Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless review: comfort above all

Sennheiser’s wireless earbuds hardly ever disappoint in terms of sound high quality — the German model’s status for stable acoustic engineering is without doubt one of the greatest within the enterprise. However many would agree that the corporate has struggled with ergonomics. Chunky and a bit cumbersome, Sennheiser’s earbuds simply haven’t been as snug because the competitors.

With third-gen Momentum True Wireless, that started to vary as Sennheiser discovered methods to make its earbuds smaller. Now, with the Accentum True Wi-fi ($200), issues have improved significantly.

Right here’s what you want to know earlier than shopping for Sennheiser’s latest midrange possibility.

From a design perspective, with their matte white or matte black end, the Accentum appear virtually boring. There aren’t any shiny surfaces and in contrast to the corporate’s flagship Momentum True Wireless 4 (MTW4), you received’t discover bronze or titanium accents. The Sennheiser emblem is barely noticeable.

And but, this minimalism is welcome. The MTW4’s case is without doubt one of the largest within the wi-fi earbud world, a indisputable fact that isn’t modified by the good-looking material that wraps the outside. Against this, the Accentum case is lighter and way more pocketable. Entry to the earbuds is simply as simple, because of the clamshell design, and also you aren’t giving up comfort — wi-fi charging continues to be supported.

Nevertheless, essentially the most noticeable distinction is the form of the earbuds themselves. The place the MTW4 (and all earlier Sennheiser fashions) are squarish and boxy, the Accentum are elongated, clean, and curvy throughout.

The corporate says this form advanced utilizing the information from 1000’s of ear fashions, which father or mother firm, Sonova (a listening to support producer), offered.

It’s onerous to argue with the outcome — the Accentum are by far essentially the most snug Sennheiser earbuds I’ve ever worn, although I admit I used to be skeptical at first.

I’ve come to consider that to be able to match securely, an earbud’s silicone tip wants to take a seat proper up towards the doorway of my ear canal — even urgent into it a bit. The MTW4 (and their predecessors) did that handily with their lengthy towers (the half to which the tip is hooked up). In the event you learn my evaluation of the MTW3 or MTW4, I heap a variety of reward on their consolation and match. The Accentum are higher.

In the event you’ve ever shied away from Sennheiser’s buds prior to now, due to their form, it’s time to attempt once more. As with all form, they received’t match everybody, however I think they’ll match many extra folks than earlier than. The 4 sizes of included eartips will definitely assist. Exercises and working shouldn’t be an issue. Just like the MTW4, the Accentum are rated IP54 for water and dust protection.

Sennheiser’s contact controls are usually nice, and the Accentum True Wi-fi aren’t any exception. You’ll be able to just about faucet anyplace on the outer floor of the earbuds, which is much simpler than on some fashions which have a particular touch-senstive space.

Each function may be triggered utilizing the contact controls (play/pause, observe skipping, quantity, name reply/finish, ANC/transparency, and voice assistant entry), and you may as well customise the faucet gestures throughout the Sennheiser Sensible Management app (iOS/Android). With 4 accessible gestures per earbud, your decisions are almost limitless.

These controls are augmented by the Accentum’s put on sensors, which allow you to routinely pause and resume audio as you take away and change both bud. It really works seamlessly, however you may as well disable it in case you discover it annoying.

Out of the field, chances are you’ll discover the Accentum’s sound conservative. Balanced, sure, impartial even, but additionally missing power. This will likely be much more obvious in case you’re listening at 50% quantity or much less.

Some wi-fi earbuds (and headphones too) have a quantity candy spot — a stage at which the drivers are getting sufficient enter to actually shine. On the Sennheiser Accentum, that spot is someplace between 60-70%. At that stage, you begin to hear a variety of element that feels trapped when listening at decrease volumes.

That is the place the Accentum ship that Sennheiser sound — a perfect steadiness of frequencies that works with an enormous number of genres.

You get clear highs, detailed mids, and resonant bass, every of which avoids muddying the others. As I’ve executed many instances with different Sennheiser wi-fi earbuds, I discovered myself effortlessly working by means of my common take a look at tracks, merely having fun with the music.

The Sensible Management app’s five-band equalizer, bass enhance mode, and presets can all assist to finesse the sound to your liking, however don’t anticipate large shifts within the sound signature — these are small tweaks.

Curiously, Sennheiser makes use of a sound personalization function known as “Sound Test” on the Accentum, which is totally different from the generically named “sound personalization” from the MTW4.

Every gave me totally different outcomes. The place the MTW4 sounded extra vigorous and dynamic after personalization, I may barely inform the distinction after personalizing the Accentum.

It will have been good if Sennheiser had included assist for hi-res audio codecs like LDAC or aptX Adaptive, however I assume it wanted to maintain one thing in reserve for its top-of-the-line earbuds. Apart from, for iPhone house owners, AAC will (for the foreseeable future) be nearly as good because it will get.

One of many few areas the place the Accentum noticeably underperforms in comparison with the MTW4 is noise cancellation. Not that it’s unhealthy — it really does an honest job of blocking a lot of the background noise that pops up in our every day lives like visitors, droning engines, and the din of many simultaneous conversations. But it surely’s not as highly effective a filter for these sounds because the MTW4.

Transparency mode follows the identical trajectory. The Accentum present loads of entry to the world round you, however the MTW4’s readability is best, particularly because it pertains to listening to your individual voice clearly.

Each fashions allow you to pause your music routinely when coming into transparency mode — I like this function; it’s one that every one ANC wi-fi earbuds/headphones ought to undertake.

Talking of, properly, talking, name high quality on the Sennheiser Accentum can be wonderful. However chances are you’ll want to talk louder than you’re used to. The microphones do an admirable job of stopping background sounds from interfering together with your voice; nonetheless, this comes at the price of a barely lowered acquire (the quantity of enhance the mics add to the sound they decide up). Callers on the opposite finish could say you sound a bit far-off.

I’m nonetheless ready for Sennheiser to enhance sidetone on its earbuds. On a name, you possibly can select to show transparency mode on. This allows you to hear your environment as you speak. However very like transparency mode at different instances, your voice isn’t one of many sounds that will get clearly piped again to your ears — it stays pretty muffled, which may make longer calls fatiguing.

The Accentum assist Bluetooth Multipoint for simultaneous connections to 2 units, and Sennheiser says the earbuds will obtain a firmware improve to LE Audio, with Auracast assist, although no timeline has been dedicated to to this point.

There’s additionally an fascinating function known as Sound Zones, which helps you to geofence places after which choose which ANC and EQ settings you need to allow/disable as you enter/depart every zone. Sony does one thing related in its Headphones app, and I can’t say I perceive the enchantment. I’m greater than able to turning ANC on and off on my own, and I hardly ever change my EQ as soon as I’ve it dialed in the best way I prefer it.

I’m a bit stunned that if Sennheiser is utilizing its app to trace location (which it clearly is), why doesn’t it supply a Discover My-style locator for misplaced earbuds?

Battery life on the Accentum is a really acceptable eight hours per cost, however Sennheiser notes that this quantity assumes you’re not utilizing ANC. In the event you flip it on, longevity drops to about six  hours — nonetheless enough for most people, however lower than a few of the competitors. The charging case ups these numbers to twenty-eight and 21 hours respectively, supplying you with loads of time earlier than in search of a USB cable or wi-fi charging pad. There’s a fast-charge mode that provides you an additional hour of playtime after 10 minutes of charging do you have to begin to run low.

For now, the Sennheiser Accentum is a real midrange product: It carries most (however not all) of the strengths of the flagship Sennheiser Momentum True Wi-fi 4, at a value that’s $100 extra reasonably priced. And but, no matter financial savings, the Accentum’s form could be all the explanation you want to take into account it over Sennheiser’s greatest mannequin. For some, it is going to merely be a extra snug expertise. For others, it might be the distinction between shopping for Sennheiser and searching elsewhere.