Sennheiser’s new true wireless earbuds put the pressure on the Sony WF-1000XM4
Sennheiser is bringing the fight back to Sony
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After almost spilling the news ahead of launch, Sennheiser has officially announced its new Momentum 3 True Wireless earbuds – a sequel to the laudedMomentum True Wireless 2– that will be available starting on May 10.
The third outing for Sennheiser’s flagship earbuds offer adaptive active noise-cancellation and a new look that’s more reminiscent of theSennheiser CX Plus. On the sound quality side, the Momentum 3 will support the usual AAC and SBC codecs, as well as aptX Adaptive that could help it compete with the LDAC codec found in theSony WF-1000XM4.
In terms of price, the Sennheiser Momentum 3 True Wireless will only cost $249.95 (around £200, AU$300) – making them around $30 cheaper than the regular MSRP of the WF-1000XM4.
Finally, if you plan on using them to take work calls, the Momentum 3 will sport three microphones per bud that Sennheiser says has led to noticeable improvements and “crystal clear quality”. We’ll need to test that for ourselves, but on paper that could help elevate them well above previous models and close to the top of ourbest true wireless earbudslist.
Analysis: Sennheiser’s new earbuds have MOMENTUM
Having choices when it comes to your audio tech is important, so it’s nice to see that Sennheiser is pressing on with Momentum earbuds – even in the face of theSonyWF-1000X series that has dominated the landscape for the last few years.
What Sennheiser is offering with the Momentum 3 is a real competitor to the WF-1000XM4 at an even cheaper price. Sony will likely price drop the 1000XM4 to match with another price drop likely to arrive forBlack FridayandCyber Monday, but for a few months, Sennheiser has a real window of opportunity to break into Sony’s lead.
If there’s anything disappointing about the new earbuds it’s that Sennheiser hasn’t done anything to improve the battery life – it’s still stuck at 7 hours per charge with another 21 hours in the case. Sennheiser did add wireless charging, however, which is a nice touch.
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These earbuds won’t support spatial audio formats like theApple AirPods Proor Sony WF-1000XM4 but, if previous models are anything to go by, their stereo sound should be as good or better than anything you’ve heard out of Sony orApple’s earbuds.
Nick Pino is Managing Editor, TV and AV for TechRadar’s sister site, Tom’s Guide. Previously, he was the Senior Editor of Home Entertainment at TechRadar, covering TVs, headphones, speakers, video games, VR and streaming devices. He’s also written for GamesRadar+, Official Xbox Magazine, PC Gamer and other outlets over the last decade, and he has a degree in computer science he’s not using if anyone wants it.
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