Sennheiser Unveils New Momentum True Wireless 4 and Sport Earbuds at CES 2024 – CNET [CNET]

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Sennheiser debuted a trio of new headphones at CES, including its Momentum True Wireless 4 earbuds, a set of semi-open sports buds and the over-ear Accentum Plus.

David Carnoy Executive Editor / Reviews

Executive Editor David Carnoy has been a leading member of CNET’s Reviews team since 2000. He covers the gamut of gadgets and is a notable reviewer of mobile accessories and portable audio products, including headphones and speakers. He’s also an e-reader and e-publishing expert as well as the author of the novels Knife Music, The Big Exit and Lucidity. All the titles are available as Kindle, iBooks, Nook e-books and audiobooks.

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At CES 2024, Sennheiser has launched the Momentum 4 True Wireless, the next generation of its highly regarded flagship earbuds, along with new Momentum Sport earbuds that have a new semi-open design and built-in biometric sensors. The upcoming earbuds, due to arrive in February and April, respectively, are joined by a new addition to Sennheiser’s over-ear noise-canceling headphone line, the Accentum Plus.

The Momentum True Wireless 4 appears unchanged from its predecessor from a design standpoint, but it features some upgrades on the inside, including a new Qualcomm chipset to power the buds. Here’s a quick preview of the three new Sennheiser headphones for 2024. I’ll have hands-on reviews as soon as they’re available.

Momentum True Wireless 4 ($300, preorder Feb. 15)

Sennheiser says the Momentum True Wireless 4 are “loaded with more than a dozen enhancements” and are its “most capable earbud yet.” The Bluetooth 5.4 earbuds are built on Qualcomm’s S5 Sound Gen 2 platform and Snapdragon Sound Technology “for aptX lossless sound quality and ultra-low latency.”

According to Sennheiser, the buds also have Auracast support and an overhauled antenna design “for exceptional signal continuity while on the go.” It says the Adaptive ANC has been improved, and there’s an upgraded battery system with up to 7.5 hours of battery life (the wireless charging case remains the same). There’s no word yet on whether Sennheiser did anything to improve voice-calling performance, so we’ll have to wait and test that. I expect to see and hear some modest performance improvements all around.

The Momentum True Wireless 4 will be available for preorder Feb. 15 for $300 and come in black copper, metallic silver and graphite.

Momentum Sport ($330, April 9) 

Sennheiser says its Momentum Sport buds are optimized for fitness. They integrate a photoplethysmography (PPG) heart rate sensor and a body temperature sensor that “can each output critical data to popular fitness apps and devices,” including Apple Watch/Health, Garmin Watch/Connect, Strava, Peloton and more. Additionally, Sennheiser says that “for the first time ever in a non-Polar product, users will be able to enjoy full access to Polar’s elite biosensing capabilities and data analytics — including Body Temperature — offering real-time insights during training and deeper offline analysis via the Polar Flow app ecosystem.”

If you don’t like hearing footstep noises, breathing and “other body-borne distractions” when you’re wearing noise-isolating buds, the Momentum Sport buds have an “acoustic relief channel” and a semi-open design for “natural environmental awareness.” There’s an adjustable Transparency mode, Anti-wind mode and Adaptive Noise Canceling mode. Note that earbuds with semi-open designs tend to have mediocre noise-muffling abilities. Hopefully, the noise canceling here will surprise me.

On the sound front, Sennheiser says an all-new acoustic system features a redesigned transducer that “handily delivers the best sound quality yet in a Sennheiser sport earbud.” With an IP55 rating, the earbuds are sweat- and water-resistant and feature “a shock-proof chassis and clog-resistant ear tips.”

The charging case is also IP54 water- and dust-resistant and offers wireless charging. The buds are rated for 6 hours of battery life at moderate volume levels with an additional three charges in the case. It’s unclear if those battery life numbers are with noise canceling and all the biometric sensors on (I’ll update this post as I get additional info).

The Momentum Sport will be available starting April 9 and come in three colors: polar black, burned olive and metallic graphite.

Accentum Plus ($230, Feb. 20)

Late last year, Sennheiser released its new midrange Accentum headphones, which sell for around $150. They’re aimed at folks who don’t want to spend on the more expensive Momentum 4 Wireless flagship noise-canceling headphones that list for $400 but usually sell for closer to $250. Now we get the Accentum Plus, which sits in between the Accentum and Momentum 4 Wireless and lists for $230.

These Bluetooth 5.2 noise-canceling headphones appear to be similar to the Accentum but have slightly better sound and overall performance. Like the Accentum, they have up to 50 hours of battery life, support “all popular codecs, including aptX Adaptive” and have multipoint Bluetooth connectivity, wind reduction and adjustable side tone that allows you to hear your voice in the headphones when making calls. The Accentum Plus will be available in black and white on Feb. 20.

As I get more details on the difference between the Accentum and Accentum Plus, I’ll update this post.

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