Sennheiser’s stylish new Momentum Wireless headphones sport some fancy upgrades over their wired counterparts. Apart from a newly sculpted design that allows these classy cans to collapse for better portability, the Momentum Wireless offer Bluetooth connection and active noise cancelling. The upgrades are welcome, but at $500, they don’t come cheap.
That price tag puts the new-look Momentum in a class all their own, skyrocketing past similar offerings from the likes of Phiaton’s Chord MS 530, and even the always-pricey Beats Studio Wireless, both of which offer similar features, but run $100-200 less. That’s a ton of cash, but you do get a lot for your money.
Highlights include classic styling and excellent build quality, intuitive control, and premium features like a rechargeable battery with a claimed 22 hours of runtime per charge, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC pairing, and apt-X for CD-quality sound from compatible devices. Sennheiser’s new 4-microphone NoiseGard active noise cancellation is good, but not great — the Bose QC25 best them there, though they aren’t wireless.
As for audio performance, the Momentum Wireless offer that same auditorium sound we loved in the original Momentum, arranging instrumentation throughout a deep soundstage with plenty of dimension and pinpoint accuracy. Bass is firm and occasionally heavy here, and the sound signature is definitely painted with a lot of extra color, but there’s plenty of detail in the midrange and treble, providing intimate moments of real beauty.
If you’re looking for a clean, bass-forward sound with no strings attached, and you’ve got the green, the Momentum Wireless are available now.
