Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 review: redemption never sounded so good

It solely took a number of days with Sennheiser’s new Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds for it to develop into plainly apparent that they’re a category above the corporate’s earlier mannequin in practically each method. The design and total sound signature haven’t undergone main modifications. But by way of quite a few under-the-hood tweaks and different extra refined enhancements, Sennheiser has taken purpose on the connection points, software program bugs, and high quality management considerations that hindered the potential of its third-gen buds — to the purpose the place some patrons had mentioned, “Never again.”

(*4*)At $299.95, they’re now $50 pricier, however these stay among the many best-sounding wi-fi earbuds you’ll discover. And they’re full of forward-looking options that can maintain them related for a number of years to return. Intriguingly, the Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds additionally buck a significant development of their class by transport with none sort of spatial audio methods.

(*4*)This is Sennheiser, so let’s simply get proper to the sound. If you’re coming from the Momentum True Wireless 3, the listening expertise of those earbuds might be acquainted. The element, heat, and spectacular soundstage that Sennheiser followers have come to anticipate are all accounted for. In “I Remember Everything” by Zach Bryan and Kacey Musgraves, the acoustic guitar has simply the correct amount of crunch and timbre, and the MTW4 deliver out the strengths in every of their voices. Jumping over to the 2023 remix of the Beatles’ purple album, you’ll discover loads of rumble within the bass throughout tracks like “I Saw Her Standing There” — with none treble harshness on the earliest recordings. 

(*4*)In a phrase, the sound profile is exact, and also you’ll not often ever be left wanting for extra (or much less) of something. I favor these over Sony’s WF-1000XM5, Apple’s AirPods Pro, and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds 2 Pro. They’re neck and neck with Technics’ AZ80 earbuds, one other favourite of mine. Sennheiser offers you full management over the EQ, and a “sound personalization” characteristic can create a customized audio profile that’s tuned to your distinctive listening to traits. I largely saved the earbuds of their default mode and wasn’t disillusioned.

(*4*)Sennheiser’s adaptive noise cancellation analyzes your surroundings to use the fitting degree of ANC on the fly, and whereas it could’t match up with class chief Bose, it was greater than sufficient to assist me tune out a crowded subway automotive and revel in my music. Similarly, the corporate’s transparency mode isn’t on the degree of Apple, but it surely sounds pleasingly pure and serves its function simply fantastic. Through the corporate’s cellular app, you may as well set location-specific “zone” preferences, so if you need common ANC at your favourite espresso store however want some transparency combined in on the workplace, you are able to do that. 

(*4*)Aside from a brand new copper coloration possibility, the Momentum True Wireless 4 look similar to the Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds. You now get a fourth (extra-small) set of silicone ear suggestions, and Sennheiser nonetheless contains three units of stabilizer arcs within the field for an extra-secure match. But there are a lot greater modifications throughout the buds themselves, together with a redesigned antenna and a completely overhauled wi-fi / Bluetooth expertise stack that, in my expertise, has made them work reliably and constantly. They’re quick to hook up with my telephone, and the frustrations I had with the Sennheiser Smart Control app on iOS and Android sometimes failing to acknowledge the earbuds are fully gone. Sennheiser additionally intelligently prioritizes whichever bud is closest to your telephone to keep up the connection between the 2, which means there’s a a lot decrease likelihood of transient audio dropouts. 

(*4*)The firm has made a considerable effort to futureproof these $300 buds for the following a number of years: they’re Bluetooth 5.4-compliant, and a firmware replace due in early spring will allow LE Audio and Auracast. More related for these hell-bent on the perfect audio high quality is that the MTW4 characteristic Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound expertise. That’ll show helpful should you personal a latest flagship-level Android telephone with a Qualcomm processor inside since you’ll be capable of stream what Sennheiser claims is “flawless bit-by-bit” lossless audio out of your telephone to the earbuds — so long as your chosen music service gives it.

(*4*)Even outdoors of that, Sennheiser helps a litany of Bluetooth codecs, together with SBC, AAC, AptX, AptX Adaptive, and LC3. There’s a devoted settings display the place you may choose what degree of high quality you need, with the tradeoffs being connection stability and quicker battery consumption the upper you go. And avid gamers can activate a low-latency setting that makes the MTW4 a good match for a Nintendo Switch or Steam Deck along with the same old cellular gaming use circumstances.

(*4*)Practically none of this higher-fidelity listening applies to iPhone customers since Apple continues to stay with its long-preferred AAC codec. But these earbuds sound improbable regardless of which machine you hyperlink them with. I’ve come to imagine that an earbud’s tuning and the drivers inside may be extra essential than supporting a seize bag of codecs, and Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 4 are a main instance of that. They additionally conveniently embody multipoint help, so you may pair them with two units on the identical time if that you must multitask between your telephone and laptop computer.

(*4*)Just as fascinating are the options which have purposefully been overlooked: these earbuds place zero emphasis on spatial audio. They don’t embody any head-tracking gimmicks. It looks as if Sennheiser is aware of its viewers properly sufficient to have determined that it could safely skip the spatial audio / Atmos development for one more era with out disappointing too many individuals, and I’d wager that the corporate is correct.

(*4*)Battery life has been prolonged and may now attain as much as seven hours of steady playback with noise cancellation on or 7.5 hours with it off. Add within the case — sure, it helps wi-fi charging — and also you get round 30 hours of total listening time. If you need to make sure the longevity of your earbuds, I’d advocate a brand new battery safety setting that solely lets them cost as much as 80 %. We’ve seen comparable measures utilized to smartphones, however contemplating that it’s nigh not possible to switch the batteries in wi-fi earbuds, I’m glad Sennheiser is at the least attempting to stretch out their total lifespan. They’re additionally constructed to be more durable, now with an IP54 score that lends them some safety from mud on high of the continued water resistance.

(*4*)Sennheiser has additionally put work into making these earbuds higher for voice calls. They embody a six-microphone array that runs by way of the corporate’s newest AI voice processing algorithms to assist separate your voice from any background clatter. My intuition is all the time to seize a wired set of buds (or simply use the earpiece) for any calls that basically matter, however these positively outperform the corporate’s previous efforts in terms of voice isolation.

(*4*)It’s too early to definitively say that Sennheiser bought it proper this time, however that’s what my intestine’s been telling me whereas testing the Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds. Their sound stays distinctive, the glitches and defects from earlier fashions are nowhere to be seen, and so they’re stuffed filled with the very newest Bluetooth capabilities you’ll discover in 2024. I’ll be keeping track of Reddit and different social channels to verify nothing goes awry hardware-wise. But should you have been left with a foul style in your mouth by the MTW3, this seems like a redemption arc.

(*4*)Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge