The Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones are very good. That’s it, review over. Good job everyone, take an early mark. Give your nana a call if you haven’t recently. If you’re someone who does their homework when it comes to headphones, this probably doesn’t come as a shock. Sennheiser has a pretty good track record, and the Momentum 4 really live up to the hype.
If you’re currently in the market for a fancy new pair of headphones, or you need a bit more convincing, here’s why the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones are worth your time.
Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones
What is it?
Sennheiser's latest wireless over-ear headphones.
Price
$579.95
Like
Excellent audio quality, active noise cancellation and battery life; comfortable to wear.
No Like
Touch gestures are a bit finicky at times.
Audio quality and noise cancellation
I cannot stress how good these headphones sound. Everything I’ve played through them has sounded so rich, from the densely-layered samples of DJ Shadow’s Entroducing to the fuzzy cacophony of My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless, which sounded tremendous. There’s a very clear depth to everything I’ve played through them, with a nice balance across its frequencies, even with vanilla equaliser settings.
The companion app includes a customisable equaliser that you can adjust manually or, you can use the ‘Sound Check’ feature to have a personalised EQ setting generated for you. To get these custom settings, the app asks you to answer a series of prompts while you’re listening to music. From there, it’ll use your responses to generate a custom EQ, which you can save in a library and activate at will.
I was impressed with this feature when I reviewed the Momentum 3 earbuds, and I’m happy to report that those feelings haven’t wavered with these headphones. While anything you listen to will sound nice on the vanilla settings, these custom EQ profiles do help give an added layer of quality to the experience. Cranking the bass while listening to Motorhead’s ‘Ace of Spades’ made my brain feel like it was on the verge of being liquified.
On top of this high-quality audio experience is very good active noise cancellation. In an already quiet setting, it’ll really let you focus on what you’re listening to by sucking out whatever ambient noise remains, while it’ll make quick work to drown a particularly loud office or walk alongside a busy road.
The headphones use two microphones for noise cancellation and if you don’t want to fiddle around with ANC levels while on the go, there’s an Adaptive feature that’ll automatically take care of that for you.
Battery life
According to Sennheiser, the Momentum 4 has a battery life of up to 60 hours and, yeah, they aren’t kidding. I’ll have these running for almost my entire work day, Monday to Friday, and I can usually get away with charging them every two weeks.
A feature that I really appreciated is that the headphones remain active while charging. So, on those rare occasions where I absolutely needed my headphones for something but the battery was almost dead, I could do both. The Momentum 4 comes with a very long USB-C cable as well, so I had no problem wearing them while plugged into a desktop charger or my USB hub.
Form and function
I’ve been wearing these headphones a lot, but I never felt uncomfortable or could feel them hugging my head too tightly.
The Momentum 4 can save connection profiles for up to six devices and will try to connect to the last two it was paired with. The Bluetooth 5.2 connection has to be one of the quickest I’ve ever used, and the multipoint connection has been a fantastic addition to my day-to-day, as I can seamlessly slip from my phone to my work laptop.
While you can’t adjust ANC directly through your PC, thanks to the multipoint connection being constantly active, you can adjust it through the mobile app or through the touch function.
The on-head detection is sharp, and so are its smart pause features. I’m a big fan of pulling off one ear cup when someone speaks to me, having whatever I’m listening to pause and then having it start back up without missing a beat when I put the ear cup back on. Although, it’s worth noting that this on-ear detection feature only works for the right ear cup, so if you’re a lefty, then you might need to get used to using your non-dominant hand to take your headphones off. Or just wear them backwards, maybe?
I did find the touch settings were a bit finicky at times, and sometimes it wouldn’t register both fingertips. The simple gestures like swiping up or down to increase/decrease the volume level would work fine, but I had trouble with the pinch and stretch gestures. One thing worth noting is that these headphones don’t offer the ability to customise the touch settings as well.
It can’t all be good, right? Well, kind of. Turning the headphones on and off involves holding the power button for a few seconds. I’d prefer it if it was a bit shorter because I’ve accidentally psyched myself out thinking it was on/off when it wasn’t. Compared to other headphones and earbuds I regularly use, the Momentum 4 doesn’t use a voice prompt to let you know it’s on or off. Instead, the headphones play an ascending or descending tone. Again, would’ve preferred a vocal prompt, but I’m splitting hairs here.
Near the power switch on the right ear, there are five small white lights that represent 20% of a charge each. These are handy shortcuts for knowing roughly where your battery life sits with a quick look, as they’ll up when charging or decrease through usage.
Should you buy the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones?
Absolutely. While I’m a die-hard fan of the Sony XM3s, the Momentum 4 has firmly dethroned them as my day-to-day headphones. The audio quality, active noise cancellation and battery are some of the best I’ve experienced, they’re comfy to wear over long periods and I’m impressed by a lot of the intuitive features. While I have a few very minor nitpicks about some functionality, in the long run, it’s water off a duck’s back.
Should you drop everything and pick up a pair? Well, it depends on your situation. With a retail price of $579, these headphones are pretty pricy, and a bit more expensive than what Sennheiser’s competitors are offering – the Sony WH-1000XM5 are priced at $549, while the Bose QuietComfort 45 are $499.95. If you’re already rocking a pair of those headphones, you don’t need to rush out to replace them with these.
I think the Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones are worth the investment if your current pair of headphones are showing their age, or you want to make the jump from a cheaper pair to something more high-end.
Where to buy the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Headphones
Amazon Australia ($475.85) | eBay ($479 with the code HGMAY) | The Good Guys ($499)