Ambitious update! But there’s a problem… | Sennheiser Momentum 4 Review vs Momentum 3

I pre-ordered the Momentum 4. I was excited! There was a lot here I didn't expect, and not all of it was good. This is an ambitious product. I have mixed feelings about the end result, but definite recommendations.

# SOCIAL MEDIA

# RELATED REVIEWS

# PRODUCT LINKS (affiliate)

# TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
0:19 Looks, Comfort, Build
1:44 Controls, Connectivity, ANC
4:07 Battery, Special Features, Case
5:15 Bugs
7:01 Sound, Volume, Codecs
9:48 Calls & Mic tests
10:52 Conclusions & Recommendations

# DISCLAIMERS
* I was not compensated for this review in any way
* Music is Space Age Hussle by Squadda B.

[sukeshsubaharan]

I hit the like button for all the work you did on the review. The ANC test on the plane just showed the amount of commitment. Good job!

[ttvlux]

I’ve had a pair of these for about half a month now. Here is my experience so far.

Here are my initial impressions.

Sound:
The momentum 4 have great sound quality the best I’ve used so far, the audio clarity is way better than the Sony XM5s, which sounded a little muddy to me.

ANC:
The ANC is pretty good, don’t expect it to mute the outside world but it does do a serviceable job getting rid of most noises. You can also double tap the right ear cup to toggle ANC on the fly which is nice. Being able to toggle the ANC is important because at least on my model the ANC had a really hard time trying to cancel the sound of my plane when it was taking off and ends up pulsing a loud static noise. I ended up turning ANC off until reaching cruising altitude at which point I turned it back on and it worked great at canceling the engine noise and people talking.
I also own a pair of the Apple AirPod Pros gen1 and I would say that both the air pods and the momentum 4 have a similar level of anc.

Everyday use/Comfort:
These headphones are VERY comfortable.
And while headphone comfort can be very subjective based on your ear size/shape, I will say that I’ve had issues with headphones in the past where after wearing them for a few hours my ears or head where the band sits would end up hurting or soar. So far that has not been the case on the Momentum 4s and the main reason I bought these was to block out the office noise at work while while also being comfortable to wear all day long, which they’ve been great for.

Auto off and connectivity:
So here’s the con for these headphones at least for me. The auto off and pairing on these headphones can be very buggy leading to quite a bit of frustration. You are supposed to be able to just take the headphones off and have them turn off but it feels lol it only works about half of the time. The worst side effect of this being almost every time I answer a phone call it automatically transfers the call to my headphones, which would be great except that my headphones are in their case in my lunch box in the back seat of my car or just sitting on my desk or sitting on the kitchen counter in their case. Which makes me wonder how often the headphones are off ever. A big feature of the headphones is the extremely long battery life, but if the headphones often end up being left on your losing some of that benefit. I’m at a point where I will probably be turning them off every time before I put them in my case. That last sentence sounds a bit funny all things considered but I’ve become accustomed to not having to worry about turning off audio devices lately so I will need to make a new habit of turning them off.

Microphone:
From what I can tell the microphone works pretty good on phone calls. If you plan on using these in an office/gaming setting with teams, discord, etc you will probably want to get a separate stand alone microphone, because windows really sucks at using anything other than a designated gaming headset. When connected to a windows 10 pc you have the option to use either Headphones(momentum 4 stereo) or Headset(momentum 4 Hands-free AG Audio). The problem being that while stereo sounds fantastic your microphone won’t work unless you switch to headset mode, which does enable the built in microphone, but degrades the audio quality horrendously. That being said this is more of a window’s problem, as the same can be said about every other non-gaming headset.


To summarize everything here are my final thoughts on the Momentum 4 so far.

Cons:
•The buggy standby feature and auto connection can be annoying, but it is possible to work around it. It’s sad to see at this price tag, but I’ll take it in return for the better audio quality vs similar offerings. Hopefully this will get better over time with software updates, but I’m not holding my breath.
•The touch controls work great, but they are sensitive and can be annoying at times. Ex. Adjusting your headphones on your head, leaning your head up against something or someone. This is technically my first rodeo with touch controls on headphones so maybe I just need to get used to it.
•The functionality of the power button takes a bit of time to get used to as the audio queues it gives don’t really match up very well with the action you are trying to perform. You really do just need to memorize the number of seconds you need to press and do no more and no less.

Pros:
•Very comfortable for extended periods of time.
•Fantastic Audio Quality.
•Good ANC mostly on par with other offerings at this price tag
•Great battery life.
•Good microphone, except for on Windows.

In conclusion if clear audio and all day comfort are important to you and these headphones fall within your budget, then from all of the headphones I’ve tested in this price range these are my favorites.
Second runner up if I had to chose would be the Sony XM5 falling short due to the muddy audio and lower battery life in my opinion.

[VicharB]

I have been a user of PXC 550-II and went with M4 Wireless as an upgrade. In short yhey are not as neutral sounding as PXC were, but still has that Sennheiser sound signature and much wider sound stage. Overall I am really liking them for the price (Focal Bathys are best but much costlier and bulkier), compared them to PX7/PX8, and ended up EQing with bass -1.5db, mids +1.0db and treble +1.5db. ANC were not priority for me, rather sound quality and transparency mode is really good and no bugs mentioned at my end. Good review mate!

[fliboimoney]

I enjoy that you speak with your hands in addition ..very expressive genuine, engaging and descriptive!! I like it... Stay

[juanjo]

This served me a lot. I was going to buy these but those bugs are bad for me. I listened to a lot of reviews and they all talk about the goods, and you are the first person that talked about these issues in detail. I mean, you made great, pro review. Thank you.

[sephirothishere]

I have 3 and love them. I took a good look at 4 and considered them but decided ultimately to pass and not upgrade at all

[pavan]

@Norbreviews

What you said is 100% true with the older models, I also had one last year and I returned it, but the newer models (with 2.13.28 firmware version and 4.0 hardware version) are improved and feel even better than XM5 headphones in the connectivity department, as soon as I take the headphones from the pouch they connect instantly whichever the devices they are paired with, and even the sound quality also gotten better with the newer ones. Please review the new version of Sennheiser Momentum 4 headphones when you get a chance.

[peterwood]

Keep going Norb you are doing great work

[DMGrayVids]

Norb that was a good review. I recently purchased the Momentum 4 and first off the best Pro is the sound quality was just absolutely phenomenal. However, I was on a plane, watching a movie and the sound just stopped about 6x for no reason, and I was definitely not moving my head. So I decided to test that at home watching a movie on my iMAC and yep, you guessed it, they just randomly stop play audio. However, on my SurfacePro8, the sound went back to speaker mode each of the 6 or more times and everyone could hear the loud movie I was playing. Purchased on 6/16/2023 and returned on 7/3/2023 - I could not take the buggy UI. P.S., that sound was better than Bose and Sony; I finally broke down and purchased (7/12/2023) the Sony XM5, delivery pending.

[thetruthstand]

I have experience with both the Sennheiser momentum 3 and the Sennheiser momentum 4. I think the sound on the Sennheiser momentum 3 was much louder and as you said more detailed. But I really like the functionality of the Sennheiser momentum. 4 and the battery life. It is true that the Sennheiser momentum 4 does have certain connectivity issues. I haven't experienced the ones that you are talking about. But I can't say when trying to switch to another phone call the connecting noise is still going for about another 5 seconds even though you've already answered the call. That's bad. The app and the headphones do not connect automatically sometimes. I wish the noise cancellation was better but it's serviceable. I don't have too many issues with the transparency mode. They are the second most comfortable pair of headphones I've ever worn. And the call quality is much better.

[erfhoy]

Very good and helpful video, sir. Video format is excelent!

[breacherguy]

Thank you for an honest review, the other reviews out there dont show any of the bugs or problems they have had and thats a red flag

[InscrutableObjects]

Thank you for the solid and clear review! I'm saddened that the move is away from switches for on and off and actual buttons for controls. I have an old set of Cowin headphones that have a switch to instantly and clearly turn them on and off. I love it. Unfortunately, even these have been "upgraded" to use a button that takes a while to activate. And now that headphones are moving away from actual buttons to capacitive touch for things like volume and play control (which is VERY easy to bump and do the wrong thing) it makes me even sadder. Why can't anyone make a SIMPLE Bluetooth headphone with buttons and switches that sound great. They're all getting too complex for their own good!

[paritoshkumarpramanick]

Refrain from buying this headphone as they have lot of bugs - hissing sound with anc on, auto mute in the middle of a meeting. Sound quality is good but at this price point it should perform as an all rounder.

[sweglord]

I literally bought them yesterday and i the only negative part i've experienced is that you (atleast for now) cannot turn off the side touch controls. I used them for overhead triceps exercises and just touching the touch area with my upper arm would, for example, pause music, or deactivate ANC and pause music as well. I've read online, that on the other Sennheiser Headphones it is indeed possible to turn those off, so its only a matter of time, atleast i hope so!

Overall im very happy with the headphones, the sound is really great, i like it bass heavy, but that comes with compromises in the mid and higher sections, but not here, its still really crisp.
For now I can recommend them!

[jamiesmith]

Thx. Very good detailed explanation.
I didnt care for the M4 overall redesign. I too am a Senneheiser aficionado. However, being that said i never could find the excitement for the HD 600? The HD 660s is more to my likings..its just more lively, but too simular to initiate a purchase.
The Momentum Line is where i found a home. Although, not all the "Momentum" nomenclature truly supports the namesake. Such as you took notice to here.
Great reveiw!

[shyamvk]

Just got these headphones, sound clarity is amazing. ANC is good enough for me. However my issue was the left side if the headphone was sounding quieter than the right and it was quite annoying. They seem to have a quality control issue since ny friend bought a pair and experienced the same thing. Ended up returning since i tried all the tips mentioned online but none worked. Shame actually, as i really like the comfort and sound of these over the XM5

[PwerRll]

Thanks for the personal honest review! I was about to buy the M4's. But you made made me decide to look for other headphones. Take care! 🙂

[davidferrandez]

Great review! I can't wait to see your opinions on the Accentums. I loved Momentum 3s sound on that (I can't remember the name precisely) high quality tuning option but they were so uncomfortable to me that had to be sent back. I hope the accentums give a nice sounding experience as it does not break the bank that much and certainly prefer buttons over touch controls

[iulica]

I have struggle with the momentum 4 till i had patience to Sound Personalization them and voila great sound. Use Sound personalization or low 63hz to -4.2 and 250hz to -2.8 . That works for me. I had loved momentum 3 but for the sound but hated for the comfort. Now i am happy with momentum 4 and 60h battery just great