Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

Introduction:-

I am very excited to review my first Sennheiser product today. This is the Momentum 4 from them its a ANC headphone which competes with the likes of Sony XM5 and Bose QC line up. So how are they? Lets find out

I have also shared a video version of the review at YouTube any support there in form of a view, A like or A subscribe is greatly appreciated. But if you so wish to read the written version you can read this.



These are a loaner unit from Sennheiser and a huge thanks to them, but all the thoughts and opinions you are about to hear are my own.

Buy them here (Unaffiliated Link) :-

Amazon (Most countries) - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CQ2TBSPV

Sennheiser Website (Most Countries) - https://www.sennheiser-hearing.com/headphones/wireless-headphones/

Also please do an online search for dealers in your country, for a better deal


I will be as usual following my bullet style format for better readability for those who are dyslexic and in general find it hard to read long paragraphs. I follow this guide in general from the British Dyslexia Association.


Lets get started!

---

Review:-



1. Everyone is aware of the Sennheiser wired headphones and their legendary status. But the momentum wireless headphone series has been quite popular too.



2. These apparently make a good balance between being consumer friendly while also sounding good. Atleast that's what I have seen from some reviews. Lets dive deep and find out



3. The price of the Momentum 4 is $379 which is the MSRP but they can be always be found on sale, sometimes for as low as $240 new.






See the lowest price in Amazon USA, although it might vary depending on region and when you buy




4. The unboxing experience is very simple. Everything is located inside the main headphone case.



5. I got this fantastic graphite colour, which is probably my favourite colour as I didn’t really like the white colour and the black colour of the headphones feels a bit cheap and flimsy. The graphite colour looks quite posh while also rejecting the fingerprints really well. Good job Sennheiser with this fantastic colour!



6. It comes with a fantastic hard case, the headphones, an analog cable which terminates to 3.5mm, aeroplane audio adapter, usb-c charging cable



7. They are very neatly organized inside the case and they have their own spot which I like



8. The upper portion of the headband has this fabric finish something akin to the case, which makes it feel very premium.






9. The earcups and the headband is made out of this pleather material which has a good amount of memory



10. The entire build of the momentum is made out of plastic to keep it light, but the plastic is of good quality and it does feel cheap or flimsy unlike the Sony or Bose. Although the momentum 4 is tad bit heavier than the rest,but I have had no issues with it



11. The fit is really good! Once you set the size of the headband. It seals really well



12. Although sometimes my ears does do touch the inside, which is a nitpick since my ears are quite large.



13. There is one minor con I have come across is when I set the headband to the size of my head for wearing when I try to put the headphones back in the case they don’t fit, I have to bring them back to their original position for putting them in. So again when I wear them later I have to set my headband size again.



14. The headphones also don’t fold inside like the bose headphones. This is a con for it having a larger footprint, but this is also a pro as it has less moving joints it is very less prone to breaking over the period of time



15. If you place the headphone inside the case it automatically switches off. Alternatively it also has an auto turn off feature which you can set from the app.



16. It also has an auto turn on feature where in if you twist open the headphones they turn on and connects to the last connected device. Which is a really awesome feature, and I found it using more times than I could think of.






17. The momentum 4 can be used via bluetooth, the included analog cable and any usb c cable which supports data.



18. Now to change the settings or eq of the headphone you have to connect via bluetooth. But after that all the settings are saved inside the headphones.



19. One cool thing is they sound really good of the analog cable and the settings you saved inside the dac of the headphones is still applicable via the analog cable. And if your headphone has battery left then the anc can be used. I feel the bass is a bit crisper and tighter and the overall sound has a better resolution when played via wired mode.



20. Without the battery when played through the analog cable they sound really bad as the DSP setting isnt working. But this shouldn’t matter more for what I am going to say next.



20. Now for the killer feature! The momentum 4 can be used by wire via the usb c port. Now doing so the headphones can simulteanously transfer audio + microphone input + it charges the headphones from the source device + ANC also works!



21. This is a feature I absolutely love!! If my battery was dead I could easily use a usb c cable and get all these features. This is my favourite thing of the momentum 4’s. Also just like the analog mode I feel the bass is a bit crisper and tighter and the overall sound has a better resolution when played via usb-c wired mode.



22. The battery life of sennheiser is around 60 hours with ANC! Which is a crazy number to achieve, and yes in my very long testing I got around 58 hours and some change. I played it in the aac codec with around 30% volume.



23. It also has a fast charge feature which gives you 6 hours of playback with 10 minutes of charge. And the full charge takes north of 1 hour



24. Sadly the momentum’s don’t have a anc off state rather it has complete anc or complete transparency and in between you have a middle ground which lets in some sound. I would really appreciate if Sennheiser via an update gave me an option for that, that would extend the battery even further.



25. I will leave a screenshot of the touch controls so you can pause and read it, thankfully it gives control over everything. But one minor con is that its all located on the right side, although the controls are fairly intuitive so you shouldn’t be having an issue learning them.






27. The right earcup has the power on/off button which is also a pairing button. Led indicator for how much battery is left and also the usb c port along with the 2.5mm analog port



28. Now talking about the ANC and transparency these perform really well! But the Sony and Bose edges them out by a bit in both aspects. Both Sony and bose do very well with blocking the high frequencies and also peoples voices. One thing which the momentum 4’s does very well when in ANC is that there is no EQ shift when the ANC is on, which is really awesome.



29. If I had to give an arbitrary number for both ANC and transparency then the Sony and Bose would be a 9/10 while the Sennheiser would be a 8/10. Now in no way is the Sennheiser bad, its infact very good. But its just that there are two headphones out there which performs really good in these aspects



30. I had no issues with the Bluetooth 5.2 momentum 4 when it came to range.



31. It doesn’t have LDAC, but rather supports APTX adaptive, APTX HD along with the AAC, SBC. Which I personally prefer in headphones geared towards a general consumer.




32. The aptx codec gives you a versatility by balancing the act between sounding good, low latency and giving you a good range.



33. I have read online that there have been connection issues particularly with windows PC, but I personally haven't had any issues at all.



33. It can connect upto two devices which is really nice, and you don’t need the app for that to work



34. You can also disable the touch controls if you so wish from within the apparently



35. These also have in-ear detection for play/pause which is nice and as usual can be toggled via the apparently



36. I will show some screenshots from the app, so that you can see how the app is like. Most of the settings are pretty self explanatory











37. The Sennheiser app has a sound personalisation feature which sadly requires you to make an account and login. Which again I am not a big fan of.



38. For me this sound personalisation didn’t sound that good, and rather gave me a heap of treble and made the sound very muffle so I decided not to use that.



39. As for sound I did use a little bit of eq. Because I found one small con with the out of the box sound is that the treble at around 8k or 10k region is a bit too peaky and in many songs specially instrumentals they pricked my ears so I toned a tad bit here.



40. Also while I found the stock bass to be plenty in quantity, I felt that it lacked a bit of that biteness and crispness of the bass so I increased the bass tad bit.



41. Check the EQ I did from the app, and this is saved inside the headphone. This minor eq makes it sound a lot better in my opinion.






42. Now talking about sound, the testing is done with the slight eq I showed and the headphone’s firmware is up to date as of the review



43. The overall sound is very consumer friendly and I can call it V-shaped



44. With the eq the sub-bass has very good rumble and very texture. In songs like Hollow 16-bit remix by Bjork it sounded exactly like I would have liked.



45. While without the EQ it sounded a bit lifeless and it felt like the bass was just there and it didn’t do much.



46. The mid-bass was really good, there is a slight bleed into the mid-range which depending on the song you listen to it might sound good. My Eq does help it a bit over here in sounding a tad bit controlled



47. Without the EQ again it sounded a bit meh and instruments sounded very 1 dimensional



49. But after the EQ there was very good instrument separation and the tonality of the instruments sounded very correct. My test album of 1985 live album by Cassiopea sounded really fun and engaging here.






50. Both the Male vocals and female vocals are very good and surprisingly strike a very good balance.



51. Male vocals like Chris Cornell and Bill Withers sound really good and the richness in their voice comes across very well. While female vocals sound quite apt, for some who is used to female vocals from harman tuned iems they might find a bit lacking.



52. Treble too is very good and has very good extension. My test tracks performed very well over here



53. In some treble heavy songs without the EQ it can became too peaky or shrilly over here, but with the EQ it stays well under my personal comfort level.



54. Now coming to soundstage, here is the one thing I think the momentum 4’s lack. As they don’t sound that wide and spacious and it gets hard to pinpoint instruments and details specially during a live song like the 1985 Cassiopea Live album



55. But fret not, as this lack of soundstage is a good thing. Why? Well because there is a significant chunk of viewers/Readers who prefer the cramped not so wide and in your head sound. So for them this is very good!



56. Coming to technicalities I would say these perform quite good and exceeded my expectations. Although when there is a lot going on in a song it sounds a bit jumbled up and it could sound a bit messy. Now again for the tuning and consumer this is targetting this is a nitpick, but I still though of mentioning it.



57. For gaming specially occasional FPS these are quite Ok and as such don’t causes any issues. But if you play without the EQ the treble peak I spoke about before could be too much in busy sequences.



58. Now talking about some general minor cons



59. The momentum 4’s as of now don’t respect the absolute volume in android devices. I have contacted Sennheiser support so many times but I haven't heard from them. The absolute volume is a really nice feature that helps in fine tuning the volume. Now this could easily be fixed with an update.



60. One more serious issue which I want to address is that with Sennheiser headphones it has some battery issues. There has been a lot of battery issues where after few months of usage they just stop working. Now for my testing period nothing has happened, but if Sennheiser allows me keep to this headphone for a longer period of time I will surely be testing the battery out and report after 6 months and 1 year to see how the reliability is and if there exists any issues or not.





61. I will be giving the mic test now via bluetooth mode. These have a real cool feature where your own voice is fed to you which gives you a more natural sense when talking. Have a listen to the mic (Please check my youtube video for the mic test its given 13:24)



61. Overall I think its a really good headphones for daily usage specially with the Very good ANC and the very dynamic sound which plays very well with genres like pop, rock, rap, hip hop while also being quite good with other genres along with the almost unbeatable battery life.



62. The intuitive controls along with the simple and functional app also plays a big part for me in whole heartedly recommending it.



63. Now if you get lucky and get them in sale for around $240 or 250. I think get a fantastic headphone.



64. So that is my review of the momentum 4’s, If you have any question please do comment below. I hope you have a great day ahead, Thanks for stopping by!

---

If you have any questions please feel free to ask me and also if you have any issues regarding this format of review please do comment I will try to mend it. Also sorry to those who are used to reading long paragraphs of review in headfi. I hope my review was upto the mark, I appreciate any feedback.

Again a big thanks to Sennheiser for making this review possible.

Have a great day ahead, Bye

Build Quality

Other than its predecessor, they are build out of plastic. This doesn't have to be bad. There is plastic and then there is plastic. My HD 580 Jubilee are also mostly made out of plastic and are still standing strong. I just hope, that the plastic used in the Momentum 4's can withstand sun exposure, because I'm mainly going to wear them out and about. Only time will tell.

Comfort

Coming from a pair of Sony XM3, the Momentum 4 are a step-down. They aren't uncomfortable, but could be better. The ear cups are on the smaller side. For my ears, it's barely big enough. The headband padding could be a bit firmer, or have more padding.

Bluetooth and Controls

The headphones got delivered with the newest firmware already installed. Which is a big plus. Connecting the headphones to my phone was as easy as it gets. The Android app also works without any problems. Only thing I don't like is the need to make an account for the custom EQ thing.

The touchpad works well, almost a little too well. Even the slightest touch pauses the music. The pinch gesture to change the ANC setting is a hit-and-miss. From ANC level 1 to neutral to transparency level 1 it works quite well, but either turning up the ANC level or transparency level above that needs a lot of tries.

ANC and Transparency

The ANC introduces a slight hiss, which is inaudible once music is playing. Other than that, it works great. On par with the Sony XM3. The transparency mode is a bit strange. Transparency mode turned all the way up produces a sound as if wind is blowing. Only that I'm inside with all the windows closed, and no AC turned on.

Sound

This is the strong point of these headphones. At home, I'm using a set of HD 580 Jubilee (predecessor of the famous HD 600) with a Fiio K5 Pro. The Momemtum 4 almost sound like a closed back version of the HD 580 Jubilee with slightly less pronounced mids and a sub bass extension.

Almost any of the Bluetooth headphones I tried out boost the lower mids/ upper bass. Hiphop sounds good, but everything else with drums (rock, metal) starts to sound muddy. This is even the case with the Momentum 3. I have no idea how Sennheiser managed to fix this with the Momentum 4, but they did. If the song has subbass, it's audible. If the song has strong subbass, the headphones have a subwoofer-like feeling to them. It does all that without convoluting the mids (or only ever so slightly). This also means that if a song has badly mixed bass, you're going to hear it.

Kickdrums in Metal songs lose a little tightness compared to my HD 580 Jubilee, but are fuller.

Mids are a tiny bit recessed. In The Seed by Aurora with the HD 580 Jubilee Aurora's voice is in the foreground. With the Momentum 4, it fights a bit with the low bass notes. But in return I hear bass notes, I can't hear with the HD 580 Jubilee.

Highs are nicely done too. They sound detailed without sounding harsh.

Imaging is superb. I am able to pinpoint the instruments with ease. I can even distinguish if something is coming from closer or further away.

Soundstage is good for a closed back headphone. It leans on the analytical side of things, which I like.

Final Thoughts

Sound wise, the Momentum 4 are the perfect match to my HD 580 Jubilee. Bass response is way better than 90% of other Bluetooth headphones in their price range (or even above) and are better than the Momentum 3. Comfort could be slightly better. All in all, a definitive recommendation for its price.

Disclaimer

Special thanks to Sennheiser for providing this opportunity to review the new Momentum 4 Wireless (or M4 from here on). I have not received any incentives for writing this review. All the comments are opinions of my own. I am not a professional reviewer, just a headphone enthusiast and music lover.

Build Quality

The M4 is built with mostly plastic materials. Although they do seem to be solid and they feel a little weighty when holding them. There is some padding under the headband so it doesn’t create hotspot on top of the head. The headband gimbals can be adjusted freely, there are no clicks. This allows for fine adjustment and there is enough friction to hold the gimbals in place after the adjustment. I do wish the gimbals could extend just a few millimeters more to have a better fit for my large head.

The other thing that bothers me was the ear pads. The M4 is advertised as over ear, or circumoral headphones. However, the inner diameters of the ear pads are on the smaller side and will not accommodate people with larger ears. The pleather materials of the pads are not breathable and they warm up the ears quickly. Since the ear pads require special mounting rings. This will limit the choices of using aftermarket pads.

The M4 is a set of feature-rich headphones. Although the M4 was not quite comfortable for me, I did not spend time to test all the features. I will keep this review short. I will also compare the M4 with my AirPods Pro (Gen 1) since that’s my only Bluetooth earphones in the similar price range.

Bluetooth Connectivity and Controls

My main reason for getting the Bluetooth headphones is for meetings and phone calls (working from home most of the time) plus the mobility. Therefore, Bluetooth connectivity and sound clarity are more important to me.

I really like the Bluetooth connectivity of M4. The Bluetooth pairing was very easy with my iPhone, LG V30 phone as well as my laptop. The M4 can connect to two Bluetooth devices at the same time. I can play music on iPhone then switch over to the V30 without having to disconnect the iPhone. I do need to pause the music on iPhone before using the V30. The setup of the Sennheiser Smart Control App is very easy and smooth for the Android phone (V30). However, it took me several attempts to connect the Smart Control App to M4 on the iPhone.

The touch controls were easy to operate, and I didn’t experience any misfiring.

Sound

Clarity of the sound during phone calls were excellent. I can hear the conversation clearly and my voices can be heard by the other parties with great clarity as well. The sound quality during phone calls on M4 was superior to the AirPods Pro.

I think the overall sound quality of M4 for music is also very good. The clarity and soundstage are great. The bass is full and impactful, although I feel it could be a little overpowering sometimes. I did listen to the M4 in passive mode using the provided headphone cable. The M4 sounded dull. The wireless mode sounded better and much more alive. I didn’t play with the EQ in the Smart Control App.

The M4 performs very well in terms of noise canceling. It can block out most of the ambient noises when the NC is activated. I didn't test the NC against the Bose (QC25). I didn’t use the M4 outdoors so I can’t test the wind noise reduction feature.

Comparison

Comparing to AirPods Pro, this doesn’t seem to be a fair game. The M4 is $100 more expensive in MSRP and it’s a full-size headphone versus the ear buds AirPods Pro. The M4 has much better battery life, 60 hours for M4 versus 4 hours for AirPods Pro (with one charge). The M4 can connect to two Bluetooth devices while AirPods Pro can only connect to one. In terms of noise canceling, I think M4 and AirPods Pro performed equally well. However, for sound quality on the iOS devices I prefer the AirPods Pro. The AirPods Pro sounded more open, and the bass is more controlled and has better details.

Final Thoughts

I like the new Momentum 4 Wireless. The Bluetooth connectivity, the sound quality, the touch control, and the battery life are the strong selling points. If the headband gimbals and the ear pads could have been improved, then I would definitely give it a 5-Star rating.