[Listening test] Game-changing Bluetooth Headphones from Sennheiser?

Product name: Momentum 4 wireless headphones from Sennheiser
Manufacturer: Sennheiser - Germany
Price: ∼€/$250 (see Reviewer's Note at the bottom of this article)
Reviewer: M.L. Gneier - TNT USA
Reviewed: April, 2025
Published: May, 2025

I've been reviewing for a very long time. And, it's not uncommon for me to ask myself why, truly, I'm still doing it. The reason is simple. Every now and then, and it seems to happen more and more infrequently these days, I get to review a product that's a game changer. It's even better when not a lot of people know that a given product is a game changer. Such a product can be said to be hiding in plain sight.

For the last few years I've been pondering the question of wired headphones. For that matter, I've been pondering the question of wires pretty much everywhere in my system. Wires and cables have gone from being an important, if frequently misunderstood, aspect of the best systems I've owned to something that deserves to be questioned. To my ears, wires in headphones are now officially redundant and likely even a minor cause of degradation to the music you're now listening to. I know what you're going to say. You have a great headphone amp and a superb pair of headphones. Yes, I know your headphone rig is fully balanced from input to output. I promise I know because my wired headphone rig is also.

But, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 finally has me questioning the viability up traditional high-end wired headphones in my own system. Yes, change can be difficult, but the time has come. I'm not surprised it's Sennheiser that's accomplished what it has with the Momentum 4. With the exception of occasional flings with headphones from Sony and Beyerdynamic, I've used Sennheiser for decades. Though not always easy to drive, Sennheiser has consistently produced headphones with fine balance, exceptional bass definition and natural recreation of tone and timbre in both midrange and high frequencies. The Momentum 4 is the first bluetooth headphone to bring all of the essence of what I call the Sennheiser sound without wires. Well Done!

The Momentum 4 doesn't look or feel especially premium but everything seems relatively durable. The clamping force is tolerable for long sessions and which I would prefer a fabric covered headband the headphones are quite comfy overall. Sadly, these days I need to wear reading glasses when I work. Happily, the ear cups on the Momentum 4 accommodate my glasses quite nicely and without altering either the quality of sound or comfort. The Sennheiser's are a great weight. You can feel them but there's no sense that they are weighing down your head. Of late I have evaluated some over-ear headphones and actually found them to be too light. It may be psychological but too light of over-ear headphones seem to compromise some element of sound quality. The Momentum 4 feel just right in terms of size and weight.

Though of modest design and materials, the Momentum 4 are attractive. I especially like the simple textile effect on the top of the headband and the supplied hard case. It's a nice touch. Connection is as simple as we've come to expect from BT devices. The Sennheiser Smart Control app is as good as I've used, certainly the equal of Sony's Sound Connect and with a far more attractive UI. I render my BT devices as simple as possible. So, I used Smart Control to turn off all of the touch-sensitive functions. I don't like settings changed by me simply touching my headphones. However, one very cool feature is the ability of the Momentum 4 to automatically power up and power down. Power buttons are so yesterday.

Listening to music on the Momentum 4 is like listening to music on a commensurately priced wired Sennheiser headphone. They have an effortless and airy midrange with exceptionally pitch-precise low frequencies. There are many highly regarded BT headphones that suffer from extreme one-note bass or unnaturally heavy bass or bass that lacks in the retrieval of timbre. These problems are readily heard when listening to acoustic bass. I often hear acoustic bass rendered in such a way as to make me believe that it's some kind of synth bass, so robbed is the sound of its essentially woody resonance. The Momentum 4 totally reverses that effect with bass notes from an acoustic bass clearly heard in space, when the recording allows, and with full harmonic richness.

The bass on the Momentum 4 is excellent but never overdone. The same can be said for the midrange, that most critical realm of music, where the effortless Sennheiser sound, the same quality that I hear in my far more expensive wired headphones. The top end is extended and delicate never overdone or brittle unless the source recording errs in that unfortunate direction. From a purely sonic perspective I simply cannot fault the Sennheiser Momentum 4.

But wait, I forgot about ANC, call quality and battery life. Well, I didn't really but in my book those are really afterthoughts when I am evaluating a high end product like the Momentum 4. ANC is quite good and seems a bit biased toward the attenuation of low and mid frequencies. I hear a bit more high frequency energy bleed through than I do with my reference ANC earbuds. Overall, I consider Sennheiser's ANC to be about as good as it gets from today's gear. The Momentum 4 is rated to have up to 60 hours of battery life and while I've not tested (nor do I have any interest in testing it) the battery life seems great. I've been listening to the Sennheisers off and on for a couple weeks and the app shows they still have a 60% charge. That's more than good enough for me. On a technical note, the Momentum 4 are Bluetooth 5.2. I will not use or recommend anything older than 5.2 and I encourage my readers to do the same. There is simply no need to accept the limitations of an earlier, less refined Bluetooth codec. Does that limit the lifespan of a BT device? Well, not exactly just don't be surprised while the Bluetooth spec brings better sound that uses less and less energy while providing a better connection as time goes on. You can fight progress but I don't want to.

Finally, the Momentum 4 are superb on phone calls. When taking calls on other BT headphones I nearly always prefer to take the headphones off if the call goes on for more than a few minutes. Not so with the Momentum 4. Caller's sound exceptionally natural. At the end of every call with a new caller I will ask, "Hey, how do I sound?" The answer is consistently the same. "You sound great." So, am I going to keep my wired headphones? For now, of course. But the Sennheiser Momentum 4 have fairly laid down the challenge. They are fantastic headphones and I recommend them highly. They are a genuine game changer!

*Reviewer's note on prices. Going forward, unless requested by the source of the review sample, I will refrain from including a price in my reviews. TNT is an international publication and our readers are fully capable of researching prices in their respective currency. If a price if noted in one of my published reviews, be advised that it has been added by TNT's editorial staff.

DISCLAIMER. TNT-Audio is neither a shop, nor a HiFi company or a repair laboratory for HiFi components. We don't sell anything. It is a 100% independent magazine that neither accepts advertising from companies nor requires readers to register or pay for subscriptions. If you wish, you can support our independent reviews via a PayPal donation. After publication of reviews, the authors do not retain samples other than on long-term loan for further evaluation or comparison with later-received gear. Hence, all contents are written free of any “editorial” or “advertising” influence, and all reviews in this publication, positive or negative, reflect the independent opinions of their respective authors. TNT-Audio will publish all manufacturer responses, subject to the reviewer's right to reply in turn.

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