Beats Studio Pro vs Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

It wasn’t long ago that uttering Beats in the same breath as Sennheiser seemed almost unfair, but things have changed. The Beats Studio Pro shed the overly bassy sound of older Beats and offer excellent connectivity, including USB-C, a headphone jack cable, and active noise cancelation (ANC). Interestingly, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless have several features in common with the Studio Pro. So, if the devil is in the details, as the saying goes, let’s see which set does it best.

Editor’s note: this article was published on August 16th, 2023, and is the first version of the article. Updates will follow as the market changes.

The Beats Studio Pro is a portable package with folding hinges and a zippered carry bag. While easy to stow and svelte looking when worn, the ear cups can prove too small even for average-sized ears. The clamping force is relatively high, which is expected for those familiar with the foibles of Beats headphones. You probably will want to avoid wearing these with glasses. The construction feels plasticky, and they’re lightweight at 270g. One gets the feeling Beats sacrificed some comfort to slim down the headphones.

With the Beats, you get a headphone jack cable and a USB-C cable. You can use that USB-C cable to listen to music using the headphone’s DAC, which is excellent for listening to your FLAC library with as little signal degradation as possible. You also get head tracking on the Beats Studio Pro when listening to spatial audio. A bugaboo for some folks is the input control buttons on the flat of the earcup housing, so you’ll hear each press loudly in your ear and feel the actuation.

The MOMENTUM 4 Wireless don’t fold down like the Beats, although the ear cups articulate and rotate. They also provide more space for a greater variety of ear sizes than on the Studio Pro. Clamping force feels average to light, depending on your head size. Most people can easily don the 293g MOMENTUM 4 Wireless for hours comfortably, and they feel pretty solid from the cushioning to the choice of materials, even if they’re primarily plastic with tweed-inspired adornments and memory foam.

With the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless, you get a headphone jack cable, an airplane adapter, and a USB-C cable which (like the Beats) can be used for listening to music over a digital connection. The case is nicer overall than the one provided with the  Beats Studio Pro, but whether you want a flatter, taller case with the Sennheiser headphones or a shorter, thicker case with the Beats. In terms of the everyday experience, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless can be a touch slower to connect wirelessly than the Beats, but they feel better to wear for long periods.

Clicky push buttons are employed exclusively on the Beats Studio Pro for on-ear controls, so you’ll hear and feel them each time you press. Some folks prefer to use their phones for playback controls for that reason. When you listen via the USB-C connection, you’ll have access to 3 built-in EQ presets, indicated by lights on the ear cup.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless controls mainly comprise touch gestures on the flat of the ear cup housing. A multi-function button resides on the side, so you won’t hear it click. Below are the audio playback controls.

Similarly, these are Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless call controls. The only downside of these controls is that you need to remember them.

If you have an Apple iPhone or iPad, you don’t need to download any app for the Studio Pro. The somewhat minimal control experience for the Beats Studio Pro resides in your Bluetooth Settings menu. There you’ll gain access to updates, noise cancelation, transparency, or standard listening mode, and you can rename the headphones if you like. Android users can also download the Beats app, which supplies the same capabilities as the integrated iOS version. For most, it’s a set-and-forget experience useful for when you need updates.

Sennheiser has the same app for iOS and Android called the Sennheiser Smart Control. This supplies updates, command remapping, noise canceling modes, Bluetooth codec selection, an equalizer, and Sound Zones. Like the Beats, you still need to give permission for your data, but you get more in exchange. The equalizer, for instance, lets you dial in your preferences, and if you don’t like the default gestures for commands, you can alter those.

If you have an iPhone, the Beats Studio Pro and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless use the same AAC codec. Interestingly, unlike other Apple-owned properties, like the Beats Fit Pro, the Studio Pro does not feature H1 chip integration. However, the headphones connect using Bluetooth 5.3 over SBC or AAC, with a headphone jack, or with a USB-C cable. A USB-C connection allows you to listen to all those devices (like your phone) without headphone jacks.

Sennheiser provides a better codec selection on the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless (over Bluetooth 5.2) with aptX, aptX Adaptive (both great for Android users), AAC, and SBC. In addition, you get the same headphone jack and USB-C listening connectivity as the Beats for all your headphone jack-free devices.

While not a terrible result by any stretch, the Beats Studio Pro battery life lasts 31 hours and 25 minutes with ANC on, according to our standard test. On the other hand, the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless battery life is one of the best, reaching 56 hours and 21 minutes with ANC on.

Besides the convenience of not needing to juice up your battery as frequently, a longer-lasting battery can prolong the overall lifespan of your headphones, which is great from an environmental impact perspective. It’s also kinder to your wallet by reducing how frequently you need to get new headphones.

Your experience with the Beats Studio Pro and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless noise canceling will be comparable. To be clear, neither reach the ANC or isolation of Sony WH-1000XM5, for example. The Studio Pro reduce more noise between 100Hz and 900Hz than the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless; you’ll notice the ANC with traffic sounds and air conditioners, for instance. The Beats Studio Pro can block more higher-pitched noise (above 5kHz) than the Sennheiser headphones. Meanwhile, the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless isolate better between 1500Hz through 5000Hz, which tends to apply sounds like the clatter of dishes.

Remember that if the Beats Studio Pro fit are too small to seal around your ears properly, your isolation will be worse than our chart. Oddly you can’t use ANC or Transparency modes when the USB-C cable is plugged into the Beats Studio Pro.

Both headphones have decent frequency responses. Compared to our headphone preference curve, the Beats Studio Pro give a small volume bump to the sub-bass, scoop the mids slightly, and exaggerate treble more than Sennheisers. In contrast, the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless boosts bass below 100Hz, follows our headphone preference curve through the mids well and is slightly less pronounced in the treble frequencies above 2kHz, closer to our preference.

We give the edge to Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless for sounding better and because you can adjust the EQ in the app. You can only change the EQ of the Studio Pro when listening using the USB-C cable. Your choices are limited to the sound profiles that Beats provides.

The most significant difference you’ll notice with the Beats Studio Pro is the relatively low volume output of the mic — the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless transmits your speech at a much higher volume. Both sound decent for headphones without a dedicated boom mic, and they tend to capture some of your environment, but your voice still comes through. Be warned if you listen to our samples below: the level difference here is pretty dramatic.

Beats Studio Pro microphone demo (Ideal conditions):

The Beats Studio Pro and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless go for the same price of $349. Because the Sennheiser headphones came out first, you’ll find it easier to track down a discount.

The Beats Studio Pro are an upgrade over Beats of years of yore, but we can’t exactly say they entirely outdo the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless. The Sennheiser headphones have drastically better battery life and better comfort. Objectively, the main pro of the Studio Pro is that they reduce midrange and low-pitched noises by up to 10dB more than the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless at roughly 250Hz, for instance. Beats don’t win that out by a landslide because the Sennheisers have slightly better overall isolation performance, but it’s worth mentioning if ANC is your number one priority.

There’s a lot to like about both headphones because they share similar features. This includes USB-C listening, a headphone jack, decent noise canceling, and variations on a consumer-friendly audio tuning. The aptX and aptX Adaptive codecs offer better quality wireless audio on the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless for Android users. For Apple users, the Beats integration with iOS seems more convenient in daily life for automatic updates, even if the placement of buttons could be better.

If you prioritize sound quality, then the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless have the better frequency response, slightly better connectivity, and come with a decent equalizer. Conversely, the Beats are slightly more portable with folding hinges and require (and offer) little customization. Despite the solid feature set on the Beats, most people want to feel comfortable. The cushioning, touchpad, and fit of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless should be better for longer — and not just because the battery life is greater — on a greater variety of people.