Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: four years in the making, and worth the wait

Sennheiser launched the Momentum 4 Wireless headphones in India back in September 2022 at around Rs 35,000. The brand took four years to release its successor, and hopefully the upgrades the new headphones bring are worth the wait for fans. The Momentum 5 Wireless headphones are here with a slightly higher price point of Rs 39,999. They compete with the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra, both of which are available at a lower price point.

While I didn’t have the Sony or Bose headphones with me at the time of reviewing the Momentum 5 Wireless, I did have the new Beats 360, which are only slightly more expensive at Rs 42,900. The two make for an interesting comparison, because they are almost entirely opposite to each other, designed for two very different kinds of buyers.

Table of Contents

What’s in the box?

I definitely enjoyed unboxing the Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless more than I did the Beats 360. That’s mainly because of what you get for the money: a really nice, sleek hard case with a denim fabric finish and cables. It’s one of the sleekest headphone cases I’ve seen, letting you slide it into your backpack with ease. I particularly appreciate the indent on the back, which lets you grip the case well while carrying it.

Inside the case, you get a pair of Momentum 5 Wireless headphones lying flat, a 2.5mm to 3.5mm cable, a Type-C to Type-C charging cable, and some documentation. What you get inside the box is similar to what Sony and Bose offer with their respective flagship headphones. The Beats 360, on the other hand, comes only with a soft, woven ripstop fabric carrying case and no cables.

Design and comfort

As premium as the unboxing experience is, the headphones themselves feel less so. While I like the denim fabric’s look and feel on the headband, the outer material on the cans looks and feels more plasticky, making them seem cheaper compared to what Sony, Bose, or Apple offer. The unit we received was the White option, which looks nice but isn’t really all that white. The woven fabric is a light beige or oatmeal colour, while the outer ear cups and headband arm are ivory white, and the inner ear cushions are mushroom grey.

Strangely enough, Sennheiser’s India site didn’t list this colourway; I could only see the Black and Denim colours. The latter two also look good, but I reckon the Black one’s fabric will attract more noticeable dust.

I found the fit quite comfortable, as the cushions covered my ears completely and created a good seal. But those with bigger ears might find the fit less flattering. In my opinion, the Beats 360 can cover larger ears better. They also have better clamp force than the Sennheiser Momentum 5, which you want if you tend to take the headphones to the gym or out for a run.

That said, the Momentum 5 isn’t designed for outdoor activities or the gym anyway; it lacks an IP rating for dust or water resistance, so the clamp force is fine if you’re mostly stationary and indoors.

Connectivity and controls

There are a couple of ways to listen to music on Momentum 5. The easiest way is by pairing it over Bluetooth. The headphones support Bluetooth 5.4, but the hardware is Bluetooth 6.0-ready. You can pair them with an iPhone or Android device via Bluetooth settings and download the Smart Control Plus app to customise features like sound profile, ANC, and more.

If you’re an audiophile looking for the best sound with no latency, go wired. I would occasionally connect the headphones to my iPod, which is always a nice option to have, unlike the Beats 360, which only allows wired pairing over Type-C.

Another area where the Momentum 5 differs greatly from the Beats 360 is with controls. While the Beats headphones use physical buttons, the Momentum 5 relies mostly on touch controls. There’s one physical button to power on/off or enable pairing mode. For everything else, the right earcup has a large surface area for tap and swipe gestures. You can swipe up or down to adjust the volume, swipe left or right to change tracks, tap once to play or pause, and double-tap to switch between ANC and transparency.
I personally prefer clicky buttons to gesture controls on headphones, but Sennheiser’s solution is one of the easier and more intuitive ones. I got used to them pretty quickly, and the controls were easy enough to manage. I did find the touch sensitivity to be on the higher side, especially when trying to control the volume level, but it’s not a dealbreaker for me.

Sound quality

The Momentum 5 Wireless uses 42mm drivers developed in-house by Sennheiser, and the overall sound is warm and easy-going. Out of the box, the Neutral tuning leans toward bass, with a rich, full low end you’ll notice straight away on pop, disco, hip-hop, and film scores. If you’ve used the Momentum 4, you’ll find this pair a touch warmer and bassier. Songs like “Beat Of Your Heart” by Purple Disco Machine and “Good Times” by Chic sounded groovy as intended, with the bass punching through without being overtly boomy. Tame Impala’s “Loser” and “Let It Happen” had the right kind of spaciness, which felt missing on the Beats 360, which leaned towards a boomier bass and sharper highs. The Momentum 5 has something for bass lovers, but if you want a bassier, brighter sound, the Beats 360 might be the one to buy.

I tested the same songs on both the Sennheiser Momentum 5 and Beats 360 to get a sense of how they are tuned out of the box.
If you listen to a lot of rock, as I do, try the Rock preset in the app. It tames the bass a little and gives the instruments more room to breathe. I tested it with Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”, which swings between quiet acoustic passages and a chaotic wall of electric guitars, and the Momentum 5 handled both well. The same song on the Beats 360 with ANC on had more pronounced bass, which is great if you want to enjoy Colin Greenwood’s melodic bassline, but the frenzied guitar sections felt too sharp for my ears. It was slightly better with ANC off and Adaptive EQ, which tunes the sound to how the headphones fit, doing its job.
The Momentum 5 does its best work in the middle of the sound, where vocals and most instruments live. They come across as natural, smooth, and clear, and the headphones never get harsh or tiring, even after a long listening session, something I did face with the Beats 360. The highs are on the softer side, so some cymbals and fine details feel a little toned down, and quieter songs can sound less spacious than they should. Most people won’t notice this, but very picky listeners might. The Sony WH-1000XM6 sounds punchier and more energetic by comparison, while the Sennheiser is more laid-back. That suits relaxed listening, but fast, driving tracks lose some excitement.

The Smart Control Plus app has a Bass Boost option, and when it’s on, the sound can sometimes get muffled, so turn it off if the bass feels too much. You also get an 8-band equaliser with presets, which should be enough to tweak the sound to your taste.

Turn off bass boost if the bass gets too much.

The headphones support AAC for iPhones and the aptX family of codecs for Android phones, including aptX Lossless on compatible Snapdragon phones for CD-quality streaming. It also supports Dolby Atmos spatial audio, if you like that sort of thing. As I mentioned earlier, going wired gives you the best sound, adding a bit more fullness and making vocals sound sweeter and more detailed.

Overall, I’d say the Momentum 5 is more of a crowd-pleaser than an audiophile’s pick. It isn’t perfect, but I enjoyed most genres in these headphones more than with the Beats 360. Sennheiser’s bass tuning is just right while letting the mids breathe. It’s a pair you can wear all day without getting tired of the sound.

ANC and call quality

Active Noise Cancellation is quite good on the Momentum 5. I didn’t test the Momentum 4 to know just how much of an upgrade we’re talking about, but from the user reviews I’ve read online, ANC wasn’t the best aspect of those headphones. Sennheiser has done well with the Momentum 5, adding 8 microphones (4 per earcup) to improve ANC, transparency, and voice isolation. I tested them on the street in a heavy-traffic area, and while they don’t completely block out sounds of honking and chatter, they reduce them to a very satisfying level. Unfortunately, I couldn’t test the ANC on a flight, but I reckon they’ll hold up well, though the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QC Ultra might still top it.

You can also manually tweak the ANC and transparency levels to your preferred sensitivity and enable Anti-Wind mode in the Smart Control Plus app.

Phone calls are generally clear indoors. I don’t particularly like taking calls on headphones, but I felt fairly comfortable with the Momentum 5.

Battery life

I couldn’t fully test Sennheiser’s battery-life claims during the review period, and that’s because I found it hard to run them out of battery after fully charging them. I wore them for around 2 hours every day for a week, and it barely made a dent. Sennheiser claims over 55 hours of playback on a single charge with ANC enabled, which is almost double what Sony, Bose and Apple headphones offer.

Suffice it to say, you won’t find yourself charging the Momentum 5 too often. If you’re someone who uses headphones for about 2-3 hours a day, you can easily go 3-4 weeks without charging them.

What’s more impressive is that the battery is user-replaceable. You can swap out the old battery for a new one by removing the left ear pad using a Phillips-head screwdriver. This is a welcome feature for those planning to keep the headphones for years to come.

Verdict

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless took four years to arrive, and it mostly justifies the wait. The sound is warm and easy to listen to for hours, with rich bass that doesn’t get boomy and vocals that stay clear. The ANC is good enough for a busy street, and the battery is in a league of its own, with over 55 hours claimed and a cell you can replace yourself. The sleek, hard case with cables also makes it feel like a proper premium purchase.

The catch is that the headphones themselves don’t feel as premium as the case they come in. The plasticky ear cups, lack of an IP rating, light clamp force, and slightly oversensitive touch controls are small things, but they add up at Rs 39,999, a step up from the Momentum 4’s Rs 35,000 launch price in 2022 (available for around Rs 20,000 today). The price tag stings even more when you know the Sony WH-1000XM6 (review) and Bose QuietComfort Ultra are available at lower prices and deliver premium designs, exceptional sound quality and stunning ANC.

It also depends on what kind of buyer you are. If you mostly listen indoors, at your desk or on the couch, and want comfortable all-day sound, long battery life and a pair you can repair, I’d pick the Momentum 5 over the Beats 360. If you want something stylish and modular for the gym or a run, the Beats 360 make more sense. Overall, if you’ve been a Sennheiser user and value sound, battery and longevity, the Momentum 5 Wireless is worth the four-year wait.

Editor’s rating: 8.8/10

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