Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Worth the wait

Billy Steele for Engadget

RATING : 8.5 / 10

Four years is a long time to go between headphone models. While some companies debut new models every year or two, others push their update cycles out farther. Of course, the benefit of extending a product's lifespan is there will likely be more a company can offer by way of significant improvements. If the features are considerably better rather than just iterative, it makes any new set of headphones more compelling to anyone who owns the previous generation.

Sennheiser last updated its Momentum Wireless headphones in 2022, and at that time the highlights were a completely new look and 60-hour battery life. Now, the Momentum 5 Wireless is here, with significant improvements to sound and active noise cancellation (ANC) as the standouts. The company has an eye on longevity as well, opting for a user-replaceable battery to extend the product life cycle even further. But, as always, there are some caveats.

Billy Steele for Engadget

I didn't care for the plain, mostly plastic design of the Momentum 4. After publishing my review, I read a lot of comments about how the stellar sound and extremely long battery life made the forgettable aesthetic less of an issue. I can certainly understand that logic, but I was also happy to see that Sennheiser made some slight tweaks to the design of the Momentum 5 to give it a more premium look.

For starters, the Sennheiser logos on the headband are now on textured silver discs instead of just being so obviously plastic. The company also made the ear cups all one piece, getting rid of what used to look like a separate cap on the outside. This change also nixes the indention around the edge of the ear cup, completing the seamless look. Finally, Sennheiser added silver accents to the microphone grilles, adorning them with Momentum 5 and company logos on the left and right cups respectively.

Like the previous model, there's a single button on the edge of the right ear cup for power and Bluetooth pairing. It's also used to mute the mics during calls, or to summon your voice assistant. For the playback and ANC controls, the outside of the right ear cup is a touch panel that accepts swipes and taps — just like it did on the Momentum 4. There's also a two-finger pinch gesture that adjusts the level of adaptive noise cancellation or transparency mode, depending on which is active. Lastly, a two-finger double tap will enable Dolby Atmos audio.

Beside the power button, Sennheiser installed a row of five LEDs that serve as battery level and pairing mode indicators. The one light at the end will flash red to let you know you've successfully turned the headphones off. There's also a USB-C jack and 3.5mm audio port here. Inside the left ear cup, behind the removable ear pad, lies a user-replaceable battery. When the time comes, you'll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the four tiny screws holding the driver panel in place, before you can access and swap out the battery.

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The Smart Control Plus app is where you adjust the Momentum 5's settings. There's a new 8-band EQ here, giving you more capability to dial in the headphones' sound profile, plus a number of audio presets that offer easy customization options without any fuss. With the app, you can also fine-tune your ANC and transparency mode levels, enable Dolby Atmos audio or employ Sound Personalization to algorithmically augment the tuning to your listening preferences.

Sound zones have also returned, allowing you to set the app to automatically adjust settings based on your location. Sony does this too, and it can be helpful if you like the same configuration every time you go home or to the office or the gym. Just remember: you'll have to give the app location permissions.

One thing I appreciate about the Smart Control Plus app is the ability to customize the tiles on the home screen. Other companies do this too, but it's still a level of personalization that puts what you use most easily within reach, and what you don't ever touch out of sight.

I don't usually call attention to Bluetooth version numbers in headphone reviews, but there's an interesting wrinkle there for the Momentum 5. Sennheiser is shipping the headphones with Bluetooth 5.4, but it says they'll be updated to Bluetooth 6.0 in the near future. The main advantages of that will be reduced latency and better sound quality, but the Momentum 5 can handle AAC, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless codecs right now. The headphones also work with Sennheiser's BTD 700 high-res Bluetooth transmitter that shipped with the more premium HD 630 and is available as a standalone purchase.

If there's one thing Sennheiser has consistently nailed on its Momentum headphones, it's sound quality. The Momentum 4 even spent some time on our best headphones list for best overall audio. Nearly four years later, the competition is a lot stiffer, but the Momentum 5 also has excellent sound. The company specifically mentioned that it paid more attention to separation between various instruments and dialed up the bass without sacrificing detail. That spatial quality, even without Dolby Atmos enabled, is what impressed me most about the tuning of the 42mm drivers that are inspired by the open-back HD 600.

The additional separation between elements is stuck out to me on American Football's fourth LP (it's literally called American Football LP4). The band's unique, intricate guitar work is a playground for the Momentum 5, with synths and vocals floating over the top, drums keeping the odd time signatures intact underneath. The headphones make it seem like you're gliding through the songs rather than just having them beamed into your ears, with each instrument cutting through the mix with its own sonic complexity. The fuller bass tuning is apparent on more bombastic tunes, like Bilmuri's "Twice," where the chaos of the song never feels crowded or compressed — even during the full-throttled bridge near the end.

The Momentum 5 supports Dolby Atmos audio now, but the feature isn't at its full potential just yet. Sennheiser said it will deliver 3D head tracking "in the coming weeks," promising even more immersive spatial audio. Unfortunately, in my opinion, tapping the Atmos toggle in the Smart Control Plus app doesn't improve the Momentum 5's sound. I prefer the stock tuning, even with content that's specifically engineered for the format, because the vocals are more prominent and the rest of the mix seems to fade into the background with Atmos enabled. Overall, songs like "Golden" from K-Pop Demon Hunters (a Steele family favorite) lack the energy they normally have. I look forward to revisiting this when the head tracking update arrives.

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Sennheiser made some big claims about its ANC improvements when the Momentum 5 was announced on May 25. The company doubled the number of microphones used for both active noise cancellation and transparency modes, so there's now four on each side. What's more, Sennheiser said the expanded setup is up to three times more effective at blocking annoyances like human voices.

That promise held true during my testing, where I needed a highly-capable ANC system to block the constant refrain of Bluey and Peppa Pig in the week between school ending and summer camp beginning. I was able to put on some tunes and focus on work without the distraction of iPad-streamed cartoons. Overall, the Momentum 5 is noticeably better at blocking noise in general compared to the Momentum 4, which means Sennheiser solved one of its last remaining shortcomings versus the likes of Bose and Sony.

The company also claims those additional microphones offer "more natural voice quality" during voice and video calls. Sennheiser's Sidetone feature, the tool that pipes in your voice so you can hear yourself and don't feel the need to shout, is now automatically applied and adjusts based on the level of ambient noise. Own Voice Detection is also onboard, and it identifies the frequencies of your voice to prevent you from sounding distorted due to the noise cancellation.

In practice, I'd say that overall voice performance has indeed improved, but not to the extent that Sennheiser would have you believe. Automatic Sidetone does its job well, and it's true that you don't sound quite as robotic when background noise cancellation needs to kick in. However, the person on the other end can still hear constant noise sources like loud fans from your side, and overall, voice quality lacks the clarity that some headphones provide. Is the Momentum 5 good enough for most work calls? Absolutely. Is it the best option when voice fidelity is paramount? Probably not.

One area where the Momentum 5 falls short of its predecessor is battery life — but not by much. The Momentum 4 could last up to 60 hours on a charge with ANC enabled, but Sennheiser is promising 57 hours on this model. That's not a huge difference, but it is less, and may be disappointing when you consider the price increase. However, with the upgraded sound quality and the addition of Dolby Atmos with head tracking, I'd argue the slight drop in runtime is worth it if that was needed for the enhancements to audio performance.

I haven't tested the Momentum 5 for 60 hours just yet. But based on my usage with ANC enabled most of the time, and only switching to transparency mode for a few calls a day, I don't see any reason why Sennheiser's battery life claims won't hold up. I'll report back if there's any evidence to the contrary here.

The gap has significantly narrowed between the best flagship headphones currently on the market. Bose and Sennheiser have both caught up to Sony, although that latter company still holds an advantage over the rest in the features department. Its 1000X line, including the new 1000X The Collexion, continues to offer more tools than you'll find elsewhere. Before now, Sennheiser's biggest area for improvement compared to Sony's WH-1000XM6 and Bose's second-gen QuietComfort Ultra was ANC performance. With the Momentum 5, the difference is now incredibly close.

Sennheiser also offers a worthy Momentum alternative of its own. If sound quality is your primary concern, the HD 630 is a sonic powerhouse with its included high-resolution Bluetooth dongle and lossless audio over USB-C. You'll still get 60-hour battery life here, but all the audio advantages come at a cost: the HD 630 is $100 more than the Momentum 5.

When it comes to the upgrades, the Momentum 5's improvements were worth the wait. The company enhanced its already great sound profile and built a more effective ANC system on this model. Plus, it's slowly addressing my design gripes with the Momentum 4, thanks to small but meaningful details on this new version. And although battery life is slightly shorter than its predecessor, the Momentum 5 still gives you days of use on a charge, so you won't be reaching for a USB-C cable that often.

The only two issues with the Momentum 5 right now are price and Dolby Atmos performance. The headphones are $50 more than the Momentum 4 was at launch, which isn't shocking in today's economy, but a consideration nonetheless. I'm also hoping that when Sennheiser updates Dolby Atmos to add head tracking, the feature will be a boost to the sound rather than a feature I largely ignore. If it can achieve that, the company will have a strong case for the top spot on many best headphones lists.