Greetings!
Today we're checking out
Sennheiser's entry into the burgeoning truly wireless earphone
market, the Momentum True Wireless.
Anyone who knows anything
about audio, portable or otherwise, will be familiar with the name
Sennheiser. Whether you're talking consumer headphones, earphones, or
professional microphones, Sennheiser is a name that oft crops up when
talking about the best of the best. Their products can be found
everywhere from recording studios to a student's backpack.
Is Sennheiser's first entry
into the truly wireless market a success or will the Momentum True
Wireless (MTW) be forgotten in short order? Let's find out.
Disclaimer:
A big
thanks to Everett with Sennheiser for reaching out to see if I would
be interested in reviewing the Momentum True Wireless, and for
arranging a loaner unit for the purposes of review. The thoughts
within this review are my own subjective opinions based on over a
month using the MTW and do not represent Sennheiser or any other
entity. At the time of writing the MTW retailed for 299.95 USD.
Product
page: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/truewireless-details
Personal Preference:
I
listen primarily to various EDM sub-genres (liquid drum and bass,
breakbeat, drumstep, etc.), hip hop, and classic rock. My preferences
for earphone tuning are quite relaxed and as such their is no one
signature I look for. The HiFiMAN RE800, Brainwavz B400, and Massdrop
x MeeAudio Planamic are examples of earphones with wildly varied
signatures that are enjoyable for different reasons. I generally
listen at very low volumes, so keep this in mind when perusing my
thoughts on how an earphone sounds.
Specifications:
- *Dimensions:
78.6 x 45 x 35 mm (charging case)
*Microphone: MEMS
*Bluetooth Version: Bluetooth 5.0 compliant, class 1
*Supported Profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HSP, HFP
*THD, total harmonic distortion: <0,08% (1kHz / 94dB)
*Ear coupling: Ear Canal
*Weight: 69.8 g (earbuds and charging case), 13.2 g (both earbuds), 56.6 g (charging case)
*Charging time: Approx. 1.5 hrs
*Microphone sensitivity: 94 dB SPL at 1 kHz
*Operating temperature: 0 to +40°C
*Power supply: 5 V, 650 mA: USB charging via USB-C socket at charging case
*Battery Specification: Built-in Lithium rechargeable battery
*Frequency range: 5 Hz to 21 kHz (earbuds)
100 Hz to 10 kHz (microphone)
*Sensitivity: 107 dB SPL (1 kHz / 1 mW)
*Speaker type: 7mm Dynamic
*Operating relative humidity: 10 to 80%, non condensing
*Battery time: Up to 4 hrs (A2DP) with rechargeable batteries of the earbuds, Up to 12 hrs with rechargeable battery of the charging case
*Water Protection Code: IPX4, splash resistant (earbuds)
*Type of Codec: SBC, aptX™, aptX™ Low Latency, AAC
Packaging and
Accessories:
The
MTW's packaging has a very eye-pleasing looking with a combination of
the soft blues and whites familiar to the brand. On the front of the
lid is a high quality image of the MTW's earpieces and the charge
case, along with some highlighted features, like the ability to play
music and take calls, touch controls, access to your phone's voice
assistant, and battery life. Around the rest of the package you find
some other handy tidbits, like support for aptX and aptX Low Latency
codecs, as well as Bluetooth 5.0 support.
Lifting
off the lid you find the earpieces and charge case nestled safely
within laser-cut foam inserts. Lift out the foam insert and you find
a smaller cardboard box containing the usual documentation (quick
start guide and safety information) and the accessories. In all you
get:
*Charging case
*Single flange silicone tips (xs/s/m/l)
*USB-C cable
Overall
a pretty unremarkable, surprise-free unboxing experience. Given the
MTW's price, I would have liked to see Sennheiser provide a wider
variety of tips options, like bi-flange and foam, even though the
stock medium tips were perfect for me and used for all of my testing.
Build and Comfort:
The
MTW's earpieces are primarily plastic save for the logo-emblazoned
metal touch pad, or “spin ring” as it's called on Sennheiser's
product page. And the gold-plated charging pins. The plastics are of
a very high quality with a matte finish that feels good to the touch,
though I wish it was more grippy. It's not uncommon for them to slip
out of my fingers when removing them from the charge case. The
powerful magnets that snap them into place are also partly to blame.
I can't tell you how many times I've dropped them because of this. On
the plus side, this unexpectedly tested the plastic's toughness,
showing off how resilient it is to scratches and marks; i.e. very.
Build quality of the earpieces overall is quite good, though there
are some things I would like to see addressed in a future revision.
First, the nozzles are open with a simple piece of foam preventing
dust and gunk from getting inside. There is no screen leaving the
foam open to removal, either on purpose or by accident. At least
stick a basic screen on there. Second, while fit and finish is
excellent, there is a deep, tapered seam that runs the length of the
base of the body of each earpiece. It is clear that this was
intentional since this design element is present on the charge case
too. While it looks nice and provides a consistent design across all
aspects of the product, unfortunately it tends to collect skin, wax,
dust, etc. and requires semi-frequent cleaning. The edge is also just
a bit too sharp and after 45 minutes or so causes some mild
discomfort. Users would benefit from it being smoothed out a bit, if
not removed entirely. While the consistency in design looks nice,
it's not quite worth the negatives, as mild as they are.
The
charge case is a stylish piece of equipment with a grey cloth
exterior dominating the design. A rubberized Sennheiser logo can be
found on the top, while the bottom contains a plastic plate with
relevant disposal and compliance logos, in addition to the model
number and an address for Sennheiser. Out back is a USB-C port with
an LED to the left and a small button to the right. Without the
earpieces inserted into the case, this button will indicate the
case's remaining battery life. With the earpieces inserted, you get
their battery life. Lift the lid and you find a plastic base with
inserts for the earpieces. They are perfectly formed to the shape of
each earpiece so you don't have to worry about carefully lining up
the charge pins. Just match the each earpiece to it's respective
insert (left to left, right to right) and drop them in. Strong
magnets do the rest, pulling and holding them securely in place for
charging and/or storage. The plastics used on the case are just as
high a quality as found elsewhere, and the cloth exterior is grippy
and seems to do a good job of resisting dirt and stains. Continuing
the design of the earpieces, around the edge of the lid and base is a
tapered ridge which breaks up what would end up being a monotonous
design were it all grey cloth. About the only aspect of the case I'm
not fond of is the hinge. The design is fine and I like the way it
snaps the lid shut, mimicking the feel of using magnets, it's the
materials I'm worried about. It's all plastic and there is A LOT of
flex when pushing on it. This might be fine in warm weather where if
dropped the lid will flex to absorb the impact, but in colder
climates plastic gets brittle and brittle things break.
As is
the hot topic with truly wireless products right now, how
accommodating is the charge case of various ear tips during charging?
I'm going to have to eat my earlier words about the HIFIMAN TWS 600
being the best I've tried to date, because that title goes to the
MTW. Let me just cut in an except from the TWS 600 review addressing
this, edited to accommodate the MTW.
“Let's compare cases and tip
compatibility with the Nuforce BeFREE8, SoundPEATS TrueFree+ and Q26,
Astrotec S60 and S60 5.0, and the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
(MTW). Most of these are designed to accommodate at most the
preinstalled medium sized single flange tips. Few can take the stock
large. None but the MTW can accommodate the chunky Xiaomi tips that
work fine with the HIFIMAN case. None but the MTW can take standard
medium foams (Comply or otherwise) without compressing them first.
None work with the insanely long double or triple flange tips HIFIMAN
provides with the TWS 600, will nor do other third party options fit,
though the MTW will accept some shorter bi-flange options. HIFIMAN
comes out way ahead of all but the MTW with a case that is much more
flexible when it comes to charging the ear pieces with a variety of
different tips attached. Also in Sennheiser's favour, their case has
a hollow lid allowing you to carry your detached tips with the
earphones, should they not fit ”
When it comes to comfort, the MTW is
quite good, though there are a couple knocks against it. First is
that aforementioned edge that runs around the rim of each earpiece.
It's a tad sharp in places and for me reduces the MTW from being an
all-day wear to a 45 minute wear with short breaks. The earpieces are
also quite large in circumference, ~23mm at their widest point. They
fit similarly to an earbud, but with a short nozzle added to
accommodate some ear tips. I prefer earphones with a shallow fit and
love how most earbuds slot into place so I'm cool with the MTW.
However, if you're not so lucky and have issues getting earbuds to
fit, you might want to find somewhere you can try these on first.
Those with small ears may also want to keep the size of these in mind
when considering them. I'll say they're comfortable, but with an
asterisks (*).
Isolation:
Normally I fold
this into the previous section, but MTW has a 'Transparent Hearing'
feature accessed through the Smart Control app. This feature allows
you to use the onboard microphones in each earpiece to pipe in the
environment around you, thereby overriding any passive isolation.
Passive isolation
is about average for a dynamic based earphone, maybe slightly above.
There are plenty of places for noises to bleed through, so the
clacking of keyboards, cars driving by, people chatting, etc. all
come through, it's just dulled and mostly incomprehensible. I found
it quite suitable in noisy areas, like the local Tim Hortons coffee
shop, on my evening walks through the city, and when grocery
shopping.
Hopping into the
app and turning on 'Transparent Hearing' changes everything. Gone is
that decent isolation replaced by the environment around you coming
through loud and clear. People, cars, whatever. You hear it all. The
only other product I've used that features similar tech is the
Radsone ES100, and there is no comparison. The ES100 provided nowhere
near the same amount of information, and without the same level of
immediacy. There is very little delay between the noises around you
and what the MTW pipes through, something I find extremely important
when using this feature. If you need to react, you're not reacting to
a significantly delayed sound. And if you work in an office, the MTW
should definitely be on your shortlist. You can listen to your music
while working without having to worry about missing, a phone call,
someone call your name, etc. And if you need to pause your music to
chat with someone, simply remove one earpiece which stops the music.
Awesome.
Sources and Connection:
The
Momentum True Wireless was tested with a number of devices; LG G5, LG
G6, Shanling M0, Shanling M1 and an ASUS FX53V laptop. Connecting for
the first time is as straightforward as it is with most products.
Once you take the earphones out of the case, press your finger
against the touch sensitive pads for 5 seconds and the earphones will
announce they've entered pairing mode. Find the MTW on your device
(it shows up as MOMENTUM TW), select it, and you're done. The pairing
will be remembered in the future and auto-connect whenever possible.
One
thing I'm not fond of is that the MTW can only be paired to one
device at a time, or at least that's how it has been in practice.
Switching from one device to the other always requires forgetting the
original connection, and pairing again. Not a huge deal, but for
those used to having their earphones connected to 2+ devices at a
time and swapping between them, as I do with my laptop and wireless
device of the moment, it gets tiring having to repair constantly.
One
connected, how is the connection quality? Pretty good. Every once in
a while the left earpiece will briefly disconnect from the right, but
it's fairly rare. On one, occasion after removing an earpiece to
pause the track and talk to my wife, music would play intermittently
upon unpausing. I've experienced this with another product, requiring
a fresh pairing of the devices to fix. Other than that, the
connection quality is very reliable, even over fairly long distances
and with obstacles in the way. Paired to my LG G6, I can leave the
phone in my office and step just outside my apartment before the
connection begins to falter. The front door is through three rooms
and two hallways, around a90 degree corner and with a bathroom
separating it all. That's nuts. Some of my other TWS earphones will
allow me to walk around the entirety of the apartment while retaining
a solid connection, but none can do what the MTW can. It is truly
impressive.
Battery Performance:
Less
impressive is the battery life. Four hours of listening with two
additional charges via the case totalling 12 hours of total use.
That's not terrible by any means, and has been good enough for my use
cases, but it's not good either. The MUCH smaller and more compact
Astrotec S60 5.0 manages 16 hours of combined listening time. The
sub-50 CAD SoundPEATS TrueFree+ provides 30 hours of combined
listening time. The HIFIMAN TWS 600 provides a combined total of 38.5
hours. I'd be okay with 12 hours if the Momentum True Wireless was
very compact, but it's not. The case is reasonably small and easily
pocketed, but the earpieces are quite large.
On the
other hand, this battery life makes sense given the features and
technology within, but most people won't be taking that into
consideration. They'll just read a spec sheet, see 12 hours, and
think it's not enough when X brand gives you double the battery life.
I really hope Sennheiser looks into bumping up the battery life
considerably with their next release, if only to please spec-heads.
Firmware Update:
Updates
seem to be automatically applied via the Smart Control app. There's
not much to say here beyond the process being painless, and wow, does
it take a long time. They warn you though, and since you can use them
while the update is occurring, it's not a big deal. You only need to
stop listening right at the end of the update process to drop the
earpieces into the case to finalize the installation. Easy peazy.
Smart Control App:
The app
is a free download and pretty basic in it's functionality. I
appreciate that to be honest. While something like the Earstudio app
Radsone created to accommodate the ES100 is amazing in the features
and added functionality it brings to the device, for the average user
it's a lot to take in. The Smart Control app keeps things simple. On
the home page you see the remaining battery life and two options:
Transparent Hearing and Equalizer. Under 'Transparent Hearing' you
have the option to turn it on, and decide whether or not you want
music playing in the background while it is on. Simple and self
explanatory. The Equalizer is a bit more interesting.
Instead
of the usual multi-band sliders used by everyone else, you are
greeted by a unique interface. Up North is a plus sign, South a minus
sign, East covers bass, West is your treble, and dead centre sits a
white dot. The idea is that you move that little dot around the
screen and tailor your sound. It's not as flexible as a traditional
equalizer, but it's undoubtedly more fun to use and for someone that
is not familiar with frequencies and/or is easily overwhelmed by
dials and sliders, this is going to be a great tool to help them
customize the sound of their MTW.
That
said, I don't use the equalizer. I prefer more control over each
frequency, but also, for whatever reason half the time I try to move
the dot, when I let go to leave it in the area with a sound I like,
it jumps to the top left corner ruining my selection.
Controls:
The MTW
eschews traditional buttons for touch sensitive pads on each
earpiece. I'm kinda old school and prefer things that are packed to
the brim with buttons, dials, etc. Tactile feedback all the way. That
said, the touch controls here worked well enough to be plenty usable.
Each
earpiece has it's own suite of controls. The left handles music
functions with a single tap to play/pause, a double tap to skip a
track, and a triple tap to go back. A single long press will also
reduce volume. The right handles call functions with a single tap
accepting and ending a call, and a double tap rejecting a call. A
single long press will increase volume. Lastly, a a double tap will
turn on/off the 'Transparent Hearing' feature.
Overall
the controls are quite standard and fairly intuitive. Though,
actually using them is made a bit more difficult thanks to the use of
touch sensitive pads. Placement of the finger and the speed at which
you complete multiple presses all affect how successful you will be
in achieving the desired function. You need to be fairly precise and
methodical. It would have been neat to see Sennheiser do something a
little more unique, such as moving your finger around the ridge of
the pad to adjust volume. While I still prefer more tactile controls,
the touch sensitive route Sennheiser used works decently well and
probably helped them more easily achieve the IPX4 splash resistance
rating the MTW has, so that's a plus.
Sound Quality:
The
Momentum True Wireless has what I consider a pretty typical signature
for truly wireless products. That being a v-shaped sound with plenty
of bass to cut through and maintain presence regardless of outside
noise, and sparkly treble to add excitement and keep your blood
pumping. While this style of tune isn't necessarily anything special,
Sennheiser keeps it refined resulting in a very pleasant sounding
earphone.
The
treble presentation is a highlight in my opinion. It is detailed and
crisp with a slightly lean note weight, yet it comes across extremely
light and airy without any harshness or grain. It's lively and
sprightly, and simply a joy to experience. Even tracks with nasty,
overly aggressive treble like The Crystal Method's “Grace feat
LeAnn Rimes” work with the Momentum True Wireless. Decay is
reasonably quick letting the MTW handle heavy-handed cymbals fairly
naturally. This is a truly wireless product that ends up being quite
enjoyable with metal, like Havok's album 'Time Is Up'.
The
mid-range, while slightly recessed, is in no way overshadowed by the
bass or treble. Vocals are naturally weighted and sibilance free,
blending in well with the rest of the presentation. Female vocals
come across especially sweet with a warmth and emotion to them that
is lacking in a lot of other products, such as on Celine Dion's
“Ashes”. Through the MTW, her performance is every bit the
powerhouse you expect from such an accomplished vocalist. This is
actually one of the few earphones that gave me goosebumps with that
track, particularly at 1:10 when the bass kicks in and Celine's
vocals swell. So good.
Speaking
of so good, the MTW's low end is fantastic. Depth is phenomenal for a
wireless product with deep basslines rocking you with a slow rumble,
such as that aforementioned moment in “Ashes”, and the opening
section of Kavinski's “Solli”. EDM and hip hop fans are very
unlikely to find themselves wanting extra low end from the MTW,
unless they are true bassheads. Depth is good, but so is texture.
It's not among the most information rich earphones I've tested, but
all the relevant detail in each note is there meaning the grimy
basslines inherent to The Prodigy and Tobacco are every bit as
crunchy as they need to be.
The
Momentum True Wireless' sound stage is also quite satisfying for a
truly wireless product. While stage depth isn't anything special,
width is fantastic with notes flying off into the distance giving the
impression of a fairly open and spacious listening experience.
Imaging is good, right in line with the best truly wireless products
I've heard. There are no vague spots off centre, or odd channel to
channel transitions. I think these would work fine for mobile gaming.
Layering is also good but the previously mentioned lack of depth does
show on congested tracks, such as the closing minutes of King
Crimson's “Starless and Bible Black”. Thankfully separation is
good, so you rarely have to worry about instruments colliding and
smearing into each other.
Overall
I find the MTW to be a very satisfying earphone. The selected tune is
perfect for mobile use, good because that is likely where this
product will see most of it's time. I would love micro detail to be a
bit more prevalent through the mids. Good stuff in general though.
Final Thoughts:
At
nearly 300 USD, the Momentum True Wireless are not a cheap, throwaway
pair of wireless earphones. Do they sound like a 300 USD product?
When compared to top performing wired earphones in that price range,
no, not entirely. However, when you buy a wireless earphone, you're
not buying just an earphone. You're also buying into the tech and
features that make them sing. Reviewing any truly wireless product
based on sound quality alone is a complete waste of time. That is
just one small part of the overall picture and the overall picture
with the MTW is one of competence and versatility.
The
v-shaped tune Sennheiser went with works perfectly in the wild where
there is noise and chaos, things that ruin bass and block out the
mid-range. It's passive isolation is good enough to let you enjoy
your music without too much interference. And when you need that
interference to be a part of your life once again, such as when
you're out jogging, you have that option thanks to 'Transparent
Hearing'. I can't emphasize enough how well it works, and how useful
it is. You don't need to to turn down your music, or roll with only
one bud. You get the best of everything. It's a game changing feature
in my world. Add to that the best wireless range, with obstacles,
I've experienced to date and things are looking up.
That's
not to say all is good and true in the world of the Momentum True
Wireless. The battery life at 12 hours combined is overshadowed by,
well, most modern products and could definitely benefit from an
upgrade. The earpieces themselves are quite large and the ridge that
runs around the bass of each hinders comfort slightly. I also worry
about the long term durability of the cases' hinge, especially in
cold weather. As I said before, plastic gets brittle in cold weather
and brittle things tend to break. The touch controls also take a bit
of getting used to, but work fairly well overall.
Those
qualms aside, I love this product. As someone that spends most of
their time listening to high value, budget friendly products from
niche brands you have to buy through sometimes questionable sites,
I'm always skeptical of mainstream brands and what they'll bring to
the table. I was not expecting to enjoy the Momentum True Wireless as
much as I have and while it could certainly be improved upon, what is
does well it does really well.
If
you're in the market for a premium, truly wireless product with some
features that are both interesting and useful, the Momentum True
Wireless is definitely worth checking out.
Thanks
for reading!
-
B9Scrambler
***** ***** ***** *****
*****
Some Test Tunes:
Aesop Rock – The Impossible Kid
(Album)
Hail Mary Mallon – Are You Going to
Eat That? (Album)
King Crimson – Lark’s Tongues in
Aspic (Album)
King Crimson – Starless and Bible
Black (Track)
Supertramp – Crime of the Century
(Album)
Infected Mushroom – Legend of the
Black Shawarma (Album)
Gorillaz – Plastic Beach (Album)
Massive Attack – Mezzanine (Album)
Fleetwood Mac – Rumors (Album)
Run the Jewels – Run the Jewels
(Album)
The Prodigy – The Day is My Enemy
(Album)
Tobacco – F****d Up Friends (Album)
Felt – Felt 2 (A Tribute to Lisa
Bonet) (Album)
Michael Jackson – Thriller (Album)
The Crystal Method – Grace (feat.
LeAnn Rimes) (Track)
Jidenna – Long Live the Chief (Track)
Skrillex – Ragga Bomb (Track)
Big Grams – Run for Your Life (Track)
Funkadelic – Maggot Brain (Track)
Aesop
Rock – Fishtales (Track)
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