Sennheiser True Wireless Momentum 3 – “Best sound for the money”

If you’re willing to spend a few bucks on a pair of really good true wireless handsets, the recommendation usually falls on Sony’s standard-setting WF-1000XM4 (or Airpods Pro if you’re a little more laid in the Apple direction). But now the sound kings at Sennheiser are taking the fight seriously

True Wireless Momentum 3 is the long name of Sennheiser’s latest headphones in the category – and after a few staggering attempts, the Germans have found the right one. This is a hit.

In the price category, I would go so far as to say that Sennheiser is currently delivering the best sound on the market. Slightly sharper than Sony’s competitors, although you might get another boost if you clear your account and get a pair of Bowers & Wilkins PI7s.

It should be added, however, that MTW3 uses the same 7-millimeter drivers as the previous model, so this is not where the big improvements have taken place (although the headphones now support the new audio codec Aptx Adapative which, among other things, will provide lower delay). Sennheiser already knew the sound, but this time the other features on the headphones have caught up.

Fits well in the ears

In terms of appearance, the wireless Momentum 3 is available in three colors: white, black or black with a graphite gray backing. They are significantly neater than MTW2 and feel light and comfortable in the ears.

You turn them in place in the ear canal and they sit well even during a walk, but are perhaps not entirely ideal for a workout – even if they are unlikely to fall out of the ear in time and out of time (I look at you Airpods).

The earplugs come in four sizes, and you can get additional stability if needed by putting on a wing (three different sizes) that anchors them in the inner ear.

On the back cover there are touch controls that you can use to pause, change song or turn on and off noise reduction. Exactly how you control the headphones via touch can be customized in Sennheiser’s app.

The only thing that is not neat with the headphones is the charging box, it actually has the same enormous dimensions as with its predecessor MTW2. It looks nice with its fabric upholstery, but with the dimensions 7×4.5×3.5 centimeters, there is nothing you want to mess up or down out of the jeans pockets.

Thankfully, it has at least received support for wireless charging and the headphone package has quite brutal battery life. The headphones themselves can handle up to 7 hours on one charge, and the charging case offers an additional 21 hours for a total of 28 hours.

A single problem with MTW3

The headphones are exemplary easy to connect, and Sennheiser’s included app is simple, flexible and stable. It is inconceivable that, in 2022, it still needs to be pointed out, but many headphone manufacturers have huge problems with delivering functional apps. By the way, make sure to update the headphones immediately, at least the test headphones that Ny Teknik borrowed were delivered without several functions, including wind reduction.

But it is the Bluetooth connection that is actually Sennheiser’s biggest miss. For some strange reason, the manufacturer chooses not to support multi-point connection. You can therefore not connect the headphones to the computer and the mobile phone at the same time, but must choose one device to be synced with at a time. It is certainly easy to switch in Sennheiser’s own app, but I think this is a must for a pair of new premium headphones.

If we are to take a point where Sennheiser may still be a bit behind Apple, Sony and, after all, Bose, it is active noise reduction. MTW3s are definitely not bad on this front, they have an adaptive noise reduction that is good at removing low monotonous, disturbing sounds. Traffic noise and fans and stuff disappear or are toned down to comfortable levels. But it is not possible to achieve the total feeling of being in your own small, quiet room even though you are standing in the middle of a shopping center.

However, I highly recommend Sennheiser’s location to reduce interference from wind. It’s the absolute best I’ve tested in a pair of headphones.

When I turn on wind reduction, all puffs and interference in the headphones disappear. It even works well to ride with the headphones with the noise reduction and wind reduction turned on, it’s impressive.

Verdict: Challenges Sony

Sennheiser really takes up the fight with Sony’s WH-1000XM4 for the throne in the true wireless segment. It’s hard to pick an individual winner here, but you’ll be happy to go home from the deal no matter what tricks you choose.

Sony benefits from the fact that they can connect to several devices at the same time and that the active noise reduction is a bit sharper. If you instead reward sound quality and are disturbed by annoying wind noise in your ears, Sennheiser is quite good. In addition, I personally think that Sennheiser’s headphones fit much better in the ears, but that’s something of a matter of taste.