Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 Headphones Review

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 look almost identical to their predecessor, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. They come in either black or white with a silver metallic accent, and their bulky shape sticks out of your ear. However, they haven't lost the premium look of the previous generation. The only visible difference is that they have several mic holes for their ANC on the earbud.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are fairly comfortable. Their bulky design can put pressure on the inside of your ear and can cause fatigue if you wear them for long periods of time, especially if you have small ears. On the bright side, they're very lightweight and come with four differently-sized ear tips so you can find the fit that feels best for you.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have good touch-sensitive controls. They're very similar to the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless' controls, but they're mappable. By default, most music-related controls like play/pause and track skipping are on the left earbud and are registered by tapping: tap once to play or pause your audio, tap twice to skip to the next track, and tap three times to skip to the previous track. The right earbud turns on/off voice assistant with one tap and turns on/off ANC with three taps. All call management also happens on the right earbud using taps. Controlling volume is fairly easy as you hold down either the left or right ear to decrease or increase the volume, respectively.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are incredibly portable. They're slightly more compact than the previous generation and should easily fit into most pockets and bags. They also come with a small charging case that should also fit in most pockets.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 come with a great hard plastic case. This solid case is covered in a grey fabric-like material and should protect the headphones from accidental bumps and drops. While there's no lock to prevent the case from opening up if it falls to the ground, it has a magnet to help keep the earbuds in place.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have an impressive build quality. They're made of dense plastic and have sleek metal surfaces that also double as touch-sensitive controls. They also feel better-built than the Cambridge Audio Melomania 1+ True Wireless and should survive a few drops or impacts without much damage. The case is similarly sturdy. The earbuds are rated IPX4 for water resistance, although we don't currently test for this.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have good stability. They lack stability fins but should still stay in place during runs or other light physical activities. However, they stick out of the ear a bit and could get caught when you're changing your clothes. Luckily, they don't have any audio cables so you don't have to worry about a cable snagging and pulling the earbuds out of your ears.

• Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 headphones
• 4x ear tip options
• Charging case
• USB-C charging cable
• Manuals

Update 02/15/2021: We've received user feedback regarding a firmware update to these headphones that may have improved their frequency response. As a result, we've retested their sound profile using firmware update 4.13.0. However, there wasn't a significant change in the frequency response curve. While we don't test the 'High-End Sound Tuning' feature, we also did a pass with this feature turned on. You can see a comparison graph of our results here. The scoring of our sound boxes haven't changed.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have a somewhat warm sound profile. They lack a bit of low bass, which fans of EDM and hip-hop may find disappointing. The dip in the treble also reduces clarity, which can hurt more vocal-centric audio like podcasts or pop music. Fortunately, you can customize their sound with a graphic EQ in the companion app.

These headphones have amazing frequency response consistency. Like most in-ear headphones, if you can achieve a proper fit using the included tips, the treble and bass response should be the same every time you use these headphones.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have great bass accuracy. The low-bass range is underemphasized, so mixes lack a bit of thump and rumble, but the rest of the response is fairly balanced. The slight overemphasis in the high-bass brings warmth and fullness but it shouldn't make your mix overly muddy.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have excellent mid accuracy. Overall, it's very flat and even, so lead instruments and vocals don't sound muddy or harsh.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have bad treble accuracy. The underemphasized low-treble can hurt the comprehensibility of vocals and lead instruments. The mid-treble range is also uneven, so sibilants like S and T sounds may sound alternately dull and piercing.

The peaks and dips performance of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 is okay. The small peak in the high-bass adds a bit of boominess and a shallow dip in the mid-mids that nudges instruments towards the back of the mix. A peak in the high-mids makes vocals and lead instruments sound harsh, and a bigger dip in the low treble hurts their presence and detail. The spike in the mid-treble also makes sibilants sharp and piercing.

The imaging performance of these headphones is great. Their weighted group delay falls below the audibility threshold for the entire range, ensuring a tight bass and transparent treble. Also, the L/R drivers of our unit are well-matched in terms of frequency, amplitude, and phase response, so objects like voices or footsteps are accurately placed in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

These headphones have a bad passive soundstage performance. Like most in-ear headphones, they bypass the outer ear, so their sound seems to be coming from inside your head, rather than from speakers set in the room around you. They also have a closed-back design, so their soundstage seems less open than that of most open-back headphones.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have a decent weighted harmonic distortion performance. There's some distortion between the high-mid and mid-treble at normal volumes, but it can be hard to hear with real-life content.

These are the settings we used to test the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2. Our results are only valid when listening using these settings.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have an okay noise isolation performance. Unfortunately, their ANC is only a slight improvement over passive noise isolation, and some headphones without an ANC feature like the Boltune BT-BH024 Truly Wireless actually have a better noise isolation performance than these headphones. That said, the Sennheiser's passive and active noise isolation can still help to block out mid-range sounds like chatter and reduce higher-pitched noise like the hum of A/C systems. They really struggle to cut down low-bass sounds like bus and plane engines, even when ANC is on. On the upside, their successor, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3, offers a significantly better overall noise isolation performance, so they're a better choice if you want to block out as much sound as possible.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have an incredible leakage performance. You should be able to listen to your music at loud volumes in a relatively quiet environment like an office without disturbing those around you.

The mic has an okay recording quality. While it's slightly better than the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless, your voice still sounds thin, slightly muffled, and lacking in detail. If you're looking for truly wireless earbuds with a better mic recording quality, take a look at the Jabra Elite 7 Pro True Wireless.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2's mic is mediocre at noise handling. It has trouble separating voices from background noise, even in moderately loud environments like an office or cafe, and is best suited for quieter spaces. Take a look at the Sennheiser CX True Wireless if you're looking for truly wireless headphones with superior microphone noise handling capability.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have a disappointing battery performance. The manufacturer advertises a seven-hour battery life, but that's with the ANC off. With ANC on, they provide a little over four hours of continuous playtime, which may not be enough to get you through your workday without pausing to recharge them. The case also holds roughly three additional charges, which is convenient, but for the amount of continuous use you get out of these headphones, their charge time is a bit long. There's no power-saving feature either. However, it should be noted that battery performance can vary with real-life use, and your experience may be different. If you're looking for truly wireless Sennheiser headphones with a better battery performance, consider the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless instead.

Update 01/04/2020: We originally reported that the Sennheiser Smart Control app offered a parametric EQ. However, we don't consider this to be a true parametric EQ since you can only adjust a single band frequency. We have updated the Equalizer test results to 'Graphic EQ + Presets' to better represent the app's capabilities.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have an alright companion app called Sennheiser Smart Control which is available on Android and iOS. With it, you can customize the number of taps and holds for registering commands on both earbuds. You can also turn 'Smart Pause' on or off, which is a feature that pauses the music when you take either earbud out of your ear. The app has a graphic EQ and allows you to create custom presets. While you can toggle the ANC feature on and off, you can't adjust its level.

Update 09/09/2021: We now measure negative latency values in test bench 1.5 and have extended our scoring curve accordingly. Negative latency means that your audio comes before your visuals. Previous to this test bench, we gave a score of 0ms when the value was negative. However, using test bench 1.5, we measured -10ms on iOS and -43ms on Android. These headphones still have a good latency value, though, as a good value falls between -55ms to 150ms. You also shouldn't notice a delay in audio or visuals. However, the scoring of this box has changed from 7.1 to 6.9 to reflect these changes.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have alright Bluetooth connectivity. They don't support multi-device or NFC pairing, so you can only connect to one device at a time, and their PC latency is extremely high, even if you're using their aptX codec instead of SBC. However, on iOS and Android, their latency falls within good levels, so you shouldn't experience too much in terms of audio delay. That said, some apps seem to compensate for latency, so your mileage may vary with real-life usage.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are Bluetooth-only headphones and can't be used wired. They come with a very short USB-C to USB-A charging cable for the case.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are Bluetooth-only and therefore aren't compatible with the Xbox One.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 come with a charging case that holds roughly three additional charges and uses a USB-C cable connection. Unfortunately, it doesn't support wireless charging.