Sennheiser Accentum Wireless Review: Affordable and Reliable

In a nutshell

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless has been available for purchase since September 26, 2023, at a price of $179.95. That's half of what it costs for the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4 (review), which happens to be the manufacturer's current flagship headset.

Logically, you will make a few technical compromises to achieve this price point. However, the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless still offers active noise cancellation, a sleek, clean design, and an HD audio codec, not to mention an excellent battery life.

If you are fed up with wireless headphones that pass the $300 mark, the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless is a great, affordable alternative.

Design

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless is based on the design language of its high-end counterpart, the Momentum Wireless 4. Sennheiser settled for a number of compromises to keep costs down. These do not detract from the headphones' meticulous finish, but the difference is noticeable when pitted against the flagship model.

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Pros:

• Sober, minimalist look.
• Well-padded, comfortable ear cushions.

Cons:

• No IP rating.
• No wear detection.
• Headband is a little tight.
• Controls via touch buttons are difficult to master.
• No carrying case included.
• Headphones cannot be folded.

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The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless has a very clean look. There is no ostentatious logo adorning the black-on-black shade without any unsightly bits protruding. I found the finish to be very neat.

Upon closer inspection, you can see that the headphones are made almost entirely out of plastic. The ear pads feature a leatherette cover and are very comfortable to wear, albeit being a little too warm at times. The headband padding is covered with a kind of hard rubber.

I also found the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless to be a little too tight when worn. It's also a shame that the headphones cannot be folded and that there's no carrying case at all. At least the earcups can be rotated up to 180°, letting you wear them comfortably around your neck.

The headset is not IP-certified for water resistance, either. I did wear them in the snow without running into any problems. The fact that the headband hugs the head a little also gives it good support, letting you consider it for sporting activities.

Finally, Sennheiser is really invested in the minimalist look when it comes to controls. You have four physical buttons with two dedicated ones for volume while the other two wield multifunction capabilities.

The central button controls work like these:

• Single press: play/pause/hang up.
• Double press: next track/answer a call.
• Triple press: previous track.
• Long press: mute microphone during a call.

The second multifunction button is for pairing and power. A long press on it toggles between active noise cancellation and transparency mode.

I discovered that getting to grips with the controls do take some time to get used to. As the buttons are also quite small without anything to identify their function, you will have to memorize them by heart. Wrong input will be a common experience at first. Personally, I've always preferred to use the application to get the job done.

Audio quality

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless features 37 mm drivers and can reproduce a frequency range from 10 to 22,000 Hz. It is also welcome the headphones support the aptx HD audio codec.

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Pros:

• aptX/aptX HD codec support.
• Generous bass.

Cons:

• No Hi-Res certification.
• Slight lack of treble precision.
• No jack plug or audio via USB-C.

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The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless can go quite low when it comes to the bass. As always with Sennheiser (and almost all other manufacturers), the default profile is very low.

Here, I found it to be even a little too low, drowning out the rest of the musical message in certain areas, especially selected voices and instruments in the treble. All is not lost, however, as thanks to the equalizer, you can achieve a fairly balanced reproduction.

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless supports SBC, AAC, and aptX/aptX HD codecs. It's nice to have an HD audio codec on mid-range headphones, whereas this is sometimes not the case on much more expensive models. The headphones are therefore HD-certified (24-bit/48 kHz transmission), but not Hi-Res.

Apart from concerns about precision in the treble and bass, which sometimes tend to drag out a little, the audio quality is perfectly acceptable for headphones in this price range. My only regret is the absence of a jack plug. USB-C audio isn't included either, but that makes more sense in this price range. On the other hand, you can use the headset when plugged into USB-C for recharging, and that's a nice feature to have.

Active Noise Cancellation (ANC)

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless offers active noise cancellation (ANC) in addition to its excellent passive isolation. The result is more than impressive for wireless headphones in this price range.

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Pros:

• Surprisingly effective ANC.

Cons:

• ANC is not adjustable and cannot be deactivated.
• Unnatural transparency mode.

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I'll disclose this right away: the active noise cancellation of the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless isn't as good as on flagship models like the Sony WH-1000XM5, the Bose QC Ultra Headphones, or the Sennheiser Momentum Wireless 4.

What did you expect? These headphones cost half as much. Compared with my Soundcore Space Q45 (review), which I've been using for a year and which cost $150 when released, I found the ANC of the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless to be the better performer.

Surprisingly, I sometimes found the active noise cancellation more effective at the high end of the frequency spectrum. It's usually the other way around. Solid noises such as footsteps, engine noise, etc. were filtered out very well. However, even certain voices and more airy sounds were correctly "cancelled out."

The only problem is consistency, but apart from that, the ANC's effectiveness surprised me. As for the transparency mode, I'm less impressed by it. While it works, the rendering isn't that natural.

Last but not least, you cannot disable active noise cancellation. You can use the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless with ANC or in transparency mode only, with no other option in between.

Application & features

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless can be operated via the Smart Control companion app. It's available for free on Android and iOS, and you don't have to create an account. All in all, the features are pretty well catered to. The Sound Zone feature is also pretty cool.

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Pros:

• Bluetooth multipoint connectivity.
• Five-band equalizer.
• Auto-off mode.

Cons:

• Controls are not customizable via the app.
• ANC and transparency levels are not adjustable.

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The five-band equalizer on the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless is well thought out, and you can adjust the audio profile to your musical preferences precisely. The presence of presets is also helpful.

Bluetooth multipoint management is easy, and switching from one device to another is seamless (two devices simultaneously max). Too bad neither the noise cancellation nor transparency mode can be adjusted in terms of intensity.

Sennheiser also offers a feature called Sound Zones. This was a fad among audio manufacturers a few years ago. Basically, you can create noise cancellation and equalizer presets for different environments. Office, home, subway, the works! For each "zone", you can create a different audio profile, and the headphones will automatically switch from one mode to another as you move from one zone to another.

It's not innovative, but it's nice that Sennheiser persists with this somewhat outdated function. Thankfully, it is well executed. The major advantage of this function is you do not have to use the headset's less-than-ergonomic controls to switch from one mode to another.

As for the rest, apart from an auto-off mode and a slider for the volume of your voice feedback for calls, the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless's setting options remain rather limited.

Battery life &charging

The Sennheiser Accentum Wireless has a touted battery life of 50 hours with active noise cancellation according to the manufacturer. That's a long, long time, and considerably longer than far more than what other expensive high-end wireless headphones offer.

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Pros:

• Outstanding battery life.
• Fast, efficient charging.

Cons:

• The battery can drain if you forget to switch it off (no wear detection).

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I obviously didn't use the Sennheiser for 50 hours in one go. I cannot provide you with the exact battery life that I achieved during my review, but by using it on a daily basis for work and at home, I was able to make it last for more than 5 days on a single charge.

That's light years better than the battery life offered by $400 or even $500 wireless headphones. That alone makes the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless a very pleasant daily headset to use. There's no need to worry about a low battery lif. You can slip them on and use them all week without having to plug them in at the end of the day. That's great!

Recharging takes almost 3 hours to go from 0 to 100%. According to Sennheiser, a 10-minute charge recovers the equivalent of 5 hours of listening. For the vast majority of people, including me, this represents an average of a full day's use. That's another very good point to consider.

Sennheiser Accentum Wireless technical specifications

	Technical specifications
Device	Sennheiser Accentum Wireless
Image
Design	Circum-aural | weight 222 g | no port detection | physical controls
Audio	37 mm drivers
Frequency response	10 - 22,000 Hz
ANC	Yes, always active 2 microphones per headset Transparency mode
Bluetooth	5.2 | codecs SBC, AAC, aptX/HD | Multipoint
Battery life	50h with ANC Quick charge 10 min = 5h autonomy 0 to 100% in 3h
Price	$179.95

Sennheiser Accentum Wireless

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