Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless  Headphones Review

By default, these over-ears have a bass-heavy sound profile that delivers extra thump and rumble to mixes. This profile is well-suited for genres like EDM and hip-hop, but if you prefer a different sound, their companion app offers a graphic EQ and presets.

With the default EQ setting, the mids, like keys and lead guitars, sound reasonably even in the mix, if perhaps a bit pushed down by the headphones' strong bass emphasis in busy songs. Meanwhile, the treble range is bright and gets really close to our target: vocals sound articulate, and cymbal hits sound full and detailed. With the extra dose of bass, it'll still sound a touch warm in the highs, but overall, if the bass is too much, you can use the EQ to decrease the low-end and still enjoy a really clear top-end.

You can view a comparison of the 'Bass Boost', 'Podcast', and default modes, which you can also enable at the same time as any other custom EQ setting in the app. Amusingly, 'Podcast' mode is still rather bassy, though it hollows out the lower mids, while 'Bass Boost' unsurprisingly ups the low-end considerably. Still, these EQ presets mainly alter the bass and lower mid-range.

As of firmware 2.13.42, these headphones sound slightly different with ANC turned on or off, but the latest firmware update hasn't changed their sound. The headphones also produce noticeable white noise when powered on (regardless of their ANC setting); while this is common for noise cancelling headphones due to their microphone systems, their noise floor is on the higher end of products we've tested. It's worth noting that sensitivity to white noise varies from person to person, and the noise floor will be masked by audio playback.

Unlike the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 don't support this manufacturer's High-End Fine Tuning feature. Instead, there's Sound Personalization, which is a 5-band EQ that's based on your own listening preferences. This feature will ask you to listen to a song and choose between different settings.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4's frequency response consistency is decent. There are some deviations in audio delivery based on the headphones' fit and positioning. You may notice a drop in bass if you have thick hair or wear glasses.

They have decent bass target compliance. The entire range is exaggerated, with the low-bass receiving the biggest dose so that deep sub-bass wobbles in dubstep and EDM tracks really stand out. Meanwhile, in rock and pop tracks, like Help I'm Alive by Metric, the kick drum gains extra boom and punch, which can slightly overpower the vocals. However, you can adjust the tuning in the app to your taste.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have excellent mid-range target compliance. The low to mid-mid are well-balanced and nearly flat, which results in present and clear vocals and lead instruments. It can be heard in acoustic songs like The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel, as both vocalists' voices sound natural with a hint of intensity in the high-mids within the mix.

Their treble target compliance is incredible. Virtually the entire region adheres closely to our target for bright, detailed, present, and airy vocals, cymbals, and all of the accompanying harmonics in your music. That said, depending on the track, the potent bass emphasis can overpower this range's clarity in the mix.

These headphones control their sound profile very well. For most of the bass and mid-range, it follows its own profile with very minor peaks and dips, producing a smooth transition between frequencies. The high-mids region has a small peak followed by a small dip that pushes vocals slightly up or down in the mix, depending on the pitch. The treble region has a series of low, narrow peaks and dips that either add a bit of overly bright detail or very slightly veiled detail to vocals and the harmonics of cymbals. The large peak in the high-treble is in a higher frequency range than many people's hearing but comes across as extra airiness if your ears are sensitive.

They have a poor passive soundstage, which is normal for closed-back over-ears. Their soundstage seems small, unnatural, and as if the sound is coming from inside your head rather than from speakers placed in the room around you.

These are the settings used to test the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4. These headphones support aptX Adaptive, which is backward compatible with aptX HD. Our results are only valid when used in this configuration.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 look more like the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless than the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless, so they have a sleeker design than the previous generation. Sennheiser has removed the metal hinge design and opted for a plastic frame with cloth detailing. The manufacturer's logo is printed on the lower part of the headband. These headphones come in five color variants: 'Black,' 'White,' 'Graphite,' 'Denim,' and 'Black/Copper.'

These headphones are lightweight and comfortable for most people. The headband is comfortable, and they don't clamp too tightly on your head. However, depending on the size of your ears, they may touch the driver housing inside the ear cups. If you have a large head, you may also have trouble getting a good fit. The headband can put a bit of pressure on the top of your head, but it's not as fatiguing as the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have great controls. There's only one button and a touch-sensitive surface on the right ear cup, which is easy to use. There's also a unique pinching movement you can use on the touch surface to adjust the strength of the ANC and transparency modes. However, to use this command, adaptive ANC needs to be off in the app. The touch-sensitive surface is also a bit too responsive, and you can accidentally register a command if you move the headphones on your head. There are beeps to let you know when you've registered a command, as well as voice prompts for a Bluetooth connection. However, the volume and track-skipping beeps are the same tones. You also need to use the app for some features to be active.

Power button:

• Single press: Mutes and unmutes the mic.
• Press and hold: Turns the headphones on and off.

The touch-sensitive surface on the right earcup:

• Single tap: Plays and pauses audio. Also answers and ends a call.
• Double tap: Cycles between ANC on and transparency mode. Also accepts an incoming call and puts an active call on hold.
• Swipe forward: Fast forwards through your track. Also accepts calls.
• Swipe backward: Skips to the previous track. Also ends calls.
• Hold center for two seconds: Rejects a call.
• Swipe up: Turns the volume up incrementally.
• Swipe down: Turns the volume down incrementally.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have mediocre portability. Their ear cups can swivel to lay flat, but you can't fold them up into a more compact shape.

The carrying case is great. Thanks to its rigid body and fabric-covered zipper, it feels very sturdy and secure. There's space inside to store the accessories.

We had to order a second unit as the first pair of headphones we purchased was defective and couldn't hold a charge. Our second unit doesn't have this issue, but our experience may indicate issues in quality control. If you've had the same problem, please let us know in the forums. However, assuming you don't get a defective unit, they have a great build quality. The headphones are mostly made of plastic with a silicone and cloth headband, as well as faux leather ear cups. The plastic ear cups attract fingerprints, which is a bit annoying. Overall, these headphones feel solid and sturdy but not as well built as the Bowers & Wilkins Px8 Wireless, which have an aluminum and brushed metal frame. You can also purchase replacement earpads from the Sennheiser website. That said, you can't replace components like the battery, which is possible with the Fairphone Fairbuds XL.

They're decently stable. They shouldn't move around much if you're casually listening to music at your desk or while walking around. However, they can fall off your head with more intense head movements.

• Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 headphones
• 1/16" to 1/16" TRS audio cable
• USB-A to USB-C cable
• Airplane adapter
• Hard case
• Manuals

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have good noise isolation. These headphones have adaptive ANC, and while they have some trouble reducing the very low bass frequency sounds, they do a better job of blocking out ambient chatter and the high-pitched hum of AC units. If you're looking for an even better noise isolation performance, consider the Sonos Ace.

However, these headphones don't have an ANC off mode and can only switch between ANC on and transparency mode. As a result, we tested the passive noise isolation with the headphones off.

These headphones perform very well when it comes to cutting out noise from everyday scenarios. They're great at blocking out the whine of airplane engines, as well as the sounds of a busy, traffic-filled street. They also do a great job of cutting out office noise, from chatty coworkers to computer fan noise.

Wind noise is difficult for headphones to counteract as it directly interacts with the ANC's microphones. This causes the ANC to produce anti-noise to cancel it out, even though the sound doesn't fully reach your ear. However, it results in a loud, annoying sound. While these headphones come with a wind suppression feature, we found that it didn't make much difference to the level of wind noise regardless of whether it was set to 'Max' or 'Auto.' Overall, these headphones do a better job of cutting out wind noise compared to similar over-ears like the Sony WH-1000XM5 Wireless.

Their leakage performance is great. Leakage is mostly concentrated in the mid and treble ranges and sounds fairly thin as a result. It's unlikely that you'll bother others around you if you like to listen to your audio at high volumes.

The integrated mic has a fair recording quality. Your voice sounds fairly clear and easy to understand. We used an estimated value for LFE as the processing job is recording LFE at -3dB by default, which doesn't reflect its real performance. To account for this, we measured LFE at -6dB, as this is the point in the response that we feel is closest to the true LFE. Even though there isn't much bass in the recording quality, it's not as bad as the graph indicates. We are looking into this issue, though.

Users have reported a drop in mic audio quality when using the headphones via USB. When we connected our unit to our PC using this connection, and played a track, recording halfway to mimic a conference call. You can hear the recording here (it's quite loud, so you may want to lower your audio before playing it!). Although there's slight hissing coming from our speaker in the testing box, there's also a noticeable drop in audio quality, which can be frustrating if you want to use them for work calls. Keep in mind that the recording only shows the difference between USB and Bluetooth mic audio quality and doesn't demonstrate the sound quality of the headphones.

The microphone's noise handling performance is mediocre. The mic has trouble separating your voice from ambient noise. As a result, your voice can be drowned out if you're on the phone in a busy office or subway station.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have an outstanding battery performance. The manufacturer advertises them to last 60 hours continuously with their ANC on, and we measured just over 62 hours, which is fantastic. Battery life can vary depending on usage, though. Luckily, they're equipped with an auto-off timer to help conserve power when not in use, and you can even use the headphones passively or while charging.

The Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app is amazing. Here is a video of how it works. As of firmware 2.13.42, the app offers a 5-band graphic EQ, customizable presets, and a Sound Check feature, which is a custom EQ that uses settings you select after listening to your favorite songs. You can also access the sound personalization feature, which allows the buds to provide sound based on your individual hearing profile, as well as sound zones, which change the EQ and ANC settings based on your location. There are ANC controls, so you can turn the ANC on and off and adjust the Wind Noise Reduction settings. You can adjust the sidetone, turn head detection on or off, see which codecs are being used, and reset the headphones. You can also activate High-Resolution Audio mode, which allows you to use aptX Adaptive codec for streaming audio in higher quality or with lower latency, depending on what you want. You can also use Sleep Mode to lock and unlock touch controls.

These headphones come with a 2.5mm (1/16") to 3.5mm (1/8") cable, which you can use to receive audio, but which doesn't offer mic support. You can also connect the headphones via a USB cable with full audio and mic capabilities, though the microphone quality is worse than when connected via Bluetooth. It's also worth noting that latency is higher when connected via USB than via analog, so you may notice slight lip sync delays if you're streaming video over this connection.

These headphones have good Bluetooth connectivity. They support multi-device pairing, so you can stay connected to your phone and computer at the same time. Like the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2 Wireless, they also support aptX Adaptive and are backward-compatible with aptX HD, which can help stream hi-res audio content with better audio quality. That said, latency is high with the default codec, SBC, as well as higher-quality codecs like aptX and aptX Adaptive (High-Quality), and delays are noticeable between the audio you hear and the visuals on screen. It's not a big deal if you're only streaming audio, but you'll want to stick to aptX Adaptive (Low Latency) if you're watching videos. Some apps and devices compensate for latency differently.

We also checked how Sennheiser's 'Audio Resolution' and 'Standard' modes affect latency. However, when using aptX Adaptive (High Quality), both modes performed very similarly at over 350 ms. As a result, we expect both Bluetooth modes to perform the same. The mid-tier Sennheiser ACCENTUM Plus support a similar set of Bluetooth codecs with lower latency when using aptX Adaptive (High Quality), although you'd still notice lag if you tried watching video, and their low latency codec results are similar.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 have full audio and mic compatibility when connected via Bluetooth to your PC. These headphones also have full compatibility when used via wired USB, though the mic's recording quality is worse when connected via USB. However, if you want to use an analog connection, you'll only receive audio and can't use the mic.

These headphones are only compatible with PlayStation consoles via analog and wired USB. When using wired USB, they have full audio and mic compatibility. However, if you're using an analog connection, you can only receive audio and won't be able to use their mic.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 are compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S when you plug their analog cable into your controller's AUX port. However, you can only receive audio and can't use their mic.