GoKawiilI didn't care for the plain, mostly plastic design of the Momentum 4. After publishing my review, I read a lot of comments about how the stellar sound and extremely long battery life made the forgettable aesthetic less of an issue. I can certainly understand that logic, but I was also happy to see that Sennheiser made some slight tweaks to the design of the Momentum 5 to give it a more premium look.
For starters, the Sennheiser logos on the headband are now on textured silver discs instead of just being so obviously plastic. The company also made the ear cups all one piece, getting rid of what used to look like a separate cap on the outside. This change also nixes the indention around the edge of the ear cup, completing the seamless look. Finally, Sennheiser added silver accents to the microphone grilles, adorning them with Momentum 5 and company logos on the left and right cups respectively.
Like the previous model, there's a single button on the edge of the right ear cup for power and Bluetooth pairing. It's also used to mute the mics during calls, or to summon your voice assistant. For the playback and ANC controls, the outside of the right ear cup is a touch panel that accepts swipes and taps — just like it did on the Momentum 4. There's also a two-finger pinch gesture that adjusts the level of adaptive noise cancellation or transparency mode, depending on which is active. Lastly, a two-finger double tap will enable Dolby Atmos audio.
Beside the power button, Sennheiser installed a row of five LEDs that serve as battery level and pairing mode indicators. The one light at the end will flash red to let you know you've successfully turned the headphones off. There's also a USB-C jack and 3.5mm audio port here. Inside the left ear cup, behind the removable ear pad, lies a user-replaceable battery. When the time comes, you'll need a small Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the four tiny screws holding the driver panel in place, before you can access and swap out the battery.