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Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 Earphones Review

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 Earphones Review

Now smaller, and with better battery life and active noise cancellation.

By Ali Pardiwala | Updated: 13 July 2020 19:19 IST

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 Earphones Review

The new Momentum True Wireless 2 earphones have active noise cancellation

Highlights

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is priced at Rs. 24,990 in India
The aptX Bluetooth codec is supported on the earphones
Performance and battery life are impressive

At a time when true wireless earphones are available for less than Rs. 1,000 and you can buy a perfectly good smartphone for under Rs. 10,000, it's hard to justify spending over Rs. 20,000 on a pair of true wireless earphones. However, mainstream true wireless earphones are usually designed more for convenience and ease of use than sound quality. If you expect really premium sound, you have to be willing to spend more for it.

The success of Apple's premium AirPods and AirPods Pro models in India and abroad proves that there is definitely demand for high-end true wireless earphones. The AirPods Pro has been our default pick for high-end true wireless earphones for a while now, but the product I'm reviewing today is set to challenge its position at the top.

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is the successor the last year's Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless earphones. Priced at Rs. 24,990 in India, the new true wireless earphones offer improved features in smaller bodies, and promise better battery life as well as improved sound. Find out if these new premium true wireless earphones are indeed the best you can buy, in our review.

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The Momentum True Wireless 2 earphones are smaller than the first version, but still quite large for true wireless earphones

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is smaller, but better

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is similar in design to its predecessor, but with one key difference – it's smaller and lighter. That said, the earphones aren't compact by any means, and still stuck out of my ears a fair bit. The fit is a bit better than before, and this makes a difference when it comes to passive noise isolation.

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The earphones are plastic but feel well built, and there are indicator lights and proximity sensors on the inside of each one, enabling auto play and pause functionality when you put on or take off one of the earphones. This can be disabled using the app if you choose.

The Sennheiser logo on the outer side of each earphone is touch sensitive for gesture controls. The controls were easy enough to get used to, with the left side controlling playback and the right side controlling noise cancelation, transparent hearing, and voice assistant controls by default. All gestures on either side are completely customisable using the Sennheiser Smart Control app, so you can set your pair up however you like. Usefully, you can also adjust volume from the headset, giving you control over most functions and features without needing to use your smartphone.

Among all the pairs of true wireless earphones we've reviewed, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 has the nicest charging case. It's neither too big nor too small, and has a fabric-wrapped exterior that looks and feels very good. At the back is a USB Type-C port for charging, and a button and indicator light that changes colour to show you the charge level. The case has a magnetic lid, and the earphones themselves fit in magnetically and securely.

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Like most premium Bluetooth earphones, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 has its own app for customisation. The Sennheiser Smart Control app (available for Android and iOS) lets you control many of the features and functions on the headset, including the hearing modes. You can set up the gesture controls according to your preferences, check the battery levels of the earphones, change equaliser settings, and update firmware. It's a useful app to set the earphones up, but I didn't find myself using it much after the initial setup beyond checking battery levels, and that's exactly how it should be.

The charging case looks and feels very good

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 earphones have custom 7mm dynamic drivers, a frequency response range of 5-21,000Hz, and a single microphone in each earphone for active noise cancellation. The earphones use Bluetooth 5.1 for connectivity, with support for the SBC, AAC, and Qualcomm aptX Bluetooth codecs. The use of the aptX codec means that these earphones are particularly well suited for use with Android smartphones.

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Battery life is much improved on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 over its predecessor. I was able to get around six hours of use per charge on the earphones, with active noise cancellation on. The charging case added another three full charges for around 23-24 hours of battery life per charge cycle. This isn't the best we've seen among true wireless earphones, but it's pretty good for a true wireless headset with active noise cancellation, and the combined battery life is superior to what you'd get with the similarly priced AirPods Pro.

Better sound, effective noise cancellation on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

While the original Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless wasn't a very impressive overall package for the price, I had only good things to say about its sound quality. Interestingly, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 manages to improve on this. Although tuned a bit for punchier bass, the combination of good drivers and aptX codec support makes this the best sounding pair of true wireless earphones I've heard yet.

Active noise cancellation offers much more than simply reducing noise levels; it made for a focused listening experience that let me focus on the music, and not hear much else, even in the noisiest of situations. Starting with Rhinestone Eyes by Gorillaz, the level of detail in the track was impressive, and I quite liked the sharp, clean sound as well. I was able to hear some very faint background sounds, with the earphones providing a spacious and wide soundstage.

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Moving on to electronic tracks revealed that Sennheiser has tweaked the sonic signature a bit on the Momentum True Wireless 2 to make the sound a bit more punchy. Listening to Disco Ballin' by Discotron, I found that the bass was strong, aggressive and driven; this made it a lot more noticeable, and dictated terms for the track. That said, there was still plenty of detail to be heard – the depth in the sound was present and real, and the mid-range and highs weren't getting lost in the powerful lows at all.

The aptX codec also meant that the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 performed better with high-resolution audio tracks than most other true wireless earphones. Listening to my favourite track in my high-resolution audio collection, Touched By Tango (Anxiety) by Astor Piazzola, I was impressed by how detailed the sound was, and how real and present the instruments in this operatic tango track sounded.

Active noise cancellation on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is effective

From the grunt and timbre of the double bass to the gentle aggression of the violins, everything sounded impressive on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2. The sound is comparable to what could be expected from a good pair of wireless neckband-style earphones such as the Sony WI-1000XM2, which is quite impressive given the true wireless form factor of the Sennheiser earphones.

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While the LDAC Bluetooth codec is considered superior, Qualcomm's aptX codec works brilliantly for most genres and tracks thanks to the flexibility of Sennheiser's custom drivers and the excellent tuning of the Momentum True Wireless 2 earphones.

Listening to Mint Royale's Singin' In The Rain, there was a bit of everything to be heard in the sound; the low-end was aggressive, and the detail and soundstage were on point. The overall listening experience was engaging, immersive, and immensely enjoyable. The sampling of Gene Kelly's 1952 classic, combined with the modern edge of Mint Royale's electronic remix, was impressively reproduced by the Sennheiser earphones, accurately capturing the essence of this old-meets-new track.

There aren't too many pairs of true wireless earphones with active noise cancellation, and performance hasn't exactly been flagship-grade on most of the ones we've tested that do have this feature. However, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 gets this right. Active noise cancellation is quite effective on these earphones, managing to significantly reduce the droning sounds of my air conditioner and ceiling fan.

The effect of noise cancelation isn't quite as stark and silent as it can be on flagship-grade over-ear headsets such as the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700, but it does match up to the abilities of the AirPods Pro. Transparency mode was a bit unnerving at first for me, and didn't sound as natural as that of the AirPods Pro, but it works well enough and is a useful feature to have.

The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 is largely music-focused and is obviously meant for buyers who want very good sound with the true wireless form factor, but it does an acceptable job as a hands-free headset as well. Sound is clear on calls, and I quite like the setting that turns on transparency mode while on voice calls, which let me hear myself properly.

While people on the other end of calls sounded clear to me, they did on occasion ask me to speak up as my voice sounded a bit soft to them. It's entirely usable for the purpose, but if performance on calls is important, the AirPods Pro is a better bet at this price.

The Sennheiser sounds better than the AirPods Pro for music, but the Apple earphones perform better for voice calls

Verdict

While the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless was among the best sounding true wireless headsets I used last year, the overall experience fell a bit short, and I didn't think it was worth the price. With the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2, things have improved without a change in the price – the design is better, battery life sees an improvement, sound remains top-notch for the form factor, and effective active noise cancellation adds a lot of value.

Purely in terms of musicality and the quality of the overall listening experience, there's no better pair of true wireless earphones that you can buy right now than the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2, particularly if you use an Android smartphone which will let you unlock the potential of the aptX Bluetooth codec. Sure, it's expensive at Rs. 24,990, but the kind of quality on offer here does justify the price.

Price: Rs. 24,990

Pros

Bluetooth 5.1 and Qualcomm aptX support
Very good battery life
Good app, customisable controls
Clean, detailed sound
Strong bass, excellent soundstage
Effective active noise cancellation

Cons

Expensive

Ratings (out of 5)

Design/ comfort: 4
Audio quality: 4.5
Battery life: 4.5
Value for money: 3.5
Overall: 4

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