Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 Headphones Review

These headphones look almost identical to their predecessor, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless. They have the same black plastic design with a silver metallic accent and their bulky shape still sticks out of your ear. However, they haven't lost their premium look and they're still quite dense. The only visible difference is that this generation has several mic holes for their ANC on the earbud.

These headphones are somewhat comfortable. Their bulky design can put pressure on the interior of your ear and can cause fatigue if you wear them for long periods, especially if you have small ears. On the bright side, they're very lightweight and they come with four differently sized ear tips so you can find a fit that feels best for you.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have good touch-sensitive controls. Most music-related controls such as play/pause and track skipping are on the left earbud and are registered by tapping. 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 volume respectively.

These truly wireless headphones are very portable. They're slightly smaller than the previous generation and can easily fit into most small pockets or bags. They also have a small charging case which can also fit in most pockets.

The charging case is great. This solid case has a dark gray fabric wrap that can protect your headphones from drops and impacts. 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 are very well-built headphones. They're made of dense plastic and their sleek metal accents also double as touch-sensitive controls. They should survive a few drops or impacts without too much damage. The case is similarly sturdy. The earbuds are rated IPX4 for water resistance but we don't currently test for this.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are stable enough for light physical activities like running. While they lack stability fins, they still don't move around too much. However, they stick out of the ear a bit and can get in your way if you're changing shirts. Luckily, they don't have any audio cables so you don't have to worry about a cable snagging and ripping 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 lack a bit of low bass so fans of EDM and hip-hop may find this disappointing. The dip in the treble also reduces clarity, which can hurt more vocal-centric audio like podcasts or pop music.

The frequency response consistency of these headphones is amazing. Like most in-ears, 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. Although the low-bass is underemphasized, resulting in a less thumpy sound, 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 overtly muddy.

The mid accuracy of these headphones is remarkable. Overall, it's very flat and even, so lead instruments and vocals won't sound muddy or harsh.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have poor treble accuracy. The low-treble is veiled causing vocals and lead instruments to lose their presence and detail. The mid-treble range is also uneven so sibilants like S and T sounds can sound both dull and piercing at different frequencies.

The peaks and dips performance of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 is okay. The peak in the high-mid makes voices and lead instruments honky but the steep dip in the low treble reduces their clarity and detail. The spike in the mid-treble also makes sibilants in this range sharp and piercing.

The stereo imaging of these headphones is great. The GD graph shows that the entire group delay response is below the audibility threshold, resulting in a tight bass and a transparent treble reproduction. Although there's a very slight mismatch in amplitude between the left and right drivers, the frequency and phase response are well-matched. This is important for the accurate placement and localization of objects and instruments (like voices and footsteps) in the stereo image. However, these results are only valid for our unit and yours may perform differently.

Like most in-ears, the soundstage of these headphones is poor. Achieving a speaker-like and out-of-head soundstage largely relies on the activation of the pinna or outer ear. However, the design of in-ears bypasses the pinna and doesn't interact with it. As these headphones also have a closed-back design, their soundstage tends to be less open than that of open-back headphones.

These headphones don't have any virtual soundstage features.

The weighted harmonic distortion performance of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 is decent. There can be a little bit of distortion at higher volumes between the high-mid to mid-treble but this may not be noticeable to all listeners.

These are the settings 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 a satisfactory 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 being 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 such as the hum of A/C systems. They really struggle to cut down low-bass sounds like bus and plane engines though, even when ANC is on.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have excellent leakage performance. The leaked audio is below the noise floor of an average office, so you should be able to listen to your music fairly loudly without disturbing those around you.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have an integrated microphone.

The recording quality of this microphone is satisfactory. While it's slightly better than the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless, voices still sound thin and lack detail.

This microphone 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.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have a disappointing battery performance. The manufacturer advertises a 7-hour battery life but it's only with the ANC off. Otherwise, they have slightly over four hours of continuous playtime but it won't be enough to get you through a workday without pausing to recharge them. There are also three additional charges in the case, which is nice but for the amount of playback you get out of these headphones, their charge time can seem long. There's no power-saving feature either.

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. It also has a graphic EQ with presets and a smart pause feature, which you can turn on and off. While you can turn the ANC on and off too, you won't be able to adjust its level.

Update 05/19/2020: We've remeasured both PC latencies. The test results now show a lower latency on aptX than on SBC.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 have okay Bluetooth connectivity. They don't support multi-device or NFC pairing, which means that you can only connect to one device at a time, and their PC latency is extremely high. However, on iOS and Android, they have no lag at all when streaming via Youtube, although this app may be compensating for latency. Other apps seem to compensate for latency too, so your mileage may vary in real-life usage.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are Bluetooth-only headphones.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 are Bluetooth-only headphones that can't be used wired. They come with a very short USB-C cable to charge their case.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 2 can only be used via Bluetooth on Bluetooth-enabled PCs and they aren't compatible with the PS4. Due to their high latency, they aren't recommended for gaming.

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

These headphones come with a charging case that holds three additional charges and uses a USB-C cable connection. Unfortunately, you won't be able to wirelessly charge it.