Rating:
6/10
?
1 – Absolute Hot Garbage
2 – Sorta Lukewarm Garbage
3 – Strongly Flawed Design
4 – Some Pros, Lots Of Cons
5 – Acceptably Imperfect
6 – Good Enough to Buy On Sale
7 – Great, But Not Best-In-Class
8 – Fantastic, with Some Footnotes
9 – Shut Up And Take My Money
10 – Absolute Design Nirvana
Price: $250
Bill Loguidice
Earbud manufacturers typically try to compete with their larger competitors by delivering unique features or a lower price point. Sennheiser, on the other hand, has taken a more head-on approach against its main competition with the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3. The results are decidedly mixed.
Here’s What We Like
Good sound quality
Qi wireless charging case
Solid battery life
Strong Bluetooth signal
IPX4 splash resistance
And What We Don’t
High price
Noise cancellation is mediocre
Touch controls are overly sensitive
No automatic ear detection
Mega companies like Apple, Google, and Samsung produce excellent and relatively reasonably-priced options in the form of the AirPods Pro, Pixel Buds Pro, and Galaxy Buds Pro, respectively. Despite charging as much as $50 more than any of the big three, Sennheiser hopes to overcome the greater brand recognition of its primary competitors by focusing instead on its “Sennheiser signature sound,” use of Qualcomm’s high-resolution aptX Adaptive audio codec, and fully adjustable equalizer presets.
Unfortunately for Sennheiser, there are a few key areas where the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 earbuds fail to compare.
Fit: Lots of Options, if Not the Most Comfortable
Bill Loguidice
Earbuds Weight (each): 6g (0.21oz)
Charging Case Weight: 66g (2.33oz)
Earbuds Water Resistance: IPX4 (resistant to splashes)
Opening the box, you’re greeted by the pair of earbuds, a charging case and short USB-C cable, a quick guide and safety guide, four ear adapters (rubber tips), and three ear fin (rubber outer band) sets. By default, the medium (M) ear adapters are installed with the medium (M) ear fins.
For my smaller ears, I was more comfortable with the extra small (XS) ear adapters and small (S) ear fins. Installing the ear adapters and fins was intuitive, with clear markings and quick and easy swapping.
Despite the options, I never did find the perfect fit for my ears, especially compared to the comfort I enjoy with my usual AirPods Pro. Inserting the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 earbuds was a bit tricky as well. I needed to place each earbud at a slight forward angle in the ear canal and then give it a slight backward twist. It’s a motion I got used to, but something that I never truly felt I perfected, especially because of the sensitivity of the touch controls on the flat sides (more on those touch controls later).
In any case, it’s important to note that because of how deep these go into your ears and the suction the rubber ear adapters create, you’ll want to be careful about ear wax. If you have any, these will capture just about every bit of it on the rubber ear adapters.
Charging and Storage: A Bit Bulky
Bill Loguidice
Earbuds battery life: 7 hours
Charging case operating time: Up to 28 hours
As with any device of this type, it’s important to fully charge before use. The charging case is a bit bulky in comparison to something like the case that comes with the AirPods Pro, with roughly twice the vertical height, but does support both USB-C charging and Qi-compatible wireless charging from the bottom of the case.
Of course, unlike some of its more well-known competition, you’re unlikely to find any cool cases, wraps, or other accessories for the included charging case, but it does have a nicely-textured charcoal-colored exterior that helps it feel like a premium product.
Bill LoguidiceThe Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 case is larger and bulkier than that of the Apple AirPods Pro.
The indicator light next to the USB-C port on the front of the case flashes yellow while charging. It changes to solid green once fully charged, which takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes, with every 10 minutes of charging time netting you roughly 1 hour of music playback.
The charging case can store about 21 hours of charging time, while the earbuds themselves can last about 7 hours between charges. Although these battery life numbers are not best-in-class, they’re certainly competitive. Of course, those numbers can vary wildly depending on usage and average volume levels.
Setup: It’s All About That App
Bluetooth version: Bluetooth 5.2 compliant, class 1, 10 mW (max)
Bluetooth profiles: A2DP, AVRCP, HFP
Bluetooth audio codec: SBC, AAC, aptX, aptX adaptive
To pair with your Bluetooth-enabled device, you simply place the earbuds in your ear and then touch and hold each side for three seconds. A cheery, female voice helps guide you by saying “pairing” and “connected.” Pairing in this manner allows these Bluetooth 5.2-compliant earbuds to connect with just about any device, but it’s recommended that you connect them to a newer iOS, iPadOS, or Android device so you can use Sennheiser’s Smart Control app (available for iPhone and Android) for customization.
When I first paired the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 earbuds to my iPhone 12 Pro Max, I was prompted with an “App Not Installed” message. Following the prompt, I installed the app. Once connected, I was directed to update to the latest firmware, which took a lengthy 21 minutes to complete.
Using the app, you can modify how the touch controls respond with each earbud, complete a sound check to tune the sound to your preferred audio profile, and set your equalizer presets, including Bass Boost or Podcast setting—the latter of which enhances speech clarity, primarily with spoken content.
Noise Cancellation: Real Limitations
A big feature you’re paying for with the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 earbuds is their noise cancellation capabilities. Unfortunately, its noise cancellation performance is middling at best.
We tested the noise cancellation capabilities in a variety of settings, but the most demanding was when we took them to our gym. As many do, this gym likes to blast music from speakers spread throughout the facility, which certainly ups the noise levels in addition to the general chatter and clank of the weights and machinery. Using a decibel meter app, we measured peak volume levels of 88db, which is loud enough that your ears can only safely tolerate such levels for a maximum of four hours before you’re in danger of hearing loss.
With the earbuds’ Hybrid Adaptive ANC (Active Noise Cancellation), the gym music was still clearly heard, but reduced to more of a background noise. It definitely helped a little, but did not do enough to compete with the external bass, which passed right through the noise cancellation.
In fact, when we turned off the noise cancellation entirely, we noted little difference from the passive noise cancellation provided by the earbuds going deep into the ear canal. If you’re looking for better noise cancellation than something like the AirPods Pro offer, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM True Wireless 3’s can’t provide it.
For whatever reason, the MOMENTUM True Wireless 3 earbuds did perform well when we used them at the gym’s hydro massage bed, which loudly shoots heated jets of water against the waterproof surface you lay down on. There were really no other instances where the noise cancellation worked particularly well. In fact, there’s a “wind” setting in the app that seemed to make the noise cancellation worse when in windy conditions rather than better.
Sound: It’s Made For Music
Frequency response (speaker): 5 Hz to 21 kHz
Transducer principle: Dynamic, closed-back
Transducer size: 7 mm, TrueResponse
Sound pressure level (SPL): 107 dB SPL (1 kHz / 1 mW)
Total harmonic distortion (THD):
Read More
