Sennheiser launches new high-end wireless earbuds crammed with next-gen tech, and a surprise pair of headphones

As much as we love the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 earbuds, time has moved on and many of the best wireless earbuds at the premium end are now better. But Sennheiser has updated its Momentum buds to make them even better. And there are new Accentum headphones and Momentum fitness buds too.

Launching at CES 2024, the new Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds are “Sennheiser’s most capable earbud yet”. They’re built around the Qualcomm S5 Sound Gen 2 platform and Snapdragon Sound, which means aptX lossless sound quality as well as exceptionally low latency. The Bluetooth version is 5.4 with Auracast (the first earbuds we know with confirmed support) and an improved antenna for stronger connections. There’s improved ANC, what Sennheiser calls “evolved tuning”, and upgraded batteries too. You can expect 7.5 hours of continuous high quality audio from the buds, and the charging case has both Qi wireless tech and fast charging over USB-C.

Qualcomm S5 Sound Gen 2 is going to be a really big deal in 2024: it’s designed for incredibly fast and smooth audio performance even with high-resolution streaming, and promises just 48ms latency between phone and earbud. That’s particularly handy for gamers, for whom lag is as dangerous as any on-screen enemy, and it’s a big improvement on the 68ms latency delivered by version 1 of the platform.

Pre-orders for the Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds open on 15 February and the price will be $299.95 USD / €299.99.

Sennheiser’s Accentum promise to be more excellentum

The Accentum headphone range has been given an update with the new Accentum Plus, which is a surprise, since the original Accentum only came out a few months ago. It seems to us that Sennheiser is risking annoying people who recently bought the previous headphones, though the Plus version has some higher-end connectivity for a higher price.

They’re Bluetooth 5.2 with aptX Adaptive, 50 hours of listening time, adaptive ANC that analyzes the sound around you and adjusts noise cancellation accordingly, and a good old-fashioned audio cable so you can listen to in-flight entertainment or other wired audio sources. The Accentum Plus go on sale from 20 February with a price tag of $229.95 USD / €229.99, compared to $179 / £159 for the original.

Last but not least, there are the new Momentum Sport earbuds, which have been designed for fitness use. The buds integrate both a photoplethysmography (PPG) heart-rate sensor and a body-temperature sensor to track your vitals and send data to your Apple Watch or Health app, Garmin Watch/Connect, Strava, Peloton and other key apps, and – for the first time in a non-Polar product – the Momentum Sport enable you to access the full range of Polar tracking and analysis features.

The Momentum Sport have been designed to reduce unwanted “body-borne distractions” such as footsteps and breathing, and there are adjustable transparency modes, anti-wind mode and adaptive ANC to keep unwanted noise out without blocking the things you want or need to hear. The case is IP54 rated and the buds are IP55, and you can expect between 6 and 24 hours of playback depending on your ANC option. The Momentum Sport go on sale on the 9th of April with a selling price of $329.95 / €329.99.

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