Sennheiser Accentum True Wireless review

The Accentum Wireless are Sennheiser's latest true wireless earbuds and also the first under the new Accentum brand. At $200, these are meant to be the more affordable option compared to the premium Momentum range with many of the same features, just dialed back a bit.

The Accentum True Wireless feature active noise cancellation with transparency mode, Bluetooth LE audio, 7mm TrueResponse drivers, and Qi wireless charging. The design has been created in collaboration with Sonova's hearing aid division for optimal comfort. And you also get access to the Sennheiser Smart Control app, which brings features like the excellent Sound Check for personalized audio.

Design

The Accentum True Wireless has a somewhat atypical design that's more vertically oriented than the usual rounded shapes. The earbuds are somewhat chunky and bulbous and I wasn't particularly fond of the way they looked in my ears. The white model is especially good at attracting attention and if you don't appreciate that then you may want to consider the black or the dark blue colors.

Like the Momentum True Wireless 4 I reviewed recently, the Accentum True Wireless also have a large touch-sensitive surface on the outside. And just like the Momentums, this model also has the issue of activating the touch sensors literally any time you handle the earbuds. It's nearly impossible to wear or remove the earbuds without triggering the single tap gesture and like with the Momentums I just ended up disabling them to maintain my sanity.

That aside, the earbuds are well-designed with a pleasant soft-touch plastic. The body is curved in all the right places and fits comfortably within the contours of your ear. On the inner side of the earbuds are optical sensors for wear detection as well as LED lights to indicate power and connectivity status. The earbuds are also IP54 dust and splash-resistant.

Unlike the Momentum True Wireless 4, the Accentum True Wireless are very comfortable. They have a much shorter insertion depth and just sit within the outer ear. This makes them very easy to wear or take off and once they are on you almost forget they are there. This also means they probably aren't the most securely attached to your ears and while they didn't fall off during my testing, I would be a bit cautious running with them.

Another improvement over the Momentum True Wireless 4 is the case design. While the USB-C port is still in the wrong place on the front, along with a hidden LED next to it that's only visible once it lights up, the case is significantly smaller in every dimension than the one you get with the Momentums. This makes it so much easier to carry around in your pocket and while it doesn't have the same plush fabric exterior, it's still well-built. The case also supports Qi wireless charging.

Overall, while the design may be a bit of an acquired taste, the Accentum True Wireless are extremely comfortable to wear with a well-designed case.

Software and features

The Accentum True Wireless support the Sennheiser Smart Control app. We have covered this app in our recent Sennheiser reviews, so I'll keep it brief this time.

The app lets you adjust the sound profile, ANC settings, touch controls, and paired devices. For sound, you get a five-band EQ and Sennheiser's cool Sound Check feature that generates a custom profile but is unfortunately locked behind a mandatory Sennheiser login. As for ANC, it's once again dynamically adjusted but you can manually enable a wind mode, which works very well at the cost of reduced ANC, or just turn it off altogether. The transparency level can, however, be adjusted.

The touch controls are customizable, which again is necessary especially because the first thing you should be doing is disabling the single tap gestures. Lastly, one of my favorite features is battery protection mode, which cleverly prevents the earbuds from charging to 100% while also charging slower, to prevent rapid battery degradation.

Sennheiser Smart Control app

Aside from having to make a mandatory Sennheiser login to use a key feature, the other shortcoming of the app is how slow it can be to load, especially on Android. The Android app also cannot stay open in the background for more than a few minutes whereas the iOS app can stay open for days. There is a definite need for some optimization, especially on the Android app. And for the love of all that is holy, Sennheiser, get rid of the account requirement to access Sound Check.

Performance

Audio quality

The Accentum True Wireless feature Sennheiser's 7mm TrueResponse dynamic drivers. The earbuds are Bluetooth 5.3 compliant with support for SBC, AAC, aptX, and LC3 codecs and Bluetooth LE Audio support.

The Accentum True Wireless have a peppy, upbeat tuning with classic V-shaped leanings. It's certainly a lot brighter than what I have come to expect from Sennheiser, who, as those familiar with the brand would know, prefers a darker tuning.

The low end has decently boosted mid and upper bass regions, which results in punchy bass notes and warm vocals. The low bass isn't as enhanced so you don't get that deep low-frequency extension that adds the heavier rumble and thump to the sound.

The mid-range is a small step back in the soundstage and the upper mids are especially a bit clouded. Almost as if to compensate, the treble region sees a sharp rise in energy. This creates a lot of excitement in the upper regions of the sound, with sharp cymbal hits and pronounced T and S sounds. This works in some way to recover from the lackluster mid-range and slight muddiness in the bass, and creates a semblance of detail and resolution in the sound, even though it's not as resolving in practice.

The overall sound is very lively with punchy bass notes and sharp treble hits at the top and while the mids do suffer a bit, you still have decent timbre and tonality so vocals and instruments sound natural.

Compared to the more expensive Momentum True Wireless 4, the sound is certainly more lively and exciting. The Momentums can resolve a bit more detail naturally in the sound but the darker tuning makes the sound a bit mushy. The Accentums aren't as resolving but the bright tuning makes them sound cleaner and clearer. This tuning worked well with rock, jazz, and classical music while pop and rap sounded a bit too bright at times. I did prefer the tuning of the Accentums over the Momentums as I prefer a brighter sound and it complements the music I like to listen but your mileage may vary. Either can be made to sound however you like through the app.

Microphone

The Accentum True Wireless have decent microphone performance. Whatever issue was plaguing our Momentum True Wireless 4 unit wasn't present here. It's not the best-sounding microphone we have heard but it's easy to understand what the speaker is saying in a quiet environment. However, background noise cancellation isn't great so you will be hearing a fair bit of what's going on in the caller's background in noisier environments.

Noise cancellation

The Accentum True Wireless have average noise cancellation performance that doesn't quite reach the levels of the more expensive Momentum series. The culprit here seems to be the design of the eartips, which don't go especially deep in your ears. While this is great for comfort, it does affect noise cancellation performance.

This means the Accentum True Wireless just aren't as effective at ambient noises. Most of the time, I was aware of things going on around me, like the sound of the air conditioner or cars passing by outside. It's not too distracting and still better than no ANC but it's not the near-total silence that you get on some of the other models on the market.

Latency

The Accentum True Wireless have mediocre latency performance. It's fine when you're just watching videos when paired with your PC but it's not low enough for gaming. The low latency mode in the app had no appreciable impact on the latency and it wasn't clear what it really did.

Connectivity

The Accentum True Wireless had good connectivity performance. During my testing, there were no dropped connections or stutters in the sound. The multipoint feature also works well, as you can stay paired to two devices at the same time and the earbuds automatically switch between the two for audio and calls.

Battery life

Sennheiser claims a battery life of up to 6 hours when using AAC. In my testing, I used aptX and managed to get 5 hours and 33 minutes. The company also claims 1 hour of playback after a 10-minute charge. This claim held up even with aptX as I got exactly 1 hour of continuous playback.

The good thing is that the case supports both wired as well as Qi-wireless charging.

Conclusion

The Accentum True Wireless are priced at $200, which is on the pricey side, although it's more palatable in markets like India (INR 12,990). The standout feature was the comfort, which is excellent on these earbuds. The audio quality is decent as is the battery life. However, the noise cancellation performance was so-so, as were the microphone quality and latency performance.

Unfortunately for Sennheiser, there are far too many models on the market today that can do the same or better at a lower price. So while the Accentum True Wireless isn't a bad product, it will need more aggressive pricing to stand out from the crowd.