Get Them Here: Sennheiser Momentum 4: https://amzn.to/3Ack3Xc
So these are the Sennheiser Momentum 4 wireless earbuds. And even though these earbuds came out in early 2024… they still have the best performing Active noise cancelation as of late 2024 even after we got a whole new batch of premium ANC earbuds… albeit, their fit isn’t as comfortable and they have a pretty chunky case for 2024, 2025 standards. Nonetheless lets see what the Sennheiser Momentum 4’s are all about.
Regarding pricing, the Momentum 4’s still retail for $300, and I feel that $300 for any pair of earbuds is a lot, but these earbuds can be found on sale for $220. A lot better if you ask me. And for comparison sake, the Bose QC ultra’s and Sony WF-1000XM5 also retail for $300, and both the AirPods Pro 2 and Galaxy Buds 3 Pro retail for $250. Nonetheless, if you want to pick any of the se earbuds up they’ll be linked down below or you can always press on the YouTube shopping button.
So first lets talk about the case, now the Moemtum 4’s case gets the job done. The lid open and closes very easily, the earbuds are easy to take out and put away cause they have strong built in magnets and this case charges via a USB C port as it should and it has wireless charnging as it should. Looks wise, this case is identical to the Momentum 3’s case. However I would say that this is the largest case that I would say is acceptable for everyday carry, cause when compared to other premium ANC earbuds like the AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM5 Pixel Buds Pro 2 or Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, all of these cases are smaller and thinner so that aren’t going to be as noticeable while in your pocket. But then theres the Bose QC Ultra’s case which is thinner, but this case has a larger footprint. Overall, I really hope Sennheiser gives us a smaller case next time cause this can be a deciding factor for a lot of people which are looking for the most conviente every day carry earbuds.
And when it comes to the Battery life to case size ratio of the Moemtum 4’s, this case is struggling to keep up with these other earbuds with smaller cases. Now the Moemtum 4’s have an advertised combined batter life of 30 hours with their ANC turned on. The earbuds themselves can go for 7 and a half hours. Plus the case can supply an additional 3 charges. And you can always extend the battery life on these earbuds if you use them with their ANC turned off. And for comparison sake, the momentum 3’s have a combined advertised battery life of 28 hours with their ANC turned off.
However, the AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM5’s and Pixel Buds Pro 2 all have an advertised combined battery life of 30 or more hours with their ANC turned on. So what I am saying, if sennehsier wants to continue to be competitive, they need to either shrink their case… or they need to justify their case size by being able to supply 4 or 5 charges.
But with the case out of the way, lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Now the sculpt of the momentum 4’s and momentum 3’s are identical. Both of these earbuds have optional ear fins for added lock down and both of these earbuds are in ear earbuds. However, these in ear earbuds go in super deep into your ear canals. They go in deeper than a standard pair of in ear earbuds like lets say the Galaxy Buds 2 or Sony WF-1000XM5’s… and they go in way deeper than the AirPods Pro 2 or Galaxy Buds 3 pro which are shallow fitting in ear earbuds. Now the good thing about in ear that go in super deep is that they are going to passively block out more noise, so your music is going to be better protected from outside noise pollution and they are going to give you better lock down. However since the Momentum 4’s go in so deep, they can get a little uncomfortable after awhile. So comfort wise, the momentum 4’s aren’t the best when compared to the rest of the competition… but they surly get the job done very well. This is something that you’re going to have to see if it truly works for you.
But when it comes to bluetooth connectivity, 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. These earbuds can also be connected to any two Bluetooth devices at the same time, making them a good option for power users cause you can easily hot swap from your windows PC to your iPhone… and latency is not an issue for these earbuds so you can use them to watch videos with on your phone. And when it comes to audio codecs, these earbuds have support for SBC and AAC, APTX Adaptive and they also have support for Snapdragon sound which is going to give you lossless audio and less latency. Just keep in mind that if you want to take advantage of Snapdragon sound you do have to be an android user cause iPhones top out at AAC.
But also, these earbuds have support for Auracast… which right now still isn’t fully rolled out. But the idea is with aura cast you’ll be able to share your bluetooth stream with multiple earbuds and headphones simultiainly. So lets say you’re at the gym and you want to watch one of the TV’s you can wirelessly connect to that TV, but so can anyone else.
But now lets talk about actually lisnteing to music with these earbuds… now first off, Sennheiser says that they have tuned these earbuds and they have improved the sound quality on the 4’s from 3’s… but realistically you’re not going to tell a difference. Now the Sennehsier Moemtum 3’s and 4’s are still my favorite balanced, open and neutral sounding earbuds. These earbuds excel when it comes to openness and insutment separation. With lets say the AirPods Pro 2, Sony WF-1000XM5’s, Bose QC Ultra, Galaxy Buds 3 Pro or Pixel buds Pro 2… they sound like you are listening to earbuds… as in the vocals have an emphasis and they are over the insutmetnals. But with the Momentum 4’s these do a really god job of bringing the vocals and instrumentals to the same level. So as a result, the momentum 4’s sound like you’re listening to music while in a room with speakers… thats the best way that I can explain this. However, its very important to point out that the bass on these earbuds does a great job of resonating, it resonates very deep and very cleanly… however, the bass doesn’t hit as hard as the bass on the Sony WF-1000XM5’s and especially the AirPods Pro 2. Overall, the Sennehsier Moemtum 4’s sound very technical… as in they sound neutral and open… but I do feel that these other earbuds sound more fun cause they put a slightly stronger emphasis on the vocals and their bass hits more. Now you can always go into these earbud’s app and adjust their EQ… but even if you were to crank their bass all the way up or the mids and highs all the way up, you aren’t going to get the aritifcal and dynamic sound that you’ll might get with the AirPods Pro 2. Overall, the Sennheiser momentum 4’s sound great and they sound like you’re listening to music while you’re in a room with a sound system… but if you want more kick in your earbuds or more emphasis on the vocals… then you’ll might want to go with something else, namely they AirPods Pro 2.
But then there are the media controls on these earbuds, now these earbuds are using touchpads just like the Momentum 3’s… and these touchpads are very accurate and they are very easy to use. You can play or pause your music, you can skip thought your music and if properly set up you can raise and lower the volume. Now even though these touchpads work well, just keep in mind that there can be accidental inputs when you’re just trying to adjust these touch pads… so thats why some people will might prefer force sensors like what’s found on AirPods where you pinch their stems. Nonetheless these touchpads work well and just as you’d expect, these earbuds also have wear sensors so they will automatically play and pause your music when you take them out and put them in.
But then theres the ambient mode on these earbuds. And as of late 2024, these are still my top ranked ANC earbuds, albeit they do have those ear tips that go super deep into your ear canals which will passively block out more noise… but they can be a little more uncomfortable than these other earbuds.
Now when it comes to my 2024 ANC earbuds ranking list, in first place we have the Sennhesier momentum 4 which block out a ton of noise, but they also go in super deep into your ear canals. right below them are the AirPods Pro 2 which are a lot more comfortable. Below them are the Sony WF-1000XM5’s which aren’t as comfy cause of their foam ear tips, right below them are the Bose QC earbuds, below them are the AirPods 4 and below them are the Bose QC Ultra earbuds.
Then right below them are the Sony Linkbuds S, below them are the Pixel Buds 2 pro, below them are the Samsung Galaxy Buds 3 Pro, followed by the Galaxy Buds 2 pro, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3, below them are the Sony Linkbuds Fit, below them are the Galaxy Buds 3 and below them are the Beats Studio Buds Plus.
So obviously, these aren’t all of the ANC earbuds on the market cause there are a lot, but I think that these are some of the most important ones for late 2024… but more importantly, I do feel that these earbuds block out the most amount of noise here and they do so with very minimal cabin pressure. However, like I mentioned a few times already, the very deep ear tips on these earbuds can be a little uncomfortable after awhile, but it does help these earbuds block out more noise.
And then theres the ambient mode on these earbuds. Now this ambient mode sounds good and their microphone array does a great job of blocking out wind noise when walking out doors… but this ambient mode still sounds pretty artificial cause it sounds a little shallow, and when it picks up your own voice, theres a very slight delay to it. So overall, this ambient mode just gets the job done for premium ANC earbuds.
Mic M4 Quiet
But finally heres the microphone test… and sadly this microphone needs a lot of work. Which in a quiet room, there is some interference going on with my voice… which is odd cause were in a quiet room.
Mic AirPods Pro 2 Quiet
Cause for comparison sake, these are the AirPods Pro 2 which are the gold standard when it comes to mics. And here my voice sounds very clear.
Mic AirPods Road
But more importantly, the AirPods Pro 2 do a much better job of dealing with noise polltuion. Cause right now this microphone is doing a really good job of blocking out all of this road noise. Cause for comparison sake, if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this road noise, but if we switch back over to the AirPods Pro 2, it is every reduced and my voice still sounds super clear.
Mic M4 Road
Where are with the Moemtum 4’s, these are just letting in every thing.
Mic M4 Chatter
And its the same thing when it comes to blocking out chatter, they are just letting in everything.
Mic AirPods Chatter
Where as with the AirPods Pro 2, these are doing a much better job of dealing with all of this noise pollution. Cause again if we were to switch over to my lapel microphone you’re going to clearly hear all of this chatter, but if we switch back over to the AirPods Pro 2 it is severely reduced and my voice still sounds very clear. So overall, I feel the Sennheiser Moemtum 4’s do not have a good sounding microphone for phone calls, not even in a quiet room.
So with all of that being said, the Sennehsier Moemtum 4’s have the best performing Active Noise Cancletion as of late 2024 and they have a very neutral and open sound which sounds like you’re listing to a sound system, not earbuds. But everything else about these earbuds is hard to justify in late 2024 and early 2025 especially when compared to all of these other premium ANC earbuds. Yes these earbuds block out the most amount of noise… but they go in super deep into your ear canals… making them not very comfortable, especially when compared to AirPods Pro 2, Bose QC Earbuds or Pixel Buds Pro 2. The case on these earbuds is decent enough, but the battery life to case size ratio is trialing behind these other earbuds cause they have a combined battery life of 30 horus or more with a smaller case. The ambient mode on these earbuds sounds good enough to get the job done, but it does sound last gen when compared to these other earbuds. And then theres the mic, this mic isn’t even passable while in a quiet room.