Sennheiser Momentum 5 Adds Replaceable Battery, Lossless Bluetooth, And Better ANC

Sennheiser has officially unveiled the Momentum 5 Wireless, a $400 successor to its popular portable over-ear headphones that focuses on fixing past shortcomings while introducing rare, pro-consumer hardware features. Launching in the U.S. on June 16, the new flagship pair upgrades its active noise cancellation (ANC), expands its high-res wireless audio capabilities, and offers a right-to-repair-friendly user-replaceable battery design.

Acoustically, Sennheiser is sticking to a proven foundation by retaining the 42mm dynamic drivers manufactured at its Tullamore, Ireland facility, even if certain rumors swirled around 47mm units instead. However, the digital architecture surrounding those transducers has been completely overhauled. The Momentum 5 integrates Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound protocol, unlocking support for aptX Lossless (with the right hardware, of course). Once "unlocked," the headphones can stream bit-perfect, CD-quality audio without the data compression typical of standard wireless connections, although users might want to be aware of the limitations of aptX Lossless, such as the aforementioned hardware requirements, as well as short transmission range. 

What the Sony, Apple, and Bose currently don't have, however are any specific right-to-repair features. Underneath the chassis of the Momentum 5 sits a 700mAh lithium-ion battery cell that users can swap out in minutes using nothing more than a small Phillips-head screwdriver. While total runtime with ANC active takes a negligible dip from the previous generation’s 60 hours down to 57 hours, the ability to refresh the physical battery means the headset’s overall lifespan can span many years over the competition. By the way, if you do run low, a quick five-minute charge via USB-C provides up to four hours of playback.

Yes, Sennheiser's Momentum 5 headphones can still only fold flat rather than collapsing entirely, but the included protective fabric carrying case features a slimmer profile (and integrated handle) that reduces total thickness by 20%.

On the software side, the headphones feature an internal infrared sensor system for wear detection, Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity that is will be upgradeable to Bluetooth 6.0 via future firmware. Day-one firmware updates will also unlock Dolby Atmos 3D spatial audio with dynamic head-tracking. 

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