Sennheiser Momentum 5 Wireless Review: Balanced and Enduring

After a four-year wait, Sennheiser has finally renewed its best-selling Bluetooth headphone. Designed to take on the current generation from Sony and Bose, the Momentum 5 Wireless refines an already proven formula through a series of targeted improvements.

Only a few months after entering the audiophile portable market with the HDB 630, Sennheiser is back with a refresh of its flagship mainstream range. The Momentum 5 has the difficult job of succeeding the Momentum 4, launched in 2022 and now recognised for its value and for its ability to hold its own against equivalent models from Sony and Bose.

To meet that challenge the German manufacturer builds on what it already had, showing a degree of conservatism — structurally in particular — while working hard on the specification sheet. The Momentum 5 brings several changes, among them active noise cancelling billed as three times more effective, support for the aptX Lossless codec, new software features and a replaceable battery.

The Momentum 5 Wireless was released in May 2026. The observations below relate to firmware version 6.19.3 with the Smart Control Plus app at version 1.4.2.

Apart from a logo now engraved on a circular metal plate, the addition of extra microphones and the disappearance of assembly marks on the outside of the cups, the Momentum 5 Wireless carries over the design and dimensions of its predecessor exactly. Plastic still dominates, with no perceptible step up in materials, but the result remains just as effective.

The Momentum 5 combines several well-chosen finishes: good-quality synthetic leather on the earpads, along with an elegant woven textile and a slightly tacky rubber on the upper and lower parts of the headband. Only the somewhat generic external forks, along which the audio cables run, would have benefited from modernising.

Otherwise, build quality is very sound, with no unsightly assembly marks, and the headphones produce no creaking when twisted. Sennheiser now allows the battery to be replaced with nothing more than a crosshead screwdriver, a step forward for longevity that deserves recognition.

The absence of folding cups is a shame, since it would have made the headphones easier to carry without the case. Sennheiser has at least slimmed that case down, so it now slips into a rucksack more readily. Its finish is a cut above, a new recess makes it easier to pick up, and the storage for the supplied mini-jack and USB-C cables is well judged. Only the aeroplane adapter has gone, which is a fairly minor loss today.

Because the structure has barely changed, the Momentum 5 inherits the comfort of its predecessor, which is no bad thing. It does not chase outright lightness in the way its Sony and Bose rivals do, but its 293 g are admirably easy to forget thanks to an even distribution of weight.

At home and out and about, the headphones stay firmly in place without creating pressure points, allowing long listening sessions without discomfort. The main reservation concerns the top of the head, where the headband can make itself slightly felt because the padding there is fairly thin. The earpads themselves are thick and soft, sealing well around the ears without pinching, although they do tend to trap heat.

With large earcups lined at the base with a padded fabric that softens any contact points, the Momentum 5 Wireless is built to suit a range of head shapes. The headband is easy to adjust, and the earcups rotate through 180 degrees so the headphones sit comfortably around the neck.

The Momentum 5 carries over the full control set of its predecessor and the HDB 630, all built into the right-hand cup. There is a multifunction button covering power and Bluetooth connection. Usefully, a single press is now enough to switch the headphones on, where other models require a rather unintuitive three-second hold. The experience is smoother as a result, even if a second button dedicated to pairing would have been more convenient still.

With the headphones on, that same button reaches the phone's voice assistant and announces the remaining battery level aloud, via single or double presses. Battery level can also be checked when the headphones are not being worn, thanks to five integrated LEDs — an ergonomic advantage particular to Sennheiser.

Everything else is driven by touch swipes on the outside of the cup, covering playback, active isolation, track handling and volume. The one change here is the ability to scrub through a timeline with a slow swipe, as on the HDB 630. The interface is intuitive and practical, but there is still a slight excess of sensitivity that can trigger unintended commands when handling the headphones. Wear detection, by contrast, is consistently quick and reliable.

Less happily, the headphones repeat the overly coarse volume steps of their predecessor, which blunts fine adjustment and pushes the listener back to the phone.

Equipped with a new Bluetooth 5.4 receiver, the Momentum 5 Wireless is the first Sennheiser headphone to include aptX Lossless, alongside Qualcomm's other advanced codecs. Even the HDB 630 does not support it, all the more notably because the BTD 700 USB-C dongle supplied in that model's box decodes it perfectly. Given where the Momentum 5 sits in the range, it is a pity that accessory is not included here too, since its versatility and broad compatibility would suit it well.

In short, only LE Audio is still missing, which would prepare the headphones for Auracast use or reduce a native latency of 275 ms that is too high for gaming content. That support may arrive alongside Bluetooth 6.0 in a future update. The headphones also stand out for a stable connection and particularly smooth multipoint operation, while Google Fast Pair handles quick pairing on Android.

Inheriting the advanced connectivity of its predecessor, the Momentum 5 puts its internal DAC to work decoding audio streams up to 24-bit/96 kHz over a wired USB-C connection. The loss of passive listening with the headphones switched off is regrettable, if only as a way of preserving the battery. There is also a proprietary sub-mini-jack input for analogue listening, which as ever requires the supplied cable.

With the Momentum 5 Wireless, the Smart Control Plus app does not carry over some of the refinements introduced with the HDB 630. Crossfeed and signal-path monitoring are arguably dispensable, but the parametric equaliser is genuinely missed, being particularly useful for correcting frequency peaks and dips precisely.

Even so, it is hard not to welcome the new functions relative to the Momentum 4. Among them are the ability to switch multipoint off, a more generous nine-band equaliser and control over the volume of voice prompts. The app now also allows a choice between two maximum resolutions, 96 kHz or 44.1 kHz, and adds a spatial audio mode. Developed by Dolby, that mode remains restricted to content mixed in Dolby Atmos on platforms such as Apple Music and Tidal.

Clear, responsive and comprehensive, the app has little to envy in the best rival offerings. It even includes several original touches, such as pausing content when transparency mode is activated, displaying the Bluetooth codec in use, locating the headphones and creating location-based routines.

The Momentum 5 Wireless uses the same 42 mm in-house drivers as the brand's most recent portable flagships, including the HDB 630. Compared with the Momentum 4 Wireless, those units benefit from new tonal tuning and from more space inside the acoustic chambers thanks to a more compact circuit board.

The result addresses the predecessor's weaknesses and moves closer to the well-regarded HDB 630. By shedding the slight veiling of the earlier model — caused by a dip around 2 kHz combined with excess bass and lower midrange — it delivers a remarkably even signature across the whole spectrum.

Like many portable headphones, the Momentum 5 overplays the 40 Hz region to give sub-heavy tracks a spectacular sense of depth. Because that emphasis is skilfully confined to the lowest frequencies, the presentation never becomes ponderous. The upper bass and lower midrange follow a very gradual transition that avoids any excess of fullness. Principal musical elements are given room to express themselves, kick-drum impact is faithful, and the controlled bass shows only a slight surplus of weight.

Despite that demonstrative low end, Sennheiser's expertise shows in the midrange, marked by a small and particularly well-judged lift around 4 kHz. It flatters the presence of voices and foreground instruments without ever tipping into a dry or artificially analytical delivery. Emphasis in that region can quickly become fatiguing when handled badly, but the balance with the lower midrange and the good linearity through the core of the spectrum preserve the lower fundamentals, to the benefit of timbral accuracy.

Energetic by nature, the Momentum 5 can occasionally sound slightly incisive on high-pitched percussion, though the effect stays contained enough not to unbalance anything. The transparency with which the edge of a snare drum is reproduced is genuinely impressive, even if some snares can paradoxically seem a little tamed against the scale of the deepest bass.

Very slightly recessed relative to the upper midrange, the treble is thoroughly coherent and shows no excess whatsoever. Cymbals and hi-hats are given excellent detail without ever becoming intrusive or over-bright, while sibilance is reproduced faithfully and appears only when it is inherent to the recording. A little more sense of air in the extreme treble would have been welcome.

More expressive in the bass and slightly more incisive than an HDB 630, the Momentum 5 nonetheless keeps a more natural delivery than costlier models such as the Apple AirPods Max 2 or the Sony 1000X The ColleXion. It is a broadly applicable sound philosophy, recalling that of the Sony WH-1000XM6, whose balance leans towards neutrality despite some frequency liberties.

Thanks to eight microphones, two of them inside the cups — double the count of the Momentum 4 and HDB 630 — the Momentum 5 makes progress on active noise cancelling. Attenuation is more effective between 100 Hz and 2 kHz, with a trough approaching -35 dB around 200 Hz. In an urban setting the headphones therefore offer more immersion, damping most resonances and background noise more successfully.

They still fall short of the leaders in this field, such as the AirPods Max 2 and the Sony WH-1000XM6, which are stronger well into the midrange. Voices remain perceptible, albeit muted and distant, as do the fundamentals of engine and ventilation noise. Passive isolation compensates very well in the treble, particularly against shrill sounds.

As with its predecessor, the Momentum 5's weakness lies in insufficient reduction of the very lowest frequencies, which are consequently accentuated in perception. That can exaggerate certain rumbles, such as a door slamming or a heavy goods vehicle passing, which can prove fairly unpleasant.

The experience remains broadly convincing despite those limits. Almost no difference was noted between adaptive noise cancelling and maximum mode, while a slight sensation of pressure can appear over time. Effective though it is, the wind-noise reduction mode is best avoided, since it noticeably degrades noise-cancelling performance.

Sennheiser has brought itself up to standard on transparency, an area in which many headphones now excel. The Momentum 5 outperforms both the Momentum 4 and the HDB 630, finally proving effective in the upper spectrum. A lift at 1 kHz brings out the clarity of voices and of the everyday sounds that matter most, while overall amplification is sufficient to render the surroundings naturally.

It is not perfect: high-frequency sounds still seem a little distant, and background noise in the very low frequencies is slightly exaggerated.

The hands-free performance of the Momentum 5 improves thanks to the doubled microphone count. In a noisy urban environment, the first thing to note is the stronger attenuation of ambient noise, although the loudest sounds now produce rumbles and background hiss. The microphones do not lose their footing, however: the voice stays clear and intelligible in most situations, and algorithmic artefacts remain discreet.

In that context, though, voice capture suffers from level fluctuations that occur a little too frequently, where the HDB 630 is more consistent. A particularly loud vehicle passing was also found to cause dropouts and stuttering, which could prove a handicap in the presence of continuous noise.

Unsurprisingly, nothing of note goes wrong in a quiet environment. Signal quality is very respectable, aside from slightly accentuated sibilance.

Sennheiser quotes up to 57 hours with noise cancelling active, a slight step down from the 60 hours claimed for the Momentum 4. In practice the newcomer proved marginally less enduring than promised, with 54 hours 45 minutes recorded at 60% volume. That is still a very high-level result and puts it in much the same territory as its predecessor.

On that showing the Momentum 5 remains among the most enduring headphones available, giving ground only to the Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. and the Nothing Headphone (a), which do better still on this criterion.

Few headphones can claim such balance straight out of the box, including the costlier Apple AirPods Max 2 and Sony 1000X The ColleXion, and it is on sound reproduction that Sennheiser makes its case. The Momentum 5 handles portable use very well, but more practical and more ergonomic alternatives can be found from Bose, Sony and JBL at an equivalent level of the market, while the B&W PX7 S3 will appeal more to those after a statement design.