Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 vs Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0: Which One has Better Features?

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This is the review of the comparison between the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 and the Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0. Both of these earbuds come at a premium price. To know which one has better features at their premium price, go to the detailed review.

3.3 sennheiser momentum true wireless 2 33.7 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0 1
Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0
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PROSPROS
Active Noise Cancelling. IPX4 rated (Great for the Gym).
Better battery life (7 hours + 3 charges).
AptX Bluetooth 5.1.
Great app and touch controls.
Lightweight and comfortable.
Killer sound.
Decent fit.
Premium design.
Great audio.
Lengthy battery life.
CONSCONS
Pricey.
Occasional connectivity problems.
No wireless charging. Unintuitive default controls.
ANC and Transparency Mode tax battery life.
No active noise cancellation.
Expensive.

SPECIFICATIONS:

MODELSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
BrandsennheiserB&O PLAY
ModelE8
HEADPHONESSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
Headphones Form FactorIn-Ear
Headphone TechnologyWireless
Sound Output Modestereo
CONNECTIONSSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
TypeBluetooth
Connector TypeBluetooth 5.1
REMOTE CONTROLSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
Audio Controls
Controls
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
Width1 in, 1.8 in
Depth0.7 in, 2.8 in
Height1 in, 1.3 in
Weight0.2 oz, 1.9 oz
POWERSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
Capacity
Battery Life7 hour(s)7 hour(s)
Recharge Time2 hour(s)
FEATURESSENNHEISER MOMENTUM TRUE WIRELESS 2BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY E8 3.0
FeaturesDelivers best possible listening experience at anytime 7mm dynamic driver: Experience superior sound quality from audio specialist Sennheiser

Built-in equalizer: Personalizing your audio experience ANC & Transparent Hearing: Block out or listen to your surroundings – the choice is yours

Simplifies your life during the day Customizable touch controls: Let you define your personal interface for effortless control

Smart Pause: Don’t miss any part of your favorite song with automatic play/pause feature

Voice Assistant support: Interact at a touch with Google Assistant and Apple Siri

Designed for full day wearing 7 + 21 hour playtime: Listen to music for up to 28 hours thanks to the charging case

Improved ergonomic design: Revel in sound it its smallest, most comfy form

Craftsmanship: Quality that you expect from Sennheiser brand IPX4: Splash resistant design for all weather conditions
Great audio

No sign of ANC

There are few improvements

Bluetooth 5.1

35 hour(s) battery life

Wireless charging

USB-C

Electrodynamic, 5.7 mm drivers

Expert Review of Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2:

By The Verge
Their premium price (and, for some, the touch controls) mean they won’t be for everyone. But if you’re after a pair of truly wireless earbuds that come close to matching the quality of a premium pair of noise-canceling over-ear headphones, then Sennheiser’s Momentum True Wireless 2 are easy to recommend.

By TrustedReviews
While its previous true wireless was a solid pair, Sennheiser gets it right at the second attempt. While ANC is rather light, paired with a good fit and volume control and they keep away a good deal of noise. The real star is the audio quality: expressive, lush, and enjoyable, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 are one of the best pairs on the market.

By Engadget
Sennheiser’s second-generation true wireless earbuds not only have extended battery life and active noise cancellation, but they’re also more pleasant to use. The touch controls are a lot more reliable this time around and the company kept the customization that allows you to fine-tune settings. The only unfortunate thing here is the price.

By cnet
The second-generation Momentum True Wireless 2 still has that elevated $300 price. But they’re better all around, with a slightly smaller, more comfortable design, active noise canceling that rivals that of the AirPod Pro, improved battery life (up to seven hours versus the original’s four), and better noise reduction during calls. That makes them arguably the best true wireless earbuds on the market today.

By What Hi-Fi?
These Sennheisers are more comfortable and nicer to use than their predecessors, battery life is better and noise-canceling is now included as part of the package. They’re easy to live with and you could happily listen to them for hours on end without reaching for the pause button. If your budget allows, your ears will be handsomely rewarded.

Expert Reviews of Bang & Olufsen E8 3.0:

By trusted reviews
They aim to fix the niggling design flaws of the first two generations of the model while retaining the same premium design and top-quality audio that made the original Beoplay E8 and Beoplay E8 2.0 great.

By Rtings
The B&O PLAY E8 3.0 True Wireless is the 3rd generation of the E8 headphones. They’re premium in-ear headphones that are versatile for everyday life. While they’re not as comfortable as the previous model, the B&O PLAY Beoplay E8 2.0 Truly Wireless 2019, the E8 3.0 have a much longer single-charge battery life and more charges in the case. Their warm sound profile is also fairly well-balanced and should be well-suited to a wide variety of genres like R&B. Whether you’re out on a light run or commuting to work, their sleek and small design makes them good earbuds for those on the go.

By Engadget
The first difference you’ll notice between the second- and third-generation E8 is size. This latest version is noticeably smaller. While it’s still circular, you’ll also see that the hump on top is gone. B&O was able to improve the fit, thanks to the modest size reduction. The company says it used 3D modeling to accommodate a wider range of ear shapes and sizes. The third-generation model is also slightly lighter, but I had a hard time telling much difference.

By headphonecheck.com
Bang & Olufsen are not resting on their laurels. On the contrary, one year after the release of the second-generation model, they are launching a revised third version of their premium E8 model. Here we take a look at what they are capable of.

By Soundguys
Bang & Olufsen (B&O) is one of those companies that a lot of people know of, but most people don’t. Those with keen eyes might recognize the company’s products from those times they were browsing the Apple store waiting for a genius bar appointment. For the most part, though, I bet most people couldn’t name two of their products.

Detail Review:

INTRODUCTION:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

The new Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2 earbuds are the sequel to Sennheiser’s first truly wireless earbuds from back in 2018 which are still regarded by many to be the best sounding truly wireless earbuds on the market. This second-generation here boasts industry-leading sound quality, active noise cancellation, 28 hours of listening per charge, improved comfort, and much more. These earbuds seem to affixed every possible complaint from the originals.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

The Bang & Olufsen E8 third generation earbuds have some very bold claims in the box and are some of the most premium earbuds on the market. These have Bluetooth 5.1, up to 35 hours of playback time, wireless charging, and they claim superior sound. They are retailing for $350.

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BUILD QUALITY AND DESIGN:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

The case is covered in the fabric very similar to what we saw in the first pair. Overall it is a relatively large case compared to the Galaxy Buds or the Airpods case. You’ll see that it is definitely much larger but it certainly doesn’t weigh much more. I really do like how the case looks with that fabric and they actually have two colors black and white.

When we look at the back, you’ll see that there is an LED right there. That is your indicator light for your battery levels. You have the USB type-c charging next to it, you have a button right there to check the battery indicator. If you press that and it tells you what the battery level is and then on the bottom you just have a nice little label right there tells you a little bit about the earbuds.

The earbuds themselves do have quite a few nodes on the inside. I believe the two larger ones are just four magnets to hold it in the case there and then the other four should be for charging and communicating with the case so you know what the battery levels are. Next to the nodes, you’ll see there is a proximity sensor there, so these do have the ability to detect when they’re in or out of your ears which is very nice for the auto-play and auto-pause feature. So, when you put these in your ears it’ll automatically start playing, when you take them out it’ll automatically pause. We have a small LED right there and this LED is just for basic communication that lets you know when you’re in like pairing mode and stuff like that.

These do also have active noise cancellation which is using the microphone on the outside for. Then on the bottom, you see the little microphone for just phone calls, and then lastly you have the metallic finish on the Sennheiser logo on the outside of the earbud there, which is your touchpad. You can touch it one, two, three times, or tap and hold it all for different functions on each earbud and it is customizable. It looks more textured than it actually is but I assure you when you feel it, it’s actually very smooth and it feels pretty normal.

These have IPX4 water resistance which means they should be okay if you’re sweating or if it’s drizzling outside you shouldn’t have to worry about these. Obviously, don’t wear them in like the shower or if you’re you know swimming or something. It also comes with a USB-C charging cable although, I will say the charging cable is kind of short.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

The case is entirely wrapped in leather, really nice soft leather, and if you smell it doesn’t actually smell like typical leather. It actually just has a nice smooth leather texture there and really no odor to it at all. Also, they have that kind of really high gloss aluminum chamfer around the bottom half right there, which I think is a pretty nice look. If you see these from any angle, you’re gonna get some kind of shine from these earbuds and it just makes them look more premium.

You also have an LED indicator light on the front on that chamfer, so pretty sleek they put that down there. Then on the back, we have our hinge right above the USB type-c charging port, but that’s not the actual, not the only way you can be charging these. They also have Qi wireless charging which is really nice. The size of the case though is not slightly larger than some other cases we see, but it’s about the same size as the Sennheiser case.

They’re still magnetic closure, but when you open it and it’s just a really gentle smooth feel right there. The earbuds are also held in with magnets, so if we shake it they don’t come out which is nice. The earbuds sit really nicely in there and again aluminum chamfer right around with the earbuds sitting to give it a nice premium aesthetic on the case.

On the outside of the earbuds, we have a microphone on the left side right there, then we have our touchpad in the middle with the B&O logo right there. At the bottom of the earbud, we have our second microphone right there, so these do have two microphones on either earbud which should be better for sound quality when you’re on a phone call. In the inner parts of the earbud, we have two indents those are your locating features when you drop it in the case to line up the little nodes onto the pogo pins in there that’s how you charge it. Then above that, we have our little LED right there.

My complaint here is that these do not have a proximity sensor which for $350. So, these don’t have an auto-play, auto-pause feature. If you take them out of your ears, they don’t automatically pause. That’s definitely a really big drawback in my opinion for earbuds that are this expensive that’s something you see on like sub $100 level earbuds.

COMFORT:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

We have the squishy tip right there in the earbuds, that goes in your ear. There are four different ear tips sizes that can help you in the fit. I like how this has kind of a different design there. They have kind of a cross in the middle which does keep them a little bit cleaner on the inside, keep stuff from getting in there, and on top of that. It adds a little bit of rigidity in kind of the right way. In my opinion, these are pretty compliant but at the same time, they’re definitely firm enough that they fit in my ear. They seal it really well and they have a really good passive noise blocking situation there.

As far as comfort I would say these are very comfortable. I can put them in my ear and like I mentioned earlier, having a little cross design in the silicon tip there makes them very comfortable and I have no problem wearing these for as long as really any other pair. You do have to kind of twist it a little bit when it goes into your ear. They fit similarly to like I would say that Jabra Elite 75t it’s probably the most similar fit to these but it just feels very natural. I think the ergonomics make sense on this pair of earbuds.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

The earbuds themselves are not large but they’re definitely not that small compared to some other earbuds. When you put them in your ear, you’ll see they fit reasonably well, they don’t stick out too far, and they don’t look too bad. I think they’re smaller than some of the older earbuds but they’re definitely not as compact as maybe like the Jabra or the Galaxy Buds for example, which are generally tighter into your ear. These are definitely more compact than the previous generation of the same earbuds, but not the smallest.

There are four different sizes for the silicone ear tips in the box and then there’s also a pair of foam tips as well. So, no matter what your ear shape is these should be fitting pretty well in your ear. As far as comfort goes I find that when you put them in, you have to do like the slight twist as you do with most of your buds. These definitely feel pretty good, they’re not really too intrusive or uncomfortable, but I will also say if you’re going for a run with these you can’t expect them to kind of lift and fall out a little bit as you start to run faster it’s something I found.

Just for general if you’re sitting at a desk or walking or just doing some basic work, you probably won’t have an issue with these falling out, but these are definitely not designed for working out. Although they do actually have water resistance so if you are going for a run and you’re sweating or if it’s raining outside you shouldn’t have to worry about these. They’re IP54 water-resistant, so that’s nice.

3.7 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0 3

FEATURES:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

Inside the Sennheiser app, you’ll see that it is actually pretty straightforward, this is the better version. At the bottom, you can turn transparent hearing on or off and transparent hearing sounds pretty good, you hear your surroundings pretty naturally, it doesn’t sound bad or weird and it definitely serves its function. There you have the equalizer in which we have a little dot you can slide all over the place and it just changes the curve.

Then if we go to the settings on the top right there, you can go and turn on or off all the different things like an auto-accept call when you take the earbuds out, active noise cancellation, smart pause, you can also go into earbuds customization right there and if you tap and hold for two seconds, it’ll show you what all of the controls are. You can fully customize all of the controls, not just the tap and hold, not just a triple tap, you can choose the single tap on either one to be play-pause or if you want the voice assistance.

I have tried with the active noise cancellation on or off and they also have kind of like a pass-through mode as well. So, you can hear things around you. I would say that they do a really good job of cutting out the low frequencies and it’s a very clean cut as well. So, if you’re listening to just like static white noise and then you turn on the active noise cancellation, it won’t go totally silent but what it will do is it totally cuts out the low end of that and you only hear the high end which tends to be less disruptive when you’re listening to music.

Also, generally, high-end sounds get more blocked by the passive noise cancellation of the earbuds themselves. So, if you are on like an airplane or a loud train or something like that, these definitely do a really good job of removing like engine sounds and traffic sounds and a lot of the ambiance that may be bothersome when you’re trying to focus or listen to music.

When you put these in or take them out of your ears, they should automatically play and pause but one drawback here is actually the way these connect to your phone. They don’t individually connect instead, you have like the master and slave connection as they call it, where one earbud connected to your phone, and the other earbud is connected to that earbud. I will say if you’re wearing only one earbud because you’re worried about hearing your surroundings you really shouldn’t have a problem with these earbuds, because they do have transparency mode.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

The touch controls here are also easy. If you single tap the left bud you get transparency mode, if you double-tap you get the previous track if you triple-tap nothing happens, and then if you tap and hold that’s your volume control for either bud if you double-tap the right bud you go forward a track. if you single tap the right bud play or pause and then the right bud strangely does have triple-tap summons your voice assistant Google, Siri, or whatever you’re using.

They have Bluetooth 5.1 which is the next iteration of Bluetooth, but most good earbuds on the market today Bluetooth 5.0. Unfortunately, a big complaint I have with these earbuds is that for the price point at $350, they do not have active noise cancellation which I think really drops them back in the competition. Many other earbuds on the market today at this price or even lower have really good active noise cancellation. Not everybody is going to use active noise cancellation, but all things considered, I really do wish they added that or else they lowered the price on these earbuds.

They actually do have transparency mode which is nice, if you single tap the left earbud you can go into transparency mode and it does sound pretty natural. I found that you hear your surroundings very well with transparency mode. They definitely do have a little bit more white noise and almost a little bit of crackling here and there, and it’s something that I’ve been hearing with this not just with transparency mode, but also when they’re just not in transparency mode.

There is no multi pairing with these which is definitely a very unfortunate thing right there. They don’t have a single-point connection, which means that you have a master-slave bud type system here which is pretty common we have that in the Sennheiser buds as well. There are a couple of drawbacks related to battery life and connection and strength.

In the app, you can see there it’s a very simple app they just show the earbuds right there. If we tap on the Bang & Olufsen E8 right there, it brings us into the controls we have. So, you can control the volume right there, it was a little slider that’s kind of cool. You can hit play-pause and skip songs from the app if you really wanted to. There are different listening modes, which is essentially your EQ, so you can go to optimal, commute, clear, podcasts like they’re not super descriptive, but if you want something more descriptive, you can go into the little circular EQ right there.

If we go back in the app, when we can go down there is transparency mode and you can turn it up and down. There are three different settings there for transparency mode but I really don’t hear much of a difference. We can go down for an automatic standby you can enable that, which means that they just turn off after 15 minutes without being used. That’s pretty much all you’re really going to be doing in the app there.

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BATTERY AND ITS LIFE:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

Unfortunately, this does not have wireless charging. That’s one small drawback there, that you don’t have Qi wireless charging on the case there but regardless, the case does actually have very long battery life. They claim you have seven hours of battery in each earbud plus 21 extra hours in the case for 28 total hours of listening which is longer than the Galaxy Buds which have claimed 22 and longer than the Airpods Pro which have a claimed 24.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

You are getting 35 hours is to combine time, there are seven hours on the earbuds and 28 hours in the case. Definitely a pretty hefty battery. You are getting a USB Type-C port for charging. Also, Qi wireless charging is available, by which you can charge the case easily.

SOUND:

Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2

Honestly, out of everything with these earbuds, this is the biggest selling point. These have very long battery life and really cool features and they look pretty good but like I mentioned the biggest reason why people will be buying these especially, at a high price point is for the audio quality.

The first thing that I really like is how well the balance translates to all different volumes. What I mean is some cheap or earbuds you try or even in mid-range earbuds, as you go down in volume they start to maybe lose bass and you get a lot of trebles and then when you go to the highest volume you may get a lot more bass and the treble kind of drops out or maybe the mids drop out a little bit. Whereas, with these, it’s almost hard to tell what volume you’re at.

Especially, when you have active noise cancellation on because of that all the volumes as you go up and down have like a very similar balance and it sounds really good. That’s something I really like about these earbuds. They have excellent low-level detail, they also sound very rich and very well balanced. So, just listening to these they almost need no EQ at all and they do have an EQ in the app but honestly, you may want to tweak that like very slightly but for the most part, it already sounds really good. It’s really very well balanced, it’s like it’s warm and pleasant.

You also have really good attention to like low-level detail in different instruments from my experience. You get a lot of clarity that a lot of other buds really don’t give you. Audio quality can be somewhat subjective based on like your ear shape, or what your ears are able to hear, and what kind of music you listen to, as well as what you like to hear in music, but I would say these have an incredible sound quality that is really kind of unmatched by many other pairs of earbuds. These also do have Qualcomm AFT X which should be really good for your audio quality if you’re trying to listen to a title or other hi-fi music.

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0

This has AAC, SBC, and Qualcomm AptX. I love to see AptX in there, it should sound really good. Unfortunately, the first drawback is that these do have a slight hiss pretty much. No matter what if your kinds of music paused, if you’re listening to a podcast or quieter music, you definitely will. I am distracted by that, but louder music you may not notice it.

These are pretty bright sounding earbuds and they are a little bit thin right out of the box. They are pretty flat so you can go into the EQ on the app and you can adjust that. I found that they could use a little bit more instrument separation it’s not perfect in that aspect and they are definitely less full sounding. Especially, compared to something like the Sennheiser buds these are a little bit less full sounding and more focused with a spotlight on the higher vocals.

At some point, there is almost a little bit too much emphasis on snares so you can adjust that in the EQ and I found it works out. EQ gives you a little bit more of a rumbly bass and it does give you some pretty good Rumble there. It’s definitely not nearly what we saw with the Jabra Elites the 75t give you an insane like a seismic bass. These won’t give you quite that much, but definitely a pretty good Rumble there.

Although, it does get a little bit muddy and slightly more distant-sounding, being that you’re essentially maxing the bass on these when you adjust the EQ. So, it’s in workout mode and there’s definitely less detail on bass and low vocals, but there’s an emphasis on the higher vocal. Overall, I would say they sound decent, they sound pretty good, and if these were somewhere around 200 to 240 dollars I would say they sound really good, but at $350 that kind of price point without active noise cancellation and with a few other things missing, it’s not good just ok.

3.7 Bang & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0 4

WHICH ONE HAS BETTER FEATURES?

In my opinion, the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2  has better features than the Band & Olufsen Beoplay E8 3.0 because the B&O has no active noise cancellation, no find my buds feature in the app, there are some white noise and some hissing, and you cannot customize the earbud controls at the price range of $350. In Sennheiser, you have all the above features at the price range of $300.