It’s here! The Sennheiser Momentum 5 is the next generation of Sennheiser’s premium headphones for the masses, building on the success of the hugely popular Momentum 4.
With improved ANC, a butt load of bass and accompanying 8-band fixed EQ, and a better-than-ever 700 mAh battery that’s user-replaceable(!), the Sennheiser Momentum 5 genuinely looks like an exciting addition to the already stacked Bluetooth headphone market.
I have tested all the major premium headphones currently fighting for market supremacy, including the Bose QC Ultra 2, the Sony WH1000XM6, the (hard to recommend) Apple AirPods Max. And Sennheiser is my favourite brand. The Sennheiser HDB 630 is my favourite pair of headphones I’ve ever used, for its scintillating sound quality with full parametric EQ. However, the Momentum 4 is the headphone I recommend to most people – a very competent all-rounder with one unbeatable ace in the hole: its current $225 / £199 price tag. That’s the best value for money on the premium Bluetooth headphone market, in my view.
So, suffice to say, I’m very interested to see what they’ve done with the Momentum 5. Sennheiser hasn’t reinvented the wheel here; this headphone uses the same 42mm driver as the Momentum 4. Audio-wise we do see an upgrade in the form of Snapdragon Sound, which enables lossless wireless audio. There’s AAC, aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless Bluetooth codecs, as well as an eight-band EQ available via the Sennheiser app – not quite parametric, but pretty comprehensive.
However, I think it’s the features all around it that are really exciting. The ANC has been improved, Sennheiser completely revamping what came before with an all-new hybrid adaptive active system powered by eight mics. The ANC on the Momentum 4 was OK, but beaten to gristle by the class-leading systems on the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2 (and the Apple Max, but still – don't buy that!). It looks like Sennheiser is aiming to make the Momentum 5 competitive with these big boys, so we’ll have to see how they’ve done.
On paper, my absolute favourite new feature is the new battery! Having 57 hours of playback is already lovely, but making it user-replaceable is a brilliant, game-changing addition. Better for sustainability, better for longevity, and a proper real-world acknowledgement that most normal people actually want their headphones to work for a long time, and aren’t interested in upgrading them every three to five years. This is excellent stuff.
There are some design touches I appreciate, too. I particularly like the look of the case bundled with the headphone, which is kept as small as possible in order to be portable, and has a built-in handle. It seems like Sennheiser actually thought about how the case will be used, rather than how it will look on Instagram.
The big question, of course, is going to be whether the Sennheiser Momentum 5 does enough to earn its $399.99 / £329.90 price tag, especially when the Momentum 4 is right there. This was my major reservation with the Bose QC Ultra 2 – an absolutely sublime headphone, but difficult to justify buying when the also-very-good QuietComfort Ultra Gen 1 was still plentifully available, very awesome, and significantly cheaper.
I’m going to be reviewing the Sennheiser Momentum 5 this week, and I can’t wait to hear how it sounds. Could it be the new consumer headphone to beat, dethroning the Momentum 4 as my top recommendation? I’ll have an answer for you soon!
