There are a lot of $300-$400 headphones on the market right now, and most of them blur together. I spent the last few weeks with the Sennheiser Momentum 5 to determine if this pair actually stands out, testing everything from sound quality and noise cancellation to comfort and battery life.
At $399.99, the Momentum 5 sit right in the middle of the premium headphone market. That puts them up against the pricier Sony WH-1000XM6 and Apple AirPods Max 2, while offering a more affordable option for anyone looking for high-end headphones.
Starting with sound, vocals sound natural and the bass is strong without taking over. The headphones allow you to start noticing little things in music, like a background harmony or a guitar string that cheaper headphones often tend to miss. If I had to describe the sound in one word, it’d be balanced.
The headphones support Dolby Atmos, which essentially means that music or movies sound like they’re coming from all around you instead of just left and right.
With this generation, Sennheiser doubled the microphone count to eight to improve the active noise cancellation (ANC). Voices and nearby chatter, which are usually the kind of sounds that can cut through weaker ANC, are noticeably quieter. Sennheiser claims this pair is up to three times more effective than the previous generation at blocking this type of noise.
Of course, it’s not quite at the level of blocking out everything like a plane’s engine, but it does the job effectively without making your ears feel weirdly pressurized as can be the case with some ANC headphones.
As for comfort, the headphones aren’t as premium-feeling as Apple or Sony headphones that I’ve tried in the past, but given that the Momentum 5 cost less than its competitors, it’s a trade-off that’s hard to complain about.
The battery life is genuinely impressive. It’s rated for up to 57 hours, and that figure held up in my testing. For context, that’s roughly twice the battery life of the Sony WH-1000XM6 and nearly three times that of the AirPods Max 2.
And when the battery does run out, a 10-minute charge gets you up to seven hours of playback, while a full charge takes about two hours.
A notable difference that the Momentum 5 offers that its competitors don’t is a user-replaceable cell, which means you can swap out the battery once it degrades instead of having to buy a whole new pair.
What I wasn’t expecting, but found surprisingly useful, was how thin the carrying case is. I’ve never really been able to fit a pair of headphones into my medium-sized purses, but the Momentum 5 fit perfectly. It’s also a big plus when traveling, since the case doesn’t take up much space in your luggage.
With the headphones’ companion app, Smart Control Plus, you can adjust a bunch of different settings. There’s an 8-band EQ that lets you tune the sound yourself or choose from one of Sennheiser’s presets. The app also lets you adjust the level of ANC rather than just switching it on or off, and there’s an anti-wind mode you can access there too. The “Sound Personalization” feature walks you through a listening test and creates a sound profile tailored to your hearing preferences.
The app gives you a decent amount of control over the Momentum 5, and I found it pretty easy to navigate as most of the settings are quite straightforward.
Overall, the Sennheiser Momentum 5 is a solid option at this price. They offer great sound, the battery life is excellent, and the downsides are pretty minor. They’re heavier than the Sony WH-1000XM6, and aren’t as comfortable as some Sony or Apple options, but at $399.99, they’re cheaper than both while still delivering where it matters.
