We have reviewed Sennheiser Momentum 4 wireless headphones before so you would be forgiven for wondering why I am reviewing the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 headphones.
Yes, the “True” in the name gives it away. I am unsure why the name is still the same but it must be because Sennheiser consider the Momentum headphones their premium commercial every-day headphone. By that I mean, not their audiophile range, but their best headphones that you would find in a general electronics store such as JB Hi-Fi.
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 headphones look incredibly similar to the previous generation and although the Momentum TW 3 saw a decrease of $100 in price from the 2, the 4 goes the other way, up $100 from the 3, back to $499.95.
With the price of everything increasing the price of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 may scare some folks away but even before expanding on why I can tell you that they are the best true wireless headphones I have ever used, bar none.
Design and fit
I have used many many true wireless headphones in my time and these are not the most comfortable, by a long shot. They sit the wrong side of centre in the comfort to rocks-in-the-ears scale.
They are more comfortable than the Astell&Kern AW UW100 but not as comfortable as the Airpods Pro or the Jabra Elite 10 true wireless headphones. In saying that, they are more secure than either of those because you are wedging these into the ear canal.
This wedging into the ear canal means you can turn off Adaptive Noise Cancellation to get a better quality sound but still be able to block out a majority of sounds from your environment. The same as for the Astell&Kern earbuds. I’d save the ANC with these earbuds for when you REALLY need it such as on a plane etc.
Just as with the third gen version of these earbuds you can change the silicone tips and the silicone fin (a very small fin) to get your best possible fit. I opten for the default tip and the largest fin for the most secure fit.
I was able to easily wear these while at the gym or sitting working at my PC for a couple of hours without running into any discomfort so I’d still give them a pass, even though there are so many more earbuds more comfortable than these.
The shape of the earbuds is very old school. No stem but an incredibly similar shape to so many other earbuds on the market. The design colours though make them look super premium with the white ones we received having a stylish silver on the outer surface.
The outer surface is a capacitive touch surface for the buttons which are very easy to use and customise through the Sennheiser Smart Control app.
How do they sound?
I may have given the whole review away at the top with my statement on how good these sound. Until now the best everyday earbuds I had tried were the Apple Airpods Pro – albeit the first generation – and the best earbuds full stop were the Astell&Kern UW100 true wireless earbuds (once again the first gen). The second gen of the UW100 were better than the first but only marginally.
Now we have a new winner but that does come at a premium price – $499.95.
I ran through my usual headphone testing playlist of FLAC audio which includes a range of music across all genres but especially the most popular ones such as pop, rock, metal, classic and hip hop (rap). In all forms of music the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 excelled.
It was able to cover the entire range of frequencies in the music from Adele, Madonna and Christina Aguilera without an over-emphasis on the upper end that many earbuds do. The Momentum TW 4 seemed to be able to differentiate between a lot more frequencies than the others although the Astell&Kern UW100 were comparable in this registry.
The lower end is always a struggle for true wireless earbuds due to the lack of size they have to be able to produce not just loud bass but accurate, crisp bass. The Momentum TW 4 were able to excel here as well with the bass being far better than that in both the Airpods and Jabra Elite 10 earbuds – the Momentum TW 4 made these sound very “muddy” and thick rather than a crisp punchy bass. Their bass was also better than that in the Astell&Kern earbuds albeit not by as much, but still better.
Overall, the sound was exceptional and at $499.95 it would want to be. The sound profile can also be changed using the Sennheiser Smart Control app with it offering many more features and a more detailed equaliser than the previous version.
Smart control
The Sennheiser Smart Control app is nothing that other manufacturers have not done already to support their products but the Sennheiser app removes the fluff and adds options that improve the quality of music.
Although I’m not normally a fan of adjusting the EQ in these apps (would rather adjust it inside PowerAMP or whatever I’m listening with so I can quickly adjust to what music is playing the options in the Smart Control app are great.
Not only can you adjust the EQ using their presets but you can make your own custom EQs along with having the app do one based on all your listening preferences that it runs through with you.
Transparency levels can be adjusted and should be if you want to hear around you. I would adjust this for your surroundings and the ANC levels most for quality of music. The adaptive noise control uses smart features to adjust to certain sounds such as wind noises.
Do I recommend them?
Yes and no. I should probably elaborate on that.
Yes, they are the best true wireless earbuds I have ever used but currently they are also the most expensive. Normally if you are spending a tick under $500 on a set of headphones you are buying over the ear headphones which will nearly always sound much better than their similarly-priced true wireless earbuds.
So yes, if you have enough funds and want to buy a set of earbuds that will fit into your pocket and make them easily portable while at the same time sounding great then, yes, buy them.
Their sound is amazing, better than everything else I have tested, the app is incredibly useful and they fit well into the ear, creating a good seal for those who prefer not to use the adaptive noise cancelling.
The price though may turn many off and rightfully so. If the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 were priced the same as the last iteration then I would be all in on them but at $500 you need to think where you will be using them and what you will be listening to.
BUT if you want a set of true wireless earbuds and want the best, then look no further. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 are the best earbuds I have ever used, bar none.Get them now from Sennheiser.com or from all good electronics retailers.
