Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 review: The best AirPods Pro alternative?

It might be overly simplistic to view the entire wireless earbud market as one big attempt to rival Apple's AirPods Pro, but as someone who returns to his AirPods Pro 3, I do sort of look at it that way. If you can rival Apple's convenience and at least match its sound quality and ergonomics, you're off to a good start.

Probably my favourite non-Apple earbuds ever are the Technics EAH-AZ100, and I think it's a little surprising that it's taken this long for another brand to get close to the high-water mark they set.

Sennheiser has done just that, though, with the Momentum True Wireless 5, a truly excellent new set of earbuds that deserve your attention. I've used them nonstop for a couple of weeks for this review – and they've made a lasting impression.

Price and Availability

The Momentum True Wireless 5 can be yours right now, having been revealed and released in late August 2026.

The asking price is £249.99 in the UK, $299.95 in the US, and €299 in the EU. That means it's a chunk more expensive than getting a pair of AirPods Pro 3, and puts the earbuds on a par with flagships from Sony and a bunch of others.

That means these are obviously premium earbuds, as reflected in the fact that Sennheiser makes a fair few more affordable pairs you could also consider, including the Accentum True Wireless model from a couple of years ago.

Design and Features

There seems to be a bit of a rule in the audio industry about major redesigns of earbuds and headphones – each design gets at least a couple of outings before it's changed in a major way.

That's how I'd look at the Momentum True Wireless 3 and True Wireless 4, which were really similar to each other, and have now been completely rewritten in the form of these earbuds, the Momentum True Wireless 5.

Where those older earbuds tried to stand out from the crowd with a fabric-covered case that was quite interesting, Sennheiser has gone more mainstream this time around. That case is instead finished in matte plastic with a slight speckle finish, topped with Sennheiser's logo. It's also taller rather than flat and squat like the older one.

The earbuds themselves are also very different. The last two generations were quite square in their shape, but that shape has been shaved down into a far more bean-like look that's a little more obvious in its ergonomics. Sennheiser told me this didn't necessarily make each earbud smaller than last time, but that it would make them more comfortable.

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Each earbud also has a circular Sennheiser logo on its outer edge, and this is the touch-sensitive zone for some customisable controls. You can tap up to three times on each side, with each of those being mapped to a different control.

As befits their price, active noise-cancelling (ANC) is present and correct, and probably the setting I've been cycling the most using those touch controls.

The earbuds and case have one massive trick up their sleeve that I want to spotlight and praise, too: repairability. We've heard a lot about the EU requirements around user-replaceable batteries recently, and indeed the number of exemptions that are going to be flying around (here's looking at you, Apple).

Sennheiser has embraced the opportunity, though, and that means the Momentum True Wireless 5 is hugely future-proof. Each earbud sports a couple of recessed screws to let you take them apart for battery replacement, while the case needs only one screw to do the same.

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This is massive for longevity, with battery degradation being one of the very few flaws that can affect this sort of higher-end earbud over time. Once your earbuds no longer last a satisfactory span, Sennheiser will sell you a replacement you can fit yourself – what a step forward, and here's hoping it pressures other brands into following suit.

Out of the box, though, you can expect around 12 hours of use on a charge, with nearly three more full charges in the case making for about 40 hours without needing to plug it in. You also get IP54 dust and weather protection, meaning they're safe for use in workouts or bad weather.

Sound and Performance

It's nice to see Sennheiser putting the R&D work into adding repairability to its earbuds, but you wouldn't necessarily want that to come at the expense of sound quality. Luckily, I can't find much to fault in terms of how the Momentum True Wireless 5 perform sonically.

I've long been a fan of Sennheiser's neutrality and its calm approach to sound signatures – it avoids the temptation to pump the bass past reasonable limits, and tends to keep things sensible on a few fronts. That trend has continued with the Momentum True Wireless 5, which sounds pretty exemplary.

I've used the earbuds as my daily driver for multiple weeks, including on an overseas trip, so I'll cover off their ANC ability first. It's extremely solid, dulling the hum of a plane cabin really well for a few hours, but also making the London Underground far less of a sensory overload.

This was an area where there was improvement to be had from the Momentum True Wireless 4, so it's great to see a decent stride be made. It's probably still not quite up there with the AirPods Pro 3 in my experience, but I'd feel comfortable putting it in the same bracket, which is more than enough.

How do the Momentum True Wireless 5 fare with music? It's impressive. I've been genre-hopping with the earbuds, including quite a lot of mellow material like J.J. Cale's album Naturally and Green River from Creedence Clearwater Revival. The acoustic texture of both came across really clearly and characterfully with Sennheiser's default tuning.

Jungle's new album Sunshine is a warm delight, meanwhile, and its hints of bass were nicely nuanced and detailed. Going back to my most familiar ground, Justice's debut album Cross is a monster of bass deployed tactically, and it too was a punchy success on these Momentum earbuds.

That's a pretty great outlook, and the picture's further rounded out by Sennheiser's Control+ app, which gives you a bunch of tweaks to make and settings to figure out.

Being able to swap what the touch controls do is a great touch, although I can't pretend to love the controls themselves that much. They're a little finicky, and the reality is that few brands have nailed on-earbud controls at this point.

Verdict

I'm hugely impressed by the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 5 – just as I was with the over-ear Momentum Wireless 5 a few months ago. These are earbuds that do exactly what I need, whether that's because of rock-solid ANC or superbly balanced sound.

After a lot of noise about whether Sennheiser had a future at all around the turn of the year, this is a pretty phenomenal way to silence the crowd. The brand now has 5-star headphones and earbuds fresh out of the gate, and retains a pretty loyal following thanks to the work of previous generations.

If you need some new wireless earbuds, I think it would be crazy to ignore the Momentum True Wireless 5 moving forward – and I can only hope that they usher in a new era of user-replaceable batteries in earbuds.

Also Consider

I've mentioned them in this review already, and Technics still just about retains my personal award for "best non-AirPods earbuds", but it's by the merest sliver over the Momentum on review. The AZ100s are brilliant, comfortable, and because of their age, they're now cheaper – but they don't have those replaceable batteries.

Meanwhile, the obvious other point to make is that the AirPods Pro 3 remain phenomenally convenient and reliable, and if you're a big Apple user then their device-swapping smarts can't really be beaten. I still use them every day for music, media and when out running – and that probably won't change unless something big happens.