So after a year the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s came out, Sennheiser has released their Accentum’s which are their entry level ANC Headphones. Now the Accentum’s look very similar to the Momentum 4’s, and they also have a very long battery life. But there are some very big differences between these two headphones. Nonetheless today we’re going to compare the Momentum 4’s and the Accentums and we’re going to see which ones are right for you.

Regarding pricing, the Momentum 4’s are a year old now and they have a retail price of $380, but they now like to go on sale for $300… which honestly isn’t bad for these headphones, even though they have their issues. But then there are the Accentum’s which have a retail price of $180… but these like to go on sale for $150. Nonetheless if you want to pick either of these two headphones up they’ll be linked down below or you can always try to YouTube shopping button.

Now first lets talk about these included carrying cases. Unfortunately, the Accnetum’s dont come included with a case… which honestly is a shame cause there are plenty of entry level ANC headphones that come included with a case. Where as with the Momentum 4’s, these do come included with a hardshell case. My main critique about this case is that it is relatively big, and it can be a hassle to travel with.

But something about this case is that if you take your headphones out, they will automatically power on, which is very cool… the problem is, at least with mine, is that if your case is vertical, the headphones can turn on and connect to your phone, which can be very annoying. And even after a year, it doesn’t look like any of the recent firmware updates has fixed this issue. Now I got these headphones when they first came out, so this might not be a problem on newer headphones… but just be warned that this could happen, which is very annoying.

But now lets talk about the headphones themselves. Now design wise these headphones looks very similar, they both have a mostly plastic body. They both have a lay flat design to them with earcups that swivel in both directions. Their headbands glad very gently in and out, and they both have padded silicon underneath their headband. The only real design difference is that the Accentums have plastic on the top of their headband where as the Momentum 4’s have fabric. But other than that, both of these headphones have decent feeling leatherette on their ear cups and they are both built like a tank.

But when it comes to their fit, these headphones are very different from one another. Most importantly, the Accentums have a lot of clamping force, so I would say that these aren’t big head approved cause they feel like they are squeezing your head. And I have tried stretching these out, they are still tight. So the Accentum’s im going to recommend for guys with smaller heads or for women. Where as with the Momentum 4’s, these headphones still have a firmer fit to them, but at least with these I would say that they are big head approved technically cause they don't feel like they are going to pop your head. But in general, its seems like these current sennehsier headphones are meant for guys with smaller heads. But clamping force aside, both of these headphones have very well padded headbands and hot spots aren’t an issue… and they both have fairly spacious earpads. So even if you have very large ears, then either of these two headphones will have you covered. The only thing is, the earpads on the Momentum 4’s do have more surface area coming in constant with your head, so they can heat up a little faster. But also theres their weight, the momentum 4’s weigh in at 295 grams, which isn’t bad… but they are a little heavier than your Bose QC Ultra and Sony 1000XM4’s which weigh in at 255 grams… the XM5’s weigh in at 250 grams, the Bose QC45’s weigh in at 237 grams and the Bose QC weigh in at 235 grams. But then there are the Accentum’s which weigh in at 222 grams… which is around what you’d expect for a pair of entry level ANC headphones… but then there are the WH-CH720N’s with weigh in at 193 grams. But overall, the Accentum’s are noticeably lighter than the Momentum 4’s… but personally I do prefer to wear the Momentum 4’s cause they have less clamping force… but with these headphones, they are a little more noticeable when they are on your heads. But at least they aren’t as bad as the AirPods Max which weigh in at 384 grams.

But with fit out of the way, lets talk about tech specs. Regarding battery life, I feel that Sennheiser is try to make this a big selling point on their headphones to attract average buyers. The Accentum’s have an advertised battery life of 50 hours with their ANC turned on and the Momentum 4’s have an advertised battery life of 60 hours with their ANC turned… and this is both above average and very impressive. The only thing is, you cant use these headphones with their ANC completely turned off… but given their already long battery lives, that’s okay.

And when it comes to charging these headphones, they both charge via a USB C port as they should. But the really cool thing about both of these headphones is that you an use their USB C ports as a wired connection and you can use them while they are charging. The only thing is, with the Accentum’s this is the only port that you’ll find on them. Where as with the Momentum 4’s they still have an audio jack… so if you want to use them with a wired connection, the Momentum 4’s are more versatile cause you have the audio jack and you have the USB C port.

But when it comes to wireless connectivity, both of these headphones can be connected to any two bluetooth devices at the same time which is good if youre a power user cause you can easily hot swap from one device to another regardless of eco system.

And when it comes to overall performance, both of these headphones have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether you’re using an iPhone or an android device… but when it comes to audio codecs, the Accentum have support for SBC, AAC and APTX HD, where as the Momentum 4’s have support for SBC AAC and APTX Adaptive. Just keep in mind that if you want to take advantage of APTX, you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.

But with all of that out of the way, lets talk about sound. Now just as you’d expect, both of Sennheiser’s headphones sound great. And the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s sound better than your main stream options like the Sony 1000XM5’s, XM4, or Bose QC Ultra, Bose QC’s, Bose NC 700 or Bose QC45… however, the Momentum 4’s dont sound as good as the Momentum 3’s. But the momentum 4’s have a neutral sound signature with bass that comes in hard when it has to, and the bass on these headphones will rattle your head a little bit. But they still have really good instrument separation and they have really good detail in the instrumentals. Now the Accentum’s also have really good instrument separation and good detail… but their bass is mostly on the audible side… it resonates very deep, but it wont physically rattle your head. But also, both of these headphones have an adjustable EQ, and with the Momentum 4’s if you want a more bass heavy EQ or if you want to up the highs, you can do that… but with the Accentum’s… I dont know what’s going on with them, but if you use them with a custom EQ… they sound like they loose a little detail. But the biggest thing that I have to point out about the Accentum is their volume, with the Accentum’s I have found that it can be a little hard to fin the sweet spot with these headphones… because for the most part they are either too loud or a little too quite… now the momentum 4’s also aren’t super loud… but at least with these, you can more easily find their sweet spot. But overall when it comes to sound quality, the main difference that you’re going to see between these two headphones is going to be their bass, cause the bass on the momentum 4’s can rattle your head a little bit where as the bass on the Accentum’s just resonates.

But another major difference between these two headphones are their media controls. With the Accentum’s they are using a phsyciall buttons and these buttons are easy to find they are easy to tell apart and they have a very satisfying click to them. Where as with the Momentum 4’s these are using a touchpad. And personally, im not the biggest fan of this toucdpad cause it is a little overly sensitive.

And another thing the Momentum 4’s have over the Accentum’s is that they have wear sensors,  so when you take these headphone off, they will automatically pause your music and when you put them back on they’ll start playing your music again. But personally I dont use these wear sensors cause I have found them to be a little inaccurate. But they are there if you want them.

But now lets talk about the active noise cancellation on these headphones. Overall, both of Sennheiser’s headphones block out an impressive amount of noise for their respective price points. But just as you’d expect, we’re going to jump into an ANC test.

ANC Test

So like you may have just seen, the Momentum 4’s block out more noise than the Accentum’s and this is what we would expect since the Momentum 4’s are more premium and the Accentums. And with both of these headphones, they manage to block out an impressive amount of noise without a whole lot of cabin pressure. Now the ANC on the Accentum is definitely useable for your bus ride commute or if you’re in a chatty office… but if you do plan on flying, then you’ll might want to go with the Momentum 4’s, even though I mentioned earlier that they aren’t my favorite headphones to fly with cause of their large case.

And both of these headphones have an ambient mode. But these ambient modes are a little different. With the momentum 4’s you can adjust how much noise they let in, where as with the accentum’s you cant. But when it comes to performance of these microphone arrays… the Accentums do a really good job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors, where as with the momentum 4’s, they pick up wind noise when they have their ambient mode turned on… but wind noise isn’t an issue when you have their ANC turned on. But also, I have found that it is a little difficult to understand people with the ambient mode on the Momentum 4’s cause for some reason they prioritize noise pollution… where as its a lot easier to understand people with the ambient mode on the Accentum. Overall, both of these headphones have an ambient mode, and they get the job done… but they can be better.

But also, with both of these headphones if you set them to pause your music when you turn on their ambient mode, then you’re going to have a conversation mode. So if you double press on the main button, these headphones will lower the volume of your music and pump in all of the ambient sound around you so that you can quickly talk to someone without having to remove your headphones.

And personally, I love when my headphones have this feature cause its super useful when you’re traveling with your headphones. The only issue here is, with both of Sennheiser’s headphones you can only have one feature or the other, but not both. And I do think that thats annoying cause with Sony’s headphones, you can have both an ambient mode and quick attention.

Mic Accentum Quite

But finally heres the microphone test, now I feel that both of these headphones have a decent enough sounding microphone on them to take phone calls with while in a quiet room.

Mic Momentum Quite

But the microphone on the Sennheiser Momentum 4 does a better job of focusing on my voice and I dont sound as robotic.

Mic Moemtum road noise

But when it comes to blocking out noise pollution, both of Sennheiser’s do struggle here, but the momentum 4’s are reducing this road noise a little bit cause if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone, it is reduced.

Mic Accentum Road Noise

Where as with the Accentem, these are letting in more road noise and they are interfering with my voice.

Mic Accentem Chatter

And its the same thing when it comes to blocking out chatter, this microphone is struggling quite a bit here.

Mic Momentum 4

And the momentum 4’s are also struggling to block out this chatter. So overall, both of Sennheiser’s headphones have decent enough sounding microphones on them to take phone calls with while in a quite, but the microphone on the Momentum 4’s sound and perform a little better.

But with all of that being said, with both of Sennheiser’s headphones you are going to get great sound, very impressive active noise cancellation, and an above average battery life. But these headphones do have their issues, the Accentums are a little tight making them not big head approved, and it can be a little hard to find their sweet spot, volume wise. And with the Momentum 4’s, they have a very big case which I feel is bad for traveling, their wear sensors are a little inaccurate, and their touchpad is a little overly sensitive. But if you are trying to choose between these two headphones, the Momentum 4’s are a little more comfortable to wear cause they have less clamping force, they block out more noise, their microphone sounds a little better, they have an audio jack, and they sound a little better too. Specifically they have more kick in their bass and their volume isn’t a problem, so its easier to find their sweet spot.