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- How much do they cost?
- What features do they have?
- How do you change the batteries?
- How I tested the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5
- How easy are they to control?
- How comfortable are they?
- How good are they for calls?
- What’s the sound quality like?
- How effective is the noise cancellation?
- Should you buy the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5?
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- Rich, natural and nuanced sound
- Premium design with replaceable batteries
- Packed with handy features
- A little bulkier than others
- Touch control area is a bit small
- Some stronger rivals for high-end ANC
Though it may not be obvious, almost all wireless earbuds have an expiry date. With daily use, the tiny batteries in these products struggle to hold a charge over time and lose significant capacity after about four years.
Their batteries drain faster, run through cycles more quickly, and are permanently glued in. All this adds up to earphones with a shelf life. But things are changing. With the launch of the Momentum True Wireless 5, Sennheiser is bringing user-replaceable batteries to its flagship model. And it’s not cutting corners elsewhere, either. The MTW5 have strong battery life, an IP54 water and dust-resistance rating, and a fresh, sleek, premium design.
You’re also getting Bluetooth 6.0 with aptX Lossless support, adaptive hybrid noise cancellation, and Dolby Atmos spatial audio. In the two years since the Momentum True Wireless 4 launched, Sennheiser has also improved its microphones, earbud ergonomics, and wireless stability in busy environments.
To see how the Momentum True Wireless 5 stack up against the best of the best, I used them as my main earbuds for three weeks and compared them to their biggest rivals from Bose, Apple, JBL and more.
How much do they cost?
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 (henceforth the MTW5) are a premium pair of buds, and their £250 price tag matches many high-end rivals. However, they’re not the most expensive; the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen) cost £300, while the Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 are a staggering £369.
Their price puts them up against the Sony WF-1000XM6 (£249), Technics EAH-AZ100 (£229), and Apple AirPods Pro 3 £219), all of which are fantastic options.
There are lots of cheaper earbuds worth considering if you’re willing to sacrifice some performance and premium design. Noise-cancelling options like the EarFun Air Pro 4+ (£70), Nothing Ear (3a) (£99) and Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro (£150) are all decent budget shouts.
What features do they have?
We called the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 an “upgrade that doesn’t look like an upgrade”. This time, the brand made notable design changes, giving the buds a sleek new look and a slimmer case with a strong metal hinge. They feel premium.
How else do the Sennheisers stand out? Unlike rivals, they come in a wide range of colours: Graphite, Copper, Denim, Lavender, and the Cream of my review sample. Most notably, they have replaceable batteries in both earbuds and the charging case. This means they should last longer than rivals because you can swap out ageing batteries in a few years.
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What about battery life right now? The MTW5 offer six hours of playtime with ANC on, and 12 hours with it off. In my testing, they ran for roughly 7.5 hours at 50% volume from an iPhone. They support USB-C and wireless charging, with an eight-minute quick charge delivering an hour of use.
Great connectivity and app support
They’re well-connected and support Bluetooth 6.0 with multipoint and aptX Lossless high-res streaming. As with the Momentum True Wireless 4, Auracast and LE Audio will be added via a firmware update.
The MTW5 are compatible with the excellent Smart Control Plus app, which lets you do all manner of things. You can tweak the sound profile, adjust tap controls and ANC, turn on battery preservation mode or Dolby Atmos spatial audio, enable robust connection mode and manage connections. You can also set up Sound Zones, geo-fenced locations where you can set different EQ presets and ANC modes to activate when you enter or leave the area.
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For sound adjustment, there’s an eight-band graphic equaliser and the Sound Personalisation feature. The latter is part hearing test and part preference test. You listen to different instruments and pick your desired volume. The results sounded good, but as I’ll explain later, I was happier leaving the buds on the “Neutral” default sound.
It’s a comprehensive set of features, with niche extras like head gesture controls or shortcuts to third-party services the only omissions.
How do you change the batteries?
To change the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 batteries, you’ll need a small screwdriver and the pry tool that comes with the earbuds.
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Changing the case battery requires unscrewing one small screw and sliding the charging case’s cover off. With that done, you can access the case battery.
For each earbud, loosen two screws, then use the tool to pry open the housing with a “lever” motion. Take care: these are small, delicate parts, and the ribbon cable inside the earbuds is easy to damage. Once you carefully open the bud housing, you can switch in a new battery.
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Sennheiser hasn’t confirmed the price of replacement batteries, though I anticipate a set covering both the case and earbuds to cost under £50.
How I tested the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5
Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 5 were my primary true wireless earbuds for over three weeks. During that time, I used them in various real-world situations, including journeys on the London Underground, working from home, at the coffee shop, and while walking on city streets. I directly compared the MTW5 to the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 and Bose and Apple flagships.
To test multipoint connectivity, I used my iPhone 17 Pro and MacBook Air. While testing high-res files and the aptX codec suite, I used the Fairphone 6+ and the Activo P1 music player.
I tested the battery drain and wore these buds for several hours to evaluate their comfort. I also made calls and monitored call quality by recording notes while playing various background noises over my speakers.
Why you can trust me
I have over a decade of experience writing about consumer electronics and have tested several pairs of flagship noise-cancelling earbuds over the years, including two previous generations of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless line. I’ve written for titles such as Esquire and Digital Spy, and used to work as the Technology Editor for Good Housekeeping UK.
How easy are they to control?
Tap gestures on the earbuds offer solid control, and Sennheiser hasn’t really changed things from previous Momentum generations. As mentioned, the Smart Control Plus app lets you personalise your experience and easily customise touch controls.
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You can turn them off if you want, but I’m a big fan of Sennheiser’s control setup. They’re also one of the few brands offering an auto-pause when transparency mode is engaged. I find this handy for brief conversations, as I can pause a podcast and hear the outside world via a single tap.
Compared to the Momentum True Wireless 4, though, Sennheiser has added a bit of fiddliness by making the touch target on the buds smaller. This sometimes meant only a single tap registered when I tried to double-tap. It’s not a huge issue, but worth noting as a minor frustration.
How comfortable are they?
These redesigned buds fit very differently to their predecessors. They have a much shallower profile with no stability fins, and the eartip material is also a little thicker, but it’s still silicone rather than the foam of Sony’s WF-1000XM6.
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They’re comfortable to wear, but make sure you’ve got a secure seal. Double-check your eartip size with the app-based fit test, and don’t twist them in too much, as this can slightly break the seal and cause friction noise while walking around with ANC on.
The MTW5 are a tiny bit heavier than the Momentum True Wireless 4, likely due to the accommodations needed for repairability. The fourth-gen weighed 6.2g per bud; these are roughly 7g per bud.
How good are they for calls?
The MTW5 are very good for calls and voice recordings, thanks to four high-quality mics and a bone-conduction sensor in each earbud. My voice sounded clear in all the voice notes I made with loud background sounds, though in the loudest conditions they missed a word sometimes.
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This was rare, though. Overall, they do better than many rivals at environmental noise cancellation, and I have no issue recommending them for calls. The person on the other end of the line will hear you clearly in all but the most challenging conditions.
What’s the sound quality like?
The MTW4 delivered exceptional audio quality, so it’s no shock that the MTW5 are just as accomplished. They’re not out to reinvent Sennheiser’s signature sound, though. They use the same 7mm TrueResponse drivers in the brand’s IE200, IE300 and IE600 wired IEMs, as well as older generations of the Momentum line. They can deliver impressive clarity and nuance, and distortion-free sound across the frequency spectrum.
I used the buds with my iPhone in “robust connection” mode and in “advanced sound quality” mode while playing back files streamed over aptX from the Fairphone 6+ and Activo P1 audio player. No matter the source, you’ll hear terrific detail on a wide soundstage. The bass is textured and impactful but not boomy, vocals feel intimate and clear, and instruments are easily identifiable in the mix.
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Playing back Lorde’s 400 Lux revealed subtle low-end details that many other earbuds don’t showcase, while keeping Lorde’s voice centred and distinct, with all lyrics easily discernible. I also played tracks from Max Richter’s Hamnet soundtrack, recorded live at Southwark Cathedral. This really demonstrated the buds’ spaciousness; there was audible depth and immersion without needing spatial audio. The punchy, tight bass and precise vocals make these great for rap (I tested with Eminem’s fast-paced Godzilla), pop, rock and electronic tracks. Honestly, they sounded terrific no matter the genre I threw at them.
Neutral men may be the devil’s allies, but neutral sound is awesome
As mentioned above, I tried Sound Personalisation but ultimately felt the default “Neutral” profile suited me best. For general sound characteristics, I didn’t hear a big difference between the standard setting and my personalised one, but the customised audio felt marginally less dynamic. It may suit you, though; so it’s worth trying. The eight-band EQ and Bass Boost offer more ways to tweak the sound, so I’m confident you can get these sounding just the way you like.
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The last thing to mention is something that was missing from the MTW4 and one of our few cons from that review. These now have spatial audio in the form of Dolby Atmos with Head Tracking. I used this for playlists and albums specifically mixed for Atmos in Apple Music, and films designed for Atmos in the Apple TV app.
In both scenarios, the performance was immersive and engaging. But it can sound jarring on songs not mixed for the format. It’s a nice feature, but leave it off unless you’re consuming Atmos content.
How effective is the noise cancellation?
As with the refreshed Momentum 5 over-ear headphones, Sennheiser has upgraded noise cancellation in these flagship earbuds. I didn’t rate MTW4’s ANC capabilities; fortunately, these offer a big improvement. They’re still a little behind brands like Bose, Apple and Sony, but perform similarly to the JBL Tour Pro 3 and Technics’ EAH-AZ100.
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That means they silence external distractions very capably whether you’re walking around, sitting on a train or contending with wind noise. Apple’s AirPods Pro 3 and Bose’s QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds handled the persistent rumbles of the London Underground better. Still, the MTW5 let me keep enjoying my music without blasting it at high volumes.
They’re very good at tackling the varied din of a coffee shop and excel at dealing with wind noise whistling through the microphones. While some might want stronger ANC, these are great for commutes, office work, plane journeys and more. I’ve had construction work outside my flat lately, and the MTW5 did more than enough to make it tolerable.
Should you buy the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5?
If you’re in the market for feature-packed flagship earbuds with excellent, natural sound quality, I’d highly recommend buying the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5.
Replaceable batteries are a standout feature; the MTW5 earbuds will survive longer than most of the competition. Factor in the sound, premium design, upgraded ANC and spatial audio support, and you’ve got a fantastic pair of earbuds.
There is plenty of competition, though. Two distinct groups of potential buyers should look elsewhere. If you’re on a tight budget, you can get feature-packed rivals like the Soundcore Liberty 5 Pro for a lot less. Alternatively, if you need the strongest possible ANC, I’d recommend the Apple AirPods Pro 3 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Gen).
If the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 are within your budget, though, they’re built to last, with excellent battery life, a great set of features, superb sound and premium build quality.
