Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless are quite simply excellent wireless headphones – outshining even the Sony class-leaders.
The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless are the newest wireless over-ear headphones from Sennheiser and if Sony isn’t worried, it should be. These cans have an incredible battery life, a likeable app, an extensive feature set, easy on-ear controls, talented adaptive noise cancellation and a zealous sound that’ll have you nodding your head happily wherever you go.
Will the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless head straight to the top of our best over-ear headphones buying guide? You betcha they will. And while the slightly quirky anchored aluminium headband aesthetic of the third-generation Sennheiser Momentum Wireless cans has gone in favor of a more business-like (can we say ‘boring’? I suppose we just have) black plastic and fabric aesthetic, as soon as you put them on you’ll forgive it – the sound is that good, we’d wear them even if they only came in slime green and had a big shaky bug eye on each ear cup.
The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless are an evolution of the November 2019-issue Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless – even if the familial resemblance has been scrapped. We rated the older cans, commending them for their excellent sound, feature set, built-in Tile tracking (so you needn’t lose them) and active noise-cancellation (ANC) but we were disappointed by the 17-hour battery life.
Well, that has certainly changed – and not just because two years and nine months is an awfully long time in audio tech. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless now boast a whopping 60-hour battery life even with ANC deployed, and to save you the bother of checking, we’ll tell you right now that you only get 30 hours from the Sony WH-1000XM5, which launched in May 2022.
If you’re not put off by the slightly commonplace design (and we do miss the slightly more rock ‘n’ roll Momentum 3 Wireless aesthetic) the sound quality for the money here is unbeatable. On top of this, the tweakable ANC works a treat (you can actually control it by ‘pinching’ the right ear cup in the same way you would to pan in and out of photos on your smartphone), the app sports a clear and intuitive interface, the auto-off works consistently, calls are dramatically improved by Sennheiser’s unique and delightfully-named Sidetone (which sounds as if you’ll be dialling up the sarcasm, but actually helps you hear your own voice during phone calls) and the immersive detail here will last actual, whole days.
Sennheiser’s fourth generation cans are available now, priced $349.95 / £300 / AU$549.95.
The keen-eyed will note that Sennheiser has priced its newest over-ear wireless noise-cancelling headphones at $50 (or £80) cheaper than the class-leading Sony WH-1000XM5 cans, which retail for $399 / £380 / AU$550.
And considering the Sennheiser over-ears boast double the stamina of the Sony proposition, things start to get really interesting…
Although $350 is hardly cheap for a set of headphones, the Momentum 4 Wireless actually launched at a more palatable price than their 2019-issue predecessors. Sennheiser is clearly happy to compete against the likes of Bose (the Bose QC 45 launched September 23, 2021 and cost $329 / £329 / AU$499.95) and Sony in a price war, and it’s safe to say that the gamble has paid off and then some.
Sennheiser has packed everything and the kitchen sink into the Momentum 4 Wireless’s spec sheet. Aside from that remarkable 60-hour battery life (which, before you ask, is at normal volume levels and with active noise cancellation engaged) that’s twice the stamina of many rivals, including the Sony WH-1000XM4 and XM5, which both offer 30 hours, and the Bose QC 45 and Bose Noise Cancelling 700 which offer between 24 and 30 hours.
