Sennheiser might have just fixed one of the few remaining problems posed by true wireless earbuds in 2026 – when their batteries degrade, in most cases they're rendered near-useless. For a long time, when your earbuds started to barely hold a charge, you were toast.
Now, with the newly unveiled Momentum True Wireless 5 (joining the five-star over-ear Momentum 5 Wireless from earlier this year), we finally have a mainstream earbud that features a fully user-replaceable battery system.
With just a regular (albeit small) screwdriver, you'll be able to replace the battery on each of these earbuds when it's degraded, with Sennheiser committed to selling that spare part. In fact, the charging case itself will also feature the same boast, so you can take care of all parts of the earbud system.
Anyone who remembers the last two generations of Momentum True Wireless will also easily spot a very new design for the earbuds, too. Gone is the squared-off shape, replaced by a far smoother and more ergonomic one. Sennheiser told me that the overall volume of each earbud hasn't changed much, but that this new version should be more comfortable for most people.
Excitingly, Sennheiser is also bucking its former plans and launching a range of colours immediately, rather than drip-feeding them over the next two years. You can choose between Graphite, Cream, Copper, Denim and Lavender, with that blue denim colour looking particularly handsome to our eyes.
It's also upgraded the earbuds' actual battery life, which now stands at around 12 hours on a charge with ANC on, and a total of around 40 hours including the power in the case.
That ANC should also be improved, too, with extra microphones, one of which is a bone-conduction mic to help the earbuds pick up your voice more accurately and reject outside noise better for your call quality.
Another headline addition is full Dolby Atmos compatibility, which could make these an immersive choice for your commute movie-viewing if you're using a compatible service (like Apple TV in many cases).
All of this adds up to quite an exciting launch for Sennheiser, after the superb Momentum 5 Wireless, and the earbuds will be available to order from 3 September, coming in at £249.99, €299.90, $299.95 and $479.95 AUD (the same as the last generation at launch).
