Excellent sound quality for a hefty price

Wires are so passè. That cord dangling from your neck is less of an accessory than it is a burden. How many times has it gotten caught in your zipper, got snagged on a door handle, or tangled in a knot? We’re living in 2019, and those kinds of daily burdens should be a thing of the past. Right?

That’s the narrative smartphone manufacturers have sold since dumping the headphone jack. And, it’s mostly true. Wires can be cumbersome. It’s not quite the disaster you often see recreated in a tragic infomercial, but wires can be messy. You also have to worry about losing a dongle if you want to keep your beloved tether. Needless to say, maybe it’s better to just switch to Bluetooth headphones and avoid the hassle.

Bluetooth headphones helped us get away from a wired experience. They showed us that we can live in a world with great sound and no wires. But, there was an even brighter future where earbuds were completely wire-free. Just like the time you pretended two Bluetooth headsets were futuristic headphones. AirPods made that a mainstream reality and there’s now a crowded field of truly wireless competitors.

Sennheiser are throwing their own earbuds into the wireless ring. For $299.95, Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbuds feature the excellent build and sound quality that you expect from a trusted name among audiophiles across wired and, now, wireless generations. Average battery life and a premium price hold it back from a no-brainer purchase, but the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbuds definitely live up to the lofty expectations. 

Sleek, simple design

Image: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

Sennheiser did not want to blend into the crowd with its first foray into truly wireless earbuds. There’s the brushed metallic ring with a bold Sennheiser logo that lets the world know what’s in your ears. Sennheiser also opted for the more sport-y earbud instead of a sleeker stem option favored by Apple or Anker. That’s not too much of an issue since most truly wireless earbud options have the same form factor as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. 

In the box you’ll get a charging cable, the charging case, earbuds, and three additional silicone tips. Not a bad assortment at all and you should find tips that fit your ears.

After a quick charge, I put the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbuds in and felt the world around me disappear. There’s a good deal of noise cancellation just from the design alone. Pairing for the first time required pressing both earbuds for around five seconds. You’ll hear a friendly vocal prompt and “Connected” when you successfully pair with a device.

Touch controls in both ‘buds

Image: CHARLES POLADIAN/MASHABLE

Touch controls can be found on both earbuds. Tap the left earbud to pause music, double tap to skip. Leaving your finger on the earbud lowers the volume.

There are similar controls on the right earbud. Tapping once answers a call and holding down raises the volume. Two taps turns on Transparent Hearing so you can hear what’s going on around you. Controls were relatively intuitive once you remember which earbud was responsible for what. The only gripe was with the volume controls. There’s always the fear of going to low or high, or a preemptive recognition of a tap instead of a hold.

That aside, everything feels intuitive. Pull an earbud out and your music is automatically paused. As you move to put it back in after a quick conversation, Spotify resumes just as you near your ear. These controls do vary by your platform of choice. I had no issues with Spotify, but I couldn’t control playing from a SoundCloud tab, for example. It was also a seamless experience when taking the earbuds out of the charging case. They would pair instantly and I never had to re-connect to my Macbook. 

The tapping does feel awkward initially, but you’ll get used to having control at your fingertips. It’s a much better alternative than having to rely on your phone for everything.Touch controls also just feel more natural than having buttons on the earbuds.

Superb sound quality

Image: Charles Poladian/mashable

Once in, you’ll forget about everything else. All the talk about Qualcomm apt-X Low Latency compatibility, a 7mm dynamic, and 2-mic noise canceling technology add up to a great listening experience. Music sounds full, rich, and well-balanced. Bass floats in the middle adding weight without bombast. Higher pitched songs never feel tinny. Music sounds robust and what you would expect when you see the Sennheiser name.

I typically listen to rock with some folk thrown in. I never thought anything was overpowered in the mix while listening my prefered genres. Going further afield, Ariana Grande came in crisp with bright production. Every genre I tested was handled with ease. You’ll be able to tease out the little flourishes layered in your favorite songs.

If the preset experience is too vanilla for you, or you need some extra oomph, the Smart Control app has an equalizer. You’ll be able to tinker until you find the perfect mix. It’s a little overly designed and more straight-forward controls may be better appreciated instead of sliding around on a sine graph. The Smart Control app also adjusts Transparent Hearing settings.

Not-so-great battery life

The build quality is what you would expect from a premium Sennheiser product. The gray knit charging case is larger than other cases. While it looks nice, it is slightly inconvenient if you’re trying to reduce clutter or bulges.

All told, you’ll get 4 hours of battery life on fully charged earbuds and 8 hours for a fully charged case. That’s 12 hours of battery life, which trails both the AirPods and the Jabra Elite 65+. Bose SoundSport Free wireless headphones have 15 total hours of battery life. The Anker Soundcore Liberty Air features 25 total hours of battery life. 

The case doesn’t feel flimsy and there’s a satisfying snap as you close the case. You’ll get a similar feeling when you slide your earbuds into the case and they snap into place. 

There’s also a LED status light that gives you a general sense of the power level for you case and the earbuds when they’re charging inside the case. Green means fully charged, pulsing yellow means the earbuds are being charged. A steady yellow with the earbuds in the case means the charging case is out of juice and the earbuds are not charging. A steady yellow without the earbuds means the charging case has less than 50% battery. 

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbuds each have LED indicators. They’ll let you know if they earbuds are pairing, connected, or if your earbuds need a charge.

A wireless future

Personally, I think I’ll always be terrified of sacrificing a Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earbud to the aether. I have been known to be clumsy and I’m not at my best during the morning commute. I’m worried about dropping an earbud and never seeing it again. 

But, I think that fear is only a natural part of evolution. I lamented that I would lose the dongle after the headphone jack was eliminated. I haven’t, yet. There was a similar fear when I made the switch to wireless Bluetooth earbuds. Surely, these buds attached by a lone wire will be no match for my inconsiderate “shove all the things into any available pocket” approach to life. It was fine.

I thought I would lose the ear tips after switching from over-the-ear headphones to earbuds way back when. I occasionally do! But, again, I shouldn’t let these momentary setbacks prevent me from the potential that tech has to offer.

So, it may be scary and there may come a day when an earbud finds a new home at a train station in Brooklyn tucked alongside other forgotten detritus. Until then, let’s celebrate.

And there’s a lot to celebrate with Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. They sound great even if they can be slightly uncomfortable after wearing them for a long time. There’s an app that’s actually useful! You can control all sorts of things with it. 

The touch controls and overall build quality add even more value to this truly wireless option. It’s what you hope to get when spending $299.95 for a premium pair of earbuds.

Sennheiser just about nails it on its very first attempt. But, there are some nagging quibbles. The battery falls short compared to the competition. The combined 12 hours is fine, and you’ll likely not worry about the next charge for days if you’re dropping them into the case when you’re not using them.

However, you’re always going to go back to that price. For five cents under $300, it’s not too outlandish to think that your purchase should, at the very worst, be somewhere in the middle of the pack. You could spend thousands of dollars on the “best,” but we’re talking about consumer products. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless falls flat here considering its competitors with better battery life are much cheaper. Anker’s option are over $200 cheaper while Airpods, the Jabra Elite 65+, and Bose options are around half the price.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless delivers in quality and, if you’re an audiophile, that might be all that matters. There’s no questioning the overall quality here and Sennheiser produced a great pair of headphones in the increasingly competitive true wireless market.