Customer Ratings & Reviews

With the abundance of excellent noise cancelling wireless headphones available, making the “right” choice is daunting. I think the Sennheiser Momentum 5 makes this task a bit easier though. It has just about everything higher-end headphone should; clean audio, solid noise cancellation, adequate comfort and other interesting features. I’m fond of its understated design too. The kicker is the Momentum 5’s battery is user replaceable so the headphones can remain useful well past its essentially disposable and more expensive competitors. That’s good for the wallet and reduces e-waste. MOMENTUM 5 OR HDB 630? Technically, the Momentum 5 falls in the middle of Sennheiser’s wireless NC line up, but it’s really a unique product rather than a hobbled underling. The Momentum 5 even has features and codecs absent in the 630. So, if you are wondering which model best suits you, understand it’s not the usual “better,” “best” comparison. It really comes down to use case. I’m fortunate to own the 630 too and with months experience to understand the key distinctions between the two models. Surprisingly, the price gap isn’t that large. I think it’s because the sound difference between the two is narrow except if listening critically, which is the 630’s forte. The two really cater to different uses. I can’t go over all the differences here, but here’s a few of my key deciders. Where the 630 is authentically neutral out of the box the Momentum 5 comes ready to rock. The 630’s 5-band parametric equalizer helps users precisely adjust frequencies for critically listening. Momentum users get a more user friendly 8-band dynamic equalizer aimed at casual listening. There’re other ways to tweak the Momentum 5’s sound too, which I’ll note in the “App” section below, but nothing that can micro adjust like the 630 has. The flagship 630 includes Sennheiser’s BTD 700 Bluetooth dongle, giving wireless lossless audio capability to devices, like the iPhone, that natively are wireless lossy only. That’s not included with Momentum 5. Fortunately, the BTD 700 is sold separately and Momentum 5 compatible, so it’s an option. It’s been transformative in my in-home listening, but I’ve yet to use the BTD 700 with the Momentum 5 simply because I wear them during travel and walking around town and I find a dongle inconvenient in those situations. Then there’s the comfort factor. The Momentum 5 is comfortable to point but its compactness has a negative impact here, and I’ll detail in the “Fit” section below. For me, it does not compare to luxuriousness of the 630 with its bigger ear cups. The 630’s plushness has a cost in its scaled-up footprint. Its larger size looks goofy on my small head and bulky to wear in public or pack for travel. In sum, the Momentum 5 is an excellent “all around” headphone. It’s terrific for walking around and travel, and home too if it will be your only pair of headphones. The 630 shines at home when you want to enjoy each music note exactly as the artist intended. BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN Construction materials differ between the two, but both have suburb build quality. They also share a similar design, with the Momentum 5 being more compact. I really dig my Momentum 5’s metallic Navy Blue “Denim” color with gray ear pads. It’s a dose of eye candy that sets the stage for the ear candy I’m about to experience. Blue is my favorite color so I’m biased here. The headband’s topside is knit fabric rather than faux leather. On the Denim Momentum it’s a fun, but stylish, black and blue pattern. I suspect the textured fabric is more difficult to clean. Smartly, the earpads and bottom of the headband is vinyl. The rest of the Momentum 5 is plastic, I’m guessing ABS. Overall it’s a joyful colorway. Pricier headphones employ plastic too so I can’t fault the Momentum 5 for matching industry standards here. The supplied zippered case is covered in a matching fabric. The Momentum 5 drops into place, no origami needed. This may seem like a minor point until you are in a rush and can’t remember which direction to fold a convolutedly designed headphone to get them to fit in the case. Included in the case are USB and 3.5mm headphone cables, each in their own compartment for a clutter-free experience. FAIR-ISH FIT & COMFORT My head is oval and small. I wear a size 6 7/8 or 7 baseball cap and only needed to slightly raise the Momentum 5’s yokes for a no-slip fit. They have plenty of extension. I measured a bit more than 1.25” per side. Widthwise, max spread from edge of the left cup to the edge of the right is about 6”. The headband is comfortable, but I’d prefer more padding. Clamping force is gentle; my head doesn’t feel like an orange being squeezed. During walks, workouts, or even a happy dance there’s little movement. However, they might shift during a run. They also are neither water nor sweat resistant. Any discomfort comes from heavy-ishness of the ear cups. I always know they are on. Fit and comfort is subjective though since everyone’s head and ears are different. This is my experience. While head is small, my ears didn’t get the bulletin. They stick out like Alfred E. Neuman’s. As such, my ears fit like they “just” fit. They aren’t used to such a cozy interior space. It not a deal killer but maybe don’t expect ultimate comfort here. I received the Momentum 5’s in the middle of heatwave and took them for a leisurely three mile walk in 93-degree heat, 80% humidity. Minutes after being outside my ears heated up ahead of the rest of my body and stayed warmer for the entire walk. It never became unbearable, but there is appreciable heat retention. I can’t wait to wear them in winter. CONTROLS AND USE Headphones are one device I detest touch controls. Unfortunately, that’s what the Momentum 5 offers, except for a single physical “multi-use” button for power, summoning a device’s voice assistant, and hear the battery level. There is also an LED battery indicator on the right earpad. All transport controls are by tap and gesture. My 630 works similarly, and Sennheiser did a laudable job. The gestures are all intuitive. For example, swipe up to increase volume or down to decrease. Incidental touching, like when I adjust the headband or lift the earpads to wipe some sweat, can trigger unexpected actions, but usually it just “beeps,” nothing more. Activating a voice assistant, like Siri is on par with my other non-Apple headphones/buds. There is a 10-20 second delay between pressing the multi-use button and hearing the Siri tone. After that Siri works like Siri. I have not come across an auto-pause setting. Music continues when I remove the headphones. However, when I set them down it does automatically power off. BATTERY The 57 hours battery life is impressive because it includes noise cancellation. Many headphones boast incredible battery life with a “noise cancelling off” asterisk. No hiding the ball here. I quasi-tested performance myself by letting it play for a day to see where the battery indicator would line up afterwards. No surprise it was near the middle. Of course, it’s not scientific proof, but I’m confident it’s accurate enough. Replacing the battery is child’s play. I tried it and if you can use a screwdriver, you have the skills to replace the battery. It literally involves pulling off the ear pad and removing four screws. It takes minutes. I posted a pic to give a visual of the replacement process. INITIAL SETUP Bluetooth pairing to my iPhone was no different than other Bluetooth devices. The SmartControlPlus app is not required for installation, so bonus points for that. I do recommend installing it though. It’s packed with useful features, not a portal for advertising and personal data. My Momentum 5 arrived with Bluetooth 5.4 installed. However, Sennheiser says Bluetooth 6.0 is coming in a future firmware update. Coupled with the replaceable battery, this makes it even more “future proof.” Multipoint pairing is supported to connect two devices. APP AND AUDIO QUALITY To my ears, the out of the box sound has slightly elevated bass and treble tuned for pop/rock music. It’s not “boomy” or over bright, so if you are looking for exaggeration, it might not suit you. It’s even hard to simulate the signature glass breaking bass of some other brands using the equalizer. But if you are looking for clean, tight bass, clear vocals, detailed string instruments with noticeable separation keep reading. That is how I’d characterize the Momentum 5’s native profile and app’s “Neutral” preset. It’s not “Neutral” in an audiophile sense, but a marker to return to the default sound. The 8-band dynamic equalizer allows customization from the default sound within limits. It’s an invigorating Sunday walk rather a risky adventure. A customization can be saved as a preset. For non-DIY people there’s presets for most genres along with a neat custom sound helper Sound Personalization that guides the user to an individual sound. There’s lots more but word count limits me. In short, the Momentum 5 + app makes customization easy, both in finding the right frequency levels and general functions. Lossy ACC files from my iPhone are enjoyable and some Android phones can take advantage of the 5’s Lossless codecs. While many devices, like the iPhone, don’t support wireless lossless playback it is available wired, using the supplied USB cable or wirelessly with the optional BTD 700 dongle. NOISE CANCELLATION & TRANSPARENCY MODE I’m no technician, but anecdotally, with noise cancellation at 100%, volume at 40%, virtually all outside sound is imperceptible. Only a jackhammer, church bel or overhead jet penetrated and then it was slight. Audio remains clean and appropriately vibrant to the song. There’s no artificial white noise permeating quieter sections or gaps being songs. Noise cancellation and transparency are customizable. An alternative automatic mode is also available.

The Momentum 5’s are a great all around pair of headphones priced lower than comparable models from Apple, Sony, and Bose. They sound great, they’re comfortable to wear, and the battery life is excellent. There are a couple of areas where they do fall a little short comparatively, but nothing that would prevent me from recommending these to anyone. The Momentum 5’s come in white, black, and a dark blue color they call Denim. I got the Denim color, which contrasts with a stone type of color on the earcups/head band and a few silver accents. It’s simple looking, but feels sophisticated. It also comes with a color matched zip-up case. The headphones lay flat in the case and don’t fold, so the case is on the wide side, but it’s pretty thin. The case also holds the included USB-C and 3.5mm cables. The build quality is very good, though it doesn’t feel quite as ‘premium’ as some other headphones I’ve used. It’s mostly plastic, with some fabric on the outer band and some type of faux-leather material on the earcups and headband. It feels well constructed though. The band adjustment is smooth, the earcups rotate all the way flat in both directions, and I haven’t seen any worrying flexing or creaking. Comfort is great on the Momentum 5. The weight feels like it’s about middle of the road for this size of headphone and they sit comfortably on my head. I have spent a few days at my desk wearing these and they haven’t fatigued my head or ears yet. The clamping force feels like it’s a touch on the light side and if I lean my head too far back or forward they do start to slide a bit. The leather earcups can feel a bit warm on my ears depending on the day too. But overall I really enjoy wearing them. Besides the power button, there aren’t any physical buttons on the Momentum 5’s and all of the controls are handled via touching and swiping on the earcups. For the most part, this works well, though the on-ear detection has been hit and miss for me and if the headphones aren’t detected as being on my head the controls are disabled. So I end up doing this thing where I sort of swivel the earcups on my head until I hear the confirmation sound confirming the headphones have detected me. The basic controls are intuitive; swipe up and down for volume and left and right for back and forward. There are some more advanced controls like tapping with 2 fingers to enable/disable Dolby Atmos that are a little harder to remember if you’re not using them regularly. Overall it’s a good setup though and I think it could potentially be improved through a firmware update. The Momentum 5’s sound fantastic. The sound is balanced and clear and the bass comes through well without being overwhelming. I’m mostly listening to them over Bluetooth and in addition to the standard AAC/SBC codecs there is also support for AptX, AptX HD, AptX Adaptive, and AptX Lossless for higher quality audio. USB-C wired audio supports up to 96kHz/24-bit. There is also an 8-band EQ to dial in the sound further via the app. Listening over Bluetooth on my PIxel 10 Pro, they got loud enough, but only just and most of the time I had the volume at between 70-90%. There is also Dolby Atmos available as well and I can’t say that I noticed much of a difference to the audio with it, but maybe I just didn’t have the right content to test it on. The noise cancelling is as good as I’ve heard on any other high-end headphone and the transparency mode sounds very natural. The Momentum 5’s functions are controlled via the SmartControlPlus app and overall it’s a good app. All the important functions are front and center and there aren’t any extra or gimmicky things it’s trying to do that you don’t need. Battery life is rated at a whopping 57 hours and I’m at 90% after about 5 or hours of usage, so it seems to be holding up. It’s definitely not a pair of headphones you’re going to have to worry about charging very much and it should get through any long flight. Overall I think the Momentum 5’s are a really great pair of high-end headphones. They’re a step down in price, but not quality compared to others.

I have been using the latest Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless headphones for everything from long commutes during the day to deep work sessions at my desk and they have been a godsend in the wear I’ve been able to put them through. Looking for the short answer: Sennheiser simply doubled down on what made the previous model great, addressed my number one gripe, and now packaged it in an amazing design that looks immacate in the real world. Talk about Denim, which is the best looking version of these types of headphones. The standard black and white versions might have a slightly corporate look and feel to them, while the Denim version features rich and deep blue denim on the headband and matching tan faux-leather ear-cup cushions. Has a very premium wellgroomed smart casual vibe without being too loud. They weigh 290g which gives them a nice weight for your head but not too much. The clamping force is adjusted beautifully not so tight as to cause a headache and not so loose as to fall off while walking or tilting the head. The ear cups are just a little bigger than on the older Momentum 4s and the soft padding makes for an exceptional passive seal. An eco-friendly gear featuring adaptive noise cancellation for a pleasant listening experience. If you were the owner of the previous model your aware that the sound was wonderful, but the noise canceling was "okay". Sennheiser definitely got the message and incorporated it into their design. They packed eight microphones into this chassis and ran a full-blown adaptation on that already with an active enhancement. It's a huge difference. The Momentum 5 was very good at eliminating midrange sounds, such as the low buzz of an airplane engine, an office, AC unit or the background noise in a busy coffee shop, among other things. The Momentum 5 is starting to make some serious headway in overcoming the top-tier competition. The best part? The ANC doesn't make your ears build up that uncomfortable feeling like "cabin pressure". Sennheiser will continue to put its foot down. It's no surprise inspired by their legendary HD 600 series open back headphones, the 42mm dynamic drivers play ball. Soundstage & Separation: Fantastic instrument separation The tracks do not trapped or compressed to your head. In the case of a rock song with a lot of acoustic tracks, you can hear the guitar, vocals, and percussion layers of the track in their own distinctive pocket. The bass is well handled, and has a good volume for the sub-bass and upper bass. It makes punch when needed but doesn't intrude on the vocals with punch and muddy. For the tech-savvy users, it supports Bluetooth 5.4 aptX Adaptive, and aptX Lossless. Streaming high-res audio sounds as impressive on playing through via an Android device or the PC as it is on a traditional wired connection if your device is compatible. Dolby Atmos: The headphones employ a 3D spatial audio (with head tracking). For regular stereo music I highly recommend NOT using it, however, when watching movies or t.v. it really adds a dramatic level of immerse. These have a playtime of 57 hours when ANC is enabled, which is not a misstatement and this has a user replaceable battery. The wireless headphones also typically come with an expiration date, given that the lithium-ion battery becomes fatigued after a couple of years, and thus, an expensive piece of tech becomes useless. The Momentum 5 features an easy to remove 700mAh battery and can be changed using a standard screwdrivers. Just for this reason alone, if you're planning to have your headphones for more than 3 years you should consider this as a worthwhile investment. Touch Controls: Both ear cups have a touch button which controls volume, track skipping and transparency toggle. This is generally sensitive, but has a minor learning curve as well as the occasional headphone head movement causing the detune and/or track skip effect. Case Design: They are folded over to a re-designed, slimmer zip-up case. While it's definitely portable, the ear cups are still pretty wide in the backpack and won't fold in towards the earband. But when you add class leading 57 hour battery life, heavy noise fading and signature-grade, audiophile quality sounds, plus Sennheiser's replaceable battery, this headphone is definitely much more valuable and long lasting than the competition. So if you love great music and your looking for a dazzling future proof tech for your every day listening needs, it's a superb choice no brainer.

I'm not a headphone snob, but I must admit this is probably the best pair of headphones I've ever owned. They are lightweight and, out of the box offer a good listening experience. The carrying case is thin as well and will not take up much space. It is a minimal design and can easily fit into a carry-on backpack for travel. The headphones look aesthetically pleasing to the eye. They don't look big and bulky, but they look like premium headphones. The genius part of the headphones is you can pop the ear piece off and replace the battery. So you can get a longer longevity out of the Momentum 5. I don't think this is a feature on most headphones, and if so I just learned about it with these. You get a 180-degree swivel if you ever want to take a break and rest them around your neck. The comfort is also top-notch. You get padding along the top portion as well. So for long sessions, this helped and worked very well. I have a large head, so I was kind of skeptical if this would fit well. I'm very happy to say they do fit very well and are comfortable. I do have to extend them to the largest adjustment as I usually do. Fresh out of the box, the Momentum 5 gave me exceptional audio. As soon as I put them on, I noticed a difference. The noise cancelling has to be the best I've tested and used. You can download the app to even enhance the experience. You get more adjustments like Anti-Wind, Immersive Audio, Bass Boost, EQ, etc. I also tested the noise cancelling by turning on a cordless vacuum while listening to audio. You still can hear the vacuum, but the experience was much better than other headphones I've tested. I even tested the Momentum 5 while gaming and again it was an exceptional experience. With Good audio and a clear, fun sound, which made the gaming session more alive. Almost too alive because I kept having to pull one ear off because the Headphones kind of draw you in with the noise cancelling. The Momentum 5 advertises 50+ hours of usage on a full charge. I don't doubt this claim but even if you start to see different results. You can always change the rechargeable battery. The only negative is that the touch keys are kind of sensitive. Sometimes I like to wear one ear out and uncuffed. I like to be aware of my environment. Well, while doing so I was constantly pausing my video. Something I'll have to learn and adjust to in the future. Yet, these are a fantastic pair of headphones. They are now my go-to because they are lightweight, comfortable, and offer a good audio experience.

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 in Denim (Best Buy exclusive colorway) feels like a premium over the ears headphone from the moment you pick it up. The denim-textured headband and soft ear cushions balance style and comfort, and the over-ear fit seals in sound without feeling overly tight during daily use. A little feature that I like, that not all headphone makers have, is that the left and right headphones are clearly marked in large letters. It’s a nice touch I appreciate that makes it easy to put the headphones on the proper orientation. I worked out at the gym for 2 hours, lifting weights and running on the treadmill for 45 minutes, without feeling any discomfort in terms of sweat and heat build up. Sound quality is classic Sennheiser: clean, slightly bass-emphasized, and detailed enough to reveal nuances in your favorite tracks, while the midrange stays smooth and non-fatiguing over longer listening sessions. Hybrid Adaptive ANC does a great job cutting down unwanted noise like the lawnmower man just outside the home office and blasting background gym music. The ANC is almost as good (maybe 95% of the way) as my Sony “Mark 6’s”, which I consider the very best ANC performer. Transparency mode feels natural when you need awareness. The real standout is battery life with up to 57 hours with ANC on means you can commute and work for days before reaching for a charger, and quick charge gets you hours of playback from a short top‑up. Pair that with the very easy to use Smart Control Plus app for EQ tweaks, Dolby Atmos support, and multi-device pairing, and the Momentum 5 becomes a versatile daily driver for music, calls, and streaming. The Bluetooth pairing was easy and held the connection over multiple days of use. In conclusion, these are a great pair of headphones at a very fair price relative to the competition. You get Sennheiser quality and style and with the denim colorway, a very unique look not seen on any other headphones.

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 headphones are the successor to the excellent Momentum 4 headphones that I’d been using previously. The design, size and features are mostly the same between the two with a few aesthetic and performance related changes on the M5. The Momentum 5 comes in three color options: black, white and denim. I’m reviewing the denim option. The most noticeable visual difference structurally between the Momentum 4 and 5 other than color option is the new microphone design on the 5’s earcups. Otherwise, the two are mostly similar in design. The multifunction button and five white status LEDs are the same. The Momentum 5 ships with a 1.2-meter charging cable and similar length 3.5/2.5mm aux cable. When the aux input for wired connections is used, it automatically disables Bluetooth to put the headphones in airplane mode. The airplane adapter that was previously included with the Momentum 4 is no longer bundled with the Momentum 5. The headphones fit me comfortably. They aren’t bulky nor heavy and I don’t feel any pressure on the top or sides of my head. The leatherette ear cups are soft and welcoming to my ears. They cover the ears completely without feeling tight or squeezing against the outer ear edges. There is sufficient interior clearance and my ears don’t touch against the drivers. The cups do not get uncomfortably warm nor hot during extended listening. The headband is also a soft leatherette material that doesn’t feel tight or constricting. I barely notice it during wear. The right cup contains the hardware and touch sensitive controls. The touch sensitive controls allow call management, music/volume control, and toggling ANC and transparency through tap and swipe gestures. The touch controls have sufficient responsiveness and although not overly sensitive, an errant touch can still have unintended consequences. I disabled the touch controls on both the M4 and the M5 because I personally prefer to use the controls within the app and on my device. I also have a tendency to accidentally pause or skip my music whenever I touch the right cup the wrong way. That’s just my personal preference. The touch controls are a convenient and useful option if desired, particularly for those less clumsy than me. The Momentum 5 is powered on/off and paired via the multi-function button on the cup. It powers off automatically when placed into the case and also powers off automatically after an adjustable preset time period if not used. The Momentum 4 automatically powers on and connects to Bluetooth when taken out of the case and placed on my head. I noticed that the auto power-on feature is no longer present on the Momentum 5. They power off automatically, but I must use the power button to power them on whenever I remove them from the case. From what I was able to research online, I read that the feature was removed to improve Bluetooth reliability. As far as sound quality, the headphones sound fantastic across multiple genres of music. Whether listening to bass heavy music like hip hop or more evenly balanced pop, rock or jazz, they cover the entire sound field excellently with good separation between different frequencies and a well-balanced sound overall. No sounds step on or bleed into others. Vocals are clear, even in more complex musical arrangements. I can hear different instruments without any overpowering others. The bass, even when set to high and with bass boost active, is never overwhelming, muddy or sloppy sounding. It’s tight, punchy and clean sounding while offering enough impact to please. Really deep bass lovers might prefer a more bass heavy headset, but for tight, controlled clean sounding bass, these deliver and should satisfy most. I haven’t found a song yet where I was dissatisfied with the bass and I listen to a lot of bass heavy music. Sound enhancements available in the app include eight music presets, eight-band graphic equalizer, bass boost, Dolby Atmos powered immersive audio with head tracking, and sound zones that utilize geotracking to automatically activate pre-designated sound profiles depending on location. I seldom use headphones like these for calls or online communication, instead opting for buds or gaming headsets for those purposes. However, I did test the call capability on a few calls and found it adequate. I was told I sounded clear and decipherable, even with intentional background noise. The callers on the other end sounded clear to me as well. The active noise cancellation works well and is largely effective for most of my usage scenarios. Like most ANC enabled headphones, they aren’t completely perfect and some louder sounds do occasionally bleed through, particularly certain higher frequencies. However, I seldom hear all but the loudest external sounds when music is playing. The headphones also sufficiently block external noise during calls and communications. The adjustable ANC can be set to automatically enable transparency during calls and has wind noise reduction. The headphones worked instantly with my existing Sennheiser Smartcontrol Plus app after pairing to my phone. The app applied a firmware update immediately and provides access to the headset’s sound, noise cancellation controls, and other features. Among those features is a find headset option in the app that will show the last known location of the headphones on a map. The app manages all of my Sennheiser wireless products and does a great job of keeping each device’s custom settings stored and accessible when needed. Overall, I’m happy with the performance and features of the Momentum 5. The headphones have performed well except for one minor issue. On a few occasions the headphones wouldn’t connect to my smartphone when powered on. I’d power them on but the LEDs would go out and instead of connecting, it seemed like the headphones automatically powered back off. I went through this cycle several times before I manually re-paired the headphones to the phone which seemed to fix the issue, at least for now. If it reappears, I’ll try a full reset on the headphones next. Other than that one hiccup which now seems resolved, Bluetooth has been otherwise reliable with no random disconnects nor other connection issues. To close out on the plus side, both the ear pads and removable battery are user replaceable. The ability to replace two components most likely to wear out the fastest is useful for prolonging the lifespan of the headphones. It’s always refreshing to see a company allowing commonly worn out items to be user serviceable rather than practicing planned obsolesce.

I've used a lot of wireless headphones over the years, but this is my first time owning a Sennheiser. After testing these as my only audio headphones for nearly a week, I can confidently say the Sennheiser Momentum 5 is a premium, polished headphone that delivers on everything the casual music lover will appreciate, sound quality, comfort, and battery life. The unboxing experience was pretty standard and my shared pictures should detail everything that comes within the box. I tried the headphones right away just to get a sense of things and the first thing I noticed about the Momentum 5 was ironically the audio. The sounds came across smooth and well detailed even without me tinkering with the EQ. Vocals were clean, bass kicked reasonably well (I’m used to Skullcandy headphones), and there's enough separation within the audio that you could pick out little details within a track. It didn’t matter what I listened to Alternative, Rap, Hip-Hop, Reggae or just plain acoustic tracks, they handled everything really well. In fact these headphones made me want to revisit some songs and genres I haven't touched in years. Also the ANC and transparency modes on these were pretty decent. Comfort is another huge win for the Momentum 5s. I would say I have a big head, and I’m used to feeling the clamping force of headphones, probably more so than others, but with these, I didn’t experience any issue at all. They fit well, don't clamp much at all and they're light enough that I wore them for hours each day with no need to take them off after a couple hours. Not to mention that the earcups were very comfy and did not heat up the surrounding areas like I’ve experienced with other headphones in the past. Now when it comes to battery life, I think this is one of the biggest selling points of the Momentum 5s. Sennheiser claims you can get up to 57 hrs with ANC on, and after using it nonstop for the last 5 days with only the initial charging I did, I’m inclined to believe them. They really crushed it with the battery life and I definitely appreciated not having to think about charging them. Additionally the Smart Control Plus app, which you can use to connect to the headphone was straightforward and easy to navigate. I also like that it suggested names you could choose for the Momentums, mine are called Rhythm Cannons. Overall, the Sennheiser Momentum 5s are an easy recommendation for me. They sound fantastic, they're comfortable, and they’re not many other headphones that can beat their battery life.

I have had Momentum 3 and Momentum 4 headphones in the past. Both are great. The Momentum 5s continue in that tradition and even better. The new Momentum 5s are the most comfortable yet. I think the earcups are a bit more comfortable than the previous generation Momentum 4s. The ANC while improved from the previous Momentum 4 headphones, it still is not the best out there. I also own the Sony WH-1000XM6 which is hands down the ANC king, however the Sony XM6 apply so much pressure to my head I cannot wear them for more than 2 hours before I need to take them off for a while. I do not have this issue at all with the Momentum 5s. I can wear them for hours listening to music with no tight pressure on my head and ears. The Momentum 5s now also introduce user replaceable batteries! This is how all electronics with batteries should be. With just removing one of the earcups and using a small screw driver you can actually replace the battery yourself. If there is one area where all rechargeable batteries will fail, it is that those batteries will one day fail to hold a charge or last as long on a charge. Being able to do this on your own, even years down the line, I think is a huge step forward and I wish more manufacturers would do this. Props to Sennheiser here!! The sound quality with these headphones is really great. Especially if you like bass in music and tv shows / movies. You can customize the 8 band equalizer to your liking with the Smart Control Plus app, and even layer on more extra bass with a bass boost on and off option. I am using it on my Google Pixel 8 and a Microsoft Surface tablet with no issues with its multipoint connection option in the app. I also have it paired to my soundbar for watching movies and shows and it really shines here too. Battery life is listed as being 57 hours on a full charge. I lost track of how long I was on before my second full charge, but this sounds like it is correct. Overall, these are now my official favorite headphones in the last two years. They sound great, are super comfortable, have a user replaceable battery(!!!), and have solid build quality. They also look really nice too. Sennheiser did a really great job here.

Overall I found the Momentum 5 headphones to have excellent ANC and audio quality. The controls are accessed via touching the right earmuff and are fairly intuitive once you learn the motions. The mobile app gives you the ability to change equalizers, turn on/off immersive audio and set up sound zones. Note that because the controls are touch you do not have the ability to change or reassign them. I found the fit and feel to be good but like other Sennheiser’s I have owned they can feel a tad tight. The ear muffs are comfortable and help isolate ambient sound but the top support bar isn’t the most padded. Pros: - Excellent Adaptive Noise Cancellation - Immersive and high-quality audio - Customizable Experience via the mobile app - Intuitive Touch Controls with auto pause - Long battery life and nice carrying case Cons: - Limited voice prompts vs tones - Top support bar could have better padding Performance: The Momentums are quick to pair with my Bluetooth devices and connect to the Sennheiser Smart Control mobile app. The on/off button is the only physical button on the headphones but there is a line of LEDs that give you the battery level upon start up. The touch controls on the right earmuff are fairly intuitive and easy to use. The auto pause on removing the headphones work without issue. Sadly Sennheiser uses tones vs voice prompts for most of the notifications which at this price point is surprising. The overall sound quality is excellent and you can use the Smart Control app to customize the sound quality to your liking. Note that the app does not allow you to make changes to the touch controls so they are not customizable. The ANC is very good and with the tight fitting earmuffs it really isolates you from background noises. The audio quality is outstanding, the highs and mids are crystal clear and bass is as good as it gets in a headphone. The immersive effects are good and the sound separation adds to the over audio quality. The Smart Control has several preconfigured equalizers or you can create your own. The Sound Zone feature in the app allows you to create custom equalizers and setting for specific zones like home, commute and work. Fit: The Momentum 5 feels solid and looks like a premium headset. The fit is tight but that adds to the quality of the ANC. The earmuffs don’t interfere with my glasses and they feel relatively soft when wearing the headphones. The size of the earmuffs are smaller than other headphones I own but they do cover my ears completely. The top bar has padding but the padding is very soft thus the bar can become noticeable over time.

Ive been a Sennheiser user for quite some time now and I am a HUGE fan of their Momentum earbuds. I I also own the previous generation 4 Momentum headphones and have enjoyed them as well. I was excited to see that the get 5 was out and had built on the previous model with many improvements so I thought I'd give them a try. Unboxing was surprising. The first thing I noticed about the gen 5 Momentum headphones is the small size. The box was small and thin. Upon unpacking, I was amazed at just how compact these headphones are. The included zippered carrying case is amazingly small and the headphones themselves are light and very compact. This is great for users wanting to thrown them in a backpack or tote. The case hold everything nicely and includes a USB C charging cable and a 2.5mm to 3.5mm audio cable for wired connections. There is also a netted pocket for any other small items you want to store in the case. Along with a more compact build and lighter weight come some drawbacks. Build wise, I was a little disappointed. The materials feel less premium for a $400 pair of headphones. Although the padding is nice, the plastic ear cups feel hollow and the arms don't feel that sturdy. The soft earcups are supposed to be larger than the ones on the previous gen 4 model but they still feel small or possibly they are too shallow. I could feel my ear touching the inside of the cup instead of it completely floating on my ear and I didn't feel like there was a good seal. I imagine all of these deign decisions were to keep weight down but I'm not so sure I would prefer that over more premium/sturdy materials. Also, I don't think these have any sweat/water restistance so make sure not to get them wet. Besides being smaller and lighter, the gen 5 Momentums have made an upgrade to a very important feature, the ANC. It is still an active hybrid ANC but this time, Sennheiser added 8 beam forming mics to make the ANC much stronger than the 4 mics on the gen 4. It has made a big difference in dampening out sounds but I would say they still fall behind a couple of other competitors out there. One small ANC feature offered in the app that I loved with my Momentum wireless earbuds is the anti-wind mode. This worked wonders on my earbuds and I'm glad they carried it over to these headphones. Some other technical features to note: • Bluetooth 5.4 • aptX Lossless, aptX Adaptive, AAC codecs • 57 hours of battery with ANC on (near the top for the industry) • USER replaceable battery! Gives you the opportunity to keep these longer. A big PLUS! • Fast 10 minute charge gives 7 hours playback time To get everything out of these headphones, you'll need to connect to the Sennheiser Smart Control Plus app. There, you'll find a ton of useful functions to fine tune these headphones to be their very best. I found the new 8 band EQ to be the most helpful. The gen 4 only offers a 5 band EQ. The app offers several preset EQ themes but I still felt that creating my own was the best option. These headphones sound amazing after I got them tuned to my liking. They use 42mm dynamic drivers that have been tuned based on their higher 600 series of headphones. They aren't too bassy/muddy like many other competitors and the treble, mids and bass are all clearly separated. I could hear subtleties that I had not heard in some songs before. The bass was still very punchy when it needed to be but did not drown out the other sounds. They sounded much like the gen 4 version which I was already very pleased with. The gen 5 model also now adds 3D spatial audio with Dolby Atmos support. It's pretty amazing and can track your head to deliver dimensional sound. I always find spatial audio to be pretty trippy. Overall, Sennheiser has delivered another solid ANC headphone. There are a couple of significant improvements over the gen 4 but Im not sure it's worth upgrading unless you are really needing stronger ANC or love listening in spatial audio. In the end they are great sounding and attractive but I wish they felt more premium.

To start off, I wasn't exactly sure what to think of these when I first saw them. There was already a bunch of feedback around the internet and the general consciousness was fairly mixed on whether these are better or worse than previous models (momentum 4) or certain headphones that compete directly, even relative to Sennheiser as a brand such as the HBD 630.. which are praised for having exceptional tunability as a headphone for multiple genres. I'm happy to say that these newer MOMENTUM 5 model are exceptional for my listening preferences and subjectively are tuned well by default.. enough to where I haven't felt like needing to mess with the app adjustments for EQ, which can be done with the Sennheiser app. PROS: -GREAT ANC: Seems like an overall improvement from past momentum series. (I have an older Momentum 3.. I can't comment on the momentum 4, but the momentum 5's really block out outside noise very well, especially when listening to stuff at moderate volume. This can also be tuned in App. -LONG BATTERY LIFE: 3-4x longer than my older set.. prob mostly due to battery degradation on older pair. I can charge these once and have them pretty much last all week. Need to catch a flight? These are absolutely perfect for any sort of travel. -Fit well over my glasses, but this might be subjective and related to head size. Cant fault. -Can connect wired, but you'll get charging notifications unless you disable the feedback via app. -CASE: Very slim.. extends into travel benefits. -Intuitive controls. Touch based on main cups, but I haven't really had much issues navigating it. -Replaceable battery: Sennheiser will provide guides and sell you a direct replacement when the time comes. A significant benefit over past generations! CONS: -Call quality is subpar, but the older momentums are kind of similar. Other brands might be better for this kind of thing. -Bit pricey.. While I think these are very good, there's so much competition in this space.. even compared to the older momentum 4's which are nearly half the cost and may subjectively sound better to some people. I think these would be more competitive in the $300 segmentation. OVERALL: I'm quite pleased with these. While I do think they're are better options in terms of sheer value, nothing really ends up as a complete package. Especially for subjective sound and purpose built travel. I might be a little biased here since I haven't messed with every brand in this space, but I'm overall happy with these. The blue/beige color combo also accents well IMO. I do wish the frame was metal.. but that would also add weight so I'm mixed on overall build quality. It's good for what it is, but could be a bit better.. the problem is this also would add weight.. so its just one of those things. I think these will sell exceptionally well similar to the previous gen momentum 4s over time. Can recommend as a long term headphone enjoyer.

These headphones are definitely designed for those have an appreciation for sound quality. There is no lack of Bluetooth headphones on the market- both buds and over the ear. Sennheiser has a solid reputation for a rick listening experience. After using these for several weeks, both with my phone for music, calls and audiobooks, and with my TV for general watching, I can say that they live up to that reputation. They provide an excellent sound quality and the padding provides extreme comfort for long listening sessions. There was no ear fatigue while wearing for long periods. The battery life lives up to the time length as well. Voices come through crisp and clear whether you are listening to a podcast or taking a call. There are a few downsides to these headphones that I have noticed - There are touch controls on the outside of the earpieces that allow you to pause and play music, skip to the next song and control the noise cancellation. I do accidentally touch those areas and then perform something I did not mean to do! They also slide on my head when I lean forward or bend to pick something up. They have almost completely come off! (Grabbing them to adjust is how I accidentally touch the controls on the earpiece). The band that goes over your head is padded and smooth. Great for overall comfort but not so great to keep it from slipping. They do provide a LARGE L and R inside the earpieces to make it easy to know which direction to put them on! As someone with not the greatest eyesight, I appreciate that vs. the tiny, faint L and R on some buds or headphones. They are a bit costly but the value is definitely there. These are great for travel and the battery life means very little recharging. The carrying case provides a great way to store them and keep your cords handy. The case is not overly bulky either.

Here comes Sennheiser with their latest noise canceling headphones we got here is the Momentum 5. this has a packs great amount of new features that you most listeners would appreciate and love. DEVICE & FEATURES So right of the box, the packaging is fairly simple. The moment you open the box you’ll see the case which inside the case you have the headphone itself, the case is about a slimmer cloth like texture to it. You also get a USB-C charging cable and 3.5 mm audio cable for wire listening and just your typical warranty inside the box. Sennheiser also claimed that this goes up to 57 hours of battery life with lossless audio, Dolby Atmos support. and Bluetooth 5.4. I love the feel of the headset case with fabric like material and it’s on a slim case with the zip goes all the way around to fully expose the headset inside. Inside the case you get the Momentum 5. i’m not sure if it’s real leather, but the leather and the cushioning of this headset feels so premium and it’s soft. At the top of the headband you get the exact same cloth like material from the main case above the headband and another support for your head that it was very comfortable to wear. The headset is fairly lightweight. It almost look identical to previous generation of the momentum for me. i have been wearing for almost a week, listening to music for hours the comfortability of this headset is undeniable. This is probably one of the most comfortable headset I’ve ever experience. I enjoyed every bit of time. I’ve listened to Spotify music while testing out the lossless music catalogue. APP: You will be required to download the Sennheiser app and once you get the app activated and connect the headset you will need to update the headset to the latest firmware, but the companion app it gives you access to self personalization, Atmos settings. Also have the ability to control your noise level, three settings, which is adaptive custom, Sennheiser also offer a setting called anti-wind in the app when turned on it helps lower wind noises during ANC mode. EXPERIENCE: my overall experience with momentum 5 has been enjoyable so far, the amount of noises that it can block wearing a headset is undeniably one of his best features. The sound stage sounds amazing, listening to all types of instrument on different music has been a great joy. You can hear a great amount of separation of each beats, the vocals was clear, you can notice even a good tiny details. I thought the bass was great as well. It’s not over too powerful for me but then again you can adjust your EQ using the app as well to make this headset even better to your preference. i want to talk about again of how comfortable this headset is to my head. I feel like it fully covers 360 around my ear that it really reduces a great amount of noise that might be leaking inside a headset for me. I did kind of felt after wearing a headset for two hours that it was starting to become a bit warm, but beyond that I feel like you can easily fix that by just like removing it on your ear. I really don’t think it’s an issue but it’s something to point out. using the momentum 5 during phone calls was great with clear audio clarity the quality of the voices are clear. So far, no issue when it comes to using his headset on calls. also, the other thing that I found out about this headset that their battery is replaceable so if in case it goes bad, you won’t have to buy another headset and you can just replace the battery but I doubt I would ever get to that point, but it’s always great to know that Sennheiser gives you the ability to do that. CONCLUSION: Honestly, after testing momentum 5 for a couple of days now I’m happy with how this headset look, its just a clean simple headset. it supports a touch control on the side of the ear cup. I didn’t think Sennheiser was trying too hard making the momentum 5 but I feel like they were focusing on what’s more important rather than making a headset a little bit too ridiculous. I love the simple design is timeless, having a great ANC is nice. They claim 57 hours of battery life it’s massive. I haven’t even got to a point where I have to charge the momentum 5. it support lossless music and Atmos. I highly recommend if you’re a Sennheiser fan or if you previously own the momentum 4, I would say you’ll get about the same experience but more refine

I’ve always been a distant observer of Sennheiser and have heard so many good things about the technology and craftsmanship of their product. Finally getting my hands on the new Momentum 5 over ear wireless headphones has made me a true believer rather than an enthusiastic observer. These headphones are stylish, comfortable, sound incredible, and have so many different features and functions that I continue to find myself surprised at every turn. The app is easy to use, and allows for full customization of the sound field, pass through settings, different device pairings, Dolby atmos support, and more without even requiring an account setup. It is a wonderful and yet small detail that makes the ownership experience even more rewarding. No login, no giving up personal information, just access to the features I paid for without haggle. Setup is super easy, pairing like any other modern Bluetooth device, and it will prompt you to download the app. Doing so unlocks the full potential of the device so it is absolutely worthwhile. You control most functions other than power with the touch panel on the outer right ear cup. It is intuitive but does take some practice to get it right every time. They are lightweight, and fit perfectly without causing discomfort over time. They advertise up to 57 hours of battery life but with adaptive sound on I believe that number is closer to 30 in reality. However I feel that is more than sufficient regardless. They charge via the included USB-C cable and are well protected in the custom hard case that matches the blue jean aesthetic on the headphones themselves. The tan head support is comfortable and feels high quality as well. Sound quality is phenomenal. The atmos support makes you feel like you are in the room with whatever you are listening to. Simultaneously, you can either cut off the outside world with excellent noise cancellation or let it all in with adaptive pass through which makes it as if you are not even wearing them at all. Call quality is also fantastic, no connection issues, reverb, or echoes on either end. Everything is just crisp and perfect. I am so happy with these, how they sound, how they look, how they feel. Everything is exactly what I was hoping for and even more. I cannot recommend them enough.

My first pair of Sennheiser headphones. These headphones are now my go to headphones when I want to listen to music or watch a movie without disturbing anyone else by cranking up the 5.1 surround sound in my room which rattles windows (light brag😁). There was no need for me to adjust these right out of the box. I tried and used the Sennheiser app on my phone but it didn't really help anything so I rock them flat. These feel very premium and the color is pretty cool. Okay. The connection options are pretty good. Bluetooth usually butchers audio but with these headphones their audio engineers earned every penny of their paychecks. Speaking on connectivity, you can use the USB cable or the 3.5MM to listen to your source of choice. More companies should do this. These are very comfortable. The ear pads don't make my ears sweat like most of them do after a few hours of wearing them. Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) where have you been all my life. I don't have the usual feeling of pressure in my ears when I turn this feature on. The anti-wind feature that they have incorporated into the the ANC feature works well. Tried them out on the porch during a particularly windy day and they worked. Calls on with that on no one knew I was outside let alone on a windy day. They cooked so many features into these headphones you'll spend a few days just figuring them out. Absolutely love these headphones.

I have owned (and currently own) several competitive headphones from Bose (Ultra), AirPods Max 2, and Sony (XM6) and while each of these have their strong points, if sound quality is your number one priority - then the Momentum 5 IMO is the best choice. In fact, the M5 IMO is overall the best choice for most. Connectivity, comfort, app functionality, carrying case, and battery life of the M5s are the very best. The M5s have a sound personalization mode to assist the user in finding the best sound setting - and it is the best I have ever used - allowing for better sound quality than using the manual 10 band equalizer option. ANC is not as strong as the Bose, Sony or Apple - but it’s close (maybe within 10%). Same is true of the Transparency mode - although Apple is clearly the best in this area, And about the battery life - it’s really amazing! The 60 hour claim with ANC on is real!!! The AirPods Max 2 battery life was really bad as you can not turn then off and battery drain when in the pouch was about 10% loss overnight (I returned these recently because this battery drain was unacceptable). Bottom Line: The M5s are the ones I would keep if I only could keep one set. The sound quality is really top notch and so many other features of this headphone are also top in this class. A major thumbs up to anyone considering purchasing a set of headphones in this price range!!! Highly recommended.

Sennheiser did a great job with the Momentum 5. They are lightweight, singularly comfortable, provide days of battery life, excellent ANC, equally excellent transparency, robust touch controls, include a low-profile hard case for travel, and most importantly sound great. In short, the Momentum 5 is a fun listening experience that packs enough features to make it an all-day companion. Sound quality: The Momentum 5 casts a convincing sound stage, good instrument separation and spacing, and has an overall slightly warm and pleasing presentation. A great example is the song “Clockwork” from Laufey’s “A Matter of Time” album. The piece opens with ringing church bells harmonizing along with background singers singing “Ding Dong” to time with the bell. The bells are clear, clearly separate from the vocals, and have a good decay. From here, Laufey’s voice gently rises from the background to take center stage. Laufey’s silky seductive voice was center stage spatially in the sound field and unobstructed by the accompanying instruments. The accompanying instruments, such as guitars, piano, and drums, were clear, spatially behind Laufey’s vocals, and spread across the sound field. Lady Gaga’s “Disease”, from her Mayhem album, is the polar opposite to Laufey’s “Clockwork”. The musical score and Lady Gaga’s voice work seem to angrily arm-wrestle for the spotlight. The song opens with Lady Gaga’s voice entering the sound stage like mist pouring through a creepy forest. And then we are suddenly slammed into the piece with a duet consisting of Lady Gaga’s meaty vocals and a hard-hitting drumbeat. Again, the Momentum 5 does an excellent job with instrument and vocal separation. However, unlike with Laufey’s voice, the Momentum 5 loses some of the textured gravity of Lady Gaga’s lower register that is brilliantly on display in “Disease.” There are passages that start from a low growl before soaring off into space. Those same passages, if you listen closely, have a sample of Lady Gaga doing backup vocals for herself in a lower register that inject some gravitas into her passages. These are genuinely difficult to hear with the Momentum 5. I am guessing that this may be because the song is a saturated cornucopia of sound. This is especially true during the song’s crescendo. But I have heard other headphones around this same price range handle this song, and these specific passages better. Classical and Jazz instrumentals are fantastic. The bulk of my workday was Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Handel, and many others. Mostly I listened to piano concertos, string quartets, and chamber music. Other times I played movie soundtracks such as “How to Train your Dragon”, “Pacific Rim”, and “Wing Commander the Motion Picture”. In all cases, the Momentum 5 did a fabulous job of keeping me both entertained and focused during my workday. I enjoyed them so much that, instead of removing my headset when I left my desk, I would turn on Transparency mode and leave my desk with the headphones still playing. Transparency mode so folks could talk to me or tell me to get out of the way. Voice only content like YouTube talking heads and news sites like NPR were 100% clear, realistic, and natural. Women sounded like women. Men sounded like men. And large husky men with deep voices sound like large husky men with deeper voices. There is a caveat that you need to know to make the Momentum 5 sound its best. The Momentum 5 has a very narrow volume band between 40% to 60% where it sounds its absolute very best. Too quiet, and vocals will take front stage pushing the band to a very quiet background. Too loud, and the vocals and instruments are compressed and the sound breaks up. For example, Journey’s 1983 power ballad, “Faithfully”, from the album Frontiers, is a master class in power vocals that the Momentum 5 beautifully reproduces while playing at sweat spot volume levels. Steven Perry’s vocals are not only clear, but they are powerful, front and center, and at no time does the Momentum 5 show any sign of strain or fatigue. However, at low volume listening, Steven Perry’s vocals go from commanding attention to mousy at best. And the piano, synthesizers, guitars, and drums take on a neighbor-down-the-road-is-playing-the-stereo-too-loud-again kind of characteristic. Meaning, most of sound is far away and lacking detail if you can hear it at all. Turn the volume too high, then Steven Perry’s vocals will simply overwhelm the headphones and render the song unlistenable. In general, if you stay in the headphone’s sweat spot, then the Moment 5 will amaze you with wonderful music. Comfort: The Momentum 5 is very comfortable. The headset is lightweight for its size. I found the clamping force perfect for all day comfort. And at no time did I find any discomfort around my glasses. The plushy ear cup pads are wrapped with what feels like bonded leather. The Momentum 5 is so comfortable that at one point I forgot they were on my head. Yes, I went looking for something that I was already wearing. In my defense, I had Transparency mode active and was not listening to music. My only real gripe is that my ears touch the earcup walls when worn. This may prove an issue for anyone with large or extra-large ears. There is plenty of padding inside the earcup to assist with comfort. Any feeling of claustrophobia I had subsided after about 10 minutes of use. Build Quality: The Momentum 5 is very light for its size. So light that it confers a cheap quality to the feel of the headset. Then again, HiFi quality is often jokingly sold by the pound. But not in this case. The metal and plastic earcups are surprisingly light considering they hold batteries, drivers, damping material, cushions, and three microphones each. The earcups themselves should survive most sports bags and your average desk accident. The ear cushions are covered in what feels like soft bonded leather. The filling is plushy foam that simply melts when touched. The headband is a metal leaf spring with plastic extendable armatures covered in a combination of fabric, plushy foam, and bonded leather. The ear cup holders and hinge connections are all plastic. To me, the earcup holders and hinges feel like quality plastic. Though I worry that these may be points of failure for the Momentum 5 if dropped or stuffed into a bag. I plan on using the included hard case when traveling so that I do not accidentally break the headphones when traveling. The earcup holders and hinges are smartly designed. The headband’s hinges allow the Momentum 5’s earcups to rotate a full 90 degrees forward from center and 90 degrees back from center for a total of 180 degrees of motion. This gives me the option of resting the earcups around my neck either earcups out or earcups inward. Most folks have a preference. The earcups rotate along the Y-axis about 20 degrees towards my temples. The combination of the headband flex, the telescopic headband adjustment, 180 Degree earcup swivel, and the earcup vertical adjustment should allow the Momentum 5 to fit any head. Battery life! OMG! Does this thing ever run out of power!? Normally, when I get a new battery powered product, I charge it to 100% straight from the box. Not this time. The Momentum 5, out of the box, had about 80% battery life. I got the headphones on a Saturday, wore them for approximately four to six hours a day from Saturday to Friday. The battery finally gave up Friday night at 9pm. Rough back-of-the-napkin math… that is 28 – 36 hours of power. Usage included music, phone calls, streaming such as YouTube and Podcasts. I switched between ANC and Transparency modes as needed throughout the week. Brand new, battery life is excellent! ANC: ANC is excellent! Sennheiser knocked this one out of the park. I typically work from home. My wife is retired. A typical workday has my wife buzzing around the house with the vacuum cleaner, knocking about pots and pans, working on her sowing machine, or blasting the AC. The Momentum 5’s ANC filtered out everything except the closest and most obnoxious sounds. For example, it had a hard time with a MAC Truck idling outside my office window. Thankfully, that does not happen very often. Alternatively, I had an experience where I was sitting at my kitchen table with the AC buzzing two feet off my left ear and my kids watching a movie, loudly, through my living room home theater. I did not hear a thing. I was actually surprised how loud the house was when I removed the Momentum 5 from my head. I promptly asked the kids to lower the volume. Honestly, I could not ask for better. Sennheiser Smart Control Plus: Sennheiser did a great job with the app. It is organized well, has a great feature set, and is well-integrated with the Momentum 5 headset. I think most users will enjoy the ANC/Transparency options, Immersive Audio, and the ability to use finger gestures on the Momentum 5’s right ear cup’s touch surface to operate the different features defined in the control app. If Sennheiser is taking requests, I would love to see some context sensitive help or feature explanations built directly into the app. For example, what is a Sound Zone, why do I care, and how does the app know when to engage one zone over another? Other than this, I think Sennheiser did a great job. Final thoughts: The Sennheiser Momentum 5 is fun to listen to, has amazing ANC and Transparency, is feature rich, and is one of the most comfortable headphones I have ever owned. In my opinion, the price to value proposition here is very compelling. My only real issue is the narrow volume band where the Momentum 5 operates. Otherwise, I think Sennheiser did an amazing job with the Momentum 5. Thank you for reading my review. Please consider giving me a “Helpful” if you found this valuable.

Great sound signature with impressive 42mm drivers and lossless audio capabilities, noise canceling is is the most natural sounding over ear ANC I’ve experienced out of all the major headphone brands, much slimmer travel case than the M4s. User replaceable batteries are also a win with long term ownership! Downside is AAC audio top volume is quieter than preferred. Overall would recommend for someone looking for a comfortable pair of over ears with lossless audio.

They sound fantastic, the included carrying case is sturdy and portable and the app is easy to use and makes these headphones even better.

INTRO --------------------------------------- There is some heavy competition within the Hi-Fi, wireless, ANC headphone space lately. It seems everyone is getting into this realm. I was excited to experience what Sennheiser brings to the table with their new MOMENTUM 5 (M5AEBT) headphones. SETUP --------------------------------------- This was a straightforward process. I initially set these up to pair with an iPhone, however, Android steps are nearly identical: Install the Sennheiser Smart Control app, remove headphones from their included travel/storage case, power them on, pair via bluetooth. The app recognizes it from here. The Sennheiser Smart Control application allows you to set a plethora of options from ANC, immersive audio, Anti-wind, EQ, shows battery life, apply firmware updates, manage features like On-head detection, smart pause (stops audio when removed from head), audio codecs, battery protection modes and managing devices the headset is connected to for seamless switching. I found the application to work well, and I did not experience any frustrations or problems using it with the MOMENTUM 5’s COMFORT/DESIGN --------------------------------------- The MOMENTUM 5’s are very light and feel extremely comfortable. They have a soft clamp and I did not get that “vice” feeling as I often do with new headphones. There is a slight break in period required, but these were almost perfect for me out of the box. There is a leather(ish) pad on the top headband which I found to be excellent at keeping the top of my head comfortable for extended periods of time. The ear cups have the same leather(ish) material. In a cool, climate controlled environment, this was great. I did find when using them outdoors in hotter climates, they caused me to sweat a lot more as they do not breathe. They also stuck to my ears and I had to frequently adjust them. The tight seal aids in sound quality, ANC performance and gives a little extra bass, so Sennheiser made decisions to favor audio quality and performance over temperature here. My pair came in the “denim” option. I found this to be a really nice contrast material with the tan/beige leather accents. The silver bits in the Sennheiser logo and microphones also contrast well against the blue metallic cups. Overall, it’s a very nice looking headset. The denim material does not appear to be real denim, only a faux look. The included case matches the denim material. The case itself is also very nice, it’s thin and small enough to easily fit in a travel bad. It fits all of the included parts easily. It includes a pocket for storing additional things such as instruction manuals or external DACs or receivers. SOUND QUALITY --------------------------------------- Overall, I found the MOMENTUM 5’s to have a wonderful sound stage. I tend to favor a slightly warmer profile, and I found these to edge slightly in the neutral territory, while still featuring a touch of warmth. This edge of neutrality I found aiding in some additional clarity and emphasis on specific instrument characteristics such as guitar strings, cymbals, drums, etc. The bass was very present, especially given the seal of the cups I mentioned earlier. Though it wasn’t overly heavy. It felt tight, yet controlled. Mids I found to be typical Sennheiser sound, they are excellent with vocal and instrument details sounding perfectly clear. Treble was smooth and I did not find any harsh or fatigue setting in over long listening periods. This is where I felt that touch of warmth really helped subdue what is often uncomfortable in other brands headsets. TECHNICAL DRAWBACKS --------------------------------------- Since these are Bluetooth headphones, they are limited in their bandwidth, despite Sennheiser using Bluetooth 5.4 here. They also support Snapdragon’s aptX codec for lossless playback. This is the biggest issue with these headphones. Most people will use an iPhone, Pixel or Samsung, none of which support the aptX lossless codec. This means you must purchase an additional adaptor which can translate the digital signal from the proprietary codecs the phones use into native, bit perfect aptX. I chose to buy a Creative adaptor for this exact purpose. Other makes/models would work as well. The aptX is a great codec and offers some wonderful advantages to send 44.1khz (minimum standard for lossless) over bluetooth with a claim it can reach between 1,100 kbps and 1,200 kbps. BATTERY LIFE --------------------------------------- Battery life is stellar. With a possible 57 hours of battery with ANC turned on, the MOMENTUM 5’s can last days between charges. Listening to lossless gets close to 40 hours of runtime though, which is still fantastic. CONCLUSION --------------------------------------- Overall, these are a fantastic addition to the highly competitive market of lossless, wireless headphones. Sennheiser brings their years of experience and known quality to the table and the MOMENTUM 5’s are something to seriously consider from the casual consumer all the way up to serious audiophiles. I will be enjoying my pair for a long time to come.