I tested the long-awaited Sennheiser Momentum 5 — and they do one thing Apple, Sony, and Bose headphones could never

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless have a lot to live up to. We loved the previous model, Momentum 4, back in 2023. Sennheiser’s newest premium wireless headphones face stiff competition: the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2, the AirPods Max 2, the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Sony 1000X The ColleXion, the Dali IO-8… the list could go on and on.

So why the Momentum 5, when you could get any of these alternatives and (probably) have just as much fun? Honestly, the Sennheisers offer much more bang for your buck. You get 57 hours of battery, reigning supreme over the AirPods Max 2’s measly 20 hours and the Sony XM6’s 30 hours — and it’s replaceable. Yes, you can replace your headphone’s battery with just a screwdriver. While you’d get better sound quality with the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 S2, AirPods Max 2, or Sony WH-1000XM6, you are saving up to $400.

But is this enough to make the Sennheiser Momentum 5 the best headphones you can buy? I’m not giving the answer away that easily — to find out, you’ll have to keep reading this Sennheiser Momentum 5 review.

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Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Specs

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Price & availability

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless will launch on June 16th at $399/£329. This makes them remarkably affordable for their performance — you’d be paying $549 for the AirPods Max 2, $459 for the XM6, and $449 for the QuietComfort Ultra 2.

Even so, there has been a $50 increase from the Momentum 4’s MSRP of $349. Although I hate to see unjust price increases, the 4 were released way back in 2022… so here I think it’s acceptable. Things are just more expensive now — even if Apple did manage to keep 2026’s AirPods Max 2 the same launch price as 2020’s AirPods Max.

Of course, this is still a decent chunk of moolah if you’re on a budget. In that case, I’d recommend checking out Sennheiser’s more affordable line, the Accentum Wireless, which will set you back just $189 (often discounted to $98).

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Design

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless are the perfect example of the adage, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” To some, they might be frightfully plain-looking and, dare I say, ugly. But to others, they might be simple, functional, and, consequently, gorgeous.

I fall more into the first camp. Don’t get me wrong, the Momentum 5 aren’t hideous. They are straightforward. Effective. To the point. No frills. But… I don’t know. I wish they had a little more oomph. Looks-wise, my favorite cans are the AirPods Max 2. The anodized aluminum cups and mesh headband just have that je ne sais quoi that I look for in a pair of headphones. But, unfortunately, the brown fabric headband of the Momentum 5 looks like my carpet. And I just can’t see past that.

I’m not a huge fan of the appearance of the Bose QC Ultra 2, Sony XM6, or the Dali IO-8, either. I do like the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H95 and the B&W Px8 S2, but nowhere near as much as I like the Max 2.

I do, however, love the hard-shell carry case. It feels premium and protective and the zip runs smoothly.

There’s no IP rating, but that’s fairly standard for over-ears. The AirPods Max 2, Sony XM6, Bose QC Ultra are all IP-less, too.

Comfort

When it comes to weight, at 10.2 ounces, the Momentum 5 are firmly middleweight over-ears. They’re 3 ounces lighter than the heifers of the premium over-ear pack, the AirPods Max 2, but 2 ounces heavier than the Sony XM6 and Bose QC Ultra 2. I wore the Momentum 5 for 7 hours without feeling the need to take them off.

The ear cups are deliciously comfortable, and there’s a decent foam padding between the drivers and my head. This makes the headphones feel more premium, which makes me want to forgive the carpet-looking headband fabric.

Controls

Personally, I loathe touch controls on over-ear headphones. I can never get them right, and I will always lean towards cans that utilize good old-fashioned buttons. I actually ended up turning them off because they were so annoying.

Weirdly, the volume control seems to affect a hidden volume dial — when I increased or decreased using the on-cup control, it didn’t affect the volume of my output device. I got a “Volume max” announcement through the headphones, but both my laptop volume and Qobuz volume were less than middle.

Strange, but you can, of course, still just adjust the volume using the output device.

Connectivity

Right now, the Momentum 5 use Bluetooth 5.4, but Sennheiser has confirmed it will update to Bluetooth 6.0 via a future firmware release. Even so, the pair I tested use Bluetooth 5.4, so that’s all I can discuss at this time.

I am pretty disappointed to see such a big release come with a 3-year-old Bluetooth version out of the box, but it’s nowhere near as bad as Apple releasing the $549 earlier this year with a 5-year-old Bluetooth version (5.3).

In reality, I was able to get out of my apartment and out the front door before the headphones disconnected, which is about as much range as you'll realistically need from a set of headphones.

Of course, there’s multipoint connectivity, which was straightforward to set up and completely headache-free.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Sound quality

On the whole, the Momentum 5 sound great. However, I don’t think they’re perfect. I tested using Qobuz, our best music streaming service for audiophiles, on both wireless and wired playback.

Using my Sound Personalized EQ, I listened to ‘thank u, next’ by Ariana Grande. Although the bass and most of the lead vocals sounded smooth, rich, and intense — like the best chocolate, come to think of it — the treble suffered from some pitchiness. The headphones couldn’t replicate the treble without distortion. This was most distracting in the layered backing vocals and the super high notes towards the end of the track. This was also present while listening with the 3.5mm aux cable, which was disappointing.

I listened to other Ariana Grande tracks — ‘yes, and?’, ‘God is a woman’ — this distortion issue wasn’t as noticeable, but it was still there. I suppose there’s something in Ariana’s voice that the Momentum 5 just don’t like. Sorry, Miss Grande, I guess.

When listening with a wired connection, I played ‘My Moon My Man’ by Feist, an indie rock track with high-pitched female vocals, pianos, and guitars. This song didn’t suffer from the same distracting pitchiness in the treble as ‘thank u, next’, so that problem was an anomaly.

‘Hexagons’ by Muse and ‘Docket ft. Bully’ by Blondshell and Bully both sounded good — but not amazing. Vocals in both of these tracks were the stars of the show. ‘Rock’ EQ made the guitars sound a little underwater. I created a ‘U’-shaped EQ, my trusty favorite, which fixed a lot of the lackluster or muddy issues — but resulted in a little crackling at the top of the treble.

Honestly, electronic music sounded the best — ‘What You Want’ by Angele, Fcukers, and Justice, and ‘Damaged Goods’ by Confidence Man both had balanced bass, detailed, expansive mids, and insistent synths that the Momentum 5 really handled excellently.

Even after hours and hours of listening and testing, I’m still conflicted about the sound. On the one hand, it’s great. It’s faithful, detailed (you can hear all the instruments separately and softer, high-frequency sounds like backing vocals and string vibrations), and the bass is some of the cleanest I’ve ever heard.

However… that treble distortion. It’s not consistent, and it’s not overly egregious. But it’s there. If you use a lower-treble EQ, it’s gone — but then you miss out on some details.

Music sounds best with Dolby Atmos and ANC off, and with a U-shaped EQ. With these settings, I truly enjoyed listening to the Momentum 5.

If you’re accustomed to Bluetooth lifestyle headphones in the $100-300 price bracket, I don’t think you’d be disappointed by the Momentum 5s at all. But if you’re looking for the best of the best sound, I’m not entirely convinced it’s here.

The Momentum 5 sound better than the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2, but weaker than the Sony WH-1000XM6 and AirPods Max 2. If you’re serious about saving that $50/$150, then you’ll get on fine with the Momentum 5.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: ANC

It breaks my heart to tell you this, but ANC is pretty poor. It’s not all bad, though: I like that you can adjust ANC to the percentage — I was able to put transparency at 100%, 71%, 36%, 12%, so on and so forth. You get the picture. I could even turn ANC off completely, which made the sound quality much better.

But when I was walking around the city, I could hear everything. I could hear rumbling engines of traffic, I could hear people talking, I could hear buskers, I could hear my own footsteps. I was really disappointed by this.

If you want seriously good ANC headphones, the Momentum 5 are not it. I would recommend Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2, Bose QuietComfort Gen 2, the Sony XM6, or, if you can afford it, Apple AirPods Max 2.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Call quality

I tested the Sennheiser Momentum 5 on work calls. My colleagues reported that my voice sounded warm and rich without being too deep, and they couldn’t hear environmental noise from around me, like sirens or the test track I played in the background.

I love that you can adjust the transparency during calls. This is the one thing I feel would really benefit all headphones — I love being able to hear myself talk when I’m on a call.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: App

As with other headphones under Sennheiser’s belt, the Momentum 5 are compatible with Sennheiser Smart Control Plus. This app is well laid out, easy to navigate, and has a ton of options.

You can turn ANC off, customize its strength, or switch on anti-wind mode. On top of that, you can activate Dolby Atmos, customize an 8-band EQ, or choose from eight presets, set up Sound Personalization, activate Sound Zones, and turn off touch controls.

Sound Personalization is like JBL’s PersoniFi (JBL Live 770NC) or Soundcore’s HearID (Soundcore Space One Pro). It was a little glitchy — I had to restart a couple of times, as when I clicked ‘back’ the sound stopped working entirely — but got it working in the end. You have to deactivate Sound Personalization to use Dolby Atmos.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Battery

One of the best aspects of the Momentum 5 is the battery life. These headphones have a whopping 57-hour battery life — with ANC on. I listened for 16 hours, and the battery life went down to 90%. Half of this was with wired, which doesn’t seem to drain battery, but the 57-hour rated life checks out.

This is miles ahead of the rest of the premium can crowd — Apple is limping behind with 20 hours for the AirPods Max 2, then you’ve got Sony and Bose with around 30 hours each (although Bose goes down to 23 with ‘Immersive Audio’ enabled). Sennheiser’s leading the charge here, and I greatly appreciate that.

You can also replace the battery with just a screwdriver. Remove the left earcup, then you only need a screwdriver to get to the battery. This is fantastic, and I think every brand should adopt this.

Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless review: Verdict

There are many, many things to like about the Sennheiser Momentum 5, but they’re not perfect, and I’m not going to pretend they are. The best features are, of course, the replaceable battery and whopping 57-hour battery life. There’s also exceptionally clean, clear bass, a balanced midrange, and great instrument separation. However, the treble can distort in some genres — sorry to Miss Ariana Grande — and the ANC is pretty poor.

But, at just $399, these are — regrettably — pretty affordable for premium headphones. You’d be paying $50 extra for Sony or Bose equivalents, $150 extra for Apple’s, and $400 more for Bowers & Wilkins’ flagships. So are you willing to get disappointing ANC to save that moolah? Perhaps. Perhaps.

If you prioritise serious comfort, replaceable batteries, love bassy music, and never listen to Ariana Grande, then you wouldn’t be disappointed by the Sennheiser Momentum 5. Not sure if it was worth the 4-year wait? Why don’t you give them a try?