Sennheiser’s consumer division has been flipped more times than a pancake in recent years, which feels at odds with a brand famed for legendary consistency in its headphones and soundbars.
As the company releases its new noise cancellers, the Momentum 5 Wireless, it’s on the market again, being sold by Swiss hearing aid company Sonova Holding AG. Where it goes from here, who knows.
Perhaps the fact that Sennheiser’s employees have managed to ignore the noise and push out a new flagship product during a time of such uncertainty points to the prowess of its ANC technology?
If that wasn’t confusing enough, Sennheiser’s headphone line-up is split between the consumer division and a pro division that remains under the ownership of the original Sennheiser family.
Want a pair of punchy, mid-forward DJ favourites like the HD 25? That’s pro. Craving spacious, forensic critical listening from the open-back HD 800 S? That’s consumer.
It’s the latter’s mixing reference DNA that Sennheiser invokes for the Momentum 5. Think of it as heritage going on holiday – the pair of headphones that Sennheiser engineers pack when they’re out of office.
This fifth-generation model arrives four years after the much-loved Momentum 4, and sports 42mm dynamic drivers inspired by the HD 600 series. But does that amount to headphones a producer can trust, or a pair truly trying to get away from it all?
Momentum 5 Wireless: Packed for the overhead locker
Sennheiser has refined the Momentum 4’s design rather than reinvented it. At 290g the Momentum 5 feels lighter than the scales suggest, with a fabric-wrapped headband, gentle clamping force and generously padded oval earcups.
In fact, the headphones feel featherweight for the full duration of several transatlantic flights, which is more than can be said for most in their class.
The carry case deserves credit, too. It is 20 percent slimmer than the old one, with the headphones folding flat inside a shell that slides into a laptop compartment like a magazine.
There is a moulded indent for grabbing it one-handed, elastic straps for the included USB-C and 3.5mm aux cables, and an elastic mesh pouch for incidentals. No wasted bulk anywhere.
Two frustrations to flag are both about control. The pairing process takes longer to decode than it should, owing to confusion between the multi-function power button and the app-managed device list.
Additionally, the touch controls—taps and swipes on the right cup with a pinch gesture for transparency—can be hit and miss, occasionally ignoring swipes until the third attempt. Mercifully, these gestures can be disabled entirely in the app.
Momentum 5: Serious connections
For high-resolution listening, the Momentum 5 is packing. Codec support runs from SBC and AAC through the aptX family, topping out at aptX Lossless on Snapdragon Sound devices. Wireless duties fall to Bluetooth 5.4 at launch, with the hardware ready for Bluetooth 6.0 via a future firmware update.
More useful still, there are two wired routes in: a 3.5mm socket and USB-C audio at up to 24-bit/96 kHz, which effectively turns the headphones into a tidy DAC for laptop sessions; something Sony‘s flagship WH-1000XM6 still cannot do.
The Smart Control Plus app is the deepest Sennheiser has shipped on Momentum headphones. An eight-band EQ with storable presets sits alongside Sound Personalisation, which tunes the balance to your hearing, with Sound Zones, which switch ANC and EQ automatically according to location.
Podcast mode pushes speech forward and proves handy across a fortnight of interviews, episodes and transcription work. Still, it’s noise cancelling that takes the biggest generational leap, via a hybrid system comprising eight microphones dedicated to ANC. Its predecessor deployed half as many to that task.
In the air it takes the sting out of cabin drone for hours at a stretch, and makes short work of commuter rumble. Push it to the loudest extremes and Sony and Bose still hold the crown, but the gap has narrowed to a sliver.
Battery life extends to 57 hours with ANC engaged, or nearer 40 if you insist on streaming aptX Lossless throughout. Either way, that is a return trip to the States with plenty of change, while a 10-minute top-up buys another seven hours.
Best of all, in a move more brands should copy, the battery is user-replaceable with nothing more exotic than a Phillips screwdriver. Sennheiser reckons on roughly a decade of heavy use before you would need to.
Momentum 5: Can you trust them with a mix?
So, the big MusicTech question: does HD 600 lineage make these critical listening tools? The honest answer is nearly, and knowingly.
Out of the box, the tuning is warmer and more bass-generous than anything wearing an HD badge; this is a consumer flagship, and Sennheiser has voiced it for pleasure rather than analysis.
The low end is rich but well-mannered, staying out of the midrange’s way even on bass-laden material.
That midrange is where the family resemblance shows. Vocals, guitars and acoustic instruments arrive with a naturalness and definition most rivals at any price struggle to match, sitting right where the mix engineer left them.
Highs are detailed, and the soundstage is wide enough to pick apart dense arrangements on a crowded train. Flatten the EQ and plug in over USB-C and things sharpen up with enough honesty to reference a rough bounce at 35,000 feet.
They will not replace your studio monitors or a proper open-back reference for final decisions, and they are not pretending otherwise. As a travelling second opinion, though, they are undeniably convincing.
Should you buy the Sennheiser Momentum 5?
Buy the Momentum 5 if you want headphones to handle the commute, the long-haul and a spot of honest referencing in between. Lossless wired listening, a marathon battery you can replace yourself, and that brilliantly flat case add up to a complete travel package.
Don’t buy if class-leading noise cancelling is the priority, in which case Sony’s WH-1000XM6 still edges it.
The Bose QuietComfort Ultra Gen 2, Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, Apple AirPods Max 2 and Marshall Monitor III A.N.C all want your money too, but only the latter costs less than the Momentum 5’s £330.
The Momentum 5 is a softer, smarter descendant of its critical listening siblings, and once you have decoded the pairing ritual the family resemblance is unmistakable: dependable, honest and built to last.
Key features
- 42mm dynamic drivers inspired by the HD 600 series
- Codec support for SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Adaptive and aptX Lossless; Snapdragon Sound certified
- Bluetooth 5.4 at launch, Bluetooth 6.0 ready via future firmware
- Wired listening via USB-C (up to 24-bit/96 kHz) and 3.5mm mini-jack
- Hybrid ANC with 8 microphones, plus natural transparency mode
- Up to 57 hours battery life
- User-replaceable battery
- Smart Control Plus app: 8-band EQ, Sound Personalisation, Sound Zones, Podcast mode
- Dolby Atmos support
- 290g
- Folds flat into provided travel case
- Black, white and denim finishes
