Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless vs Sony WH-1000XM5

A blended image of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5 noise cancelling headphones with versus text overlaid.

Sennheiser’s been nipping at the heels of industry leaders like Sony, Bose, and Apple for a few years now in the noise cancelling headphone market, turning out very good results at a slower pace. Now the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless is out and ready to challenge the best, so how does it stack up against the current king? The Sony WH-1000XM5 has pretty much the best noise cancelling on the market, but the MOMENTUM 4 wireless is no slouch.

What’s it like to use the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

Both the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 and Sony WH-1000XM5 make big changes to their visual design compared to their predecessors, and largely to great success.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 bluetooth headphones lays on a grid sheet.The WH-1000XM5 makes big aesthetic changes compared to its predecessors.

The WH-1000XM5 moves away from the solid molded plastic headband and foldable headphone hinges of yesteryear and features slightly different shaped headphones, in favor of a band with a friction rod for adjustment, and very soft vegan leather ear pads. Sony’s headset is light and offers just enough tension to keep it secure without feeling tight. And Sony isn’t just changing the outside—the headset features brand new drivers and an upgraded microphone system. If there’s one drawback, it’s that the WH-1000XM5 can’t fold up like the WH-1000XM4 or WH-1000XM3.

Compared to the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 3 Wireless, the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless looks quite a bit more approachable. The old headset has an all-metal construction, with leather covering the ear pads and headband, foldable hinges, and adjustable sliding headphones to account for different head shapes. It’s comfortable, but a little on the heavy side.

A profile view of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless headphones on an omega-shaped headphone stand.The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless is very comfortable for hours on end.

On the other hand, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless loses the metal in favor of plastic construction, with fabric covering the headband. The hinges no longer fold down, but there’s a lot more capacity for tilting the headphones. However, while the headset is very comfortable, it looks less distinctive than its predecessor. Arguably, it may also be less durable over time, though we didn’t run into any issues during the review period.

Both pairs of headphones are very comfortable over extended periods, but the Sony headphones make the biggest gains in this area. Neither are IP rated, though, so you may have to look somewhere else for a workout companion.

How do you control the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5?

Angled view of the Sony WH-1000XM5 power and noise cancelling buttonsPower, Bluetooth, and noise cancellation can be controlled using hardware buttons underneath the left ear cup on the Sony headset.

Both the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5 feature on-ear touch and gesture controls. They’ve got minimal buttons, but plenty of control options.

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless controls

Input Action
Swipe up

Volume up

Swipe down

Volume down

Swipe backward

Track back

Swipe forward

Track forward

Double tap

Toggle ANC mode

Single tap

Play/pause

Both products offer pretty much identical audio controls—they’ll even both pause your music if you take your headphones off. However, the Sony WH-1000XM5 has a couple of extra bells and whistles. For starters, there’s a virtual assistant integration turned on by default, and a quick audio passthrough that only stays on for as long as you’ve got your hand cupped over the right headphone.

Sony WH-1000XM5 controls

Action Function
Swipe up

Volume up

Swipe down

Volume down

Swipe forward

Track forward

Swipe back

Track back

Hold (center)

Voice assistant

Double tap center

Pause / resume

Cup hand

Ambient sound passthrough

Should you use the Sennheiser Smart Control app or Sony Headphones Connect?

The Sony Headphones Connect headphone app on a smartphone with a hand reaching out to the terms of use warning.Remember, you must accept the end user license agreement to access the Headphones Connect app.

Both the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5 have fully featured companion apps, and they’re worth getting. Sennheiser Smart Control is the company’s companion app for most of its Bluetooth audio devices, and it brings a bunch of worthwhile features to the MOMENTUM 4, not just firmware updates.

Smart Control lets you adjust the intensity of active noise cancelling (ANC) and turn on the adaptive ANC feature, which will automatically tailor the intensity to your environment. Adaptive ANC can even link to up to 20 geotags and set an ANC level for each associated location. The app also has an EQ, though there’s no option to customize the controls as well.

Both mobile apps let you equalize, access firmware updates, and more.

Similarly, Sony Headphones connect brings lots of features to the WH-1000XM5. The app brings EQ customization, control customization, firmware updates, and the ability to set up the Sony 360 Reality Audio feature.

Both apps actually work reliably, which is less common than it should be among mobile companion apps. However, while they’re definitely useful, they also both ask for a lot of your data in return. If that’s something you’re comfortable with, fine—if not, maybe just delete the app once you’ve changed the setting you want.

How do the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless connect?

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless sits on a headphone stand in background with a phone displaying the Sennheiser Smart Control app displayed.The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless has more Bluetooth codec options.

Both the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless both connect to your Bluetooth device of choice using Bluetooth 5.2, with support for the default SBC codec, as well as AAC and one other high-quality codec. The Sony headphones use LDAC, Sony’s proprietary Hi-Res Bluetooth codec, and the Sennheiser supports aptX, aptX HD, and aptX adaptive, which are more widespread but also very good. Both headphones also support wired connection—the WH-1000XM5 comes with a 2.5mm-to-3.5mm cord for plugging into your device’s headphone jack, and the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless comes with a USB-C-to-3.5mm cord for the same.

These connection options mean that whether you have an iPhone or an Android phone, you’ll have a high-quality Bluetooth option with both headphones. We’d probably recommend all the different aptX variations of the MOMENTUM 4 over WH-1000XM5’s LDAC, but it’s hard to imagine being disappointed with either option. Having a wired option on both only sweetens the pot if you happen to still have a headphone jack on your device.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless is a battery champion compared to the WH-1000XM5

The Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless headphones lay on a wooden table with the USB-C charing port in focusFast charging makes the already great battery life of the MOMENTUM 4 even nicer.

While both the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless have very good battery life, there’s a clear winner here—and it’s not even close. In our testing of music peaking at 75dB (SPL), the Sony WH-1000XM5 lasted 31 hours, 53 minutes with ANC on, and over 53 hours with ANC off. This result is definitely nothing to sneeze at, and a big improvement over the comparatively meager 19-hour battery life of the Sony WH-1000XM4.

However, with ANC on, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless lasted 56 hours, 21 minutes under the same conditions, more than 20 hours longer than the WH-1000XM5. Turning off the ANC will lengthen battery life even further. Battery life like this doesn’t just mean that you’ll have more listening time between charging sessions, it also means that your headphones’ battery will last longer overall. The more times it needs recharging, the faster its capacity will shrink. Having a battery with a big upfront capacity means you won’t need to replace your wireless headphones as quickly, which means fewer headphones (and batteries) going to the landfill—having a wired option to rely on after the battery dies helps even more.

The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5 both have excellent fast charging. After 3 minutes plugged in, the Sony WH-1000XM5 will gain 3 hours of listening time, and 10 minutes plugged in will net the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless 6 hours of playback.

Does the Sony WH-1000XM5 or Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless block out noise better?

A noise cancelling comparison chart between the Sony WH-1000XM5 and the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless, which shows better noise cancelling from the Sony headphones.There’s a clear winner here.

Both the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless have very good ANC, but there’s a clearly superior option in this regard. While Sennheiser makes gains compared to the MOMENTUM 3 Wireless, it doesn’t measure up to the superlative ANC and isolation performance of the WH-1000XM5. Sony’s headphones are particularly adept at cancelling noise below 100Hz, which is where a lot of droning and rumbling sounds come from.

Does the Sony WH-1000XM5 sound better than the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless?

A frequency response comparison chart for the Sony WH-1000Xm5 and Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless bluetooth headphones, which shows more accurate bass response from the Momentum 4.Neither frequency response is perfect, but the Sennheiser headphones are closer to our target in the low end.

Both the Sony headphones and the Sennheiser’s have similar sound profiles, and both measure close to our target curve. It’s in the low end where they really show the biggest differences in our testing. The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless has a notable bump in the sub-bass range, with around 5dB of extra emphasis under 50Hz, and then comes back more in line with our in-house target around 100Hz. A frequency response like that means the lowest sounds in the rumbling of a bass guitar or the deep droning of some electronic music may come through a little more dominantly than you expect. Other than that, things should sound pretty nice—there’s just not a lot of sub-bass content in instrumental music or singing.

The Sony WH-1000XM5 is a slightly different story. These headphones output sounds more loudly by about 5dB from the sub-bass range, all the way through to around 300Hz. This means that many elements in your music will come through louder, including vocals, bass, and drums. You’ll probably acclimate pretty quickly to the added bass emphasis, but you can also EQ the headphones and never have to deal with it (you can EQ the MOMENTUM 4, too).

Does the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless or Sony WH-1000XM5 have a better microphone?

Man places finger on right ear cup to control Sony WH-1000XM5The right ear cup of the Sony WH-1000XM5 is touch enabled for volume and playback control.

This is another category where the results aren’t terribly close. The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless has a pretty good microphone for an embedded microphone in Bluetooth headphones. It’s loud and clear enough that phone calls and Zoom calls will go fine. However, Sony really bet big on its new microphone array and the results are pretty great. The WH-1000XM5 doesn’t exactly have a podcasting mic in it, but it features excellent rejection of external noise—far better than just about any other similar product out there.

This means that in ideal conditions, both will sound pretty good, but when conditions worsen, the Sony headphones definitely hold up better. Just check out the difference between the samples taken in our simulated windy conditions:

Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone sample (Ideal conditions):

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless microphone sample (Ideal conditions):

Sony WH-1000XM5 microphone sample (Windy conditions):

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless microphone sample (Windy conditions):

Which microphone sounds best to you?

0 votes

Should you get the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless or the Sony WH-1000XM5?

We tested the Sony WH-1000XM5 in the lab with state-of-the-art equipment.We tested the Sony WH-1000XM5 in the lab using state-of-the-art equipment, including our B&K 5128.

If you’re on a tighter budget, you should probably opt for the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless. It’s $50 USD cheaper, and it still sounds great. The battery life is way better, and the comparative shortfalls in ANC and microphone performance aren’t so huge they’d be disqualifying—on both fronts, the MOMENTUM 4 will cover your needs just as easily most of the time.

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

All prices listed in USD unless otherwise specified. Prices may change over time, and vary by region. Unfortunately, we cannot list Amazon prices on the site, as they vary greatly by currency.

However, if you’ve got to have the best of the best, the Sony WH-1oooXM5 is arguably still it when it comes to noise cancelling. The sound may not be quite as generally pleasing by default, but you can EQ it—there’s no improving ANC that doesn’t measure up (at least, not without a firmware update). The battery life is definitely more on the average side, but it’s arguably still plenty to get you through the average week of commuting and then some.

Product shot of the Sony WH-1000XM5 in black on a white background.Sony WH-1000XM5

All prices listed in USD unless otherwise specified. Prices may change over time, and vary by region. Unfortunately, we cannot list Amazon prices on the site, as they vary greatly by currency.

What should you get instead of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5?

The Apple AirPods Max and its smart case on a white desk.The headphones come with a smart case and a charging cable, and nothing else—you’ll need to have an iOS device to use those extra features.

If you’re looking for a pair of good noise cancelling headphones, there aren’t many great options that can really hang in competition to the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless, but there are a few decent spots to look. For starters, these are high-end noise cancelling headphones, and if you’re an Apple user the best high-end noise cancelling headphones you can buy will almost certainly be the AirPods Max. Apple’s first over-ear headphones, the AirPods Max is among the best noise cancelling headphones on the market, but it’s dang expensive—it also integrates with Apple’s software ecosystem, which makes it hard for Android users.

Outside of that, the Bose Noise Cancelling Headphones 700 is still probably the best option from the other big noise cancelling audio companies out there. It sounds great, has good ANC, and it’s a few years old now, so finding a discount isn’t hard. And if the price still isn’t low enough, it’s hard to find cheaper the Monoprice BT-600ANC (at least while still being actually good)—these sub-$100 USD noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones sound good, cancel a lot of noise, and support a lot of codecs.

Frequently asked questions about the MOMENTUM 4 Wireless and Sony WH-1000XM5

The Sony WH-1000XM5 comes in either black or silver varieties, and the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless comes in black and white varieties. So, not exactly the most vibrant options, but there’s a little choice.

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