GoKawiilThey are, however, very comfortable, with a great level of squish to the earpads. Massive ears (like mine) have room to flap, and the headband doesn’t add any uncomfortable pressure. No over-ear headphone is perfect to wear with glasses, but I happily wore these for hours. When temperatures hit 95 degrees Fahrenheit my ears got sweaty, but so did the rest of me, to be fair.
The Momentum 5 Wireless get up to 57 hours of battery with ANC on, according to Sennheiser. That’s almost double what the Sony WH-1000XM6 and Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 can do. It’s three hours shy of the older Momentum 4, and 13 hours less than the similarly priced Marshall Monitor III ANC.
I didn’t perform an exact test on the 57-hour battery claim, but it seems fairly accurate in my real-world use thus far. I have been using the Momentum 5 daily for the past month, and they are still at about 50 percent charge.
The more interesting story to me is that the battery can be easily replaced. Remove the left ear pad, unscrew four Phillips-head screws, lift the cover, and the battery can be unplugged and swapped out in seconds.
iFixit has been showing us how to replace batteries in electronics for years, but this is the first time I’ve seen a headphone brand actively encourage consumers to do it themselves. I think Sennheiser embracing our right to repair is worth celebrating, even if, at the time of publication, the replaceable battery isn't available for purchase.
Lively and Warm Sound
Photograph: Chris Haslam
The Momentum 5 Wireless supports SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX HD, aptX Lossless, and aptX Adaptive codecs, plus multipoint connectivity. Plug in using either the 3.5-millimeter jack or the USB-C port to get digital lossless audio (up to 24-bit/96 kHz).