Get Them Here
So a few weeks ago, Sennheiser announced their new entry level CX earbuds. Now personally I love how these earbuds sound and I even feel that they sound better than the Momentum 2’s because they have much richer bass response. But the CX’s really comprised on features. But out of nowhere Sennheiser announced their new CX plus. And these things have everything that I was asking for on the CX’s.
Now regarding pricing, the CX plus retail for $180… which I feel is reasonable especially because of how good these earbuds sound. But for comparison sake, the base CX’s retail for $130 and the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which I feel are about to get an upgrade… retail for $300. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about this case. Now the CX plus have the same case as the base CX’s. Its a plastic case with a slightly powered feeling outside. But the important thing here is that this case is noticeably smaller than the Momentum 2’s case. So the CX Plus are going to be much less noticeable when they're in your pocket. Which is great for everyday carry earbuds. And from a build quality standpoint… the lid on this case gives you a satisfying snap when you open and close it and the magnets in this case are decently strong as well. Making it very easy to take your earbuds out and putting them back in. Overall, I like this case and like I have said in the past… I really hope that the future momentum 3’s will have a similar case to this.
Now when it comes to battery life… the CX Plus have a combined advertised battery life of 24 hours with their active noise cancelation turned off. The earbuds themselves can go for 8 straight hours and the case can supply 2 additional charges. Now a combined battery life of 24 hours is average… but keep in mind if you were to use the ANC on these earbuds that is going to drain their battery life faster.
But for comparison sake… the entry level CX’s have an advertised combined battery life of 27 hours and the Momentum 2’s have an advertised combined battery life of 28 hours with their active noise cancelation turned off. So overall… all of these earbuds are in the same ball park when it comes to battery life.
Now when it comes to actually charging this case… the CX plus charge via a USB port as it should. But unfortunately this case doesn’t have wireless charging which admittedly is becoming more and more standard. Now personally I don’t really care about wireless charging… but this could be a big deal either for someone who has a phone that supports power sharing or if you’ve already invested into a few wireless chargers.
But now lets talk about the earbud themselves. Regarding sculpts, the CX plus are very similar to the base CX’s… except they are a little smaller. Now I don’t think that you are going to notice right off the bat but I thought I would still point it out. Now when it comes to fit, the CX plus fit like your standard pair of in ear earbuds. As in they go into your ear canals a decent amount like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2, Jabra Elite 3’s or Momentum 2’s. The CX plus aren’t shallow fitting like lets say the Beats Studio Buds or Jabra Elite 85T’s. Overall fit is very subjective, but the CX Plus fit fine for a pair of standard in ear earbuds. They have good lock down and they passively block out noise. But yes they do feel a little more intrusive than your AirPods Pro or Jabra Elite 85T’s if you’re not used to in ear earbuds… However, you can easily wear the CX plus for hours on end because their silicon ear tips don’t get itchy like lets say the foam ear tips that you will find on the Sony WF-1000XM4’s. But overall, I would mainly recommend these earbuds for casual use and not so much for working out.
But really quickly… I do want to address a small detail about these earbuds, and thats their looks. Personally I really dig the flat color scheme the base CX’s are rocking. I think its looks very subtle and very clean. Where as the CX plus have glossy touch pads. I think sennheiser should have kept the flat color way found on the base CX’s and should have only chromed out the logo on the plus. I think that would have looked much cooler.
But when it comes to connectivity… this is a very important detail on both the base CX’s and CX plus. On both of these earbuds, each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one. It doesn’t matter. And this is the connection type that we expect to see from our earbuds nowadays.
Where as with the momentum 2’s, these earbuds are using a hero and sidekick set up. Meaning that one earbud, in this case the right earbud, the hero earbud actually establishes a connection with your phone and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if just wanted to use one earbud at a time you would have to use the correct earbud in this case the right earbud of the hero earbud.
Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with earbuds that are using a hero and side kick set up… but earbuds that are still using a hero and sidekick set up are either older or last gen or they're just cheaper.
However for my power users these earbuds are better suited to be used with one primary device. These earbuds can’t be simultaneously connected to multiple devices at a time and you can’t hot swap with them. If youre going to go from one device to another you are going to have to fiddle around with your bluetooth menus on both devices. Or you’re going to have to mess around with their app.
However when it comes to performance these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you're using an iPhone or an android device and when it comes to audio codecs these earbuds have support for SBC, AAC, APTX and APTX adaptive. Where as the base CX’s and Momentum 2’s don’t have support for APTX adaptive.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Like I have mentioned in the past the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s were my favorite sounding earbuds closely followed by the Galaxy Buds Pro. But everything changed when the CX’s attacked… I mean came out… the base CX’s sound just as open and have the same great instrument separation as the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s… but the main differentiating factor is that the CX’s have much harder hitting and deeper resonating bass than the Momentum 2’s. Leading to a much more fun, but still very well balanced listening experience. And the CX Plus sound identical to the bass CX’s which isn’t a bad thing. Now out of the box the both CX’s sound a little warmer than the Momentum 2’s. Their stock EQ has more bass to it and the highs are a little more relaxed. But if you want to you can always go into these earbuds app, which works on both android AND iOS… here’s looking at you Galaxy Buds 2 and Galaxy Buds Pro. So if you want a more neutral or vocals focused EQ you can do that. Overall I love how these earbuds sound with their stock EQ but these earbuds really can please everyone. If you want detail and instrument separation the CX plus have you covered… and if you want bass the CX plus also have you covered. They even have the potential for have more bass than the Beats Studio Buds which are already a pair of bass heavy earbuds.
Now when it comes to your media controls just like before the CX’s are using touch pads. And these touch pads are strictly tapped based. Meaning that that are no swiping gestures. Overall these touch pads are very accurate and they're easy to use. You’ve got full control over your media and you can also adjust your volume all from the earbuds themselves. And through Sennheiser’s app you can adjust the layout of your controls to your liking. However if you’re an android user just keep in mind that these earbuds don’t have Hey Google support. Meaning that the only way you can active your voice assistant with these earbuds is through tapping and holding on their touch pad.
However, regarding media controls there is one major difference that I do have to point out here from the base CX’s… and thats that the CX Plus do have proximity sensors. Meaning that they will automatically pause your music if you take one or both earbuds out of your ears. Now I know this sounds very basic but I have to point it out because both the base CX’s and Beats Studio Buds don’t have proximity sensors… and I just feel that this is a must have feature that you really miss when you don’t have it anymore.
But now lets talk about the active noise cancelation on these earbuds. Now right off the bat I am going to have to say that these earbuds don’t block out anywhere near as much noise as the big boys. Because when it comes to ranking there are the Sony WF-1000XM4’s which block out ton of noise… albeit they do have a slight advantage because of their foam ear tips which can get itchy. Below them are the Jabra Elite 85T’s which also block out a ton of noise while being more comfortable so I do prefer them. Below them are the AirPods Pro and Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which I feel as neck and neck. And below them are the Galaxy Buds pro.
Now below the Galaxy Buds Pro there are the Beats Studio Buds, below them are the Galaxy Buds 2, and below them are the CX plus. Now overall the CX plus block out some noise… but not a lot. And they mainly just block out constant low frequency sound like the constant hum of an AC unit. So I definitely wouldn’t pick these up if ANC is your main priority.
But like I have mentioned in the past, I only use the ANC on my earbuds when I have to and what’s really important to me is the quality of their ambient mode. Now the CX plus have a really good sounding ambient mode… and I feel that it sounds better than the ambient mode found on the Momentum 2’s.
However, the ambient mode on these earbuds is a little amplified. So things are going to sound a little louder than they actually are. Now some people will might like this and other won’t. And unfortunately you can’t adjust the loudness of their ambient mode through their app. But overall these earbuds have a good sounding ambient mode… but they can pick up a noticeable amount of wind noise when walking out doors on a windy day.
But now here’s the mic test. Now in a quite room these earbuds sound decent and they sound fairly natural.
Versus the bass CX’s which I feel sound a little robotic.
But personally I do feel the momentum 2’s still sound better than the CX plus because they have more amplification to them than the CX plus.
But also the momentum 2’s does the best job here of blocking out chatter
Where as the CX plus don’t block out as much chatter
And the base CX’s really struggle here.
So over all the CX Plus have a decent enough sounding microphone for phone calls… but id rather take phone calls with them in a quieter environment.
So like I mentioned at the top of this video… I did not see the CX Plus coming. But I am really glad that they are here. These earbuds truly sound amazing at a price that really won’t break the bank. And whether you like a bass heavy EQ or neutral EQ, these earbuds can do it all. Now to be blunt, the ANC on these earbuds doesn’t block out a whole lot of noise compared to other earbuds in this similar price range like either the beats studio buds or galaxy buds 2. However the ambient mode on these earbuds is good. Making them great for when you’re walking around the city. Which I feel is more important. But nonetheless, if you’re looking for earbuds and sound is your main priority… I think these are my top pick especially in this price range.