When it comes to earbuds, the sennheiser momentum 2’s are my favorite ones to listen to music
with cause these things sound amazing. They also have good active noise cancellation and
an ambient mode. But they can be a little pricey. But now we’ve got to the new Sennheiser
CX 400BT’s which aren’t as pricey and they sound just as good as the Momentum 2’s.
But they do have some trade offs. So if you’re thinking about getting the Momentum 2’s
or the CX 400BT’s here are the main differences between them and lets see which ones are right
for you.
Now first off there’s price… the Momentum 2’s have a retail price of $300 which is
a little steep for wireless earbuds. Where as the CX 400BT’s have a retail price of
$200 which is what a lot of other main stream wireless earbuds go for. Nonetheless if you
want to pick either of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now lets talk about the carrying cases here cause these cases are very different from
one another. Now both of these cases are noticeably thicker than the AirPods Pro, Galaxy Buds
Plus, Jabra Elite 75T’s or Galaxy Buds live case so you are going to notice these cases
a little more when they’re in your pocket than these other more main stream earbuds.
However the CX 400BT’s case is significantly smaller than the Momentum 2’s case making
them the better option here for everyday carry earbuds. But the momentum 2’s case does
feel more premium than the CX 400BT’s case cause it has a fabric body. You can still
travel with this case… but the smaller the case the better. But something that I do want
to point out is that the Momentum 2’s actually fit inside the CX 400BT’s case so here’s
hoping the future momentum 3’s will have a smaller case similar to the CX 400BT’s
case but with a fabric finish to it.
Now when it comes to tech specs both of these cases charge via a USB C port as they should.
But neither of these cases have wireless charging. Now personally I don’t care about wireless
charging but I do want to point it out either for people who have a phone that has powering
sharing or for people who have already invested in a few wireless charging mats.
Now when it comes to battery life the CX 400BT’s have a combined battery life of 20 hours where
as the Momentum 2’s have a combined battery life of 28 hours. Now both of these earbuds
can go for up to 7 hours straight but the main difference here is that the CX 400BT’s
case can only supply 2 additional charges where as the Momentum 2’s case can supply
3 additional charges. So at least you are getting something in return for the Momentum
2’s larger case.
Now when it comes to fit… these earbuds are the same. They both fit like your standard
pair of in ear earbuds. They don’t go in super deep into your ear canal like the Sony
WF-1000XM3’s do which feels very unnatural and they also don’t just rest at the edge
of your ear canal like the AirPods Pro do which you do end up having to readjust a lot.
These earbuds fit just like your Galaxy Buds Plus or Jabra Elite 75T’s. Now even though
yes these earbuds do look huge they don’t have a falling out issue. Once they’re in
they’re in.
Now when it comes to bluetooth connectivity both of these earbuds are using a hero and
side kick set up. Meaning that one earbud the hero earbud in this case the right earbud
actually establishes a connection with your phone and then relays that signal to the other
earbud. Meaning that if you just want to use one earbud at time you gotta use the correct
earbud in this case the right earbud.
But more inportnalty when it comes to watching movies or videos on your phone both of these
earsbuds have zero latency across the board whether you’re using an iPhone or android
device. And when it come to audio codes both of these earbuds have support for SBC, AAC,
and APTX.
But now lets talk about listening to music with these earbuds cause this is where both
of these earbuds excel. Now like I mentioned at the top of this video the CX 400BT’s
sound identical to the Momentum 2’s. Now both of these earbuds have far better instrument
separation and a wider sound stage than what you would find on other earbuds like either
the AirPods Pro, Galaxy buds plus, or Jabra Elite 75T’s. These earbuds sound much more
open and they have great clarity. And I feel these earbuds sound so good, they can actually
be a viable alternative to a pair of over ear headphones. Cause for those situations
that I don’t want to wear headphones I usually reach for one of these two. And I feel that
both of these earbuds should be able to please either people who like a neutral EQ or a more
bass heavy EQ. Now these earbuds sound very balanced when they’re using their stock
EQ. Vocals are front and center, you can hear finer details in the mid and highs and then
when the bass comes in it comes in hard and it resonates very deep. But if you want to
you can always adjust their EQ. Now thankfully a few weeks ago Sennheiser Updated the EQ
in their app. You’ve still got their classic single knob adjuster… but you can now independently
adjust the bass, mids, and treble on these earbuds giving you more control. So if you
want a bass heavy EQ you can raise the bass on these earbuds but you can also up the mids
and treble on these earbuds so that you can actually hear the vocals. Cause before if
you wanted a bass heavy EQ on Sennheiser’s earbuds or headphones then they would sound
shallow cause the mids would get pushed down. Or if you want a more vocals focused EQ but
still want a little bass you can also do that. But in general both of these earbuds sound
great and they should be able to please either people who like a neutral or vocals focused
EQ cause of their clarity, sound stage, and instrument separation… or if you like a
bass heavy EQ then earbuds also have you covered cause they can also put out a lot of crips
deep resonating bass if you want it.
Now when to comes to media controls both of these earbuds have touchpads. Now these touch
pads are strictly tap based meaning that they don’t actually have any swiping gestures.
You can tap to play or pause you music, you can double tap to skip a track, triple tap
to go back a track and you can press and hold to adjust your volume. And overall these touch
pads are very accurate. Very rarely do they actually miss any inputs for me. But if you
want to you can always customize these touch pads to your liking.
So up until now, if you’re trying to decide between getting either of these two earbuds
really the main difference is the size of their case and over all combined battery life.
Cause when it comes to sound these earbuds sound identical. But the Momentum 2’s do
have more crucial features than the CX 400BT’s the first of which is Active Noise cancellation.
Now first off I do want to tapper expectations here. The ANC on these earbuds isn’t going
to block out nearly as much noise as a proper pair of over ear headphones. And personally
I just use the ANC on any of my earbuds when I have to. But with that being said, I do
feel these earbuds do manage to block out a little more noise than the AirPods Pro.
Now that could be because these ear buds create a better seal than AirPods Pro… But I have
noticed these earbuds block out more noise and with very little cabin pressure.
But personally I do feel an ambient mode on any pair of earbuds is more important than
active noise cancelation. And this is something the Momentum 2’s also have. And the ambient
mode on these earbuds sounds natural and it does a decent job of blocking out wind noise
when walking out doors. And an ambient mode on earbuds is crucial for either when you’re
walking around the city going to work or just running errands… or even for when you’re
watching videos at home.
And unfortunately the CX 400BT’s just don’t have an ambient mode which is actually a very
standard feature on most main stream earbuds like either the Galaxy Buds Plus or Jabra
Elite 75T’s. And another feature thats sorely missing on the CX 400BTs are proximity sensors
so when you take your earbuds out that aren’t going to pause you music like most earbuds
out there do. And again this is something the Momentum 2’s do have.
So personally for me I would still spring for the Momentum 2’s not cause of their
active noise cancellation but for their Ambient mode and proximity sensors which I feel are
very important features for any pair of truly wireless earbuds.
And when it comes to the microphone on these earbuds… I feel the microphone on the Momentum
2’s is better than the microphone on the CX 400BT’s. First off the microphone on
the Momentum 2’s does much better job of blocking out ambient noise. Cause right now
you can clearly hear that AC unit in the background.
Cause if we were to switch over to the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s it is reduced quite a bit.
And also even if we were in a quite room I feel the microphone on the Momentum 2’s
sounds better cause my voice sounds clearer.
Cause even though the microphone on the CX 400BT is definitely usable for like when you’re
in a quite room… I feel my voice sounds better on the momentum 2’s cause the CX
400BT’s have a bit of amplification going on.
But with all that being said… if you’re trying to decide between getting either of
these earbuds and sound is your main priority than you can’t go wrong with either one.
And in general these are my favorite and most recommended pair of wireless earbuds when
it comes to sound quality cause their great instrument separation and wide sound stage.
And whether you like a neutral or bass heavy EQ then neither of these will disappoint.
But in general with the Momentum 2’s you get the complete package. You have active
noise cancelation but more importantly you also have an ambient mode and proximity sensors.
Which I feel are crucial features for commuters. Where as the CX 400BT’s just don’t have
an ambient mode or proximity sensors which are sorely lacking. But the CX 400BT’s are
a little more affordable and they also have the smaller case here which is
a plus.