Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones - Bluetooth Headset for Crystal-Clear Calls with Adaptive Noise Cancellation, Over-Ear Headphones, 60h Battery Life, Folding Design, Black

Geyoga Geyser (Blows)United States

Too many harsh reviews for these. These are better than any other option for <$500.

After having these headphones for the past year, I have to say that these are definitely 5/5 headphones. I'm not sure what some of the complaints are about, but I think some folks with the lesser reviews must have gotten faulty devices, because the only time I've ever had a connectivity issue was when I mistakenly had both my speakers and my headphones connected. As a matter of fact, I've actually found myself more annoyed by them automatically turning on and connecting when I had literally just turned them off to put them away. There's something about the "on-ear" function that senses when you're wearing them. When the ear muffs go face down in the case, the headphones will sometimes think that they're being put on your head. If you're doing it in a fluid manner, they won't turn back on, but if you turn them off, set them down, and then put them away shortly after, they'll probably turn on. I believe the noise cancellation is solid. When I don't have any music playing and just have the noise cancellation active I can't hear much at all. Normal conversation is definitely out of the realm of possibility. If someone's talking to you and you're not looking straight at them, you wouldn't know it. You can hear some of the louder traffic that passes by if you're walking down the street, but if you have your music on you're not very likely to hear anything but larger/louder vehicles. I would say sound over 80 dB and you can start to hear things through the noise cancellation. I've used these for casual gaming on my PS5. You have to connect the headphones directly into the controller, but I'm pretty sure that's just a Sony thing so that you'll buy their PS5-specific headphones. Anybody I've played with has never complained about not being able to hear me and anyone I've asked says I come through clearly. I asked people specifically to know if they would work well with games as well as music, and I think they're great for both. There is good spatial sound. In video games you can hear things like directional footsteps and know whether someone is in front of you, coming around a corner, or behind you. With music you'll hear background sounds that the recording picked up or different notes or instruments that you've never heard before in songs you've heard a hundred times. Now, let me be very clear here: these are not $1,000+ "audiophile" hardwired, gold plated, top-of-line headphones for top-quality production. I'm just a regular consumer who loves to listen to good music, with great volume, bass, and body. For all practical purposes, these are absolutely fantastic. The size of the headphones is reasonable. Not too big, not too small. I've seen some complaints about the ear cups being too small, which from one standpoint I understand. On the other hand, they're actually really comfortable. The material is soft, the headband is comfortable, they're adjustable, and for me, they've never been too tight. They were maybe a bit tight for the first week or so I had them, but nothing memorable or headache inducing. The material on the ear cups, while comfortable and soft, does make me wonder when, not if, the material starts to break down. If you sweat, prepare for your ears to get hot and sweat. The material isn't absorbent at all, so you don't have to worry about your headphones getting soggy, but sweat will definitely build up on the cups and it can become a little uncomfortable if you're walking in a bit of heat. On the same note of not being too tight on your head, they're also not terribly heavy. I think they weigh a bit more than the old school Beats - when they were still owned by Dre - but I can say they're far, far superior to the Beats. You can feel it and you can hear it. The case they come in is solid and compact - as compact as it can get for headphones that don't fold in half. It fits in my backpack just fine and it definitely won't get crushed unless you're really trying to damage the case. It would take a full body fall and the case's first thing to give way would be the zipper. Even then, there's not a wide enough range for the case to entirely break down and crush the headphones. I believe that if you slipped on ice, for example, and fell straight on them, they would survive. I compared these to the XM5's and I think these have a deeper bass. I think the soundstage/spatial sound is more in depth with the XM5's, but you most likely wouldn't be able to tell unless you've got a very keen ear or you're directly comparing them side by side. I have no idea why these are currently priced at $450. A year ago I spent around $300 for them. It was a great deal then, and I would probably spend $400 again if I ever needed to replace them. If I do look to get "nicer" headphones, Sennheiser will definitely be a brand I'll look for first. The software for Sennheiser is not that great, but it's been improving since I got the headphones. You can adjust noise cancellation, wind cancellation, highs, mids, lows, bass, etc. You can adjust your functionality, such as how your touch controls function on the outside of your headphones - swiping up will turn the volume up, tapping it will pause the music and so on. You can answer or decline calls with it, but I just do that on my phone to not accidentally pick up a phone call I don't want. If you have your own settings and you've got them turned up beyond what they reasonably can do, you'll sometimes get a skip in one of the speakers. Mine just so happens to occur in the left ear, but once I corrected my settings it stopped happening. I do wish the volume could be turned up another notch, but I'm pretty sure if they were to go any louder then they would cause real hearing damage after about 20-30 minutes. I listen to my music loud and have had no worries about hearing damage, which I've been paying for as time goes on, but if you adhere to realistic settings then you will be just fine. If you start to go over on your setting boosts in certain categories, you'll hear it start to get a little muddy or tinny depending on the setting. If you hear either of those, even a little bit, change your settings. The first firmware update took 10 or 15 minutes and your phone screen has to stay on during the download and installation otherwise it will cut out for some reason. So plug in your phone and make sure you have your screen on and the app open for the duration otherwise it gets interrupted. It took me a couple tries to realize that. For anybody looking for headphones in the sub <$500 range, these are almost perfect. Mine get regular use, the battery is just insane, the sound quality is solid and comes through in a consistent manner. You can tell when a song has been recorded or produced on a lesser scale than some others. They can really make certain artists/songs/producers stand out more than others. They also play every genre of music well. If you think of a sound system, a 12" sub will have a slower reaction time than a 10" sub, for example, so if your hip hop sounds better on a 12" and your tighter bass sounds come through a bit better on a 10" sub, these headphones feel to be right down the middle. I say "feel" and not "sound" because if you've ever had a sound system in your car then you know the vibrations you get from that strong, amplified bass through your subs. You can almost replicate that feeling with good headphones and these don't weigh heavily one way or the other.

Evil DroidUnited States

The best for me, and I tried a few

I wanted a pretty nice set of bluetooth over the ear noise canceling headphones. I specifically waited for Black Friday so I could get a nice discount. I bought four different sets of headphones that were in my budget to try them all. I kept these sennheiser momentum 4 over the other ones. I returned the other three which were the Sony 1000 XM5, the Bose QuietComfort ultra and the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S2e. All of these had a similar price when not on sale. I was quite surprised that I kept the Sennheiser. I really thought I'd be keeping the Bowers and Wilkins based on some of the reviews I've watched. For the type of music I listen to and the ways I will be using these headphones these were just the best. The app is solid and has lots of nice options and allows for the kind of customization I was looking for. The fit is perfect for me. Although so were the Bowers & Wilkins. But the sennheiser's battery life and sound profile along with the nice noise canceling, not the best noise canceling but really good, are what won it over for me. A real 60 hours of battery life is just incredible. That means the average person probably wouldn't have to charge these but once a month! They also came with a really nice case that's slim and easy to throw in a backpack or bag. I'm not sure why other people have issues with the touch controls, they work perfect for me. And the sound quality for the type of music I listen to which is mostly 80s and '90s metal is phenomenal for Bluetooth headphones. I have a few sets of really nice wired headphones and IEM's and these are quite surprising how good they are. A friend of mine has the bose and I've let him try these. He understands why I pick these over the bose now that he's heard them. The cherry on top for these headphones though is that they are phenomenal when you're making phone calls. It doesn't matter how loud or windy the environment is that you're making your call in, the person on the other end has no idea as it's as clear as it ever could be when using Bluetooth. I am really amazed how well they work in this regard. Bluetooth headphones are very subjective when trying to tell someone what is recommended. And if I wouldn't have tried these four I would not have believed how much of a difference there is in the sound profile, comfort, apps, and noise canceling. If you're going to spend some decent money on a set of headphones I really recommend buying a few sets or at least going to a store where you can try them first. I know that's hard to do as most places don't let you try before you buy, so that's why I bought all four and returned the three I did not choose. I've used them with my Hiby DAP, my pixel smartphone and my Lenovo tablet as well as my Sony TV. All of them work fantastic and the connection was quick and easy. I like the fact that I can set up different sound profiles in the app based on what I'm using the headphones for. I have one for podcasts which makes voices sound clear and precise. I have another for movies with the extra bass turned on for the impact of movie soundtrackcs and the punch for explosions and such. I also have another for my favorite kind of music and I have one for watching YouTube videos. I'm not trying to convince anyone to buy these, I'm just telling you my experience with the forehead phones I purchased and why I chose these. Everyone is different, so what's best for me is not necessarily what's best for you.

Nathan PedersonUnited States

A casual review

Here's my opinion and rating after using these non stop for about a year now Audio quality - 5/5 The audio quality on these headphones are phenomenal. Straight out of the box they sounded excellent, and provide a great neutral-feeling sound signature without boosting the lows or highs too much. Comfort - 5/5 The headphones fit very nicely and have rarely caused strain on my ears. The headband and foam around the ears are very soft. I have worn these for 5-6 hours at a time and have not noticed discomfort Build - 5/5 I've seen some people complaining about the build quality for the price, but I personally don't see their reasoning at all. The headset is made of lightweight plastic, but it doesn't take away from the premium feel and look. I love the fabric on top of the headband, and the version I have of these with the black-copper color scheme looks very fancy. Noise cancellation and transparency mode - 4/5 The ANC is nothing notable, but it is far from bad. I have brought it on planes and had no issue with the noise levels. Transparency mode also works great. Battery life and charging - 5/5 The battery life on this is insane. I can go about 2 weeks with constant use before I need to charge. They advertise something like 60 hours of battery life, and even while using ANC the headset delivers. Connectivity - 4.5/5 The reason I rated this a 4 is because I have had some issues with my headset connecting to my devices. Every so often my headset audio will cut out every couple of minutes for about a second. It's not a big issue, as it eventually remedies itself or I can just power my headset on and off to stop it, but it was worth noting. Other than that, connection is pretty smooth. I do like how my headset switches automatically between my phone and computer to whatever device is playing audio at the time. Extra features - 5/5 The app feels well-integrated with the headset, and it provides many options to customize your listening experience. I changed the touch control inputs on the side of the headset to feel more intuitive, as well as turning off some features I personally found annoying like the on-ear detection. The EQ also allows me to create my own sound signatures, and as a result I usually have the lows boosted. Other notable things - I haven't had many issues with the touch controls, and although I probably would prefer buttons, this works just fine. The headset does have quite a large footprint when packing, so I wouldn't recommend them for travel unless you have space. Putting it around my neck feels a bit awkward compared to previous headsets I've owned, but maybe thats just me. These work great for gaming, low latency I'm just a regular user, not an audiophile. I mainly use these for listening to music and gaming Overall review - 5/5 (If you have the money for it) You'll have to sell your left kidney for these, but it's worth it for people who use headphones every day, all the time. There isn't a part of this headset that is not good, and it excels at being a comfortable pair of premium headphones.

jcgUnited States

Awesome headphones for $200

I'm guessing I am coming at this from a different perspective than most people. My main headphones are the incredible Sennheiser Hd650s with a DAC/tube amp. But I wanted a pair good for traveling. One of my biggest complaints with active noise cancelling headphones is the sound quality has often been sacrificed in the name of quite. These Momentums have had no sacrifice in the sound quality department. Are they as good as HD650s? No, but the philosophies behind them are completely difference. The soundstage is the biggest difference where the Momentum's do sound a bit sterile and like you're in a basement or recording studio, but completely in line with other ANC headphones. But connectivity across multiple devices was easy. The accessories that this comes with are also really helpful. A carrying case, a charger cable, an aux cord for computer/planes, and an adapter. The sensor allows for auto pausing music or muting calls if you take your headphones off. Sometimes it's a little wonky, but it's never annoying. The touch sensor sometimes self disables, but otherwise it's helpful to be able to control without your phone/device. Getting the Sennheiser app allows for a graphic equalizer (5 band fully customizable) and customization of how much noise control you have, so in quieter environments you can open up the soundstage. The app also has a bass boost which is a nice feature. It's nice to have that level of customization, even if for most of the time, I'm using them for traveling with full noise cancelling effect. I used them on planes recently and it pretty much completely blocked out the ambient engine noise. The announcements were sometimes barely audible depending on how loud the music was. A really loud baby cry did get through. They're reasonably comfortable, just a small amount of pressure after a few hours. I was surprised this product has a 4.1 average given my experience with these headphones. Zero issues that some of the negative reviews described. * I wouldn't use these for exercising without changing the ear pads, they're a leathery material and I suspect you'd ruin them quickly with sweat.