I am a fan of Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wi-fi 5 for greater than their repairability

Introduction

Upcoming regulation modifications will quickly power wi-fi earbud makers to enhance their repairability sport. With the Momentum True Wi-fi 5, Sennheiser has jumped earlier than it was pushed – and caught the touchdown like an Olympic gymnast, if my previous couple of weeks of listening are any indication.

In addition to rocking a recent new design and assist for lossless playback, these buds will fortunately hand over their batteries to anybody wielding a screwdriver. Additionally they construct on the outgoing Momentum 4 True Wi-fi with head-tracking spatial sound.

At $300/£250/€300 they even undercut rivals together with Sony’s WF-1000XM6 and the Bose QuietComfort Extremely Earbuds (2nd Gen), which aren’t practically as simple to restore. However has the extra environmentally pleasant strategy led to regression elsewhere? Right here’s my report…

Design & construct

Earlier Sennheiser Momentum in-ears have been a bit boxy, a bit utilitarian. You’ll be able to’t say the identical of this new mannequin, which seems to be luxurious in all 5 metallic color choices. I feel the Copper I used to be despatched for testing is the very best of the bunch, carefully adopted by Denim; Lavender, Graphite and Cream are a bit extra mainstream.

The rounded outer form, delicate Sennheiser brand and outer microphone grille add some visible enchantment, although the supplies are all plastic whichever you go for.

In accordance with Sennheiser, 73% of testers reported that the extra sculpted form used right here was extra comfy than the last-gen pair. I can see why. They twist into place and keep locked tight, with out placing undesirable strain on anyone a part of your outer ear. At 7g every they’re good and lightweight too.

I needed to combine and match the included silicone ear ideas because the pre-fitted Medium one was a bit free; as soon as I’d swapped to a smaller one I had zero points with match or safety. They by no means fell out, even whereas working on a treadmill. Passive noise isolation is superb as nicely.

The charging case is now a slender, extra pocket-friendly affair with a implausible low-friction end. It doesn’t choose up fingerprint muck and flips open and closed with a satisfying snap. Sony’s XM6 case is barely smaller nonetheless, however the Momentum was nonetheless suitably palm-sized.

Options & battery: screwdrivers on the prepared

Flip the Momentum 5’s case over and also you’ll shortly spot the uncovered screw, hinting at its new repairable standing. I’ve seen different charging circumstances with user-replaceable batteries, nevertheless it’s virtually exceptional to be simply as simple to swap cells on the buds themselves, a minimum of from a serious model. Two equally tiny crosshead screws lurk close to the charging pins, recessed sufficient so consolation isn’t impacted in any respect.

I’m all for this, as older wi-fi earbuds would successfully grow to be e-waste as soon as their batteries expired. That’s no concern right here, for so long as Sennheiser will make spare components accessible.

Based mostly on my testing, battery life is usually good fairly than nice: I received between 5 and 6 hours per cost from the buds themselves when ANC was enabled, and round three or so full fees from the case. The category leaders are nearer eight hours. Fast charging meant I didn’t have to attend round once I ran low, a minimum of – ten minutes within the case would normally add an additional hour of playback. Qi wi-fi charging could be very useful too. Having the USB-C port on the underside edge means laying the case on its aspect when plugged in, however the hard-wearing materials hasn’t picked up any scuffs or scrapes in a number of weeks of use.

Elsewhere the buds have well-judged faucet controls which can be delicate sufficient to register meant faucets however not pause or skip tracks unintentionally when adjusting the match.

Connectivity is expansive, with Bluetooth 6.0 and assist for each Google Quick Pair and Microsoft Swift Pair. Multipoint makes bouncing between two units a breeze, and you’ve got a selection of top quality codecs topping out at aptX Lossless for 24bit/96kHz listening via appropriate {hardware}. About the one factor lacking is the audio transmission function that makes the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 so useful for frequent flyers.

Interface

Sennheiser hasn’t advanced its Sensible Management Plus companion app all that a lot since I final used it with the Momentum 5 over-ears. It’s as simple to get round as ever, with many of the main capabilities showing as playing cards on the principle display screen, just under battery life and the present Bluetooth connection.

You’re nonetheless solely in a position to modify the ANC transparency degree and toggle an anti-wind mode, fairly than modify the cancellation power, however I appreciated the choices to auto-pause music when transparency mode is enabled and have it activate robotically when answering incoming cellphone calls. Sensible pause and auto-power off are present in a separate settings display screen; each labored simply tremendous so I by no means felt the necessity to disable them.

There’s no scarcity of sound adjustment right here, with eight EQ presets, a bass increase toggle, an eight-band EQ for handbook adjustment and two sorts of guided setup. I wasn’t bought on Sound Personalization, which splits up a demo monitor between drums, bass and strings, then makes you choose a most popular stability. It felt like I used to be merely tweaking the quantity of every, fairly than including further oomph to the frequencies I wished.

The Sound Examine mode, which helps you to use your favorite tunes and gives a number of rounds of blind changes to slender down your supreme pay attention, was way more intuitive.

Different goodies embrace a discover headphones software, totally customisable controls, and Dolby Atmos immersive audio, although you possibly can solely allow that one for those who drop from the best high quality Bluetooth codecs first.

Sound high quality and noise cancelling

With 4 microphones in every earbud, together with a bone conduction sensor, the Momentum True Wi-fi 5 has positively stepped up its noise cancellation sport from the outgoing mannequin. On a latest flight I used to be impressed by how nicely it cancelled the low frequency drone of the engines, whereas a busy commerce present media centre was muted fairly convincingly. Sudden loud noises don’t reduce via as clearly as they did earlier than both.

I do suppose speech and better frequency sounds can nonetheless slip although the algorithms in methods the perfect at school handle to sort out, however you’ll solely discover when listening to podcasts or at very low quantity ranges. At 60% quantity on my Google Pixel 11 Professional XL, KMFDM’s Hau Ruck totally remoted me from the clattering keyboards and nattering journalists. The hole to Bose and Sony is smaller now than it has ever been.

Sennheiser’s earlier Momentums have been all good listens and that is still true right here. The 7mm dynamic drivers have been tuned consistent with the wonderful Momentum 5 Wi-fi over-ears, aiming for a stability of precision and dynamics. The default EQ preset may be labelled ‘Impartial’ however I believed they nonetheless leaned extra to a hotter sound that’ll please the bulk.

Bass is ample with out being overwhelming, serving to digital tunes carry actual weight. Gorgon Metropolis’s The Fact balances thick sub bass with outstanding mid-bass, however the Momentums have been by no means tripped up. Mids typically have all of the presence I wished, throughout a variety of genres. The soundstage will not be the widest, however tunes didn’t really feel overly enclosed or slender both.

The upper frequency snares and hi-hats on Dimensions’s Darkish Lights averted sounding sharp or sibilant, although personally I wished a bit extra chunk right here than was on provide from the default tuning. Fortunately the Sound Examine mode shortly sorted that, with a lift to the 6K and 15K frequencies.

Anybody trying to find outright readability or a extra analytical pay attention will probably be higher served by Bowers & Wilkins, however most will probably be very pleased with how these earbuds sound.

Do you have to purchase the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 5 in 2026?

When you purchase your devices to final for the lengthy haul, these true wi-fi buds ought to have actual enchantment. I might fortunately hand over some ANC capacity for the information I gained’t must bin them later down the road resulting from battery failure. A charging case that’s barely bigger than the competitors and some seen screws are fully minor sacrifices.

Different manufacturers must comply with swimsuit finally, however seeing a giant title like Sennheiser do it now fairly than later could be very welcome.

In all different respects the Momentum True Wi-fi 5 is a superb all-rounder, with fulfilling audio, very respectable battery life and efficient noise cancelling. It doesn’t fairly command a category lead in any of these areas, however will get shut on each entrance. Until you demand the perfect ANC or further sonic refinement, it needs to be close to the highest of your checklist.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 5 technical specs

Drivers	7mm dynamic
ANC	Sure
Bluetooth model	Bluetooth 6.0
Codecs supported	SBC, AAC, aptX Lossless
Sturdiness	IP54
Battery life	6 hours (buds, ANC on) 20 hours (buds and case, ANC on)
Dimensions	67x48x25mm, 7g / 55g (buds / charging case)