Sennheiser’s Momentum 5 Look Like Powerful Competitors for Sony’s WH-1000XM6

Sony’s WH-1000XM6 has been stealing the wi-fi headphones limelight for all of 2025, however Sennheiser might lastly have its personal reply. The firm’s new Momentum 5 is the primary replace to its Momentum 4 after 4 years, and so they appear like worthy competitors to Sony on paper.

While Sennheiser has retained the 42mm drivers of the final technology, the Momentum 5 are licensed for hi-res audio and include help for lossless audio streaming by means of the AptX codec, that means they ship “CD quality” sound at 16-bit, 44.1kHz. Only gadgets with a Qualcomm processor and help for Snapdragon Sound can make the most of that lossless streaming by means of AptX, nevertheless. The Momentum 5 additionally include Dolby Atmos for head-tracking spatial audio, which isn’t my favourite function on the earth on any pair of wi-fi headphones, however could be enjoyable when you’re watching a film or one thing else that isn’t music.

One space that the Momentum 5 are pushing the boundary over Sony’s glorious WH-1000XM6 is battery life. Sennheiser’s new wi-fi headphones get 57 hours of battery life when energetic noise cancellation (ANC) is on, in comparison with the WH-1000XM6, which get simply 30 hours when ANC is enabled. Listening time isn’t the one function the place Sennheiser is pushing the envelope—the battery can be simpler to switch. According to Sennheiser, homeowners of the Momentum 5 can now use a Phillips-head screwdriver to switch the battery “in minutes.” Sony’s WH-1000XM6 truly rating alright on iFixit’s repairability scale, however this appears like a step forward.

I don’t anticipate the Momentum 5 might be dethroning the WH-1000XM6 anytime quickly on noise cancellation. While the Momentum 5 doubled the variety of microphones for ANC/transparency over the past technology to eight whole, Sony nonetheless has a notable edge right here, because it comes with 12 whole mics. Who is aware of, although, perhaps the Momentum 5 have higher passive noise cancellation that maximizes that setup.

Sennheiser’s Momentum 5 can be found beginning June 16 for $400 and are available in black, white, and “denim” colorways. That’s $60 lower than what the WH-1000XM6 retail for, although you’ll be able to usually discover Sony’s wi-fi headphones on sale for $400.