightly different terms between old and new. Neither headphones is what I’d describe as bass heavy, but there’s a nice emphasis to the lows. The Momentum 4 sounded a bit richer and warmer but the new model sounds clearer and more defined.

The way the lows are attached to the midrange, there’s a clarity that doesn’t intrude on the midrange, though I don’t find the bass to be energetic. It sounds quite measured and balanced without drawing obvious attention to itself. The bass performance becomes more alive once the volume is raised up – the Momentum 5 Wireless do feel a little tepid at default volume – but with the volume up there’s more weight and richness found.

The Sony WH-1000XM6 offers a punchier bass presence, and it does offer a bigger, more energetic and dynamic sounding presentation than the Sennheiser; but the tone of the Sennheisers is better than the Sony. Instruments especially sound more natural and better shaped. I could listen to these headphones for hours on end.

Tonally the Sony is crisper and the Sennheiser slightly warmer, with the Sony over-ears sounding a little more forward (closer to your ears).

It’s worth comparing against the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, one of the best-sounding wireless headphones – and tonally I prefer the Sennheiser. It’s more deft and subtle, though less energetic and not as big weighty with the bass.

What the Sennheisers do is describe the character of a song well, whereas the Bowers filters music through its own energetic approach. I find Sennheiser’s approach more revealing.

There’s also the benefit of USB-C audio which puts together everything I described above, and throws in a higher level of clarity, detail and a crisper, more insightful tone that reflects the best version of the headphones.

At the end of the day it depends on what you’re looking for, but the Sennheisers serve up a terrifically effortless and musical sound. If you love what Sennheiser did with their previous headphones, this goes a step further.

Should you buy it?