Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless vs Apple AirPods Max 2: Longevity? Or luxury?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 both target buyers looking for premium ANC headphones, but they take very different paths to get there. Sennheiser focuses on long battery life, flexible connectivity, and long-term practicality, while Apple leans heavily into ecosystem integration, spatial audio, and premium materials. So, which flagship headphones actually make more sense for your money? Let’s break it all down and find out.
How has this article been updated?
This article was originally published on May 27th, 2026, and is the first version.
What’s it like to use the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless compared to the AirPods Max 2?
The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless focuses more on practicality and flexibility, while the AirPods Max 2 leans heavily into Apple ecosystem features.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 feel very different the moment you put them on. Design-wise, Sennheiser focuses more on practicality and long-term comfort, while Apple leans heavily into premium materials and a more rigid design. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless uses mostly plastic construction with metallic accents and a fabric headband, while the AirPods Max 2 sticks with aluminum earcups and Apple’s signature mesh headband.
The AirPods Max 2 are also substantially heavier. At roughly 386g, they weigh far more than the 291g MOMENTUM 5 Wireless, and I noticed that extra weight during longer listening sessions. That added weight partly comes from Apple’s more premium construction. The aluminum earcups and tightly integrated hardware make the AirPods Max 2 feel more luxurious in-hand, though Apple’s stronger clamping force also makes the headphones feel tighter on the head. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless, meanwhile, feels lighter and more relaxed overall.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless offers a lighter design and dramatically better battery life than the AirPods Max 2.
Both headphones offer spacious earcups that comfortably fit around the ears, though Apple’s magnetic ear cushions are much easier to remove and replace. Sennheiser does offer one major durability advantage, though: a user-replaceable battery. You can remove the ear pads, unscrew the driver housing, and swap in a replacement battery years down the line, which is extremely rare for premium ANC headphones.
Neither pair of headphones folds inward, though Sennheiser at least includes a proper protective carrying case. Apple’s Smart Case, meanwhile, still offers minimal protection overall. Additionally, neither pair carries an official IP rating, so neither is especially ideal for gym use or sweaty workouts.
Do the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless or AirPods Max 2 have more features?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 offer very different feature sets. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless includes an 8-band EQ in the Smart Control app, adaptive ANC controls, aptX Adaptive, Snapdragon Sound certification, Multipoint pairing, and support for both USB-C and analog wired listening.
The AirPods Max 2, meanwhile, centers much more around Apple-exclusive ecosystem features. Features like automatic device switching, Conversation Awareness, Personalized Volume, Voice Isolation, Personalized Spatial Audio, and digital audio over USB-C work seamlessly across Apple devices, though many of them aren’t available on Android.
Personalized Volume and Conversation Awareness are nice additions, but aren’t must-haves.
Sennheiser also includes a few genuinely useful long-term features that Apple still doesn’t offer, including a user-replaceable battery and battery protection tools inside the Smart Control app designed to help preserve long-term battery health.
Apple still doesn’t offer any real EQ customization, though, which feels limiting compared to Sennheiser’s much more flexible app experience. If you primarily use Apple devices, the AirPods Max 2 offers one of the smoothest ecosystem experiences available. Otherwise, the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless feels far more customizable overall.
How do the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and AirPods Max 2 connect?
Each unit supports digital audio over USB-C for wired listening.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 both offer strong wired and wireless connectivity, though Sennheiser supports a much wider range of codecs. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless supports SBC, AAC, aptX, and aptX Adaptive over Bluetooth 5.4, alongside Snapdragon Sound certification and Multipoint pairing. The AirPods Max 2, meanwhile, uses Bluetooth 5.3 and only supports the SBC and AAC codecs.
Both headphones also support digital audio over USB-C, allowing you to listen wired without needing an external DAC. Sennheiser additionally includes a traditional 3.5mm analog cable in the box, giving the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless a bit more flexibility for older devices and in-flight entertainment systems.
Apple still has the stronger ecosystem integration overall, especially for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. Features like automatic device switching and audio sharing work seamlessly across Apple devices. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless, however, feels much more platform-agnostic, especially if you regularly switch between Android, Windows, and Apple hardware.
Is battery life better on the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless or AirPods Max 2?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless holds a massive advantage over the Apple AirPods Max 2 when it comes to battery life. Sennheiser rates the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless for over 50 hours of playback with ANC enabled, while the AirPods Max 2 is only rated for up to 20 hours.
That gap is substantial, especially if you travel often or have a lengthy commute. Sennheiser also includes battery protection features inside the Smart Control app alongside a user-replaceable battery, which should help preserve long-term battery health. Battery life remains one of the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless’ biggest advantages over the AirPods Max 2.
Do the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless or AirPods Max 2 block noise better?
The Apple AirPods Max 2 still has the edge in ANC performance overall, though the gap between these headphones is smaller than you might expect. The AirPods Max 2 attenuates roughly 89.4% of outside noise by perceived loudness, compared to roughly 86% on the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless.
That said, the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless is still a major improvement over previous Sennheiser ANC headphones. In testing, it does a much more consistent job reducing low-frequency noise and common distractions like HVAC hum, road noise, and nearby conversations. The deeper ear cups also help improve passive isolation compared to older MOMENTUM models.
Fit still matters more than these small percentage differences suggest, though. Getting a proper seal around your ears will have a much larger impact on perceived isolation than the roughly 3% gap between these headphones. Both still deliver excellent ANC performance overall.
Do the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless sound better than the AirPods Max 2?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 sound fairly different out of the box. Both use elevated bass tunings, but the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless places more emphasis on the upper mids and lower treble. The AirPods Max 2, meanwhile, has a noticeable dip in parts of the higher treble range.
Objective Measurements
Compared to the SoundGuys headphone preference curve, both headphones emphasize bass out of the box. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless places more emphasis on the upper mids and lower treble, while the AirPods Max 2 features a noticeable recession around 5kHz before emphasizing parts of the higher treble range again. Both headphones also have unevenness in the highs that can slightly reduce brilliance on cymbals and other high-frequency elements.
The AirPods Max 2 also behaves differently at different listening volumes due to Apple’s loudness-dependent EQ system. At lower listening levels, the headphones increase bass strength, though the bass response becomes more restrained as volume increases. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless remains much more consistent across different listening volumes.
Sennheiser also gives you much more control over the sound. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless includes an 8-band EQ inside the Smart Control app, while Apple still doesn’t offer meaningful manual EQ controls for the AirPods Max 2.
How would most people rate the sound from 1 to 5?
What do the Multi-Dimensional Audio Quality Scores mean?
- Timbre (MOS-T) represents how faithfully the headphones reproduce the frequency spectrum and temporal resolution (timing information).
- Distortion (MOS-D) represents non-linearities and added noise: higher scores mean cleaner reproduction.
- Immersiveness (MOS-I) represents perceived source width and positioning: how well virtual sound sources are defined in three-dimensional space.
Both headphones score well overall in our MDAQS testing, meaning most listeners will likely enjoy the sound of either pair. The AirPods Max 2 earns the higher overall score at 4.3 compared to 4.0 on the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless, largely thanks to its stronger Timbre and Immersiveness scores.
The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless does stand out in one area, though: Distortion. Its unusually high Distortion score of 4.7 suggests very clean reproduction even at higher listening volumes. Still, the AirPods Max 2 delivers the more balanced performance overall according to our testing.
Do the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless or AirPods Max 2 have a better microphone?
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 both perform well for phone calls and video chats, though Apple still has a slight edge for iPhone users thanks to features like Voice Isolation. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless does a particularly good job reducing wind noise in my testing, while the AirPods Max 2 generally sounds a bit more natural overall.
Take a listen to the microphone samples below to hear the differences for yourself.
Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless microphone demo (Ideal conditions):
AirPods Max 2 microphone demo (Ideal conditions with Voice Isolation):
Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless microphone demo (Windy conditions):
AirPods Max 2 microphone demo (Windy conditions with Voice Isolation):
Loading poll
Should you get the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless or AirPods Max 2?
The Momentum 5 offers better value than the AirPods Max 2.
The Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless and Apple AirPods Max 2 are both excellent premium ANC headphones, but they appeal to very different buyers. The MOMENTUM 5 Wireless offers dramatically better battery life, broader codec support, a lighter and more comfortable fit, and much more flexibility across Android, Windows, and Apple devices. The AirPods Max 2, meanwhile, delivers slightly stronger ANC, deeper Apple ecosystem integration, and one of the smoothest software experiences available for iPhone users.
For most people, the Sennheiser MOMENTUM 5 Wireless is the easier headphone to recommend. Features like the user-replaceable battery, USB-C and analog wired audio support, aptX Adaptive, and the 8-band EQ make the headphones feel far more practical long-term, especially at the lower price.
That said, the AirPods Max 2 still makes a lot of sense for dedicated Apple users. Features like automatic device switching, Personalized Spatial Audio, Voice Isolation, and digital audio over USB-C create an experience that still feels uniquely polished within Apple’s ecosystem.
Neither pair is cheap, though. The AirPods Max 2 leans harder into luxury materials and ecosystem features, while the MOMENTUM 5 Wireless feels more focused on practicality, customization, and longevity.
Loading poll
