If you fancy Sennheiser's five-star Momentum 4 true wireless headphones but can't quite justify the expense, the new Sennheiser Accentum headphones deliver flagship features without the price tag. Promising "breathtaking Sennheiser sound" they deliver many of the features of Sennheiser's flagship ANC 'phones, including the ANC, for considerably less cash.
The main differences between the two models are hardly deal-breakers. The drivers are very slightly smaller in the Accentum, the touch controls are absent (there are four normal buttons instead) and the materials don't look quite so fancy. But when it comes to cutting corners, we'd much rather sacrifice more premium finishes than noise cancelling or sound quality, and Sennheiser says the Accentum delivers on both fronts.
Sennheiser Accentum headphones: key specs
There's lots here to like, starting with exceptionally long battery life – up to 50 hours from a full charge, and a quick charge of a further 5 hours in just 10 minutes via USB-C and a suitably powerful charger. The same USB-C cable turns the Accentum into wired headphones.
For voice calls there are twin microphones with dedicated wind reduction to keep your voice nice and clear and the ANC uses a combination of active and passive isolation to reduce both high and low frequencies. Bluetooth is 5.2 with multipoint, and the Accentum support the higher resolution aptX HD codec for impressive audio from compatible sound sources. There's also AAC and SBC for wide compatibility with pretty much any kind of Bluetooth streaming.
As with the Momentum, you can adjust your headphones' EQ with the companion app and store different presets for different devices.
It's an impressive specification, and even more so when you consider the price tag: the new Accentum have an RRP of £159.99, which is close to half the current street price of the Momentum 4. Looking at various headphone deals those headphones are coming in at around £270, around £40 less than the RRP. The Momentum 4 are better, but that £120 price difference is huge.
There are two colour options here, white and black. Pre-orders for the black ones began this week on 26 September for a shipping date of 4th October; the white one isn't available for pre-order yet but will ship in late November.
