We purchased Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless Earbuds so our expert reviewer could thoroughly test and assess it. Continue reading to see our complete product review.
Sennheiser Momentum wireless earbuds are not to be confused by regular Bluetooth earbuds. They offer true wireless sound quality and audiophiles something they can hold onto. With a rich, full sound response and a nice, premium form factor, they’re possibly the most straight-forward offering out there in the premium true wireless space. But they don’t offer are any bells and whistles—no noise-canceling technology, no automatic pairing, and not even the sleekest design. But if sound quality is your number one priority, they’re a solid bet.
Designs: This is not the best, but the most design.
The design of wireless earbuds is a very important category. The two most important aspects of an earbud are its fit and sound. If it looks plain and boring or bulky and dated, this shouldn’t be that big of an issue. But this category of products has become a bit of a status indicator, meaning if you don’t sport AirPods on the subway than you’re not with the times.
The Sennheiser Momentum earbuds don’t look bad, per se—the mostly matte black housing is a pleasing amoeba-style shape that culminates in a flat circular touchpad surface on the house. It’s this half-inch circular surface that makes it look a little tacky, as Sennheiser has decided to emblazon the outside with a ridged, shiny coating and their logo in black. To me, this isn’t in keeping with the rest of the market’s minimal, soft-touch look (see Sony’s WF-1000XM3 line or even Bose’s rubbery exterior).
However, the case is quite different. It’s basically just a rounded rectangular pill-box-shaped battery case, but it is covered in a heathered gray, cloth-style material. There’s something about that fabric-style texture that makes a statement in the tech world (see Google’s phone cases and Pixel Buds). It’s Sennheiser making a statement in a field of matte plastic cases, and though the shininess of the earbuds didn’t quite work for me, the case most certainly does.
Comfort - Middle of the road
Again, the Sennheiser Momentum Earbuds fit very basic. Three sizes of eartips are available. They're made from round, silicone tips. This means that they have to fit snugly inside your ear canal. While normally, I don’t love how this feels in the ear, Sennheiser has done something pretty clever with the build of the enclosure.
Because it’s a larger structure that comes off at an angle, it actually tends to sit in and rest against your outer ear in a way that stabilizes itself slightly without filling the spaces. I would typically prefer an additional rubber wing to hold the earbuds in, but I didn’t have much issue keeping the Momentum buds in my ears, which was a pleasant surprise. With that said, even when switching the eartips, I found the fit to be just a little too tight—a choice most likely made to have the sound isolation as clean as possible. The earbuds weigh in at 7g each and are lighter than I expected due to their bigger size.
Quality and Durability: In general, is quite solid.
Much like the design, the earbuds’ durability sits right in the middle of the road. It is all made from a very basic plastic with no soft touch texture. This isn’t the biggest deal as, after you take them out of the case, you’ll put them into your ears and won’t notice anyway. The earbuds do offer IPX4 waterproofing, which is a near necessity in my book, as they’ll likely be along for your gym trips and will also be protected from some light rain.
Although the case itself is a rectangular, rectangle-shaped, battery-case-shaped case, it's covered with a cloth-style, heathered-gray material. There’s something about that fabric-style texture that makes a statement in the tech world.
It is solidly built. The closing clasp as well as the slots for the earbuds have strong magnets. This gives you confidence in closing the case or dropping your earbuds. I’ve already mentioned that the outer fabric feels great and unique, but it is likely going to be prone to wear, tear, and dirt.
The hinge of the case was functional but gave off a strange creaking sound when opened. It is possible that this is a problem with my particular unit. However, it isn't a major issue. But if you’re someone who likes to open and close your case with a satisfying smoothness and snappiness, that isn't quite available here.
High Quality Sound: One of the finest around
From a brand like Sennheiser, it isn’t much of a surprise to find that sound quality is near-perfect for the Momentum true wireless buds. I’ve owned about a dozen different earbuds from Sennheiser, ranging from full-on studio monitors to their cheapest earbuds, and I’m almost never disappointed in how music sounds.
One spec Sennheiser lists is the harmonic distortion, which measures at less than 0.08 percent on the Momentum earbuds, and is about the same as you’ll get on the Sennheiser HD 600 studio earbuds. At its most basic, harmonic distortion is the accuracy with which a sound source is presented through headphones or speakers. If a sound’s harmonic makeup (what causes the timbre of a specific noise) is altered greatly by the speaker, your ear will notice it. If the harmonic distortion is low, it means that the quality of the sound spectrum being transmitted isn’t as affected. It’s nice to see Sennheiser focused on creating speaker drivers that do well on this front.
Another point of importance is the number of Bluetooth codescs that are available. Even if the earbuds are more expensive, most will only offer SBC and at worst AAC. While these formats work well for the majority of listeners, if you need to send high-fidelity audio, codecs can compress the signal to the point it offers almost the same quality as an mp3 file.
On the Momentum earbuds, you’ll find Qualcomm’s aptX and aptX low latency, both of which give you higher resolution compression and seamless transfer speed. It allows for better sound quality, better sync and greater compatibility with video and other games.
Life Expectancy: Very poor
The battery life is perhaps the most disappointing aspect of the product. The product description states that the earbuds can last for 4 hours and the case will only give you an additional 8 hours. These numbers alone are abysmal when you compare them to even the budget options out there—many of which offer up to 24 hours of available charge.
I experienced real-world battery life closer to 5–6 hours on a charge, but was only able to double that with the case. I was often forced to take out my earbuds and find that they had stopped working. It is disappointing considering the cost and given that heavy battery cases are common, it would not have been surprising to see a more attractive offering.
Connectivity and Setup: Reasonably solid, once they’re set up
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I’m also giving middling marks to the connectivity of the Momentum earbuds. First, the good: There’s Bluetooth 5.0 on-board, offering solid range and stability. The connection is strong, unlike many other wireless earbuds that can skip and start.
But, it is not as easy as AirPod rivals to set up the connection. The earbuds didn’t start in pairing mode, so I had to manually activate it to pair them the first time. Even worse, the battery ran out and my phone lost the earbuds. I had to re-learn the Bluetooth menu.
Even though the earbuds worked perfectly without an app, I was forced to download the app and my phone forgot the earbuds. These issues are all easy to overcome, but they aren’t in keeping with a premium price point.
If the harmonic distortion is low, it means that the quality of the sound spectrum being transmitted isn’t as affected. It’s nice to see Sennheiser focused on creating speaker drivers that do well on this front.
Software & Extra Features: Useful features
The Sennheiser Momentum headphones are quite simple in terms of feature, with just a few tap gestures for music control and voice assistant. However, the Sennheiser Smart Control App opens the Sennheiser Smart Control app to expand the features. The two key additions are a basic EQ to boost different parts of the spectrum to your taste and the option to toggle “transparent” sound.This latter feature is common on earbuds of this class as it uses onboard microphones to amplify sounds around you, offering increased awareness of oncoming traffic, family members in your house, etc. It is a bit confusing because you have to move one point around a spectral chart, instead of switching between different areas. Once you get the hang of it, it’s reasonably intuitive, but it’s not the best means of EQ adjustment that I’ve seen.
You can also customize the app to do other things, such as turning smart pause on or off and automating phone answering. Again, not the most features I’ve seen, but nice to have.
Cost: It's probably too expensive for this offer
As one of the best sets of true wireless earbuds that I’ve heard, it’s hard for me to say this, but the Sennheiser Momentum true wireless earbuds are too expensive. They aren’t the most premium earbuds out there, they don’t look the best, and they don’t even feel the best. Their battery life certainly isn’t the best, and even the Bluetooth setup could be improved. Is it worth the sound quality? That’s an answer that can really only be offered by each individual buyer, but at right around $230 (when much of the rest of the market sits at about $200), I can’t help but think they are roughly $30 too expensive.
Sennheiser Momentum vs. Master & Dynamic MW07 Plus
M&D and Sennheiser are the natural rivals as they both have a strong presence in this market. Although the MW07 Plus is more costly (see Amazon), they have better battery life and fit and offer a lot more features. However, on sound quality alone, I’d be hard-pressed to say one is better than the other. The M&D cost almost $100 more so they need to be better to make them the top earbuds.
Final Verdict Classic Sennheiser audio quality with some shortcomings. Sennheiser's sound quality is much better than the others. Most of the features aren’t bad, but they also aren’t the best. A tight, average fit and an uninspired design don’t make them feel super-premium. These earbuds are great for Bluetooth codescs, and I'm not averse to the excellent sound quality. If you’re an audiophile first and foremost, you should definitely consider the Momentum True Wireless earbuds, but if you want an all-around product, look elsewhere.
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