Almost exactly one year after releasing its excellent Momentum True Wireless earbuds, Sennheiser is back with its follow-up performance, the Momentum True Wireless 2. When you set the bar as high as Sennheiser did on the first version, needless to say, expectations for the sequel are even higher. Do the Momentum True Wireless 2 deliver the kind of encore that will bring folks to their feet, or is this just a minor improvement?
Let’s compare the two models and see what’s changed for Sennheiser’s true wireless earbuds.
Price
Officially, the new Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 and the original Momentums are the same price: $300. However, since the debut of the Momentum True Wireless 2, Sennheiser has dropped the price of the original earbuds to just $200.
That’s good news for music lovers on a budget. A 33% saving on a product like the Momentum True Wireless is an excellent opportunity to grab a deal on a set of true wireless earbuds that sound amazing, even if they’re not the latest and greatest.
Design
It’s not easy to make true wireless earbuds that fit as great as they sound, and the Momentum True Wireless were not the best-fitting earbuds we’d ever tried. However, one tried-and-true way to improve the overall fit and comfort of these devices is to make them smaller. That’s what Sennheiser has done with the Momentum True Wireless 2 — they’re 2mm smaller than their predecessors.
That may not sound like much, but when you’re dealing with such tiny objects in the first place, it can make a big difference. The result? The Momentum True Wireless 2 are indeed more comfortable, especially for longer listening sessions. Aside from the size difference, much of the design has remained the same, including the touch-sensitive controls.
On the waterproofing side of the equation, nothing has changed. The new earbuds retain the IPX4 rating of the older model, which we think should be fine for all but the most demanding activities.
Sound quality
The Momentum True Wireless shot to the top of our sound quality charts when they debuted, and until now, we’ve only found one other set of true wireless earbuds that we think could sound better.
When you start with something that good, it can be hard to improve on it, but Sennheiser has managed it. In addition to carrying over the signature audio quality from the first version, Sennheiser added active noise cancellation with the Momentum True Wireless 2. And solid active noise cancellation, at that.
With this new feature, the Momentum 2 are bringing the same sound quality as the original, with the benefit of blocking out intruding sounds from the environment around you. It’s audio without distraction, giving the new earbuds a clear advantage over the originals.
Battery life
When we reviewed the Momentum True Wireless earbuds, we made no secret of the fact that their battery life was one area that needed some serious improvement. With just four hours of playback between charges, they were already well behind most of the other true wireless competitors like Apple’s AirPods and Jabra’s Elite 65t.
Clearly, Sennheiser has understood the importance of decent battery life, as the Momentum True Wireless 2 have almost doubled the amount of time you get. Seven hours are now on tap, which puts the new earbuds ahead of both the AirPods and AirPods Pro, and places them within spitting distance of the Jabra Elite 75t buds, which boast 7.5 hours of playtime.
Seven hours is still a far cry from the leaders in true wireless battery life like Samsung’s Galaxy Buds+ with a stunning 11 hours, or even Master & Dynamic’s MW07 Plus at 10 hours. Even so, it’s fair to say the Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds can now deliver very good longevity between trips to the charging case.
Speaking of the charging case, it too gets a major battery bump, now able to hold 21 hours of juice, or three full charges, expanding the total non-recharge time to 28 hours as compared with the original’s 12 hours.
Noise cancellation
What can we say? Back when the Momentum True Wireless debuted in 2018, active noise cancellation wasn’t even an option for true wireless earbuds. Sony’s WF-1000XM3 became the first set to offer the feature a few months later, however, forever changing the landscape.
With Sony, Apple, Master & Dynamic, 1More, and others adding this feature as fast as they can, Sennheiser had little choice but follow suit, which it did with the Momentum True Wireless 2 — and we’re glad it did.
With the right fit, the Momentum True Wireless 2 do a solid job of negating outside noise even without the feature turned on. Implementing active noise canceling on the new buds takes things to a different level, blocking out most of the environment around you and clearing the way for an immersive listening experience.
Conclusion
With substantially better battery life, a smaller size for a better fit, and the addition of active noise cancellation, Sennheiser has pulled off that rare trick of taking a great product and making it a lot better — without charging more money.
For the same $300 investment as the original Momentum True Wireless, the Momentum True Wireless 2 offer fans of high-quality audio a serious upgrade in all the right places.
