Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless Headphones Review

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 have the same retro sleek-looking design as the Sennheiser Momentum 2 Wireless, but in a slightly bulkier design. They have leather padding on the large oval cups. The headband is simple and quite similar to the last model, as well.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 are quite comfortable, and their design is an improvement over the last model. The cups are bigger and the padding is softer and cushier. The headband is also more comfortable and distributes the weight of the headphones well. Wearing these headphones for a while won’t be an issue for most people.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's control scheme is decent. You can easily play/pause your music or answer/end calls with the middle button. You also have volume control with the top and bottom buttons and track skipping with the middle button as well. It’s a bit hard to distinguish which button you're on, but they offer decent tactile and audible feedback. These headphones also have a button to control the level of ANC and talk-through. There’s also an extra button that triggers your voice assistant if you press it but puts the headphones in Bluetooth pairing mode when holding it. When folding the headphones, they will automatically turn off. If you're a fan of physical control schemes and want something even easier to use, however, consider the Shure AONIC 50 Wireless.

Like most over-ear closed-back headphones, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 aren’t the most breathable. They trap heat inside the cups and won’t let much airflow, especially with the leather padding. These headphones won’t be a good option for working out, as you'll sweat more than usual when wearing them.

These headphones are a bit bulkier than the last model and aren’t the most portable option. On the upside, they do fold into a more compact format, which makes it easier to slide them inside a bag or inside their case.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 come with a decent soft case that protects the headphones a bit against scratches and minor water exposure. However, since the sides of the case are soft, the headphones are not entirely protected against physical damage from falls.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 are very well-built headphones. Their frame is made from solid metal and the padding is leather, which gives it an overall very premium feel. They're built like the previous model and will withstand a few drops without too much damage. For slightly better-built headphones that still have a unique look, check out the Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Wireless.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 are decently stable wireless headphones. They stay on your head without issue during casual listening, but they won’t be the best option for sports as head movement makes them sway around. On the upside, their wireless design gets rid of the risk that a cable could get hooked and pull the headphones off your head.

• Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless headphones
• 1/16 to 1/8” audio cable
• USB-C to USB-C cable
• USB-C to USB adapter
• Soft case
• Manuals

Using firmware 4.0.8 and the High-End Fine Tuning feature, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 have a fairly neutral sound profile. They have a touch of boom to their sound, but it shouldn't overwhelm vocals or lead instruments. That said, a dip in the treble range dulls sibilants like cymbals. If you want to customize their sound, their companion app offers a parametric EQ and presets.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's frequency response consistency is decent. Their audio delivery is more consistent than the Drop + THX Panda Wireless. However, you may still notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or glasses, as this can rupture the ear cup's seal on your head. There’s also a bit of variation in the low-treble range, so it's important to take the time to ensure that the headphones fit and are positioned well on your head.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's bass accuracy is excellent. It's well-extended and balanced. It means these headphones can reproduce the deep thump and rumble of bass, common in bass-heavy music genres like EDM. They even have a touch of extra boom, thanks to a bump in the high-bass.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 have fantastic mid accuracy. The response is very well-balanced and follows our target curve well, which results in accurate reproduction of vocals and lead instruments. A bump in the high-mid can make vocals and lead instruments a bit more intense but not harsh.

The treble accuracy is fair. The left and right drivers are slightly out of sync, but the low-treble is still balanced, so vocals and lead instruments sound detailed and present. However, the dip in the mid-treble dulls sibilants like cymbals.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's peaks and dips performance is decent. A peak in the low-bass and high-bass adds thump and boom to mixes. Another peak across the high-mid to low-treble affects the right driver more, making vocals and lead instruments sound harsh and piercing. However, the following dip in the low-treble can veil the upper harmonics of those sounds. The mid-treble is uneven, so sibilants like S and T sounds are alternatingly dull and piercing.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's imaging is satisfactory. This test allows us to see the alignment of the left and right drivers. It indicates how well headphones accurately reproduce and place spatial objects like footsteps in the stereo image.

The weighted group delay mostly falls below the audibility threshold, although the small peak in the bass range may result in a slightly loose bass. The treble is transparent, though. The left and right drivers are well-matched in amplitude and frequency response, which helps with the accurate placement and localization of objects (like voices, instruments, or footsteps) in the stereo image. However, there's a lot of mismatch in phase response, and all the peaks in the phase response mismatch graph are audible. It sounds like audio is switching between the left and right driver, which is frustrating. It also seems like the High-End Fine Tuning feature also makes the mismatch worse. Keep in mind that imaging can vary between units, and it can indicate a manufacturer's quality control and ergonomics.

The soundstage is poor. The soundstage feels relatively large but unnatural and as if coming from inside the listener’s head. These are closed-back headphones and won’t sound open.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's weighted harmonic distortion performance is decent. There's a peak at normal volumes in the low to mid-treble range, but it can be hard to hear with real-life content. The rest of the frequency response falls within good levels, resulting in mostly clear and pure audio reproduction.

These are the settings used to test these headphones. We've also tested these headphones using the High-End Fine Tuning feature. Our results are only valid using this configuration.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's noise isolation is great. Some users have reported that Sennheiser's firmware update 4.0.8 has significantly improved the ANC's noise isolation performance. After retesting these headphones, the ANC now does a bit better at reducing noise around 2.4 kHz and does slightly worse at 7k. However, the rest of the noise isolation graph looks the same. You can see a graph comparison of these differences here. Overall, their ANC can block out a good amount of bass-range noise like bus and plane engines, as well as ambient chatter. It also cuts down high-pitched noise like the hum of an AC unit.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's leakage performance is mediocre. Like the Avantree HT5009 Wireless, they leak quite a bit at high volumes, meaning you shouldn't use them in very quiet environments with people surrounding you, as they could be bothered by your audio leaking out.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's integrated microphone is decent and quite an improvement over the Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 Wireless. It sounds a bit clearer and more full-bodied than most Bluetooth headphones, so people on the other side of the line won’t have trouble understanding you in a quiet environment.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's integrated mic has good noise handling. It's suitable to use in quiet and moderately loud environments, but it may struggle to fully separate speech from ambient noise in loud situations.

Update 02/14/2020: Due to an issue with the way we tested passive playback on headphones with no dedicated power button, these headphones were incorrectly listed as having passive playback when they don't. This review has been updated to reflect these changes.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 have a good battery life. With just over 17 hours of continuous playback with the ANC feature on, it should be more than enough to last a full workday. They also have a smart pause feature that enters a standby mode as soon as you take the headphones off your head. You can also use them while charging via the USB-C cable and USB adapter. The headphones also charge if you use them wired with a USB-C phone. When taking them off, you can fold them to automatically turn them off.

The Sennheiser Smart Control app is a good tool to enhance your listening experience with the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless. You have access to a great parametric EQ and can save presets as well. You can cycle through 3 different levels of ANC and these headphones have a Tile device finder as well.

Update 12/03/2019: We fixed the issue with our dongle that was preventing us from measuring the Default SBC latency with these headphones. The review and text have been updated.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3 are Bluetooth 5.0 compatible and can connect to two devices simultaneously, which can be useful at the office if you often switch between your PC and phone. They also support NFC for a quicker and easier pairing procedure.

The Sennheiser Momentum 3's latency is decent over the SBC codec and is slightly lower than most Bluetooth headphones. On the upside, they also support aptX and aptX-LL, which both offer very low latency. You shouldn’t notice any delay when using those headphones for watching video content. They also support the AAC codec.

You can get audio on pretty much any device that has a 1/8” audio jack, but the integrated microphone doesn't work. Also, you can get audio via the USB adapter on a PC. You can use the USB-C to USB-C cable to get audio on phones as well.

Update 03/25/2021: We have added these headphones' Xbox Series X compatibility.

These headphones can only be used by plugging in their 1/8" TRS cable into an Xbox One or Xbox Series X controller. You can only receive audio and can't use their mic.

These headphones don’t have a dock.