Sennheiser Momentum 4 review: Stellar sound, insane battery life

The opposite registration-required software is Sound Verify. This merchandise helps you personalize the audio on the Momentum 4 with steerage on the perfect presets for the music you wish to hearken to. Sennheiser says you need to use the characteristic repeatedly to create a number of modes for each style, permitting you to get fairly detailed in your customization.

In fact, the app provides you extra staple items like battery share (in 10-percent increments) and connection administration. A separate settings menu affords the power to allow/disable on-head detection, computerized pausing and computerized energy off. You may as well select between quarter-hour, half-hour, 60 minutes and by no means for when the Momentum 4 will robotically flip off should you’re now not actively utilizing them.

Sound high quality

Sennheiser’s earbuds and headphones constantly provide a few of the greatest sound high quality amongst all the merchandise I check – and that’s very true of the Momentum line. The corporate has a knack for balanced tuning that also affords punchy bass the place it’s wanted and very good readability within the particulars. It’s no shock, then, that the audio profile on Momentum 4 is stellar. There’s an honest quantity of customization by way of sound in Sennheiser’s app, however the default tuning is so good I not often activated any of it.

The very first thing that struck me is how deep the sound is. By way of each low-end tone and total depth, there’s a large soundstage the place completely different genres are free to roam. Whether or not it’s the staccato synths and pulsing bass line on Sylvan Esso’s “Echo Occasion” or the myriad components dancing on high of the driving beat of Beyoncé’s “Alien Celebrity,” all the pieces sounds prefer it was positioned in an precise area, slightly than simply being compressed sound waves streamed on to your ears. Even when there’s quite a bit happening without delay, like that Beyoncé observe, you possibly can nonetheless select every ingredient. Nothing ever feels prefer it’s been smashed collectively.

The Momentum 4 are the type of headphones that you just placed on and also you uncover new features of songs you didn’t understand have been there. On Maggie Rogers’ “Need Need,” for instance, there’s lots of atmospheric airiness to a few of the devices that doesn’t come throughout on another fashions or earbuds. Issues just like the textured distortion of the bass guitar or the reverb on the drums.

In the case of ANC efficiency, Sennheiser has made an enormous enchancment. The noise cancellation on earlier fashions was positive, however it didn’t come anyplace near what Bose and Sony provide on their flagship headphones. With the Momentum 4, Sennheiser has narrowed the hole, particularly with fixed noise sources like sound machines and dishwashers. Bose and Sony are nonetheless higher at blocking undesirable clamor total, however the change from the Momentum 3 is clear when you do that new model.

Name high quality

For calls, Sennheiser has outfitted the Momentum 4 with two beamforming microphones per facet. Very similar to the ANC, the headphones do a greater job blocking fixed noise throughout calls than issues like background music or tv. The particular person on the opposite finish can nonetheless hear you loud and clear, it’s simply apparent you’re speaking over high of the roar. Your voice additionally sounds higher than most headphones and earbuds total, lots of which supply the audio high quality of a speakerphone slightly than something with a touch of mids and bass.

The Momentum 4 can robotically swap to transparency mode if you make a video or voice name. And matched with Sidetone that allows you to hear your self talking, these are a stable choice for finishing both of these duties. Plus, multipoint connectivity means you possibly can take a name in your telephone and simply soar again to a podcast or music in your pc.

Battery life

Sennheiser guarantees a jaw-dropping 60 hours of battery life on the Momentum 4, and that’s with energetic noise cancellation enabled. That’s double what many of the competitors affords, the place lots of premium fashions can sometimes solely muster round 30 hours. In fact, typically these battery claims don’t at all times pan out. It’s not unusual for a corporation to return up just a few hours quick. Extremely, that’s not the case right here.

Over the span of a number of days, which included powering the headphones off manually and letting them flip off on their very own, I managed 57 hours of ANC use. Sennheiser says 60 hours is achievable at “mid quantity stage, however I saved the audio round 75 p.c your entire time and nonetheless nearly hit the corporate’s estimate. If, one way or the other, you end up in a pinch, there’s additionally a quick-charge characteristic that will provide you with 4 hours of playtime in 5 minutes.

The competitors

Regardless of Sennheiser’s mixture of stellar sound and insane battery life, the Momentum 4 doesn’t fairly have sufficient to dethrone Sony’s WH-1000XM5. Sony merely affords extra options, like computerized pausing if you begin speaking, although it is clear firms like Sennheiser are catching up with instruments like location-based sound settings. The M5’s noise cancellation is healthier and Sony consists of compatibility with its LDAC and 360 Actuality Audio, on high of DSEE Excessive upscaling. In fact, the Momentum 4 has double the battery life and at full worth Sennheiser’s providing is $50 cheaper.

I’m additionally an enormous fan of the ​​Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2. They provide extra of a refined look than the Momentum 4, with spectacular sound high quality and higher than marketed battery life. These are a few of the solely headphones I think about to rival Sennheiser by way of audio. ANC works nicely and the Px7 S2 are loads comfortable to put on for lengthy intervals of time, however the headphones might use just a little extra polish with options just like the ambient sound mode and customizable EQ. They’re additionally the identical worth because the M5, so Sennheiser is the extra inexpensive choice as soon as once more.

Wrap-up

The Momentum 4 is Sennheiser’s most full set of headphones so far. The corporate improved its ANC efficiency so it matches up higher with the excellent sound high quality that was already a staple of the Momentum line. Conveniences like Sidetone, computerized pausing and Sound Zones make your life simpler, however moreover stellar audio, the principle attraction right here is the battery life. Sennheiser has doubled up a lot of the competitors there and, maybe much more impressively, has managed to take action whereas retaining noise cancellation energetic. The design is what it’s, however all the pieces else combines for a worthy contender.