 "Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4")
German audio accessories maker Sennheiser has launched in India its flagship wireless earbuds, the Momentum True Wireless 4. These are said to be more than a facelift, with improvements based on consumer feedback. These improvements span through core areas, including audio, connectivity, charging, controls, and noise cancellation.
Design
Design is not part of the list because Sennheiser has not tinkered with the design this time around. The Momentum True Wireless 4 retains the same look and feel as its predecessor, including the colour options (though with new names) – white silver, black graphite, and black copper (review unit).
Starting with the case, it is a thick rectangular unit wrapped in woven fabric for premium touch. The case has Sennheiser branding on the top and a USB-C port in the front-middle. Like the case, the earbuds are bulky but don premium look with aluminium outer touch panel camouflaging the plastic cavity. Both the earbuds feature Sennheiser logo on the outer body that diverts attention from odd-looking twin microphone openings.
Connectivity and Codecs
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 is powered by a Qualcomm chip with support for Bluetooth 5.4. The chip supports premium codecs such as aptX, aptX adaptive, and aptX lossless. Besides, there is support for Bluetooth LE, which is a relatively new codec that is said to deliver audio quality same as SBC but with 50 per cent less bitrate. Rounding up the codec list is SBC and AAC.
Since Bluetooth has limited data bandwidth, audio is compressed for the transmission and that results in loss of details. This is where the role of codecs come in to play. Each codec listed above has different bitrate – SBC and AAC being on the lower end of the spectrum and aptX lossless on the top-end of the spectrum.
Details aside, support for premium codecs – aptX adaptive and aptX lossless – enable high-resolution wireless audio transmission from connected devices to the earphones. While the aptX adaptive compresses the audio file, it delivers better audio quality because of high bitrate compared to SBC and AAC codecs. Moreover, it is a codec widely supported on Android smartphones. The aptX lossless supports higher bitrate than any other codec, effectively enabling hi-res audio transmission with close to CD-like audio quality. However, this is not a mainstream a codec – available only on select premium Android smartphones only.
On Apple iPhones, the Momentum True Wireless 4 works with AAC codec. That said, the earphones are made for iPhone and iPad (MFi), but works better with Android smartphones.
Companion app
For customisation options and earphones management, there is a companion app – Smart Control – that is available for iPhone and Android on their respective application stores. While feature-rich, the app can be a tad overwhelming for first-time users.
Nevertheless, the app covers the essentials right – shows earbuds and case battery, connected devices, sound profile, active noise cancellation controls, transparency controls, and sound zones. It is through the app you can pick from pre-set equalisers or manually create one, customise touch control, and run a fit test.
Advanced features such as setting audio resolution, enabling smart pause, and auto-call connect features are part of the setting menu.
Audio
In default settings, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 streams audio using SBC codec on Android and AAC codec on iPhone. Naturally, the earbuds sound generic in default mode. Change the audio resolution from settings, and the earbuds impresses with the audio.
Important to note, simply selecting the lossless or adaptive codec from settings on Android device do not make the audio sound better. You also need hi-res or lossless audio files to experience the difference. Currently, Apple Music is the only audio streaming service in India with catalogue of lossless music tracks.
The earbuds deliver balanced sound with clear details across frequencies. Sennheiser said the earbuds’ audio drivers are treble optimised for consistent audio performance irrespective of volume levels. While the emphasis is on high frequencies, bass is not compromised and there is a balance. However, these are not the earphones to consider if you prefer thumping bass over balanced sound.
While the Momentum True Wireless 4 impresses with Sennheiser signature sound, some may find these lacking in prowess in terms of sound personalisations. While there are option available in the companion app to customise sound profile based on personal preferences such as equalisers, custom sound profiles, etc. none of these change the audio signature to a degree to make perceptible difference.
As for the calls, the earphones delivers good experience, especially when used indoors. You need to be a little loud than usual for the earphones to deliver as good experience in loud outdoor environments.
ANC and Transparency mode
The Sennheiser Momentum boast ANC, which blocks ambient noise effectively for distraction free experience. ANC intensity is adaptive in nature, essentially adjusting on its own based on ambient noise.
On the other end of the spectrum, there is transparency mode to passthrough outside noise so you can stay aware of your surroundings. While ANC is adaptive, there are three level settings – low, mid, and high – available for you to manually control passthrough intensity.
Battery and charging
Sennheiser said the Momentum True Wireless 4 can deliver up to 7.5 hours on-battery time, which extends to 30 hours with the case. These figures stand true, but only when the earbuds are set to use standard audio resolution (SBC or AAC).
As for charging, there is wired (USB-C) and wireless charging (Qi) options but both are slow. The case with earphones in takes over two hours to charge full through wired charging.
Verdict
Priced at Rs 19,999, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 are premium all-rounders. While they work with any device, their true potential unlocks with Android smartphones due to wider codec support. iPhone users might find better value elsewhere, perhaps even Apple's own AirPods Pro.
Overall, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4 offer a refined listening experience with excellent audio quality, improved connectivity, and effective ANC. If you are an Android user seeking premium audio with all the bells and whistles, these are definitely worth considering.
