The PerfectRec Earbuds or Headphones team Learn more
Updated April 11, 2024·
If you prioritize portability and use during exercise, the Sennheiser Momentum Sport earbuds are a great fit as they're sweatproof, include secure fit accessories, and offer features like heart rate and body temperature tracking. They're also slightly less expensive. However, if noise isolation and long battery life are more important for activities like air travel, and if you appreciate features like Sony's 360 Reality Audio, then the Sony WH-1000XM5 headphones may be the better option despite being slightly more expensive. The headphones offer superior noise cancellation and a substantially longer battery life for extended use. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Sennheiser Momentum Sport
Good for phone calls
Very good for gaming
Good for TV and video
Very good for exercise
Good for podcasts and audiobooks
Advantages of the Sony WH-1000XM5
Very good for music
Key differences
Music
7.5/10
8.2/10
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is very good for music, while the Sennheiser Momentum Sport is good.
Gaming
8.8/10
5.6/10
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport is very good for gaming, while the Sony WH-1000XM5 is poor.
Phone Calls
7.0/10
5.5/10
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport is good for phone calls, while the Sony WH-1000XM5 is poor.
Podcasts and Audiobooks
7.8/10
6.0/10
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport is good for podcasts and audiobooks, while the Sony WH-1000XM5 is only fair.
TV and Video
7.8/10
5.8/10
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport is good for TV and video, while the Sony WH-1000XM5 is poor.
Noise Reduction
8.0/10
9.1/10
The Sony WH-1000XM5 is excellent for noise reduction, while the Sennheiser Momentum Sport is very good.
Battery
6.0 Hours
40.3 Hours
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport has 6 hours of battery life. The Sony WH-1000XM5 has 40.3 hours of battery life.
Cost
$330
$398
$150
$200
$250
$300
$350
$400
The Sennheiser Momentum Sport has a price of $330 and the Sony WH-1000XM5 costs $398.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Sennheiser Momentum Sport to have excellent build quality, while the Sony WH-1000XM5 has very good build quality.
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How the Sennheiser Momentum Sport and the Sony WH-1000XM5 compare to other earbuds and headphones
"We hadn't been expecting a new pair of dedicated sports buds but the surprise was nonetheless exciting. I got to try out the new buds at CES 2024 and while they have stayed true to delivering that "signature" Sennheiser sound, with a wide soundstage and strong sense of detail, it’s the extra wearable tech inside them that stands out to me against the best workout headphones."
"The Sony WH-1000XM5 are the best Sony Bluetooth headphones so far and one of the most well-rounded Bluetooth headphones around. Look no further if you need class-leading ANC with a mostly inoffensive sound signature. Just be ready to pony up the price premium."
Get a great deal on the Sennheiser Momentum Sport or the Sony WH-1000XM5
About Sennheiser
A family-owned company, Sennheiser is a German, high fidelity, audio equipment manufacturer founded in 1945. Their consumer audio division is now owned by the Swiss hearing aid and cochlear implant manufacturer Sonova. Sennheiser offers a wide variety of, very high quality, audio equipment solutions, from headphones to earbuds, full sets of monitoring speakers, amplifiers and microphones. They also make what is widely regarded as the best, and most expensive, headphones in existence, the HE-1 Orpheus, costing a whopping $59,000 dollars.
About Sony
Sony is a multinational corporation, based out of Japan, with over 75 years of experience in the consumer electronics industry. In the audio market, Sony has been a trendsetter several times throughout its history. In 1979 they released the first-ever portable music player, the Sony Walkman, followed by the Discman 20 years later. Today, Sony is one of the leaders in the wireless headphone and earbud market, especially in terms of Active Noise Cancellation technology.
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This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec earbuds & headphones team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest earbuds or headphones information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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