The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is the antidote to earbud e-waste

For over a decade, I have been hammering true wireless earbuds over their inability to swap batteries easily. But now, finally, after all this time: a top-flight headphone company has finally make its flagship wireless earbuds with user replaceable batteries. That’s all well and good, but do they make a good case for your dollar? Let’s find out.

What’s it like to use the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5?

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is a solid set of earbuds that should last you years to come.

Design

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is a fairly sleek and smooth earbud, clad in a metallic-finished plastic, with the only the short nozzle protruding from the chassis. Though quite large, each earbud manages to put very little pressure on the ear canals due to the short nozzle design, and ear-friendly ear tips. I was able to comfortably listen for several hours at a time, though I did have to futz with the different ear tip sizes in the box before finding the one that fit me best.

Out of the box, the earbuds have an IP rating of IP54, which means it can withstand dust and some incidental moisture — making the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 a decent fit for gym-goers and the occasionally sweaty. Just be aware that the rubber ring around the whole housing needs to remain intact for this to hold true, as this may become compromised a few years down the road. I say this because the rubber gasket in question can get dislodged or broken when you open up the earbuds to change the batteries. After unscrewing two tiny philips-head screws: you have to pry each earbud open with the included tool — and that can end poorly if you’re too forceful.

Controlling the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is straightforward, as it uses a series of taps and long-presses to perform basic playback and call functions. Of course, you can also customize these in the Smart Control Plus app, including designating which earbud side you’d like your action to take place on.

The case of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is pretty unassuming, but it comes with a removable bottom plate to reveal a user-replaceable battery. You only need to undo one screw to access this, though, like the earbuds: the battery is also proprietary — and must be bought from Sennheiser to replace.

Features

As far as features go, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 comes loaded with all the standard bells and whistles available to most top-tier ANC earbuds. For example, there’s a feature to find your earbuds, as well as an in-app EQ, and control customizations. The more nitpicky among you can also do things like set sidetone settings for calls, as well as geofence behaviors of the earbuds depending on where you often go.

The hearing test is a great way to get personalized tuning, but like the geofencing feature: requires a Sennheiser account to work. Signup is pretty straightforward and doesn’t require a ton of data sharing. However, it is yet another account to check should something go awry with your digital life, so it’s understandable if you don’t want to do this.

How does the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 connect?

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 connects to your source devices via Bluetooth 6.0, though like any other Bluetooth 6.0: it’s backwards-compatible with devices that use older versions. Lossless fans will appreciate the inclusion of aptX Lossless codec compatibility, though the earbuds also support the more common SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive. Though the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 supports Multipoint, you can get more granular control of connections with the Smart Control Plus app. Through that, you can also add and delete devices using your phone and not going through the entire pairing process all over. Despite the use of Bluetooth 6.0, users of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 will not be able to take advantage of LE audio features like Auracast until a future firmware update enables them.

Though the connection seemed stable enough while I had these earbuds, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 had some odd issues when I walked back into the office after a week off. I can only guess at the cause, but it happened once and never again — so I can only assume that it had something to do with having so many previously-paired devices like the testing computer, my laptop, and colleagues’ phones within range at the same time. That’s not a situation you’ll find yourself in, I’d wager.

How long does the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5’s battery last?

In our labs, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 fell far short of its advertised battery life. However, we test with the ANC on, while the advertised figure may just be a best-case-scenario with different settings. Level-matched to every other product we’ve battery tested (and charged to 100%), the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 was able to play our test track for 6 hours and 17 minutes before the right earbud gave up the ghost. That’s still well past how long most people listen to music in a single session, and it’s important to point out that true wireless earbuds throughout their history have only needed short battery life because of the nature of their use. For example, a lot of people use them for commutes, so listening sessions tend to be shorter than 4 hours at a time — and recharges happen quite often.

Because of that, most people don’t really notice battery wear as it happens, and instead they only notice when the situation (and the battery capacity) has deteriorated to the point where their earbuds can’t last very long on a full charge. At this point, everybody absolutely calls up the battery recycling folks and responsibly disposes of their earbuds instead of hucking them in the trash. Right?

Nope. For a lot of people, it’s just not possible to do — or they’re not aware of recycling options are available to them. While I’ve been yelling at companies both publicly and in private about making their earbuds have user-replaceable batteries to prevent the need for buying a whole new product when the cell dies, only a handful of models are easy to perform this kind of swap. Earbuds especially seem to be allergic to this durability feature — only the FairPhone FairBuds have crossed my desk with an easy way to replace the batteries. At least, until the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 showed up.

Now, I’m still gonna give Sennheiser the business a bit because I don’t really classify needing your own tiny screwdriver on-hand and not included with the product as “user replaceable.” A lot of people will absolutely not touch a tool to replace a battery — even if it’s readily available. Though the Philips-head screws on the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 make changing the batteries loads easier to do: a lot of people are still probably not going to do the necessary here. I understand that the battery drawer approach means that ingress protection is virtually impossible to guarantee, but having a battery that requires zero tools to replace is a worthwhile challenge to overcome.

How well does the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 cancel noise?

Provided you have a good fit, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is capable of passively reducing around 71% of outside noise by perceived loudness. When you turn the ANC unit on, that number jumps to just under 85% — a very respectable result, even if it’s a couple percentage points off of the leader. With the exception of a slight dip in the mids — something that most ANC products have — the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is able to quiet most noise around you by a significant amount.

I had a little bit of issue with the first ear tips I had chosen, and my experience didn’t reflect the above until I swapped in a smaller size. If you find that you’re hearing a lot of outside noise and the app confirms that your ANC is on, try a different size of ear tips before letting frustration take you. Fit is everything with in-ears, and a bad fit can negatively impact not only sound quality, but noise reduction as well.

How good is the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 Transparency mode?

As far as transparency mode goes, I didn’t find any obvious fault with it. But like it is with most earphones, you might get a sensation of your ears being blocked still — I mean, they are — and the transparency mode may not pick up your own voice the way you’re expecting. I had some trouble hearing nearby voices, but I could still understand what was being said when I needed to.

How does the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 sound?

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 sounds quite good — but with the caveat that those sensitive to highs might want to keep looking.

Reviewer’s notes

Editor’s note: this review uses a hover-enabled glossary to describe sound quality based on a consensus vocabulary. You can read about it here.

Can you use the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 for phone calls?

Just like the rest of the ANC earbuds pack, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 sports a serious MEMS mic array that allows you to take phone calls, video chats, and what-have-you. But how does it sound? We recorded the samples below in five different noise conditions so you can compare the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 to any other reviewed product in an apples-to-apples fashion.

Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

Should you buy the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5?

If you’re looking for higher-end ANC earbuds that will last you a long time, it’s hard to argue against the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5. Though the world may eventually pass it by in technology, the earbuds are loaded with the latest wireless tech — and you can replace the battery on your own. As far as I’m concerned, that makes the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 one of the best on the market in terms of product longevity. That drastically changes the value proposition, even at $299.

Competitors and alternatives will come with massive tradeoffs, as you can’t get the replaceable battery in earbuds just yet — though that will change soon. But the options with a user-replaceable battery on the market are the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5, and the FairPhone FairBuds (€149 at Manufacturer site). To say that the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 is the better product by far is an understatement, though it’s more expensive and uses proprietary batteries and not simple button-cell batteries that can be found at any drugstore. If you don’t care about the replaceable batteries, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 5 competes most closely with the Apple AirPods Pro 3 ($249 at Amazon), Sony WF-1000XM6 ($329.99 at Amazon), and Bose QuietComfort Ultra Earbuds (2nd Generation) ($279 at Amazon). If you’re a basshead, you’ll likely want to pick up something else, but