Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless

Battery Life Is The Standout Specification

Most cancelling headphones offer around thirty hours, which covers a long trip and requires attention. The Momentum 4 roughly doubles that, which changes the relationship with charging entirely.

At that duration you stop thinking about it. A headphone charged at the start of a fortnight of commuting simply keeps working, and the anxiety about whether it will last a long-haul flight and the onward journey disappears.

It is the least glamorous specification on the page and arguably the one that most affects daily use, because a flat headphone cancels nothing regardless of how good its cancellation is.

A Warmer Tuning

Sennheiser has tuned these more warmly than the analytical approach of some rivals — fuller low end, slightly softened treble, a presentation aimed at enjoying music rather than examining it.

That suits the use case. Cancelling headphones are used in noisy environments where residual noise masks the quietest detail anyway, and a tuning that is engaging rather than clinical is arguably the right choice.

Anyone wanting neutrality for critical listening should not be buying wireless cancelling headphones at all, and anyone wanting music to sound good on a train will find this well judged.

Cancellation And Transparency

Cancellation is good and a step behind Sony and Bose. On a plane the difference is noticeable if you compare directly and not if you do not.

Transparency is adequate rather than excellent — more processed sounding than Bose's, usable for an announcement and less natural for a conversation.

For anyone whose priority is battery life and sound quality rather than the absolute maximum cancellation, that ordering of strengths is the right trade.

Build And Practicalities

They fold flat and the case is compact, which travels well. The build is plastic-heavy and lighter than metal-framed rivals, which helps comfort and feels less premium in the hand.

The controls are touch-based on the earcup, which is less reliable than physical buttons in gloves or with cold hands and is a common irritation across the category rather than specific to these.

As always, the battery degrades and cannot be replaced, though starting from a much longer runtime means degradation takes longer to become a practical problem.

Against The Alternatives

Against Sony and Bose, this has far better battery life and a more musical tuning, and less effective cancellation and transparency.

Against wired headphones, the same trade applies as ever.

Against cheaper cancelling headphones, the battery life, sound quality and build are all clear steps up.

The Verdict

The cancelling headphone for anyone who is tired of charging: battery life roughly double its rivals, a warm engaging tuning, and a compact folding case.

Cancellation and transparency are both a step behind the leaders, and the touch controls are fiddly.

The long battery is the reason to choose these — and starting from double the runtime means degradation takes years to become a problem rather than months.

Wired use is worth mentioning because these support analogue and USB connections, and the USB option in particular means they can act as a wired headphone for a computer with the cancellation still active. That is more useful than it sounds for anyone in a noisy open office who spends the day at a desk, since it removes the battery from the equation entirely during the hours the headphones are worn most.