HeadphoneOverreview

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

Name: Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless
Brand: Sennheiser

Reviewers love the sound and everyone loves the battery. The arguments are over bass that some call boomy, noise cancelling that splits the room in half, and an owner record of creaks and failures.

95 sourcesUpdated 2026-09-24

$230Typical US price

Score aggregates reviewer opinions across topics.

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The short version

What to know.

A 2022 wireless noise-cancelling over-ear with one 42 mm driver per side and a deep app. Two things are near-universal: the battery is class-leading (a rated 60 hours; SoundGuys measured 56 h 21 min, RTINGS 62.3 h, TechGearLab 49 h), and the imaging and detail are unusually good for a Bluetooth noise-canceller. Most reviewers also hear a balanced, clean, broadly neutral sound and rank it at or near the top of its class for sound. The measurements show why a minority disagrees. All eight rigs show a large sub-bass shelf (about +8 dB over target at 20–40 Hz but only +2 dB at 100–200 Hz), six of them show a 2–4 kHz dip, and the rest of the midrange and treble sits close to target. Listeners who hear that shelf as boom call it muddy and V-shaped until they cut 2–5 dB in the app, which nearly everyone who tries says fixes it; a few even find the mid-bass polite. The noise cancelling splits sources exactly in half. Labs put it a few dB behind the Sony and Bose flagships, and owners' experience has moved with firmware updates. Comfort pleases most reviewers but not people with larger ears or heads, who find the pads small and the clamp firm. Build is the weakest area: reviewers find the plastic plainer than the old Momentums, and owners report creaking hinges at launch, connection and app bugs, and, in 2025–26, left earcups that crackle or cut out. At today's discounted prices most sources still call it very good value.

About this product

The over-ear wireless noise-cancelling headphone Sennheiser launched in August 2022 at $349.95 / £300 / AU$549.95. It has one 42 mm dynamic driver per side, adaptive hybrid ANC with a transparency mode, aptX Adaptive / aptX / AAC / SBC over Bluetooth 5.2 with two-device multipoint, the Smart Control app (five-band EQ after a 2023 update, Sound Check personalisation, Sound Zones), and a rated 60-hour battery. It also plays over the supplied 2.5 mm-to-3.5 mm cable (powered or, with a flat battery, passively) and over USB-C. It is not the older aviator-styled Momentum 3 Wireless, the MOMENTUM True Wireless 4 earbuds, or the Momentum 5 that replaced it in June 2026. Colours include black, white, graphite, denim, brown, teal and a black/copper special edition. As of September 2026 Sennheiser's US store sells it at $299.95 (down from $349.95), and Amazon US has the white version at $229.93.

Sennheiser's MOMENTUM 4 Wireless arrived in August 2022 as the fourth generation of a line known for putting an audiophile brand's sound into a luxury wireless headphone. This one dropped the metal-and-leather aviator look for a plainer plastic-and-fabric design. It led with a 60-hour battery, about double the Sony and Bose flagships, and a launch price that undercut both.

The Momentum 5 replaced it in June 2026, and the M4 has settled around $200–230, which keeps it one of the most recommended wireless noise-cancellers for sound. It is also one of the most argued-over. Measurement-minded listeners hear a sub-bass-heavy tuning that wants EQ. Owners split on the noise cancelling and the fit. And a long owner record of creaking hinges, firmware regressions and failing left earcups sits beside the glowing reviews.

A good fit for

Listeners who want the best sound they can get from a wireless noise-canceller for around $230, and who will spend a minute trimming the bass in the app
Travellers and commuters who value battery life above all: a week or more of daily use between charges
People who use one headphone across phone and laptop and want to listen wired over USB-C or the analog cable
Detail-minded listeners who find the Sony and Bose flagships blurry or overprocessed

Think twice if

Noise cancelling is your top priority. The Sony WH-1000XM5/XM6 and Bose QC Ultra cancel more, especially voices and sudden sounds
You have large ears or a large head and dislike shallow earcups or a firm clamp. Try it on first or budget for aftermarket pads
You want a neutral sound straight out of the box and will never touch EQ. The stock sub-bass shelf is large
You can't tolerate firmware or connection quirks, or you want a long-lived headphone with easy repairs. Owner reports of creaking, left-cup failures and slow warranty support are common
You loved the metal-and-leather aviator Momentums. This one is plainer and more plastic

The reviewer consensus

Agreement &
disagreement.

8 / 12topics divide opinion

4 Mostly agree8 Divided opinions

Common ground5

The battery life is class-leading: rated at 60 hours with noise cancelling on, and measured at 49–62 hours by TechGearLab, SoundGuys and RTINGS, roughly double the Sony and Bose flagships.
It is unusually resolving for a wireless noise-canceller, with precise imaging and good separation, though still behind good wired headphones.
Every measurement rig shows a big sub-bass shelf in the stock tuning. Nearly everyone who finds it too much says a 2–5 dB cut at 63 Hz in the app fixes it, and the EQ settings are stored in the headphones.
The design is plainer and more plastic than the metal-and-leather Momentum 3, and most reviewers miss the old look.
Played passively over the cable with the power off, it sounds dull or hollow. Keep it switched on when wired, or use USB-C audio.

Points of contention8

Noise cancelling: 'very good, close to Sony and Bose' vs 'middling for a flagship, weak on voices'. Sources split exactly in half, and owners' experience moved with firmware updates and the wind-noise setting.
Tonality: 'balanced, near-neutral, one of the best-sounding noise-cancellers' vs 'a bass-heavy consumer V that is muddy until EQ'd'. The measured sub-bass shelf supports both readings.
Bass: 'deep, powerful and controlled' vs 'boomy and bleeding into the mids' vs a small 'polite, not punchy' camp. The lift is in the deep bass, not the mid-bass punch.
Mids: 'clear, natural vocals' vs 'blunted by an upper-mid dip and crowded by bass'.
Soundstage: 'wide and layered for a closed wireless headphone' vs 'close to the earcups, little depth'. The split mostly tracks whether the listener compares it with open-backs.
Comfort: 'light and plush for hours' vs 'small, shallow earcups and a firm clamp that some returned it over'. It depends on ear and head size.
Build and reliability: 'well built, holding up after years' vs 'creaking hinges, firmware bricks, left-cup crackle and a slow warranty process'.
Value: 'excellent at today's prices' vs 'not worth it once the reliability and software problems are counted'.

A closer listen.

12 topics · 8 divided

Left: criticalRight: positiveTighter lines: more agreement

Choose a topic

Isolation

Leans criticalDivided opinions

Reviewer sentiment42 supporting sources

CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Sources split almost exactly in half, and part of the split is about firmware. One side calls the noise cancelling very good, close to Sony and Bose on steady drone like planes, buses and air conditioning. The other side calls it middling, a step behind the flagships, weak against voices and sudden sounds, and softer on passive isolation than the Momentum 3. Many owners also say some 2023 firmware versions left the noise cancelling almost ineffective until later updates, and wind-noise reduction can undo it outdoors.

Measured

SoundGuys measures the Sony WH-1000XM5 cancelling about 5 dB more noise, and puts the M4 at roughly 75–95% reduction of high-pitched noise and about 75% of low-pitched noise. TechGearLab measured passive reduction of only ~13 dB in the bass, ~22 dB in the mids and ~35 dB in the treble, and found that turning the noise cancelling on added only a little. RTINGS lists weak low-rumble reduction as its main noise-cancelling con. On Amazon, 280 of 461 buyers who mention noise cancellation are positive and 181 negative. On Head-Fi and Reddit, owners tie a sharp drop in noise cancelling to specific 2023 firmware versions. An RTINGS commenter reports that a January 2026 update (3.37.3) improves it.

vs. listeners — The lab numbers put it clearly behind the Sony and Bose flagships but not far behind (about 5 dB, per SoundGuys). Owners who call it 'broken' mostly describe particular firmware versions or wind-noise reduction switched on, so one person's experience depends on the unit's software as well as the hardware.

Where it splits· split roughly even

Very good noise cancelling that is close to the Sony and Bose flagships, especially on steady, low noise.

“Plus, the powerful noise cancelling blocks out chatty neighbors very well.”
RTINGS

Middling for a flagship: behind Sony and Bose, weak on voices and sudden sounds, and it varies between firmware versions.

“The ANC is slightly behind the rest of the high-end pack, but the battery life blows every other competitor out of the water.”
SoundGuys

Link to this topic

Tonality

Leans positiveDivided opinions

Reviewer sentiment48 supporting sources

CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

Most reviewers hear a clean, balanced, broadly neutral sound, and several call it one of the best-sounding noise-cancelling headphones. A measurement-minded minority, and a vocal share of Reddit and Head-Fi owners, hear a bass-heavy consumer V that sounds boomy or muddy until it is EQ'd. The graphs support both readings: there is a big sub-bass shelf, but the midrange and treble sit close to target. How it lands depends largely on whether you hear sub-bass as extension or as boom.

Measured

Eight rigs were compared with each rig's own target (Harman over-ear 2018 on most) and with a reference headphone measured on the same rig (an HD 600 on seven, an Arya Stealth on GadgetryTech). Median deviation from target: +7.9 dB at 20–40 Hz, +5.2 dB at 40–80 Hz, +2.4 dB at 100–200 Hz, +0.8 dB at 200–500 Hz, −2.7 dB at 1–2 kHz, −3.5 dB at 2–4 kHz, −0.8 dB at 4–6 kHz, about 0 dB at 6–9 kHz and −3.3 dB at 9–12 kHz. Against the same-rig reference it carries 12–22 dB more at 20–40 Hz but only −0.3 to +4.5 dB at 100–200 Hz. RTINGS summarises it as 'Bass Amount Very Emphasized (6 dB) / Treble Balanced (0 dB) / Warm'.

vs. listeners — The measurements back both camps. The extra bass sits mostly below 80 Hz, which some listeners hear as extension and others as boom, and the midrange and treble are close to target on most rigs. Neither the 'neutral' nor the 'boomy' description is wrong about the graph.

Where it splits

Balanced and close to neutral out of the box, one of the best-sounding wireless noise-cancellers.76%

“The measured response of the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless is extremely close to our headphone preference curve: most people will like the sound a lot.”
SoundGuys

A bass-heavy consumer V that sounds boomy or muddy out of the box and needs EQ.24%

“one that I’d describe as being more of a soft v-shape, with an elevation in the sub bass region, a softer upper midrange, and more pronounced mid and upper treble.”
headphones.com

Link to this topic

Bass

Leans positiveDivided opinions

Reviewer sentiment40 supporting sources

CriticalNeutralPositive

Band: opinion spread · Dot: weighted average

A three-way split. The largest group hears deep, powerful, well-controlled bass, among the best on any wireless headphone. A large second group hears too much of it: boomy, bleeding into the mids and muddy until the app EQ trims 2–5 dB at 63 Hz, which nearly everyone who tries it says fixes it. A small third group, including Trusted Reviews and Headfonia, hears the opposite: measured, polite and short on punch. The graph explains the first two: the lift is concentrated in the deep bass, not the mid-bass punch.

Measured

Every rig shows the shelf. It sits +4.9 to +12.6 dB over target at 20–40 Hz (median +7.9) and +3.7 to +10.7 dB at 40–80 Hz, but only +1.2 to +4.6 dB at 100–200 Hz, which is the mid-bass 'punch' region. The boizoff rig's published EQ (−5 dB at 63 Hz and so on) cuts 6.7 dB at 20–40 Hz and 3.6 dB at 100–200 Hz. RTINGS rates the bass 'Very Emphasized (6 dB)'. RTINGS and a Head-Fi owner also report that the bass level changes with how the pads seal.

vs. listeners — The mid-bass is only mildly lifted, so 'measured rather than punchy' and 'boomy' can describe the same headphone: most of the extra energy is rumble, not kick. Fit matters too. RTINGS lists 'Prone to sound profile inconsistencies depending on fit' as a con.

Where it splits

Deep, powerful and well controlled: sub-bass rumble without bloat, some of the best bass in the class.57%

“Bass isn’t terribly overemphasized, and there are no real wild swings to note that would harm your experience.”
SoundGuys

Too much of it: boomy and muddy out of the box, bleeding into the mids until it is cut by several dB.36%

“Out of the box, the bass is so enhanced as to be muddy even with the bass boost turned off”
Phil’s Superpower of Enthusiasm (daemonxar)

Restrained rather than punchy: deep but polite, lacking mid-bass slam.7%

“their bass performance is more measured rather than punchy”
Trusted Reviews (Kob Monney)

Link to this topic

The hardware

Specifications.

Checked 2026-09-24

Design

Type: Closed-back over-ear
Drivers: 1 × 42 mm dynamic

Electrical

Impedance: 60 Ω
Frequency response: 6 Hz – 22 kHz

Connection

Cable: Detachable
Connector: 2.5 mm
Plugs supplied: 3.5 mm
Bluetooth: Bluetooth 5.2SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX Adaptive
Noise cancelling: Yes
Battery: 60 h
Wired input: Yes

Sennheiser rates the impedance at 60 Ω when the headphones are used passively and 470 Ω when they are switched on. Manufacturer-published figures, not measurements · from us.sennheiser-hearing.com, us.sennheiser-hearing.com.

Follow the evidence

Sources 95

Read with context

Limitations & method.

As of 2026-09-24

What to keep in mind 6

This is a read of where opinion stands as of September 2026, for a 2022 headphone that the Momentum 5 has now replaced. Prices keep falling, which shifts the value picture.
How much bass you hear depends on how well the pads seal on your head and on your EQ, so two owners can describe the same headphone as balanced or boomy.
The noise cancelling has changed with firmware updates, so older reviews and owner complaints may not match a unit on current software. Keep the app and firmware up to date and check the wind-noise setting.
Comfort varies with ear and head size. The earpad openings are small, so people with larger ears should try it on or plan for aftermarket pads.
Durability reports come mostly from owners who had problems, and most units work fine. The pattern of creaking hinges, left-earcup crackle and slow warranty handling is still consistent enough to weigh.
Star ratings come mostly from people who chose to buy it, and many opinions are relative to whatever the reviewer compared it with (Sony, Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, or wired open-backs).

Where to buy Product & retailer links

Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless Amazon

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Sennheiser MOMENTUM 4 Wireless

How the score adds up

What to know.

A good fit for

Think twice if

Agreement &
disagreement.

Common ground5

Points of contention8

A closer listen.

Isolation

Measured

Comfort

Measured

Build

Measured

Tonality

Measured

Bass

Measured

Mids

Measured

Treble

Measured

Soundstage

Detail

Imaging

Dynamics

Value

Measured

Specifications.

Design

Electrical

Connection

Sources 95

Limitations & method.

What to keep in mind 6