Sennheiser’s not your typical headphone model. Most headphone manufacturers would have been so happy with the review we gave to the unique Momentum True Wireless in-ears (“nice construct, nice sound, nice interface” is roughly what we mentioned) they’d have been blissful to go away effectively sufficient alone.

But that’s not how Sennheiser rolls. And our little criticisms (“they’re large, they’re costly, their battery life isn’t nice” about sums it up) fairly clearly stung, as a result of they’ve addressed them with Momentum True Wireless 2.

Well, virtually all of them. £279 is nobody’s concept of a real wi-fi discount. But in each different respect, Sennheiser has taken an already very completed and aggressive product and made it higher. A bit higher in some respects, and quite a bit higher in others.

Design and construct: Same because it ever was

Despite being a complete 2mm smaller than the mannequin they exchange, the Momentum True Wireless 2 are nonetheless among the many greater true wi-fi fashions round. Their ‘twist to suit’ enclosure doesn’t protrude fairly as far away from the wearer’s ears than earlier than, however protrude it most positively does. Still, as they’re a few tenths of a gram lighter than the 6.6g of the outgoing ‘buds they’re hardly a burden to put on.

Unless you place the brand new and the previous side-by-side, although, you’d by no means be capable of inform the distinction. The Momentum 2s share the form and look of the originals, proper right down to the marginally textured silver touch-surface with the Sennheiser emblem proudly upon it. Mind you, the 2s will quickly be obtainable in a white end too, which is able to assist to distinguish them.

Build high quality is, as is common with Sennheiser, unarguable. Despite the significance of conserving weight down, the Momentum True Wireless 2s really feel sturdy and constructed to final.

Features: Listen longer

So the minor quibbles about dimension and weight have, to an extent, been addressed. Our complaints in regards to the humdrum battery lifetime of the unique Momentum True Wireless (4 hours from the buds, one other eight from the biggish charging case) have been handled somewhat extra decisively.

The Momentum True Wireless 2 at the moment are good for seven hours of playback from the buds alone, and the charging case (nonetheless biggish, nonetheless fabric-wrapped, nonetheless charged through USB-C) is now packing 21 hours. While a complete of 28 hours isn’t actually something super-special by prevailing true wi-fi requirements, it’s not less than totally aggressive. Which in and of itself is a giant enchancment over the unique’s paltry complete. Charging from flat must take round 90 minutes.

Wireless transmission is through aptX Bluetooth 5.1 (which has little question helped enhance battery life) and consists of aptX Low Latency for clean audio/video syncing. And as soon as the audio data is wirelessly on board, the Momentum True Wireless 2 serve it up through a few 7mm full-range dynamic drivers that had been designed and constructed at Sennheiser HQ in Germany.

An solely new function, and one which we didn’t even bemoan the dearth of final day out, is energetic noise cancelling. As effectively because the passive noise isolation afforded by the chunky in-ear design, the Momentum 2s now have an energetic system to maintain the skin world at a distance. But in case it is advisable work together with the state of affairs at massive, there’s a ‘clear listening to’ function to permit exterior sound in through the earbuds.

Interface: Touch and Go

The contact controls on the unique Momentum True Wireless had been among the many greatest round, so wise Sennheiser has left its successful system effectively alone. Both left and proper earbuds are concerned in issuing the standard instructions: play/pause, skip forwards/backwards, quantity up/down, name reply/reject, summon voice assistant and so forth. The contact floor is an honest dimension, and it’s very troublesome to impress the Momentum True Wireless 2 into misunderstanding your request.

Sennheiser’s transient, however very helpful, Smart Control app is useful, too. It lets you customise the contact controls (out of the field, energetic noise-cancelling is activated by a triple faucet on the best ear-bud – however if you would like that triple faucet to imply one thing completely different it’s easy to rearrange), and there’s a level of EQ adjustment obtainable through a pleasant graphic interface too.

The app additionally helps you to select between ‘music on’ or ‘music off’ once you interact ‘clear listening to’. Call high quality could be very acceptable because of the standard of the mics on board, they usually additionally assist with issuing directions to your most popular voice assistant too.

Performance: The large image

Given how very a lot these new true wi-fi earbuds appear and feel like the primary Momentum True Wireless, it’s no shock to search out Sennheiser has broadly caught to the identical sonic signature too. Which means the Momentum True Wireless 2 have what sports activities of us prefer to name ‘an all-court recreation’. There’s a form of informal constancy to their sound that makes them a pleasure to take heed to, regardless of the type of stuff you wish to hear.

A 16bit/44.1kHz CD-quality file of PJ Harvey & Thom Yorke’s This Mess We’re In rolls alongside virtually effortlessly. The deep, droning bass is loaded with element and texture – and whereas in underpins the remainder of the music, it doesn’t drag on the loping rhythm and retains effectively away from the data above it. The two voices within the midrange are full of character, and have loads of house wherein to stretch out and specific themselves. And on the high of the frequency vary, treble sounds have simply sufficient chew and brightness to chop via.

There’s loads to punch to The Roots’ 100% Dundee however the Sennheisers aren’t any blunt instrument – bass sounds are straight-edged and effectively managed. And whereas there’s heat and substance to the bass, there’s greater than sufficient grip and management to maintain the whole lot shifting alongside in a really pure method. And the tune’s dynamic efficiency is described by the Momentum True Wireless in full – regardless of their slight lack of outright quantity, the Sennheisers haven’t any drawback describing the gap between the quietest and noisiest elements of a recording.

They’re a properly three-dimensional pay attention, too, with actual width, top and depth to the ramshackle instrumentation of Tom Waits’ Down, Down, Down whereas his boozy hectoring sits securely within the centre of the chaos. All of this spaciousness isn’t on the expense of integration or focus, both.

About the one space the place the Momentum True Wireless 2 underwhelm is the brand new energetic noise-cancellation. It’s light-touch to an virtually absurd diploma – the distinction between ‘on’ and ‘off’ is so slight it’s troublesome to think about why Sennheiser bothered. With the system engaged, you’re pleasantly remoted from outdoors noise – however then that’s the case when it’s switched off too.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 verdict

Yes, you should buy true wi-fi ‘buds with higher battery life, or a extra discreet match. But you’ll wrestle to search out any that sound as balanced and convincing as these