In-Ear Fidelity

If it's not on the list, it doesn't exist

crinacle's

Buyer's Guide

Best (sounding) True Wireless Earphones

Ah yes, “wireless”. A word that sends shivers down the spine of any self-proclaimed audiophile and the catalyst for many an internet argument. And yet its popularity grows, unfettered by claims of inferior audio and further bolstered by the success of Apple’s AirPods.

But you know, given its appeal to what is mainly the mainstream consumer market, there doesn’t seem to be anyone doing a proper comparison of these true wireless buds solely on the metric of “sound quality”. And so here I am, bringing to you my perspectives on these little things ranked in the order of worst to best.

Here is when I remind everyone again that this is my opinion on the best sounding TWS earphones. Let the other tech review sites talk about the build, the usability, the UI etc. whatever. I’ll focus on what I’m good at and what most readers skip to in the first place.

Overwhelmed? Refer to the list of recommendations

Master list of reviewed TWS IEMs

(Alphabetically ordered)

1More Stylish: “The Award Winner”
Advanced Model X: “The Pandering”
AKG N400: “The Sweet Spot”
Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro: “That Linus TWS”
Apple AirPods Pro: “The Mainstream”
Audio Technica ATH-CK3TW: “The Imbalanced”
Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW: “Acoustically Challenged”
Audio Technica ATH-CKR7TW: “The Banshee”
Audio Technica ATH-SPORT7TW: “Combo Breaker”
AVIOT TE-D01: “Eastern Appeal”
BGVP Q2: “The Wired”
Bose SoundSport Free: “The Open”
Edifier TWS1: “The Expected”
Edifier TWS5: “Excellence in Theory”
Fostex TM2: “The Exotic”
Hifiman TWS600: “TWS: The Worst Sound”
Jabra Elite Active 65t: “The Popular”
Jabra Elite 75t: “The Anticipated”
Jaybird Vista: “The Has-been”
Kinera YH623: “The Bassiest”
KZ E10: “Mould Breaker”
KZ S2: “The Beater”
Lypertek Tevi: “The Acclaimed”
Master & Dynamic MW07: “The Hypebeast”
Noble Falcon: “The Unmagical”
Nuarl NT01: “Middle of the Road”
Nuarl NT100: “Local Hype”
QCY T5: “The Threat”
Samsung Galaxy Buds: “The Dark Horse”
Samsung Galaxy Buds+: “Objectivist’s Dream”
Samsung Galaxy Buds2: “The Refinement”
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro: “The Plateau”
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless: “Carried by Name”
Sony WF-1000XM3: “Top Dog”
Sony WF-1000XM4: “Second Dog”

All awarded grades are in reference to the IEM ranking list.

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless

"Carried by Name"

Frequency response measurement

Product page: https://en-us.sennheiser.com/truewireless-details

MSRP: $300

Ah Sennheiser, how the mighty have fallen. Once the messiah of the audio world now resorting to cheap tricks and gimmicks designed to entice the lowest common denominator. Or perhaps that’s just my hatred for the HD820 leaking out again.

The Momentum True Wireless isn’t bad by any means, but it is pretty much similar in performance to its wired counterpart. Though I have to stress that the Momentum In-Ear and the Momentum True Wireless are not identical, differing slightly in presentation.

The more I hear the MTW, the more I don’t get it. It’s a mainstream kind of sound for sure but it isn’t impressive in the least in technical aspects such as definition, speed or even tonal accuracy. It doesn’t sound wrong outright, but then again if it did it’ll be ranked much lower than it is right now. 

The only explanation I can give is that the MTW is solely carried by the name that is “Sennheiser”, leading to a level of cognitive dissonance for the inexperienced. 

Grade: C-

Changelog

12/09/21: Added the following:

16/01/21: Added Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro

26/06/20: Added AKG N400

10/04/20: Added KZ S2

19/02/20: Added Samsung Galaxy Buds+

17/02/20: Added the following

  • BGVP Q2
  • Kinera YH263

09/02/20: Added the following

  • 1More Stylish
  • Anker Soundcore Liberty 2 Pro
  • Audio Technica ATH-CKS7TW
  • Edifier TWS1
  • Edifier TWS5
  • Jabra Elite 75t
  • Lypertek Tevi

13/12/19: Added the following

  • Advanced Model X
  • Hifiman TWS600
  • Jaybird Vista
  • KZ E10
  • QCY T5

05/12/19: Added Noble Falcon

01/12/19: Added the following

  • Apple AirPods Pro
  • Audio Technica ATH-CK3TW
  • Audio Technica ATH-CKS5TW
  • Bose SoundSport Free
  • Fostex TM2
  • Nuarl NT01
  • Nuarl NT100

14/07/19: Guide created with the following IEMs

  • Audio Technica ATH-SPORT7TW
  • AVIOT TE-D01b/d
  • B&O  Beoplay E8
  • Jabra Elite Active 65t
  • Master & Dynamic MW07
  • Samsung Galaxy Buds
  • Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless
  • Sony WF-1000XM3