Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: solid sound, loads of features

If you’ve landed on this Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review then chances are you’re in the market for some of the best true wireless earbuds, and that’s exactly what you’ll find here.

Sennheiser is an audio brand that knows how to create a good pair of headphones, the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless earbuds are a prime example of that. They’re Sennheiser’s mid-range TWS offering that manage to pack great sound and effective noise-cancelling into a good-looking and reasonably priced pair of earbuds.

Here you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know about the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless from details about the design and fit to how well they worked day-to-day. 

On a tight budget? You’ll be better off checking out the best budget wireless earbuds instead.

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: price and what’s new 

You can buy the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless now starting from $130 in the US, £110 in the UK and AU$167 in Australia. Take a look at the widgets on this page to see the best deals from across the web right now. 

Offering a slightly more extensive package than the Sennheiser CX True Wireless earbuds, the CX Plus are the better choice but they’re also the more expensive choice. It’s worth it because they add some extra features to the mix like active noise cancellation and a transparent mode, as well as smart pause that stops the music when you take one out. 

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: design and fit  

The Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless are square earbuds that come in a matching charging case. Keeping things simple, you can buy them in either white or black. Both options look smart and both are made from sleek matte plastic with silver Sennheiser branding. 

You’ll find touch controls on the outside of each bud, they’re very obvious thanks to the glossy design and they work very well because every time you tap them, you’ll hear a little beep so you’ll know how many taps you’ve done. It’s an incredibly handy feature and something a lot of true wireless earbuds could learn from! 

The touch controls can be used to switch between the nose-cancelling and transparent modes, as well as skip forwards and backwards through tracks, pause/play the music and adjust the volume. Plus you’ll be able to use them to call your smartphone’s voice assistant as well as answer your phone calls. If you’re not happy with the default gestures, you can change them through the Sennheiser Smart Control app. 

In terms of fit, these earbuds come with four sizes of silicone ear tips, that's one more than most. You should be able to find a size that works for you. The square shape is actually quite big and weighing 6g each they’re a little heavier than other options, it won’t be a problem for most people but if you have smaller ears then you’ll be able to feel them sitting there.

I used these for my commute, my gym sessions and while I was working in the office but I found that I got tired of wearing them after a couple of hours. They did stay securely in my ears the whole time though. They’re also IPX4 water-resistant so they’ll be fine with sweat or light rain but I wouldn’t drop them in a puddle if I were you.

You’ll be able to listen to music for 8 hours at a time, and the charging case will give you a total of 24 hours of music. That’s fine, it's not the best battery life but it's also not bad either. When you do need to recharge them, it’ll only take an hour and a half to get a full charge, or if you don’t have much time then plugging them in for 10 minutes will give you an hour of listening.

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: performance and features 

The default sound on the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless is very clean, there’s nothing over the top about it, nor is there any part that is underwhelming. That’s not to say there’s no personality to it though because it’s still energetic and punchy with tonnes of detail. 

You can hear each bang of a drum and every twang of a guitar, vocals come across clearly whether its Louis Armstong’s low grumble or Björk’s melodic cheer. You get a great amount of balance between frequencies although admittedly if you’re more into thumping bass music then you won’t feel completely satisfied with these. 

Unlike the cheaper model, the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless earbuds do have noise cancelling. I was on a particularly busy bus when I first tried it out, it was so busy that I couldn’t hear my podcast, but the ANC solved that. While I could still hear a fair amount of road rumble, it did do a great job at blocking out other people’s conversations so I could keep my focus on the audio. If you do want to hear what’s going on around you, they also have a transparent mode which balances outside noise with your music. 

The Sennheiser Smart Control app is available for both iOS and Android, it’s a really in-depth and intuitive way to adjust the settings of the earbuds. You can actually use it to change the equaliser settings to suit your own taste or the genre of music you’re listening to - a feature that isn't always included in earphones at this price. 

Once you’ve set up the perfect balance, you can save it to use again later. If you’re not so confident with a manual equaliser then you can also run the sound check feature which asks you to play your favourite song and offers 3 equaliser settings at a time over 3 rounds. Each time you'll need to pick which one sounds best to you, and the app will then create a custom setting based on your answers.

Other features include side tone adjustment which allows you to hear how your voice sounds in phone calls, and there are even sound zones as well, so when you're in different set locations the earbuds will change your settings accordingly. The Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless will also pause the music when you take one out so if someone strikes up a conversation you don't need to faff around with the controls to hear them.

While the earbuds were easy to connect using Bluetooth, I sometimes found they wouldn’t play the music when I first put them in so I had to disconnect and reconnect them until they did. This happened to me a few times which was a little frustrating especially when I was on the move. It’s a shame because that really lets them down.

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: verdict 

When I first started using the Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless I thought they had it all, they look good and sound great with loads of handy extra features to adjust the sound and other settings. 

But there are two quite significant downsides to consider, firstly if you have small ears you might find these uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time and secondly, they’re not always completely reliable because I had some issues with getting my music to play. 

I wouldn’t write these off completely though because, despite those issues, these are still fantastic value for money and they have some really advanced features for a pair of true wireless earbuds at this price. They do have a lot going for them! 

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review: also consider  

The best true wireless earbuds you can buy for around this price are Cambridge Audio Melomania 1 Plus. They don't have noise-cancelling but it's the sound quality that sets them apart from the crowd as well as how long the battery lasts (a huge 50 hours in total).

If money is no object, you should buy the Sony WF-1000XM4. They're our top pick because they combine impressive audio, a solid battery life, excellent call quality and an advanced array of features.