Billed as Sennheiser’s most advanced true wireless earphones to date, what’s new in the Momentum True Wireless 5 compared to the 2024 True Wireless 4 pair?
Considering the Momentum True Wireless 4 has a five-star rating and a spot on our list of best noise-canceling earbuds, should you upgrade to a new pair? Or is last year’s option still perfectly sufficient for most users?
Before reviewing the Momentum True Wireless 5, we compared the specifications of the Momentum True Wireless 4 and considered the most important updates below.
Price and availability
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 buds will be officially released on September 3rd and will be available in five colors: Graphite, Cream, Copper, Denim and Lavender. Buds will have an MSRP of £249.99/$299.95.
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Of course, being over two years old, the Moment True Wireless 4 has a slightly cheaper RRP of £229.99. That said, we’ve seen buds rise in price over the past year. Buds are available in four colors including Black Graphite, White Silver, Black Copper and Gold.
Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 5 ANC has been redesigned
We praised the ANC of the Momentum True Wireless 4 buds as excellent, and the suppressed noise levels are truly impressive. So, how do the True Wireless 5 buds compare?
According to Sennheiser, the buds also feature a revised adaptive hybrid active noise cancellation system and an automatic wind reduction mode. The latter is particularly noteworthy, as while the True Wireless 4 buds’ Anti-Wind mode does a good job of avoiding gusty wind conditions, it comes at the expense of stronger noise-canceling performance. With that in mind, we hope the True Wireless 5 manages to bridge the gap between stopping the wind while maintaining solid noise cancellation.
Additionally, the 5s features a dedicated four-microphone array that maximizes noise cancellation while delivering the “most natural-sounding” transparency of the series. We were seriously impressed with the 4s’ transparency mode, as it sounded so clear it didn’t feel like we were wearing sports headphones. With our AV editor Kob Monney declaring that he “doesn’t think it can get much better than this,” we’re curious to see how the 5s fare.
Finally, the buds also promise to deliver clear audio capture, thanks to a combination of microphones and two bone-conduction sound accelerometers, as well as an AI speech extraction algorithm that promises to isolate your voice. This is a welcome and much-needed improvement over its predecessor, as we found the 4s couldn’t really pick up sound.
Momentum True Wireless 5 has received a new design
The 5 buds now feature a new “aerodynamic silhouette” modeled using data from thousands of individual ear models, resulting in a so-called “bare fit”. According to Sennheiser, 73% of testers rated this as more comfortable than the 4s.
That’s not to say that the True Wireless 4 buds are uncomfortable in any way, as we’ve found them to slip in without a hitch and without any discomfort.
Even the charging case has been renewed, according to Sennheiser’s explanation, it now has a narrower aspect ratio and low friction. This should theoretically make it easier to slip in and out of pockets.
By the way, both buds are IP54 rated, which means they’re resistant to rain, water or sweat.
The Momentum True Wireless 5 focuses on repairability
One of the key areas of the True Wireless 5 buds is repairability and longevity. Like the Momentum 5 headphones, the True Wireless 5 include a replaceable battery system in the buds themselves and in the charging case. If the thought of tinkering with expensive electronics fills you with dread, don’t worry, Sennheiser says it can be done with just a compact screwdriver.
Momentum True Wireless 5 supports Bluetooth 6
While the True Wireless 4 supports Bluetooth 5.4 and we never experienced any dropouts or connection issues, the True Wireless 5 benefits more from Bluetooth 6.
Bluetooth 6 is a new iteration of Bluetooth that includes more accurate distance tracking, lower latency, and increased reliability, among other things. In addition, Momentum True Wireless 5 has native support for Google Fast Pair, Microsoft Swift Pair, and multipoint switching.
The Momentum True Wireless 5 offers up to 40 hours of battery life
The True Wireless 4 promises up to 30 hours of battery life and offers an hour of battery life with a quick eight-minute charge. That’s pretty impressive, but Sennheiser has improved on that with the True Wireless 5, promising up to 40 hours of battery life between charges.
We’ll have to wait until we review the buds to find out if they live up to Sennheiser’s claims.
Early judgment
With improved ANC, longer battery life and a new and repairable design, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 buds look like a promising upgrade over the Momentum True Wireless 4. Having said that, we have to reiterate that we really enjoyed our time with the True Wireless 4 pair, creating Sennfin’s youngest in-ears.
With that in mind, we’ll have to wait and see how the Momentum True Wireless 5 compares.
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