It was just a few weeks ago that I reviewed the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 headphones and I was blown away by their quality. Now I have my hands on the Sennheiser MOMENTUM Sport and have very high hopes for them as well.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM Sport have a RRP of $549 so come in even more expensive than the TW4. There is a reason for that – they have more sensors than the TW4.
The MOMENTUM Sport house not just the usual audio sensors and ANC hardware but also a heart rate sensor and body temperature sensors. Not only do they do that, but they can connect these sensors to your favourite fitness monitoring devices.
Sennheiser has a partnership with Polar for deeper integration, but they are designed to work with many fitness devices and apps. These include Apple Watch/Health, Garmin Watch/Connect, Strava, Peloton, Suunto, Amazfit, Coros, Asics Runkeeper, Nike Run Club, and Adidas Runtastic.
With these extra functionalities it’s not surprising they are more expensive than the TW4. So just how good are they? Read on to hear my thoughts.
Design and fit
The design of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM Sport is vastly different to that of the TW4 with the earbuds a much smoother design that doesn’t lodge itself uncomfortably in the ear but instead more sits in the ear canal without a need to stuff them halfway into your ears.
The smoother, rounded design allows for this more comfortable fit and I did not have any issues with them feeling uncomfortable in the slightest even during the longest workouts. One thing to note, you do need to twist them into the ear hole to get them to fit into your ear well and not have them become dislodged during your workout.
Their comfort is certainly comparable to my usual gym headphones, the Jabra Elite 8 Active, and that’s a very good thing.
As per usual the earbuds come with a few options of silicone ear tips to be used for a better fit for you.
Each earbud has a capacitive touch surface on the outside for media and call control. Just as with the TW4 these are extremely touch sensitive and using them will not affect how they fit in the ear. You do need to be careful not to press the buttons while adjusting them but after using for a bit you get used to where the touch surface is if you do need to adjust their fit.
How do they sound?
I was spoiled with the TW4 with a sound that was amazing. It was the closest I have ever heard true wireless earbuds get to the over the ear audiophile headphone sound quality. I was expecting much of the same with the MOMENTUM Sport but unfortunately it wasn’t quite there.
Now don’t get me wrong, they sound amazing and I did and still do consider the TW4 to be the best quality sound I have ever heard from a set of true wireless earbuds so that’s a difficult bar to reach anyway.
For a set of sport earbuds though they sound amazing. They sound better than the Jabra Elite 8 Active but not by much – Jabra’s really do punch well above their price. Their bass is cleaner with a cleaner, albeit possibly slightly overpowering but has a sharper mid and upper registry sound which can be drowned out by the bass. That’s an easy fix with the equaliser built in to the Sennheiser Smart Control app.
The overall sound quality is marginally better than the Jabra Elite Active 8.
As for why they do not sound as good as the TW4 you need to take into account the more comfortable design, the improved water proof and IP rating, and of course the body temperature and heart rate sensors. Add all these in and you can see why the sound takes a small hit.
At this end of the market you really do need to listen closely to discern a difference between many of the headphones and earbuds so the differences between these three would be difficult for a lot of people to hear, especially when huffing, puffing and sweating your heart out during a strenuous workout.
The ANC of the earbuds is really good. Currently I am typing this while on a plane, listening to my Parkway Drive 20th Australian Tour Setlist Playlist and have very little sound interference from the engines which are basically just outside my window (does it really make much difference to the noise of the engine where you are seated on a plane??).
So, if you are at a gym they will, and do, most certainly remove any environmental sound if you wish it to. You can of course adjust just how much ANC is applied to the surrounding noises by adjusting the “Transparency level” within the Sennheiser Smart Control app.
Smart Control
From the TW4 review:
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) as 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.
For the MOMENTUM Sport the Smart Control app is also the first and default location you will find your body temperature measurement and your heart rate. It is within here that you connect them to the Polar app or other “compatible” tracking devices.
Your workout companion
Although the sound is normally the main thing you think you need while listening to headphones, these are designed for so much more. These will also give you your body temperature and heart rate which can be very important if you want to track your workouts.
As stated at the top of this review, these earbuds can be connected to many different devices and apps to feed the workout data into for analysis of your workouts. Polar Flow has the best integration thanks to their partnership with Sennheiser but Apple Watch/Health and many other apps and devices work. Of note though, I was unable to get them to feed their data into Fitbit or Google Fit.
Sure you may say that you have your watch that can do that, or a chest strap. But there are many workouts that make wearing a watch not possible. Many weights workouts make wearing a watch either uncomfortable or dangerous – especially if you are using any form of wrist straps.
For me then, this provides everything I want in tracking my workout without having to also wear a watch or a chest strap, or any other device. Built into headphones/earbuds that I am going to be using anyway is ideal.
This basically explains the premium price you are paying for these earbuds. One device means one outlay, otherwise I’d have to buy a chest strap and use that instead (a watch at the gym is not possible for the way I lift).
Should you buy these earbuds?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM Sport are not for everyone. These are for those who want decent music while at the gym but also need something to track their heart rate and body temperature while working out. This may be those who do not wish to wear a smartwatch while training and doesn’t have anything else such as a chest strap.
The sound of them is really good, the fit and comfort is exceptional thanks to the many options for fins and silicone tips, and the fitness data tracking seems to be accurate and easy to export — as long as your app or device is supported. If you want to monitor your training and also need new earbuds then these are for you — they will be cheaper than buying a tracking device along with a set of decent earbuds.
If you don’t need the fitness tracking — which is handy and useful even if you think you don’t need it — you may be best served looking in a cheaper price range.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM Sport earbuds are available now available now from sennheiser-hearing.com and selected Sennheiser retailers for an MSRP of $529.95 AUD and $549.95 NZD. The earbuds come in three colourways; Polar Black, Burned Olive, and Metallic Graphite.
