Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 review: These earbuds beat out AirPods Pro

When they came out in 2018, the Sennheiser Momentum Real Wi-fi were among the best-sounding genuinely wi-fi earbuds, if not the best-sounding. They ended up not without having some flaws, however. The buds’ batteries would drain though in the scenario, so if you failed to demand the scenario for 4 times, you could close up with a lifeless established of earbuds, which was frustrating. They ended up also a tad significant, so some individuals complained of irritation right after obtaining them in their ears for a though. And at $300, they ended up really dear.

The 2nd-generation Momentum Real Wi-fi two, offered now for preorder and shipping in April, continue to have that elevated $300 (£279 300 euros) rate. But they’re far better all all over, with a a little bit lesser, far more at ease style, energetic sound canceling that rivals that of the AirPod Professional, enhanced battery lifestyle (up to 7 several hours vs . the original’s 4) and far better sound reduction all through calls. And, if you you should not like them in black, a white variation is slated to adhere to later this yr. Most importantly, while, the Momentum Real Wi-fi two have the very same stellar sound — for real wi-fi earbuds, anyway — presenting clearly remarkable sound excellent to the AirPods Professional. That can make them arguably the best real wi-fi earbuds on the industry today and earns them a CNET Editors’ Choice Award.

That claimed, they’re not automatically for everybody. Aside from the point that they’re high-priced — $50 far more than the AirPods Professional — they’re heavier, not very as at ease to put on and absence the arms-free of charge Siri found on people Apple products. And, though Sennheiser shrank the new earbuds by 2mm, the Momentum Real Wi-fi two are continue to on the bigger aspect and may perhaps not be a best match for some people’s ears. Individually, they in good shape my ears very properly and I obtained a tight seal from the premier ear tip (a few dimensions are provided). As I claimed, I felt that the a little bit lesser style does assist — I was ready to put on these without having a issue for extended stretches.

Go through far more: The best real wi-fi earbuds of 2020

That tight seal is crucial for optimizing sound excellent and sound cancellation. The AirPods Professional have adaptive sound canceling. The sound canceling on the Momentum Real Wi-fi two will not look to be adaptive, but it is effective. In the options menu, it suggests, “Single-mic ANC reduces low-frequency ambient sound,” adding that activating the aspect does have an “affect on battery lifestyle.” In other phrases, you should not count on to get 7 several hours if you have it on, particularly if you participate in your new music at greater volumes. The charging scenario does deliver an more a few expenses (21 several hours) on the go and Sennheiser has fastened the difficulty with the buds’ battery draining in the scenario — they now go into a deep sleep mode. 

I wore the Momentum Real Wi-fi two all over the streets of New York and in the subway for a few of times. You get some passive sound cancellation from just obtaining a tight seal, but when I toggled the sound canceling on and off though riding the subway, the variation was quickly evident. It seemed to be on par with the AirPods Pro’s sound canceling for muffling ambient sound. I failed to consider them on a plane, but I consider they would be good for that natural environment as properly.

Go through far more: Ideal-sounding wi-fi earbuds: Sony, Sennheiser and far more in comparison

Like the originals, these have touch controls and they perform properly, despite the fact that I like Apple’s stem-squeezing controls on the AirPods Professional a little far better. You can plan the touch controls in Sennheiser’s Clever Command application for iOS and Android. For occasion, I established the tap-and-keep gesture on the right earbud to activate sound canceling. The very same gesture on the remaining earbud activates a transparency mode that lets ambient sound in so you can have a discussion though carrying them.

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Sennheiser isn’t marketing these as sports earphones, but with an IPX4 rating they are splashproof and must be sweatproof. I was ready to go running without having them slipping out of my ears and they’re absolutely great for lighter routines at the gymnasium. I won’t be able to convey to you how properly they’ll keep up about time if you sweat on them a large amount, but they must be ready to place up with some dampness without having a issue.

Like the originals, the earbuds have volume controls on the earbuds by themselves making use of the default tap-and-keep gesture. Even so, right after I improved the tap-and-keep gesture to activate ANC — rather of manage volume — I couldn’t change the gesture back again to controlling volume (I experienced to reset the controls back again to their default options). The application I was making use of was labeled as beta, and I presume this bug will be fastened in an update.  

A few of other options are worth mentioning. You can pick out to activate sidetone, a aspect I like that lets you to listen to your voice in the earbuds and modulate your voice when you are producing a contact. And there is an equalizer in the application to tweak bass and treble levels to your liking. For needs of this assessment I remaining it at the default environment, which seemed correctly good to me. 

Sennheiser additional a microphone to every single earbud for the sound canceling and there is a beamforming microphone in every single earbud to decide up your voice when producing calls or making use of your voice assistant. The contact efficiency is enhanced from the originals’, with far better sound reduction so individuals can listen to you far better in noisy environments (ambient sound is muffled while continue to current). I’m not sure these are very as good as the AirPods when it comes to contact excellent, but they performed properly general in this section.

I also expert negligible Bluetooth hiccups — the wi-fi link was largely good. They use Bluetooth five.one, with assist for AAC and aptX audio codes (only selected Android phones assist aptX streaming). And I failed to have any issues with audio syncing the right way when viewing movie applications like Netflix, YouTube and Vudu.

The Momentum Real Wi-fi two earbuds have the very same 7mm dynamic motorists as the originals. If there are some slight gains in sound excellent, it can be far more probable thanks to far better electronic processing as a result of chip and software package updates. As I claimed, sound excellent is great and the Momentum Real Wi-fi two has richer, far more in-depth sound than the AirPods Professional with properly-outlined bass, pure-sounding mids and some sparkle in the treble. These sound like high quality headphones must. They are really open the sound will not feel trapped in your head.

I rated the Sony WF-1000XM3 earbuds remarkably for sound, while they’re not terrific for producing calls. The Momentum Real Wi-fi two are a little far more in-depth and articulate. On properly-recorded tracks you can truly listen to every single instrument they you should not blend in with every single like with a large amount of Bluetooth headphones. Other high-close products like the Grasp & Dynamic MW07 Plus ($300) also have sleek, properly in-depth sound with good bass definition, as properly as some sound cancellation, but the Real Wi-fi two have far better style and headset efficiency alongside with a little bit far better sound and far more effective sound cancellation. 

The scenario expenses by using USB-C, whereas at this rate you would like to see wi-fi charging, but which is not a key omission. The AirPods Professional absolutely have an desirable style and aspect established with powerful efficiency, but they’re only not in the Sennheiser Momentum Real Wi-fi 2’s league for sound excellent. And now that Sennheiser has additional energetic sound canceling and fastened some of the initial Momentum Real Wireless’ smaller flaws, these are the earbuds to get if you worth sound excellent about all the things else.