Momentum 4 earbuds: Future-forward Sennheiser sound

Sennheiser's flagship Momentum audio products - headphones and earbuds - are known for their sheer classiness. Tuned for the consumer who loves the audio legend's signature sound without forgoing smart features, these earbuds give Sony and Bose's and Apple's equivalents a run for their money. Momentum True Wireless 4 have recently been launched in India and they make for a package that seems more premium than the price tag of ₹19,990 would lead one to expect.

The Momentum 4 earbuds come in three colours of which we reviewed the silver finish model. The colour variants are White Silver, Black Graphite and Black Copper. The textured fabric covering lends them an air of sophistication.

However it isn’t difficult to imagine the case getting dirty over time with grimy fingers, particularly in the lighter-coloured variant. The blacks may be a better bet for anyone doubtful about keeping them clean in the long term. Overall, these buds retain the very same design language Sennheiser has had for the Momentum series all along, so the 2024 update definitely isn’t meant to be about looks. Nevertheless, for anyone not familiar with what Momentum buds have been like, the case is not exactly diminutive, but rather has a bit of a weight to it, and also a few quirks such as a charging port in front instead of at the back. Very strong magnets hold the buds in and pull and snap them into place when you bring them close to put back in. They don’t seem to plan on falling out if the case is shaken.

Good fit

These buds are comfortable even without doing anything to improve the fit, but there’s a fit test in the app that is recommended. Users are often surprised with the change in sound profile and noise cancellation when customised to their hearing. In the box, there are some wings for smaller ears to stabilise the buds. Not everyone will find these useful. There are four sets of ear tips though not of the memory foam type. These happen to be washable.

The fit is firm and the buds don’t fall out of one’s ears easily, despite the body of the buds actually looking rather big, compared with the stem style earbuds. The buds have an IP54 rating which means you can use them in a light drizzle or when sweating during a workout.

Easy connect

Bluetooth enabled devices these days pair themselves for the most part, needing little but a tap or two from the user. This is built in for Android. These buds work with an iPhone and other Apple devices also but with those it’s best to stick with Apple’s own products as they all talk to each other seamlessly.

You can control the earbuds using the capacitive touch plates on each bud, but you’ll probably find it easier with the phone being used for playback. Download the Sennheiser app and also spend an initial period getting to know the options and settings to fit them to your own requirements. First off, you will be invited to update the firmware, which will bring in improvements. This will take about six minutes.

Sound and features

As always, the app is the place where you can control all features and settings. You can use it without, but what’s the point of all the tech inside if one is not to customise it to one’s liking? Noise cancellation, equaliser, preset sound profiles, and features can all be accessed in the app. You can also set up sound zones and associate a sound profile with them. For this, access to location must be granted but the result is that when you say, go for a walk, sound will adjust to your preferences; perhaps louder or with more transparency or with a driving bass to energise you to walk faster.

The sound quality of the Momentum 4, like its predecessors, has been tuned for immersiveness and mass appeal. They sound great - clear at the treble end and well-rounded at the bass end and overall well-balanced. The app can always be used to tweak the sound and use pre-sets. The earbuds work, as before, with 7mm drivers and Sennheiser's TrueResponse transducer system. The sound is warm, intimate, and pleasing with nothing being too much.

The upgrades on the Momentum 4 TWS are really all on the inside. There’s a Qualcomm 5-series chipset which enables various features. One of these is support for more codecs including Qualcomm's AptX Adaptive and Lossless audio codecs. But it’s tricky because the devices you use also has to support it and the source of music has to be streaming hi res. These buds don’t support Spatial Audio.

Also enabled is Bluetooth 5.4 with support for ‘Auracast’ and LE Audio. Auracast is an interesting technology with which sound can be transmitted to multiple devices at once. For example, a speech can be heard by an audience with enabled earphones and be distinct and clear. Although the support is impressive, the technology is yet to be found out in the wild. Until it is, it’s a nice-to-know feature.

Noise cancellation works well enough, though not to any record-setting level, but is very dependent on a proper fit. The same can be said of the transparency or passthrough mode - it works, though not with any especially differentiating tuning.

The battery on these buds lasts a total of 30 hours when you include recharges using the case. Each charge takes you through over 7 hours of play. The Momentum 4 support wireless charging - another premium feature.