8/10
Open rating explainerInformationWIREDAudio that’s easy to enjoy. Huge battery life with ANC on. User-replaceable battery is an important step. Comprehensive codec support. USB-C and 3.5-mm wired listening for hi-res audio. All-day comfort.TIREDANC won’t win awards. Bass-forward tuning might not suit you. Build quality feels a bit more plastic than premium. Not a vast upgrade of the Momentum 4. Feel slightly overpriced.We’ve waited almost four years for a new pair of Sennheiser Momentum wireless over-ear headphones. That’s eons in a world where Sony, Apple, and Bowers & Wilkins have been busy launching stellar Bluetooth headphones like the Sony WH-1000XM6, Apple AirPods Max 2, and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3.
Plenty has happened in the intervening years—not least, Sennheiser’s consumer division being sold to hearing aid company Sonova, which is currently looking to sell it on. Thankfully, the Momentum 5 is a hugely enjoyable pair of premium headphones with some unexpectedly good features, and not the product of a troubled homelife.
Battery Life for Life
Photograph: Chris HaslamThe Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless look good. They strike a middle ground between premium cans (AirPods Max 2, Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3) and more lightweight ones (Bose QuietComfort Headphones, Sony WH-1000XM5). The 10.3-ounce build is mainly plastic, and the ear cups are basic, but the denim trim on the top of the comfortable headband adds fun texture. They are not head turners like the Nothing Headphone (1), but they are still nice to look at, and come in blue denim (pictured), black, and white.
They are, however, very comfortable, with a great level of squish to the earpads. Massive ears (like mine) have room to flap, and the headband doesn’t add any uncomfortable pressure. No over-ear headphone is perfect to wear with glasses, but I happily wore these for hours. When temperatures hit 95 degrees Fahrenheit my ears got sweaty, but so did the rest of me, to be fair.
The Momentum 5 Wireless get up to 57 hours of battery with ANC on, according to Sennheiser. That’s almost double what the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 can do. It’s three hours shy of the older Momentum 4, and 13 hours less than the similarly priced Marshall Monitor III ANC.
I didn’t perform an exact test on the 57-hour battery claim, but it seems fairly accurate in my real-world use thus far. I have been using the Momentum 5 daily for the past month, and they are still at about 50 percent charge.
The more interesting story to me is that the battery can be easily replaced. Remove the left ear pad, unscrew four Phillips-head screws, lift the cover, and the battery can be unplugged and swapped out in seconds.
iFixit has been showing us how to replace batteries in electronics for years, but this is the first time I’ve seen a headphone brand actively encourage consumers to do it themselves. I think Sennheiser embracing our right to repair is worth celebrating, even if, at the time of publication, the replaceable battery isn't available for purchase.
Lively and Warm Sound
Photograph: Chris HaslamThe Momentum 5 Wireless supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Lossless, and aptX Adaptive codecs, plus multipoint connectivity. Plug in using either the 3.5-millimeter jack or the USB-C port to get digital lossless audio (up to 24-bit/96 kHz).
The Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app is where you can customize ANC levels, transparency, an eight-band EQ, connection preferences, and Dolby Atmos. You can also save sound profiles based on your location, maxing out ANC when you hit the office, for instance.
Controls on the headphones themselves are touch controls on the right ear cup, and they work fine: as in, they didn’t annoy me. A tap pauses music, swipes adjust volume and skip tracks, while a double tap toggles between ANC and transparency modes.
Active Noise Cancellation comes via eight microphones, and it is good, verging on great. It works well on public transport, provides a cocoon in cafés, and gifts solitude in a shared office. If you’ve never used Sony or Bose ANC headphones, you’ll be delighted with the Momentum 5s, but if you’re switching from those two brands, you might find these a bit of a letdown. We’re talking small margins here, but the Momentum 5 just lacks that eerily quiet sealed-off feeling of the WH-1000XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (2nd Gen).
Call quality is good too, and the wind-reducing mics kept my voice front and center, but it’s not the reason I’d buy these headphones.
I tested the Momentum 5 Wireless using the best and worst playback resolutions from Spotify—both over Wi-Fi and cellular. I also listened to Qobuz hi-resolution recordings and my own digital music library. And no matter what I played, the headphones offered me a smooth, refined, and expressive performance.
They’re not “high-fidelity” in the sense that the extreme edges of a recording are not exposed, and they happily make poor-quality output sound enjoyable. That said, you’ll get a bit more out of them by listening to higher-fidelity sources. And if you’re still playing the lowest-resolution audio playback on Spotify (or don’t even know what I am talking about), you don’t need to spend $399 on a pair of headphones.
Mixing it up between the pop of Olivia Rodrigo’s excellent new album, the twang of Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band, via Wu-Tang, and more of the Police than I’m comfortable admitting, the Sennheiser made every genre enjoyable to listen to and were totally agreeable. They’re not neutral, with plenty of relaxed warmth to the sound profile.
Photograph: Chris HaslamListening to the Sennheisers side by side with the B&W Px7 S3, I noticed a little lack in punch and drive by comparison. The opposite is true when listening to them against the AirPods Max 2, however, with the Sennheiser’s classy midrange cutting through the mix with real authority. This was also the case when comparing them with the now discontinued Momentum 3 Wireless from 2019 (although I wish Sennheiser would bring back the sumptuous leather earpads at least as an add-on).
They are bass-forward, though, and anyone leaning toward acoustic or classical would do well to tweak the EQ via the app. The sound is clean overall, with a tight thump, although not a patch on the taut rumble from the more expensive AirPods Max.
Should You Buy Them?
The Momentum 5 Wireless are long overdue, but at $399, they face stiff competition from more mainstream competitors like Sony, Bose, Apple, and Bowers & Wilkins, all of whom have launched serious good over-ear headphones recently. This hasn’t left a lot of room for Sennheiser to compete in, but, sensibly, the brand hasn’t tried to win every battle.
The ANC is very good (but not spookily quiet), and the design is classy (but not indulgent). Sound is warm, expressive, and easy to enjoy for long periods of time, even if the bass might need taming in the EQ. But importantly, Sennheiser has created a headphone with superb battery life, easy wired and hi-res listening, an impressive codec list, and an easily replaceable battery you can swap yourself.
They are not the most exciting headphones in any one area, but they are comfortable, considered, likable, and impressively repairable.
$400 at Amazon$400 at B&H Photo$400 at Sennheiser
