Sennheiser Momentum 4 Review: WOW!

After 3-ish years, Sennheiser has released an update to their Momentum headphones lineup, and boy, is it nice. We have the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones with us today, and like the title says, wow.

So, let’s talk design first. These look quite different from the Momentum 3, and are more in line with how a lot of wireless headphones look these days. It does look quite modern though, and while I’m not the biggest fan of the earcups only being able to swivel and not fold in on themselves, I’m quite pleased with the rest of the design.

There’s an adequate amount of padding on the headband, the earpads themselves are super plush and comfy, and side note, they’re incredibly easy to take off and replace. Just pull and snap back in place. The top of the headband is covered in fabric and it’s certainly very pleasant and a nice nod to the fabric-covered cases of the Momentum true wireless earbuds.

As for the carrying case and accessories, I’m actually mostly happy with it. The case itself is on the bigger side because the headphones can’t fold in on themselves, but aside from that, I love that the case feels really solid in the hand, I love that there are elastic straps inside to keep cables and stuff neat and tidy and I love that Sennheiser has provided a flight adapter when a lot of other brands have stopped providing it. Very, very nice here. Additionally, you also get a USB-A to C charging cable and a 3.5mm to 2.5mm TRS cable for wired use.

As for ports, everything’s on the right earcup, both the USB-C charging port and the 2.5mm headphone port as well as the power button and a 5-dot LED battery indicator. Touch controls are also all on the right earcup. Single tap for play/pause, double tap for toggling ANC modes. Swipe forward to skip tracks forward and swipe backwards to skip tracks backwards. Swipe up for volume up and swipe down for volume down. It’s simple and intuitive and I’ve almost never found an opportunity to be upset with Sennheiser for their control scheme. It works and it’s great. No chance for customisation here though, but there’s really no need to, in my opinion.

You’ll still want to download the Sennheiser Smart Control app for firmware updates and the likes, and there are also other features like turning on Adaptive ANC or adjusting between 20 levels of ANC, setting up geolocation zones for different ANC modes with Sound Zones, Sound Check, which is basically a super convenient way of getting a personalised EQ and Sidetone.

Connectivity-wise, these are running on Bluetooth 5.2, and they support aptX Adaptive, aptX, SBC and AAC. There’s also multipoint connectivity here, which can be managed through the app as well. Up to two devices at once, so you can connect to both your computer and phone for easy switching when calls come in.

The battery life is probably the most jaw-dropping aspect of these headphones. Sennheiser claims 60 hours of battery WITH ANC turned on and using the headphones wirelessly. That’s crazy. Putting it into perspective, Sony’s WH-1000XM5 only offers 30 hours. I’ve charged the headphones once, in the time I’ve had them. This is possibly one of the best ANC headphones for travel because you’ll most likely not need to charge them at all if you’re just taking shorter trips under 2 weeks.

There’s also on-head detection for smart pause, and there’s also an auto-off feature, which is definitely awesome for battery conservation. Something to take note of here is that the on-head detection only kicks in when the right earcup is moved. Lifting the left earcup away from your head doesn’t pause your music, so if you need to keep an ear “out” for hearing your environment while keeping your music playing, you’ll want to do that with the left earcup.

Moving onto ANC, these are really quite excellent. They cancel out low rumbles and the like very efficiently. Maybe not to the point of the XM5s, but still very good. Without music playing, there will be a difference, but come on, most of us will be listening to music when these are on our heads, right? So yeah, with music on, there’s really no background noise seeping in at all.

Microphone quality is actually pretty good on these. On the move, there’ll still be a bit of noise coming in, but overall, I’d say they’re more than decent to take work calls and the likes with.

Sound quality is yet another “wow” area. Sennheiser’s tuning is typically more mass market, with a bit of a bump in the lows, and it’s one that works very well for most genres of music. More than that though, these headphones are detailed and clear while still injecting a sense of liveliness. The bass has plenty of texture and power, while the mids are right up my alley. It’s revealing and transparent with a touch of warmth, and vocals do get a bit of lift to the forefront, which I enjoy a lot. Treble is crisp and airy as well, with a beautiful sense of refinement. This is one pair of headphones where I won’t say that I wish the treble was a bit more energetic or whatever because I’m very pleased with this sound signature all in all.

But things get even better when you take the soundstage into account. This is possibly one of the best closed-back wireless headphones that I’ve tried in terms of soundstage, layering and imaging. The soundstage is super wide and spacious, and even better, there’s a very good sense of height as well. You’ll never get the feeling of music being in your head because everything is really nicely spread out. Layering is fantastic as well, vocals and instruments are very distinctly placed and separated while still maintaining a great balance and harmony. Acoustic songs are really quite incredible on these headphones, and I highly recommend trying these out if you can.

I’m sure people will ask how these match up to the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2, which I praised for having incredible sound quality as well. And they’re both very good, yes, but the difference here is that the PX7 S2 feels a bit more clinical when compared to the Momentum 4 headphones.

At S$499 or US$350, these aren’t cheap. They’re definitely a pair of premium headphones, but Sennheiser has got almost everything right with these. I’d say they really are worth the price. The ANC is decent, the battery life is insane and the sound quality, wow. Wow, wow, wow. Sennheiser, well done.