Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: noise cancelling headphones to rival the big players

Any Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review has to say that these are a simple, stylish pair of headphones that come loaded with Sennheiser’s Signature Sound - they’re undoubtedly some of the best noise-cancelling headphones out there right now. 

Following on from the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless, which were released back in 2019, this new model has been a long time coming. Sennheiser may have taken its time to get them out but it’s easy to see why - these completely refresh and reinvent the series with upgraded performance and the very latest features.

I managed to get my hands on the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, and straight off the bat, I can tell you that they did not disappoint. In this review, you’ll be able to find out everything you need to know about them from details about their design and fit to a deep dive into their features and performance. 

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: price and what’s new 

Available to buy from the 23rd August 2022, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless will set you back $349.95 in the US and £299.99 in the UK. You'll be able to see where you can buy them in the widgets on this page. 

How are they different to the previous model? First things first, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless has a completely refreshed design. The metal bands have gone, instead replaced by smooth but sturdy black plastic. 

Another significant change is to the battery life, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 Wireless headphones only lasted about 17 hours of use before they needed to be plugged in, whereas the new model lasts an impressive 60 hours of music. You’ll also get next-gen ANC, new customisable touch controls and fast charging. 

The biggest and best shift to the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless range is the price - the 3rd generation started at an eye-watering $399 / £349 whereas the 4th generation has been launched at a much more palatable price.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: design and fit 

A major design refresh is always going to be a risk, but I think the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless pull it off. Ditching the bulky metal bars for a smooth plastic hinge, they look smart and sophisticated, even if they do blend in more with the other premium cans on the market from the likes of Bose and Sony. 

You can buy them in two sleek colours: black or white. I tried out the former and was pleased with how they looked, the matte plastic covers the whole outside of the earcup, and blends perfectly with the ear cushions on the inside. The padded headband is covered in a woven mesh fabric along the top, with a discreet silver metal Sennheiser logo on either end. Everything about them makes them look both simple and elegant but they still feel well made and sturdy.

While it is obviously great that these look so good, they also need to feel good when you have them on, and they certainly tick that box too. Weighing only 293g, they’re a fair amount lighter than their predecessors, something which most definitely contributes to how comfortable they are to wear for long periods of time. The soft memory foam earcups and smooth headband help with that too, although admittedly neither are particularly comfortable during a heatwave or for using while you exercise.

For me, these were quite big in size, the large earcups do protrude quite a lot so they won’t be the best choice for anyone who values subtlety or who has a smaller head. In saying that, most people won't have an issue with that. 

To find the right fit, you just pull the bar from within the headband. Because it’s not ridged you can stop it wherever suits you best, and it stays firmly in place as well. The headphones themselves do move around a little so you won’t be running anywhere in these, but they’ll be fine for using on your commute, in the office or on long journeys. 

When you aren’t using them, the earcups can be rotated flat and placed in the matching hard-shelled carry case that comes in the box. They don’t fold up entirely though like some other headphones so they might take up a bit more room in your bag than others.

Along with the case, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless come with a USB-C charging cable, an audio cable for 3.5mm and 2.5mm jacks as well as an aeroplane adapter.

Easy-to-use touch controls on the earcups let you pause or play the music with a tap, answer your calls or skip through tracks with a swipe across and adjust the volume with a swipe up or down. Intuitive and simple to remember, I found them to be responsive and accurate, if you find yourself less keen than I was, you can also change which gesture does what through the adjoining smartphone app.

You can use these to control your smartphone’s voice assistant hands-free as well. To activate yours it’ll just be a case of tapping the multifunction button on the edge of the earcup.

What’s really good about these headphones is that you’ll rarely need to charge them up. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless pack in a huge 60 hours of battery life with ANC switched on. You can see how much you have left using the strip of 5 LED lights on the earcup, or you’ll be told the percentage when you first turn them on.

When they do eventually run out of juice, it’ll take about 2 hours to charge them up again and a quick 5 minutes hooked up to power gives you up to 4 hours of playtime, so you won't be without your tunes for long!

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: performance and features 

Sennheiser’s Signature Sound is rich and impactful without sacrificing any detail - you get plenty of energy and an abundance of precision. 

Powered by a 42mm transducer, across the soundstage, everything feels very controlled yet noticeably natural. There’s an assertive punch to the low end and a very clean treble but that’s not to say that the mid-range doesn’t push through with enough force because it definitely does. 

You get every inch of whichever song you’re listening to so no instrument or lyric is wasted, there’s more than enough space for it all to be expressed clearly with a crisp edge. 

What I’m getting at here is that the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless are a very pleasant listen, whether you’re more into Bach or Beyoncé. Even if you plan to listen to podcasts or audiobooks, these will deliver the clarity and balance you need. 

Thanks to the adaptive noise cancellation, the headphones should adjust themselves according to the environment you’re in, but you can also adjust it yourself using the touchpad or through the app. 

When it comes to blocking out noise, these are some of the best headphones I’ve ever tried. When the ANC is dialled up all the way and the track is playing, I couldn’t really hear anything happening around me at all - I didn’t even realise my laptop was playing a YouTube video because I couldn’t hear it at all. That will make this pair of cans ideal for use on an aeroplane or on a noisy train. 

There’s also a separate transparency mode that lets you hear what’s going on around you, this also worked very well as it boosted the noise just enough so it came through clearly and above the music I had playing.

Using the Sennheiser Smart Control app, which is available for both iOS and Android, you get a fair amount of control over the headphones. 

A three-band equaliser gives you the opportunity to adjust the sound to suit you, that's obviously not as detailed as a 4 or even 5 band equaliser but it's still good to get even basic control. As well as letting you save your configuration as a preset you can also choose from Sennheisers own preset settings including Rock, Pop, Dance, Hip Hop, Classical and Movie.

If you’re not so sure which preset will be best for you then the Sound Check mode will help you to create your one. You pick your favourite song and then the app will play you different versions of the track and prompt you to pick which ones sound best, which it then uses to create your personalised preset settings.

The Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity is reliable and has support for SBC, AAC, aptX and aptX adaptive codecs. What's more, is that you can be connected to multiple devices at once e which makes switching between them a breeze. 

Another handy feature worth knowing about is that to save on battery life, these headphones will automatically switch themselves off after 15 minutes of not being in use and they’ll turn back on when you pick them up again. They’ll also switch off the music when you take them off and play it again when you put them back on so you won’t miss a second of your playlists.

Last but not least, the call quality is provided by 2 microphones on both sides and delivers crystal clear audio without too many distractions from the outside world, from my experience.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: verdict 

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless headphones have a winning formula - they sound phenomenal, the noise cancelling has the ability to block the world out entirely and they look stylish, even if they are on the larger side of things. 

In terms of the competition, these sit at a pretty sweet spot, they're a fraction of the price of the AirPods Max and they cost about the same as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, but they have more battery life than those two pairs combined! 

Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless review: also consider 

There are two pairs of headphones that are the most obvious rivals to the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless: the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Bose QuietComfort 45. 

If you want the very best of the bunch and you don’t mind splashing out on them, then go for the Sony WH-1000XM5. They’re a lot more expensive than these but they offer the ultimate combination of sound, noise cancelling, design and features. 

For those who don’t want to spend quite so much, but who still want to get some of the very best cans with noise cancelling, the Bose QuietComfort 45 could be the better choice. They aren’t quite as impressive as the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless without any touch controls and with only 24 hours of battery life but they are also slightly cheaper.