Test: Sennheiser Sport True Wireless – For sports or not

I have high initial expectations for this headset. Sennheiser has impressed before with really good sound and usually delivers a bit expensive but also high-quality products where great care has been taken to get just good sound. When that effort is combined with the characteristics of a sports headset, I become no less interested.

The sports headset, really

However, let’s stay there for a while. For what does a sports headset just adapted for sports, really? Just when I ask myself that question, it dims a message in the email inbox that Sennheiser has just launched a headset for TV viewing. So while the TV-focused headset has a special connection that enables low latency so that you avoid delay in the sound, this sports headset has other adaptations that will make it more adapted for the purpose.

I also wonder if we as users are really expected to have a headset for every occasion, one for watching TV, one for sports and one for public transport, for example, but come to the conclusion that it is probably rather reasonable that you buy a headset for it activity you are most interested in and then use that headset for everything.

Six pairs of rubber pads

Sennheiser Sport True Wireless comes with six different rubber plugs to switch between, but only three different sizes. The explanation is that there are two sets, one that lets you hear the surroundings and one that insulates better. This feels well thought out because depending on what sport you are doing, you have different needs to hear or not hear the surroundings. It can be good if, for example, you run or cycle in densely populated areas to hear the traffic while you have less need for it if you are at the gym. Of course, the design of the headphones themselves, with a wing that holds them firmly in place in the ear, is such that they should remain even if you engage in a sport with many movements and sharp, fast ones. I also think they can do it. They never risk falling out of the ear.

Unlike Sennheiser’s standard true wireless without sports focus, these lures also have better protection against small particles, so they are not only moisture protected but can withstand dust or sand as well, so you can say something more suitable for outdoor use.

Good music worse conversations

The music sound is as expected good. The headset supports high-resolution sound in AptX and the detail is good, both bass and crisp treble and midrange appear fine.

The conversation sound is not impressive, because the most obvious is that the microphone picks up every little sound, not just my voice. On the one hand, it is difficult to perceive the voice if it blows a little, but also otherwise it hears the one I am talking to with many other sounds that disturb. Traffic, rain noise against the umbrella, rustling and hissing.

Sensitive to wind

When it comes to wind, it is clear that the headset when I listen to music during the jogging round is sometimes very sensitive to wind. Sometimes when it’s windy, music has problems appearing properly and is easily drowned. Just on the jogging trip, when I prefer to leave my mobile at home and instead play music directly from my sports watch, one of the disadvantages of the headphones emerges. They can only be connected to one device at a time and just when I want to switch between my phone and my watch it is not optimal. Especially since a lot of the settings for the headset are managed via the associated phone app, which is then not available when I only use the watch. Of course, I can of course change the volume and change the song directly with the touch knobs on the headset, or in the watch for that matter, but other settings such as switching between isolation and listening are only managed in the app. The fact that the headphones are delivered with these two positions and with the large number of different rubber plugs means that they lack active noise reduction. This with custom plops is thus an alternative that physically allows you to choose to be isolated or to hear the surroundings.

The effect is also good, when I jog and run over a footbridge over the motorway, for example, I can calmly continue listening to normal volume without the music being overpowered by the traffic noise. Then you can ask yourself how sport-adapted these lures really are. If you do not have active noise reduction, Sennheiser’s standard true wireless is an alternative that provides better features in more contexts without actually losing so much in the sporting moment for it.