Sennheiser's newest noise-cancelling over-ears aren't slated for release until the end of the month, but a Canadian retailer has seemingly made a boo-boo and leaked full images of the Momentum 4 Wireless – oh, and pricing. Oopsie…
As the previous teaser (announced by Sennheiser itself) in June suggested, the new headphones seem to have undergone quite the redesign. These fourth generation cans look as if they echo the current trend for ear cups that rotate to lie flat but do not fold up – just see the Sony WH-1000XM5 and Bowers & Wilkins PX7 S2 over the older, foldable Sony WH-1000XM4 for reference.
The early listing appeared on the Canada Computers & Electronics website and the pricing is probably the biggest eye-opener. If the leak proves correct and nothing changes between now and when the headphones officially arrive, the Sennheiser Momentum 4 will come with a price-tag of $449.95 CAD ($350 / £290 / AU$500).
The keen-eyed will note that this means Sennheiser could be pricing its newest over-ear wireless noise-cancelling headphones at $50 cheaper than the aforementioned class-leading Sony WH-1000XM5, which retails for $399 / £380 / AU$550.
And since Sennheiser's newest earbuds actually undercut the launch price of their predecessors, it's hardly out of the question now, is it?
Opinion: smart, Sennheiser. Super smart…
There's a cost of living crisis on, and it seems Sennheiser sort of gets that. Our advice? If you were considering a set of Apple AirPods Max or another of the best over-ear headphones currently on the market, maybe you should wait: you'll only have to hang around a month, max, for the Momentum 4 Wireless to be officially released.
Although the leak doesn't reveal much in the way of specs, "Smart Pause" (to automatically pause playback when you remove them) and "Auto On/Off" are listed, which we would expect at this level.
The listing also reveals a photo of the unreleased Momentum 4 Wireless headphones nestled in a premium travel case, with what looks like a 3.5mm cable for wired use, a USB-A to USB-C cable for charging and a plane adaptor for those long-haul flights.
In June, the German brand unveiled the first few official images and details of its hotly-anticipated Momentum 4 Wireless cans, which will succeed the 2019-issue Momentum 3 Wireless – and the particularly impressive spec then was the claimed battery life of (a frankly incredible) 60 hours.
Given the information available to us then and this new, albeit unverified pricing, Sennheiser is potentially offering some serious sound-per-pound value here.
Whether or not that 60-hour figure is with ANC deployed remains to be seen, but given that Apple's top-tier AirPods Max boast just a third of that, at 20 hours when listening with ANC and Spatial Audio turned on, it's a bold claim indeed.
In the previous teaser, Sennheiser promised "best-in-class sound, advanced Adaptive Noise Cancellation and an all-new design offering exceptional comfort", and that gray fabric covering the headband (which looks very similar to that adorning the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3 and older Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2's charging case) is certainly a new direction for Sennheiser's flagship over-ears and one that seems to be confirmed by these new images.
We also know to expect an "audiophile-inspired 42mm transducer system" with slightly angled speakers to "ensure sound is channelled slightly from the front towards the user’s ears", which should promote a "more natural soundstage".
Elsewhere, advanced voice pick-up for optimised calls and voice assistant access is promised, plus "multiple customisations to enable users to adapt the sound to their unique preferences".
Will we see Bluetooth 5.3 and support for Bluetooth's new audio-sharing Auracast protocol? We don't know yet – but given Sennheiser's track record, we certainly wouldn't rule it out.
And remember, it can't be long , since Sennheiser promised on June 15 that "the Sennheiser Momentum 4 Wireless will be available globally from August 2022". So, any day now…
