At the moment’s flagship true wi-fi earphones are held to the very best requirements of design, efficiency, and performance, and solely a handful of manufacturers have really stood out on this section for delivering the form of merchandise that individuals can be prepared to pay over Rs. 20,000 for. One of many first manufacturers to supply a real winner of a product on this area was Sennheiser, with the Momentum True Wi-fi earphones. Lately, we have now seen Apple and Sony soar forward, however Sennheiser hasn’t taken this evenly and has now launched the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 earphones in India, to tackle the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Apple AirPods Pro.
Priced at Rs. 21,990, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 guarantees enhancements over the Momentum True Wireless 2 which was launched in mid-2020. With an improved design, help for the aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codec, and a promise of higher sound and ANC efficiency, is that this one of the best flagship true wi-fi headset you should buy proper now? Discover out on this assessment.
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 earphones go up in opposition to the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Apple AirPods Professional
Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 design and options
Though the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi and Momentum True Wi-fi 2 are superb in some ways, they’re fairly cumbersome by present flagship TWS design requirements. The Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is significantly improved on this regard, with a smaller and significantly better kind issue that’s extra suited to its premium positioning. Because of this, the earpieces do not stick out of your ears as a lot as earlier than, and are a lot lighter and extra comfy.
Thankfully, this hasn’t taken away from the rest relating to design; the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is a handsome pair of earphones. The earpieces have a big and distinct Sennheiser emblem on their flat outer surfaces, small ear wings to help in getting a very good match, and silicone ear suggestions which have a layer of froth throughout the openings. The emblem space is touch-sensitive for controls, that are customisable by means of the app. The flat, massive floor made it notably simple to make use of these contact controls.
The charging case of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is among the many greatest I’ve come throughout, with a fabric-wrapped exterior and a handy measurement and form that is simply pocketable. It has a USB Kind-C port and helps Qi wi-fi charging. There isn’t a pairing button on the case (the earphones enter pairing mode by means of contact controls), and curiously, the USB Kind-C charging port is on the entrance of the case, alongside the indicator mild.
Included within the gross sales bundle are 4 pairs of silicone ear suggestions, three pairs of ear wings, and a charging cable. The earpieces are IPX4 rated for water resistance, and every earpiece has three microphones for voice and ANC performance.
The earpieces of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 are IPX4 rated for water resistance
The earpieces weigh 5.8g every, whereas the charging case weighs 66.4g. The Sensible Pause characteristic which is meant to robotically play and pause music when both earpiece is worn or taken off, did not work too nicely for me. It usually continued to play music even when one or each earpieces weren’t in my ears. The Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is out there in two colors in India at launch, Black and Graphite (my assessment unit), with a 3rd White color anticipated to be out there later.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 app and specs
As with all of Sennheiser’s high-end wi-fi merchandise, the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 works with the Sennheiser Sensible Management app, out there on iOS and Android. That is among the many greatest apps I’ve used for headphone administration, giving entry to controls and settings for the equaliser, transparency and ANC modes, contact controls, and extra. You can too replace the firmware, activate or deactivate Sensible Pause and Auto-accept Name performance, and set a time for the earphones to robotically energy off when not in use.
Management customisation on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is especially good, permitting for particular features to be set for numerous gestures together with one faucet, two faucets, three faucets, and tap-and-hold, with separate features assignable to every earpiece for every gesture. I used to be in a position to create a set of controls that allowed for playback, lively noise cancellation, invoking the voice assistant, and quantity – to all be managed instantly from the headset. That is significantly higher than what’s provided on most different premium true wi-fi headsets.
The Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is powered by 7mm dynamic drivers, and has a frequency response vary of 5-21,000Hz and a sensitivity ranking of 107dB. The earphones use Bluetooth 5.2 for connectivity, and help the SBC, AAC, and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth codecs.
Help for aptX Adaptive is a step up over the Momentum True Wi-fi 2 headset, which solely helps the aptX Bluetooth codec. That mentioned, aptX Adaptive has restricted compatibility even throughout the Android ecosystem as of now, and solely works on gadgets operating choose {hardware} such because the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. On gadgets that didn’t help aptX Adaptive, the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 defaulted to both the older aptX (extensively supported on many Android gadgets) or AAC (on iOS gadgets) codecs. It is this key specification that makes the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 higher suited to use with Android gadgets.
Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 efficiency and battery life
The pricing and positioning of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 places it in direct competitors with the Sony WF-1000XM4 and Apple AirPods Pro, each of which value round Rs. 25,000. Nevertheless, help for the aptX Adaptive codec makes the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 headset higher suited to make use of with Android smartphones, and thus makes it extra of a direct competitor to the WF-1000XM4.
The charging case of the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 helps USB Kind-C and Qi wi-fi charging
I used the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 with an iPhone in addition to a number of Android smartphones to check how the various supported codecs played a role in sound quality, and outcomes had been expectedly greatest with aptX Adaptive in operation. Listening to Glitter by Keys N Crates, I used to be instantly impressed with the wholesomeness of the sound; the lows felt tight and powerful with out changing into overbearing, whereas the vocals had been clear and distinct even in opposition to the gorgeous melody that defines this observe.
It is this all-round balanced and genre-agnostic sonic signature that outlined the listening expertise with the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 for me, and proved that good tuning goes a good distance in figuring out the standard of a pair of earphones. At reasonable quantity ranges, whether or not with sooner tracks equivalent to The Nice Divide by Velvetine or slower numbers equivalent to Reality by Kamasi Washington, the Sennheiser earphones appeared to flexibly adapt to the tempo and complexity of the music.
The progressive jazz observe, Reality by Kamasi Washington, additionally confirmed simply how detailed and revealing the sound was on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3, because the headset was in a position to sustain with all the varied devices whereas sustaining a stupendous soundstage that gave every particular person component of this hypnotic observe an opportunity to shine. From the spacious-sounding percussion to the grunt within the double bass, every part sounded distinct and crisp.
That mentioned, I felt that the earphones weren’t as analytical and revealing because the LDAC-enabled Sony WF-1000XM4. Nevertheless, the aptX Adaptive codec did appear to make up for this with its flexibility and talent so as to add some flavour and character to the sound, due to the best way it really works with a significantly decrease bitrate than LDAC. Even with the older and fewer versatile aptX codec, the sound remained pleasing, though I did detect a notable discount intimately and spaciousness.
Help for aptX Adaptive offers the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 enjoyable, thrilling sound
This tendency so as to add some character to the sound meant that the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 felt a bit much less robust tonally than competing choices, and I even sometimes felt a little bit of weak point in its cohesiveness. Nevertheless, it took loads to rattle the Momentum True Wi-fi 3, which largely succeeded in delivering element, flavour, and enjoyability throughout genres.
Lively noise cancellation on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 was superb, and arguably higher than what its direct opponents from Apple and Sony can handle in some conditions. Noise cancellation in opposition to wind was notably good, and this made for very efficient ANC for out of doors ambient sounds and the wind noise of a ceiling fan.
No matter whether or not indoors or outside, the earphones provided a big discount in noise that usually made for the form of stark silence you often get solely with high-end, over-ear headphones. Connection stability and name high quality had been additionally superb on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3, and I did not face any main points on this regard throughout my time with the earphones.
Battery life on the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 was fairly good. The earpieces ran for slightly below six hours per cost, and the charging case added three extra full prices. This made for round 23 hours of whole runtime per cost cycle with unusual use, together with having ANC enabled more often than not, the aptX or aptX Adaptive codecs in operation, and the quantity at across the 60 % mark.
Verdict
The excessive value of flagship true wi-fi headsets may nonetheless be a barrier for many patrons in India, however you probably have the funds, the rewards are actually value it. The Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is a improbable pair of true wi-fi earphones, combining good, detailed sound with a way of character and aptitude, wonderful ANC efficiency, a much-improved design, and respectable battery life.
The shortage of help for the LDAC Bluetooth codec signifies that the sound is not fairly as exact and analytical as that of the Sony WF-1000XM4, which in my view, is the one competing headset that you could possibly take into account over the Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 3. Should you’re utilizing an Android gadget that helps aptX Adaptive and you like your audio to sound a bit ‘tweaked’, the Momentum True Wi-fi 3 is value a glance. Good lively noise cancellation is one other bonus. Should you’re utilizing an iPhone, you may possible be higher served by the AirPods Pro because of its superior connectivity options and help for Spatial Audio.
