Sennheiser Momentum 5 vs. Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3: I tested both, and one wins nearly every metric

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The premium noise-canceling headphone market is crowded at the top. The Sony WH-1000XM6, Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones (Gen 2), and Apple AirPods Max 2 have dominated the conversation, but two stronger challengers come from brands with much deeper audio heritage: Sennheiser and Bowers & Wilkins.

Also: I flew 2,700 miles with Apple, Sony, and Sennheiser headphones – this pair had the best audio

The Sennheiser Momentum 5 headphones are Sennheiser’s latest flagship headphones, leaning hard into practical performance. They offer huge battery life, strong ANC, deep app customization, and a spec sheet built for people who wear their headphones all day, every day. 

The Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3, a 2025 update to the Px7 series, takes a different route. It’s pitched at listeners who care about hi-fi musicality and luxury design, and who may already have a foot in the B&W ecosystem.

Both are excellent headphones, but they’re built for different people. Here’s how to figure out which one is for you.

Specifications

You should buy the Sennheiser Momentum 5 if…

1. You want superior battery life

This category is the Momentum 5’s clearest win, and it’s not close. Sennheiser claims up to 57 hours on a single charge with ANC enabled, which is nearly double the 30 hours you’ll get from the Px7 S3 and well ahead of the likes of the Sony WH-1000XM6. 

In practice, these figures represent the difference between charging your headphones once a week and once a month, depending on how heavily you use them. Fast charging is quicker as well: 10 minutes on the charger yields around 7 hours of playback, compared to the 15 minutes the Px7 S3 needs for the same result.

Review: Sennheiser Momentum 5

There’s also a battery longevity angle here. The Momentum 5 has a user-replaceable battery, which is pretty rare but a very welcome addition. When the battery eventually degrades, you can swap it rather than replace the headphones or send them off for service. The Momentum 5’s longer continuous battery life means fewer charging cycles, which postpones battery degradation. Once the battery does eventually die, you can easily replace it yourself. 

2. You want better ANC

The Momentum 5 delivers stronger overall noise cancellation than the Px7 S3, and it’s the pair I’d take on a long-haul flight. It handles engine drone and chaotic environments with ease, and its larger ear pads provide noticeably quieter passive isolation before the ANC even kicks in. The transparency mode sounds quite natural, and you can adjust it with precise percentage sliders rather than a simple on/off toggle, which makes it easy to dial in exactly how much of the outside world you want to hear.

Also: Sennheiser just gave me a compelling reason to retire my Bose and Sony headphones

Sure, stronger ANC isn’t necessarily better for everyone; aggressive ANC can produce a pressure-like sensation that some people find fatiguing. But given that the Momentum 5 headphones let you dial in the amount of ANC you want, they’re still the better pick for those people.

3. You want more advanced controls and tech

Sennheiser’s Smart Control app is one of the more capable companion apps out there. You get granular control over ANC strength, transparency levels, EQ, and sound modes, and enthusiasts will appreciate how much of the headphone’s behavior can be tuned to taste. The touch controls on the earcups are refined as well, with smooth feedback and quick gestures for volume and mode toggling that feel much better than the fiddly touch panels of previous generations.

Also: Sony WH-1000XM6 vs. Sennheiser Momentum 5: I wore both pairs for months and prefer this one

Still, depth is a double-edged sword. If you’d rather never open an app, all those options can be a little overwhelming. Not only that, but touch controls can be finicky sometimes. That said, I never really found them to mistrigger, and they do allow for more comprehensive controls.

4. You want a more faithful audio response

The Momentum 5 uses 42mm dynamic transducers with a frequency response that Sennheiser rates at up to 40kHz, earning it Hi-Res Audio Wireless certification. Spec sheet numbers aside, the tuning is what matters, and here, Sennheiser has gone for balance. Pop, rock, classical, and spoken-word content all sound well represented, with bass and dynamics that are strong but never allowed to swamp the vocals or midrange. It’s a versatile signature that doesn’t demand a particular genre to shine. 

Also: Sony vs. Bose: My buying advice after listening to flagship headphones from both brands

The counterpoint is a matter of taste. Neutral tuning can read as clinical next to the warmer, more organic character of the Px7 S3, and some listeners will find Bowers & Wilkins’ presentation simply more fun. But you can still tune the Sennheiser headphones to a warmer response using the in-app EQ.

You should buy the Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3 if…

1. You want a more luxurious design

The Px7 S3 is the better-looking headphone, with a slimmer, deeply sculpted profile, a polished finish, and a set of genuinely sophisticated color options. The Sennheiser headphones certainly aren’t bad-looking by any stretch, but the Bowers & Wilkins headphones have a more sophisticated and stylish design. Looks are subjective, sure, but Bowers & Wilkins has clearly put more effort into making these feel more premium.

2. You prefer physical controls

The Px7 S3 skips the touch panel entirely. Everything is a button — there’s volume and playback on the right earcup, plus a dedicated quick-action button on the left that you can map to ANC modes or your voice assistant. These buttons might sound inconsequential, but they change how you use the headphones day to day. You never have to wonder whether a swipe registered as a tap or whether your finger landed in the right spot on the cup. You press the thing, and it does what you intended.

Review: Bowers & Wilkins Px7 S3

In some cases, physical buttons are more useful than touch controls, as gloves, rain, and accidental touches can cause misreads.

So, the trade-off is depth. Sennheiser’s touch panel supports more gestures, and its app lets you tune far more than Bowers & Wilkins’ does. If you like living in a settings menu, you’ll hit the Px7 S3’s ceiling sooner. But if your idea of a good control scheme is one you never have to think about, B&W has the better answer.

Writer’s choice

I’d go with the Sennheiser Momentum 5. The Px7 S3 arguably wins on design, but that’s subjective. Regarding battery, ANC, controls, and audio fidelity, the Momentum 5 is simply the better headphone. When one pair wins on nearly every metric that isn’t taste, that’s the one I’d buy.