A complete change in appearance and increased battery life: a review of Sennheiser Momentum 4 wireless headphones

Among the players in the category of wireless headphones for many years there are established and proven leaders who improve their models from time to time. One such that any tech enthusiast will probably remember is the Sennheiser Momentum. At one time I was able to spend several weeks with the second and third iterations of these headphones, and now I got my hands on the updated last year Sennheiser Momentum 4. And this is probably the best thing that happened to this line.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 package contents

Immediately jumping ahead: the headphones have radically changed the design. The package contents were also affected. And not only on its appearance but also on its functionality. However, the contents of the box have not changed. It still has the storage and transport case, the wired connection cable, the charging cable, and the airplane adapter.

And if the appearance of the cables and adapter is not important, then the case has already been significantly improved. Now it is firmer, in my own opinion it looks much better and has become much nicer to the touch. It is covered by a fabric like nylon (but I could be wrong). At the same time, it is practical, unlike the previous one, because, firstly, it is dark in color, and, secondly, it has a solid base that will better protect the headphones during transportation.

It is only worth admitting that the case is relatively large and will take up a lot of space in a backpack, which should be taken into account when traveling. As for the defense, it makes a much better impression than the previous ones.

Design and usability

The headphones themselves have completely changed and it is difficult to recognize anything in common with previous versions. The first Momentum had a static base, which then “learned” to fold. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 is now not foldable again, but the hoop now has a retractable leg for size adjustment. Such changes entailed many other improvements.

The overall design has become much more modern. Previously, headphones had a somewhat “retro appearance”, where the cups looked like an echo of the past. Their fastening was also made with such “notes”. The hoops of the first two versions supported a similar concept. But with the Sennheiser Momentum 4, everything has become much more modern: the hoop has been completely redesigned and covered with the same fabric as the cover; bowls were significantly modernized and fixed with U-shaped fasteners; the wires that connect the headphones are now completely hidden in the mounts; control was mainly transferred to the touch surface of the right cup, leaving only the power button, battery charge indicator, and connector for wired connection; dark and light versions of the case were left among the colors.

And please don’t get me wrong, I’m not “against” the old-school look of headphones, but next to new laptops, smartphones, and any other modern gadgets, this design made the headphones look like a black sheep. The Sennheiser Momentum 4 has a much better look than other new devices and, subjectively, is noticeably more pleasant in everyday use. This is a really cool update.

There are no comments about the materials, as well as about the comfort of use. The cushion on the hoop and the ear pads are soft enough to remain barely noticeable even after several hours in the headphones. Personally, I probably found this model to be the most comfortable and pleasant (not only among Sennheiser). People with larger heads may not be as comfortable with them as I am, but that may be the case for most other competitors as well. I could wear headphones for several hours in a row and remove them without any unpleasant sensations in my ears and head.

But it is also possible to find certain design and package flaws. How well will the fabric of the cover and case be preserved – only time will tell. Although it does not insure against accidental damage and, for example, pets. As for the ear pads, they are replaceable, so it will be much easier with them when the time comes to replace them than with a hoop. I did not check how resistant the plastic cups are to damage, but I did not want to accidentally hit or drop them. At the same time, the hoop can be greatly deformed, after which it will easily return to its correct shape.

In general, I really liked the Sennheiser Momentum 4, both in appearance and in everyday use. However, it was necessary to monitor the coating of the headphones themselves, which is noticeably covered with fingerprints (especially the right sensor cup). But against the background of general comfort and pleasant appearance, this is an almost imperceptible flaw. And in the summer they will definitely be hot. As of mid-May in Kyiv, it was already hot in the sun. Moreover, they are unlikely to become those headphones you want to wear for a walk in August. Again, the same would be true of most competing models of this type, so I’d suggest taking that into account.

Control and functionality

This section has significant updates compared to previous versions of Momentum. For example, even the beginning of working with headphones is interesting. The case has its own “smart chip” – the headphones turn on automatically as soon as the user takes them out of the case, and turn off accordingly when they fall back. In the few weeks I’ve had the headphones, I’ve probably only put them back in a case a couple of times when the tag didn’t work. The rest of the time it works, and it’s just as convenient as with TWS earphones that turn off when they’re in the case.

Of course, the function of automatically stopping playback when the user takes off the headphones is also here. The sensor is only installed in the right cup and it works great and fast.

The management concept has changed significantly. Most of the physical buttons are a thing of the past, Sennheiser Momentum 4 switched to touch control, under which the developers moved the right cup. So, to increase the volume, you need to swipe up on the headphone, to decrease it – down, double-tap – to stop the track and disable noise reduction, and so on. All gestures are intuitive and easy to remember.

One might be skeptical about touch controls for headphones, but Sennheiser has done a good job of implementing the feature. The sensor works really well with gestures and everything functions exactly as it should. At the moment, it is already difficult to say clearly whether it would be better to install traditional buttons because the touch control has already been brought to a suitable state. Therefore, this point can be left to the discretion of a particular user, and if the sensor is not to your liking, it can be turned off and playback can be controlled from a smartphone, laptop, or other connected gadget. Personally, I have no problems with this method and I left it on.

The Momentum 4 remain wireless headphones, but the package will also offer a 2.5-to-3.5 mm Jack cable, which will allow you to connect to a sound source in the “classic” way. But when using a wireless connection, the headphones work well with a multipoint connection and quickly switch between different devices (no more than two simultaneous sources). In my case, it was a smartphone and a laptop. This point has been improved and now the headphones switch between devices better and faster, and once again almost do not compete with each other. The only thing worth considering is that most of the additional settings are only available in the smartphone application.

Also, the headphones have an Adaptive Noise Cancellation. In this mode, the headphones must independently determine how the noise cancellation should behave at a specific moment. If desired, it can be adjusted manually both in the application and in the gesture we are on the right earbud. Without competing models at hand, it is difficult to say how much better or worse the ANC here is, but the system is definitely not the worst and will not leave indifferent demanding users.

It works well and easily “cuts off” cyclic sounds and other noises that can interfere with listening to music. I turned on automatic mode and was quite happy with it. What’s more, a double tap on the right cup can stop the music and turn on the “transparency” mode, when you need to answer a call or listen to something outside, without removing the headphones. Not very polite, but convenient. The Transparency mode is also well configured and works as it should.

But it is worth noting that listening to music louder than about 50-60% power, external sounds will already be lost in the background. This is quite logical because good room is still present. Therefore, in theory, fans of loud sound can save some energy by turning off the system, at least in the home, office, etc. Moreover, this moment can be automated by the application. The Sound Zones feature allows you to save specific settings for 20 separate locations (home, office, gym, etc.), where the headphones will activate the desired noise canceling and EQ settings, and switch to others when the user moves on. This is done using GPS, so the application will need to be granted the appropriate rights in the smartphone settings. 

For example: in the gym, the user needs to activate ANC to the maximum and adjust the equalizer to a playlist with the appropriate “energetic” music; when working in the office, ANC should be switched to Transparency mode and switch the equalizer to podcasts; and at home, the user mainly listens to, say, classical music and does not need noise reduction. All these are separate sets of settings, for which you will not need to contact the application every time.

Finally, the application will also allow you to: switch the sound transmission quality to High Resolution Audio (96 kHz/24 bits, aptX Adaptive); skip external sounds during calls; configure detection of headphones on the head, Smart Pause, and automatic shutdown time; change the notification form (sounds and voice, just sounds…); see the codec; reset settings and update the firmware. I was lucky enough to get the update during testing and it lasted for about two hours, although the headphones worked pretty much the entire time and only turned off for a few minutes.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 sound

However, the sound is the most interesting and the best thing that these headphones have. The previous models were among the best in their class, and it would be a real shame if that changed. Sennheiser is not losing ground, and the Momentum 4 did not disappoint. They got the same 42 mm drivers and closed full-size bowls as in previous models. Unfortunately, there aren’t any on hand, so it’s hard to tell if there have been noticeable changes in sound, but the sound is still among the best (for this class).

However, there are nuances here. For example, the connection method can affect the behavior of the headphones. So, by adjusting the sound for yourself in the mobile application, you can hear the difference in sound between different types of connection. The balance that the user chose for himself in wireless mode disappears in wired mode, and at high volume, you can hear some shortcomings that are not present in wireless connection.

And although the headphones are designed for wireless use, people who have specific usage scenarios, such as working with sound that requires no delay, for example, may feel some discomfort from the change in sound. But the vast majority of users who use the provided wireless connection to a smartphone, laptop, or tablet are unlikely to find out about it at all.

But with the settings, the manufacturer left some curiosities. There is a Sound Personalization function here, which, as its name suggests, will help adapt the sound to the owner. To do this, it will turn on different sounds to the user in turn and offer to adjust them to their taste. Another option is a 5 band equalizer (which was 3 band before the update). It also comes with bass boost features and a mode for listening to podcasts. With bass, it is better to limit yourself only to the equalizer setting, otherwise, some part of the scene will be lost.

Personally, I liked the option with the equalizer more, because it is subjectively more intuitive and accurate. In addition to saving your own settings, the application can offer several presets for the main genres of music. And you should use the equalizer. Headphones can allow quite flexible changes, which will complement the sound well, taking into account personal preferences. A similar story was with previous models. (Again, sound is a very subjective factor that should be tested for yourself.)

Having adjusted the sound, such headphones will be able to play almost any modern music style. Some, of course, are better, and some are a little worse. For example, songs by artists like System Of A Down can sound too noisy at high volume, but something electronic – on the contrary, without objection. What’s more, the headphones have a wonderful surround bass that will coolly “complement” such music (Noisia, Fred again…, IMANU, Feed Me, NickBee).

Classical music – no problem. I spent some time in Momentum 4 with the new Classical application from Apple, where I “attended” Wiener Musikverein, and also listened with delight to London Symphony Orchestra. You can listen to something from jazz with no less pleasure (Nefertiti Quartet, Nina Simone). And in addition to good detailing, I would like to note the stereo effect separately. I am sure that buyers who have purchased headphones of this class for the first time will be surprised by individual compositions where similar accents are found. 

It’s also nice to listen to tracks with fine details (Kimyan Law, Culprate, Flume). You can hear them well and nothing is overloaded with bass. But for fans of loud listening to music at the maximum capabilities of the speakers, who also add “bass” with the equalizer, there is bad news – you will have to get rid of this habit because in such cases the speakers are overloaded and some parts of the tracks will still wheeze.

For fans of almost all modern popular genres (Drake, Jessie Reyez, Little Simz, A$AP Rocky, Pharrell Williams, Justice, Gorillaz…) Sennheiser Momentum 4 are completely suitable. Mostly everything that plays in public spaces, on the radio, in the popular “tiktoks” and “reels”, etc., should play well in these headphones. At the same time, they are quite enough for the quality of streaming services such as Apple Music, Spotify, or YouTube Music in connection with an iPhone or MacBook. For my part, I often prefer music with expressive bass. Finding the right settings for my playlists was easy, and I was completely satisfied with the quality and power of the sound (and if you listen to music at about half volume, the people around will also “enjoy” the music). 

As for calls, the user should consider the situation here. On the street, it is better to answer a call from a smartphone, because the noise cancellation, surprisingly, does not handle all background sounds well, and the interlocutor will have a hard time hearing the voice and will receive a lot of noise instead of normal communication. But in a quiet room, there will be no such problems, and you can still wear headphones while answering the call.

Sennheiser Momentum 4 battery life

Another point that has been significantly improved is battery life. If the last time Momentum was supposed to work for 17 hours, then the new model increased this time to 60. The manufacturer indicated this figure with the noise reduction system turned on, connected to the iPhone, and the volume level at 50%. The capacity of the built-in battery is 700 mAh.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to calculate the entire usage time, taking into account the fact that they can play for two and a half days without a break. I only charged them once before upgrading two weeks ago and currently have 30% left. At the same time, I almost did not turn off ANC and mostly listened to music at 70-90% volume. And this, in my opinion, is a very cool result, because, from the moment of full charge, I definitely spent at least two hours a day in headphones (often more). At the same time, it takes about two hours to fully charge, and 5 minutes of charging should provide 4 hours of operation.