Sennheiser’s wireless headphones have always occupied a somewhat uneasy space between popular consumer products like Bose Quietcomfort and Apple AirPods, and audiophile products like the Noble Audio FoKus series. Often they’ve ended up with a product that’s a good balance of features and sound without reaching the heights on either side. Can Momentum 5 TWS deliver an experience that fully captures the complete wireless audio spectrum?
Build and Design
M5TWS delivers a clear visual improvement over previous generations right out of the box. The boxy outline is gone, and the new version is sleeker and more comfortable with an improved fit with better stability and stronger seal for cleaner ANC. Likewise, the charging case is slimmer and more pocketable – though it does bug me just a little bit that the USB-C charging port is on the bottom, preventing you from standing them up while they charge.
The case and buds are IP54 rated, which means that they’re resistant to dust and incidental water contact or splashes. This should be plenty for most uses, and means that you can use them in the rain or at the beach without worrying, but don’t try to go swimming with them in. Another important hardware addition are M5TWS’s user replaceable batteries. M5TWS includes a tool for removing a portion of the shell so that you can swap out the batteries when they eventually start to degrade.
Using Momentum 5 TWS
When it comes to features, M5TWS has plenty – possibly even too many. The basic tech is all top notch, including Bluetooth 6.0 with aptX lossless, along with Dolby Atmos support, head tracking, and adaptive ANC. Open up the app and you can configure transparency and wind-noise suppression along with AI-assisted voice-isolation for your calls. You also get an eight-band EQ, a hearing test with sound personalization, and full customization for the touch controls.
The app is generally pleasant and easy to use, and the options are all clearly labeled and easy to find. A lot of these options will likely be “set-it-and-forget-it” but adjusting ANC between, say, running on the street and working in a noisy office is the sort of thing you’ll need to adjust regularly. The only downside is that it can feel a little crowded with the options available.
The battery life is another win, with Sennheiser stating that the buds provide 12 hours of playback on a single charge, and the case can hold about 40 hours of total charge. I didn’t fully stress test the 40 hour number, but 12 hours of playback with the case holding about 3 full charges seems about right from my testing, though your mileage may vary depending on whether or not you’re using ANC and how loud you’re playing your music.
Sound
M5TWS’s tuning isn’t anything new, but it’s an excellent refinement of Sennheiser’s core sound. The overall leaning is warm/neutral, with a generally reference-like tuning that pulls back just a little bit in the highs while adding a tasteful bit of color in the low mids and bass. The general tuning and balance is excellent (and of course, you can tweak it to your liking,) but the level of detail, texture, and resolution is what really makes this stand out in the TWS space.
The bass is very well balanced out of the box, but there is somewhat of an oddity that turning on the bass boost increases both the bass quantity and the bass quality. You can of course, tame it back a little bit with the EQ, but it’s funny that in order to achieve the best level of bass quality, you need to add more bass. Overall though there’s good impact, low extension, and good control of any bleed up to the mids.
M5TWS has some of the best midrange that I’ve ever heard in wireless earbuds. The timbre is highly natural, and the layering and vocal presentation would be excellent in any set of $300 IEMs – wired or wireless – making it all the more impressive that they’re able to achieve this without a cable.
The treble is nice and crisp, but is probably the least interesting part of M5TWS’s sound. There’s good balance and fundamentals, but there isn’t particularly strong energy or extension at the top. You can boost the treble with the EQ, but it doesn’t really offer much in terms of a stronger feeling of air or extension.
The spatial presentation is nice here – even without delving into movies or Dolby Atmos – with a solid, well-constructed soundstage and clean imaging. This is another area where these just sound like a $300 IEM, rather than being held back by their wireless nature.
Comparisons: Apple AirPods Pro 3 ($249), Noble Audio Osprey ($199)
Speaking of the two sides of the wireless spectrum, we put M5TWS to its paces against two of the big players on either side: Apple AirPods Pro 3 and the Noble Audio Osprey. AirPods 3 remain the gold standard for consumer wireless earbuds, while Osprey is among the best sounding audiophile options under $500.
In terms of the features and convenience, it’s hard to beat AirPods for an Apple User. If you have the watch, an iPad, Macbook, etc. to go with your iPhone, you can get M5TWS close, but it’s not going to match the full integration though. In terms of the actual features outside of platform integration though, M5TWS is pretty much right there. The ANC and Transparency options are very close, and Sennheiser’s app gives you some options with configuration and EQ that aren’t available for AirPods. And M5TWS easily beats Osprey here: Osprey’s ANC and Transparency are solid, but they’re still a little bit behind. The Noble app has some solid features too, but it looks a little clunkier and more dated than Sennheiser’s.
In terms of sound, to my ears, both Osprey and M5TWS easily clear AirPods Pro 3 for listening to music. Both have better bass quality, better timbre, and better balance to the treble. AirPods 3 imaging and soundstage is actually pretty good, but overall the sound doesn’t hold up to the more audiophile focused options. Between Osprey and M5TWS, it’s very close. I find that Osprey is a little more engaging and energetic, while M5TWS is warmer and more relaxed. It’s probably more a matter of preference than pure quality though, with the price difference and features being more of a deciding factor than pure sound.
Final Thoughts
While a large number of wireless earbuds have danced around this line of audiophile vs consumer needs and preferences, usually they land firmly on one side or the other: either delivering premium features while compromising on sound, or delivering top-tier sound while feeling a couple years behind on features. Momentum 5 TWS is the closest that I’ve experienced to achieving both a level of sound quality that truly rivals audiophile products and implementation of key features that rivals the best tech products on the market. With Momentum 5 TWS Sennheiser has delivered the best all-around excellence that I’ve experienced in TWS IEMs.
