Sennheiser - MOMENTUM True Wireless Earbud Headphones - Silver/Black

Equipment: iPhone XS Max 512gb (iOS 12.1.2) Apps: Tidal, YouTube, Sennheiser Smart Control These earbuds are receiving consistently positive reviews, and I honestly cannot see why. I purchased these with very high hopes of replacing my AirPods with earbuds that offer better sound quality. These did not fulfill that want. These earbuds are MASSIVE. They are extremely thick and do not feel right in the ear. After trying all four sets of rubber tips, I ended up barely favoring the XS set, even though my ears are average sized. When these earbuds are inserted, they press up against the inner perimeter of your ear, which at first makes them feel secure, but then make them ache after five minutes of use. And if you even slightly touch them or move your head to look up or down, they become loose and start slowly sliding out. The battery life is pretty decent while wearing them, as I was typically able to achieve about 3.25 hrs per charge at about 40-50% volume. However, my left earbud would always have about 7% less battery than the right for some reason, even when both started at 100%. I am very confused as to why the massive case only offers an additional 8 hours of battery life. Although the case is not huge compared to other true wireless earbuds, it’s bulk makes me wonder why the case is so thick with a tiny battery. I did not experience any connection issues while pairing or while using the earbuds. In terms of audio delay when watching videos, it is barely noticeable. If you are picky you can spot it, but almost everyone will never see it. I have no idea where these reviews of terrific sound quality are originating from. I tried them and felt they were far worse than my AirPods. No matter what settings I had the app’s equalizer set to, they always sounded muddy. The bass response is minimal at best, which is a huge disappointment. The treble sounds to be the most prominent, but not by much. Miss and bass just sound washed out, and the sound I experienced felt flatlined with a blanket over it. They block out noise PASSIVELY (not actively like others are stating) fairly well, until they start sliding out. The case they come in feels cheap because it is. The exterior woven fabric certainly adds a nice look and feel, but the use of plastic for the case makes the hinge wobbly and the experience feel under par. The earbuds themselves are made of plastic as well, and they also feel cheap. The uncomfortable feeling I experienced possibly could have been offset by at least offering a rubber exterior or something slightly more premium. The straw that broke the camel’s back for these was the random popping I was experiencing watching YouTube videos. In three videos I watched with dialogue, I was hearing random electrostatic-sounding noises from the right earbud. I thought these noises were coming from the videos themselves, so I decided to listen to the same sections with my AirPods and did not hear them. These pops were extraordinarily loud, despite my volume. The utilization of Qualcomm drivers may have something to do with this. It’s just weird how very specific moments in videos produced this. They were not random, and I did go back after a few hours passed to retest this, and I was able to replicate the pops every time. Overall, I have little to positively say about these earbuds. They’re painfully uncomfortable, offer lousy sound, and have technical issues that should not plague a $300 set of earbuds. Although AirPods are far from being the best-sounding earbuds in the world, their $159.00 price tag puts these to shame. Nearly double the price downgrades my. sound quality, battery life, and technical reliability. But hey, Sennheiser’s case looks pretty.

The earbuds are very comfortable for me to say the least, they sound better than my Bose Soundsports but aren't as loud. Transparent hearing does work although it doesnt seem useful for me. I still find myself taking out an earbud when someone speaks to me. The app required to tweak the EQ is what I do not like at all. Bluetooth connection to my S8 plus works just fine, but when you launch the app it never connects to the earbuds although they are connected to my phone. After a few attempts to "retry connection" via the app, a prompt comes up and asks you to turn on and off location services and it still doesnt work. I find that spamming the retry button eventually gets you connected. But, if you leave the app and come back to it, the connection is lost again. Its mildly annoying. One major issue that is bugging me is a crackling sound that I hear in my right earbud. It isn't a constant cracking but it only happens during certain times of a song, I guess at a certain frequency? I'm not sure but it's in everything I listen to. I'm disappointed, I really enjoy the design, comfort, and sound quality (minus the crackling). I'm considering a return and purchasing the M&D MW07s instead.

I'm not a new comer to wireless earbuds or wireless headphones. I currently have the Jabra Elite Sport, Jabra 65t, and the Jlabs Jbuds air. While the Sennheiser MTW has the best sound quality out of all of them. There just to many quirks with it. First is with the touch controls. The right side touch controls would stop working 30 seconds or so after I took them out of the storage box. So I could not turn up the volume, turn on/off transparency mode, etc. I reset the earbuds multiple times but it would still happen. Second is transparency mode if you want to call it that. I couldn't tell a difference when it was on or off. Third was with the Sennheiser app sometimes the earbuds would be connected to my phone (as I was listening to music) but for some reason the app would not connect. You use the app for the EQ, and another way to turn on Transparency mode. And lastly when playing bass notes the left ear bud makes a metallic reverberation/noise at first I thought that the speaker was blown but after reading comments on the web I guess this is a flaw others are having as well. So to add it all up it is not worth the $300. Hopefully they can fix these issues with a firmware upgrade.

I purchased both the Momentum and the MW07 because I was not certain which one was better. First and foremost, if you are looking for sound quality you regularly find in wired, regular headphones, you will be utterly disappointed. No earplugs will come close. I own the latest noise-cancelling Bose and the Momentum does not come close to these. I am still debating whether to keep them or not because they do offer some nice features. First, I am only interested in sound and portability. These offer good sound separation and are light on the ear. Bass is lacking, however, and they are not loud at all. I find myself turning the volume all the way up and have caught myself going back to turn it even higher just to realize the volume is at maximum level. I have not had the opportunity to compare them to the MW07 yet, but I know already that the MW07 are louder. I will update my review once I do that. A side of me wants to wait until the good people of Sennheizer come up with a firmware update or a second version perhaps next year.

So far, so good. I own the Jabra Elite 65t as well, and both have a place in my stable. But for pure SQ, the Senns rule the roost. I am not someone who uses headphones for calls much, mainly for walking the dog, travel etc. I have not had the same issues some have had (metallic sound from one bud, dropouts, etc.), but I am not a big fan of the touch controls. Getting the hang, but prefer the Jabras on that front. Battery life makes them short term travel solutions, but for that I have the Sony M3 and Samsung Level On phones in my collection. Bottom line, I am a wireless convert (still have the Porta Pros for wired listening at home in a chair if I need it). An FYI, the Samsung Level On phones, which were a steal at $59, sound great wired too. The Sonys not so much. But I digress. I only rated the Senns a 4 because of the touch controls, but if that's not a deal breaker for you, then by all means buy them.

These would be a solid 5 stars, but I have a one major and one minor gripe. The major one is that the connection between the left and right earbuds become spotty when walking around a busy intersection. I commute everyday, and in a city like San Francisco, there is a lot of interference. This results in sound dropping off fairly often that it becomes annoying enough to take them out. The minor one is that these earbuds can be slippery enough that it can easily be dropped when attempting to take them out of the case. Since it slopes, taking them out requires some collective concentration or else you will drop them especially if your finger are oily! Otherwise, these are the best sounding wireless earbuds on the market and noise isolation is second to none! Enough to overcome the inconveniences.

When I unboxed my Sennheiser earbuds, the first thing I noticed was how sharp they were. The earbud’s silver and black color scheme is clean and crisp, and the case – which doubles as a mobile charging dock – features a fabric-like, slate gray finish with black accents for a truly striking look. That being said, we all know looks aren’t everything so what else did these earbuds have to offer? Unlike many earbuds that have a tinny sound, these earbuds have a nice, round bass to them that adds the depth and body that we all love to hear in our music. It also provides excellent sound when viewing television and movies. I was thoroughly pleased with how well these earbuds translated the audio of some of my favorite movies right into my ear canal. They provided me a nice audio range with no latency, which is key when watching movies. Even while viewing Infinity War, I never had an issue with sound clarity, depth, lag, or stuttering.

These headphones give you detail that other wireless headphones can’t capture. The default bass is smooth and deep. (Add the bass boost equalizer in Spotify if you love even more bass... & they still will not distort at full volume as well as having a little higher ceiling volume.)The mid's and highs are louder, more present, and clearer than my old Powerbeats 2 headphones. The Beats were alright but I’ve always missed the detail that my wired Senheiser’s had. I wore them for over 4 hours straight, and they were surprisingly comfortable as my ears are sensitive to some in-ear headphones. I do highly recommend these.