Product test
Sennheiser Accentum: a lot of headphone for your money
by Florian Bodoky
Heart rate monitor, power battery, noise cancelling: Sennheiser is presenting three new headphones at CES 2024. The Momentum True Wireless 4 in-ear flagship, the Momentum Sport with temperature and heart rate monitor and, just four months after the launch, the second Accentum generation.
Sennheiser is presenting three headphones at the CES in Las Vegas. All models cover completely different needs. The star of the show: the new luxury Momentum True Wireless in-ears, which are now in their fourth generation.
Sennheiser remains largely true to the design of its predecessors, but has changed a few things on the inside. The Momentum not only support Bluetooth version 5.4, but also the new low-energy Auracast standard. This allows you to use a transmitter - such as your smartphone - to send audio signals to an almost unlimited number of receivers simultaneously. Conversely, you can also connect to public sessions with Auracast-compatible headphones. Qualcomm's S5 Sound Gen 2 audio platform serves as the basis for this. Qualcomm aptX and the SBC and AAC codecs are also supported.
Sennheiser has also installed better batteries in the in-ears: the battery life is said to be 7.5 hours - with activated (and improved) noise cancellation. You can charge the headphones in the accompanying charging case. This can be charged via USB-C or wirelessly. It should take up to 30 hours for both the case and the headphones to run out of juice.
The Momentum True Wireless 4 will be available from mid-February in the colours Black Copper, Metallic Silver and Graphite. The recommended retail price is 314.90 francs / 299.99 euros.
Another in-ear model presented by Sennheiser is the Momentum Sport. Here, Sennheiser tries to strike a balance between robust workmanship and sensitive measurement sensors. On the one hand, the Momentum Sport are robust enough to withstand strenuous fitness training, while on the other hand Sennheiser has installed sensitive sensors inside the headphones. This means that the Momentum Sport can measure both the heart rate and body temperature and then send the values to the smartphone or other smart devices and their apps - in real time.
Sennheiser has also installed an acoustic relief channel and given the Momentum Sport a semi-open design. The relief channel minimises walking and breathing noises, while the semi-open design ensures that athletes can perceive their surroundings naturally - without artificial amplification by a microphone. Nevertheless, disruptive wind noise is blocked out. For a better fit, the headphones have "wings" that secure the headphones in the ear.
The IP-54-certified Momentum Sport have a battery life of six hours. With the Qi-enabled charging box, the headphones can then be fully charged three more times.
The Momentum Sport can be ordered from mid-April for a recommended retail price of 314.90 francs / 329.99 euros. The colour options are Polar Black, Burned Olive and Metallic Graphite.
Just four months after the launch of the Accentum headphones, the second generation is already on the market. The Sennheiser Accentum Plus.
The only new over-ear models in Sennheiser's portfolio boast 50 hours of battery life, aptX support and Bluetooth 5.2 compatibility. Sennheiser has also installed a touchpad on the earcup to control playback and volume. Thanks to multipoint support, you can connect multiple players to the Accentum Plus at the same time. Sennheiser also supplies a 3.5 millimetre jack cable.
The Accentum Plus also comes with adaptive ANC, which automatically adjusts to the noise level of your surroundings. The Accentum Plus will be available from the end of February in black and white. The recommended retail price is 239.90 francs / 229.99 euros.
Cover picture: SennheiserI've been tinkering with digital networks ever since I found out how to activate both telephone channels on the ISDN card for greater bandwidth. As for the analogue variety, I've been doing that since I learned to talk. Though Winterthur is my adoptive home city, my heart still bleeds red and blue.