TechRadar Verdict
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus pick up the Accentum baton and run with it. Which, in virtually every respect, is a good thing – as long as your head isn’t wider than it is long, anyway…
Big, quite assertive sound
Good battery life
Well-made and comfortable
A fractionally blunt listen
The fit won’t suit every head
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Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: One-minute review
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus was created by taking everything that was enjoyable about the more entry-level Accentum wireless over-ear headphones and adding touch-controls, aptX Adaptive capability and (perhaps most significantly) a carry-case. They prove that sometimes a gap in the market is so small that you don’t even notice it, but Sennheiser certainly did.
There’s plenty to like here, from the neat and tidy design and excellent standard of fit and finish to the robustly informative sound the headphones make. Active noise cancellation is decent, control options are very nicely implemented, and battery life is approaching ‘epic’.
Nothing’s perfect, though, and the wider-headed among us are likely to find the Accentum Plus a non-starter – the fit is about as snug as these things ever get. And the richly bassy sonic signature won’t suit everyone either – although it can be mitigated, just a little, using the five-band EQ embedded in the control app.
Fundamentally, the Accentum Plus are the same as the Accentum – but more so. They also come with a carry-case, something that a lot of thebest wireless headphonesoffer as standard.
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Price and release date
The Sennheiser Accentum Plus went on sale on 20th February this year for $229 in the US and £199 in the UK. Meanwhile in Australia, they’ll set you back AU$399.
At this money they sit nicely between the more affordable Sennheiser Accentum and the pricierSennheiser Momentum 4– but, of course, there are more brands than just Sennheiser ready to part you from this sort of money for a pair of wireless over-ear noise-cancellers…
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Specs
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Features
Obviously it’s a bit of a theme of this review – but in quite a few ways, the Accentum Plus are very, very similar to their more affordableSennheiser Accentumstablemates.
Certainly there’s nothing broken about the 50-hour battery life and ‘ten minutes charge equals five hours playback time” of the original Accentum, and the Plus hasn’t bothered to fix it. These are both very competitive numbers, after all. And the Plus also utilise the same 37mm full-range dynamic drivers in order to do the audio business, which, again, seems only sensible.
The changes that have been made all seem like upgrades, though. Bluetooth 5.2 wireless connectivity with aptX Adaptive codec compatibility is very promising where sound quality is concerned, and the appearance of a 3.5mm socket on the right earcup means hard-wired listening is available this way as well as through the USB-C socket positioned alongside it.
The right earcup also has a single physical control, which covers ‘power on/off’ and Bluetooth pairing. Otherwise, control is available either via the capacitive area of the right earcup (‘play/pause’, ‘volume up/down’, ‘skip forwards/backwards’ and ‘answer/end/reject call’ are all available) or the exemplary ‘Smart Control’ app that’s free for iOS and Android.
The app features a five-band adjuster, with a number of presets and the facility to store one user-defined setting. The wind noise reduction feature of the newly adaptive active noise-cancellation system can be switched on or off. The multi-point wireless connectivity can be managed from here, and it’s also where you can check for firmware updates, adjust the volume of your own voice that’s audible during calls, and rearrange the various ‘tiles’ that control the different app functions to best suit your purposes. And if you fancy registering with Sennheiser and forking over some personal info, you can use the app’s ‘sound check’ and ‘sound zones’ features to tailor the sound to specific circumstances and environments – and switch between them automatically.
Otherwise, the most obvious upgrade the Plus enjoy over the standard Accentum is their carry-case. It’s soft but protective, has handy storage for your cables, and generally helps no end in keeping the finish of your headphones nice and tidy.
Features score: 5 / 5
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Design
‘Less is more’, so they say, and there’s even less here in terms of design than there is of the more affordable Sennheiser Accentum. Because most of the interface is now touch controls, there’s just one physical control button here – it’s on the edge of the right earcup.
Otherwise, the Accentum Plus are basically featureless – whether or not that’s a good thing will depend on your feelings regarding ‘discretion’ where design is concerned. At a glance, the only thing that separates them from their Accentum sibling is the silver, rather than matte black, ‘Sennheiser’ logo at each end of the headband.
So you get a clean, minimal look and a quality of build and finish that’s well up to the established Sennheiser standard. The articulation in the yokes allow the headphones to fold flat, and there’s enough articulation to allow the to fit snugly over even the more eccentrically shaped ears and heads that might wish to wear them. The concealed headband adjustment works smoothly, the pleather covering the memory foam-filled earpads is comfortable – and it doesn’t get too hot too quickly, unlike some alternative designs.
Really, the only conceivable shortcoming where the design of the Accentum Plus is concerned is the relative narrowness of the fit. I know I spend a lot of time complaining about the massive, head-swamping nature of a lot of over-ear headphones – but it’s possible to go too far the other way. These Sennheiser are a snug fit, and it’s perfectly possible that the larger-headed among us might find them quite tight.
Design score: 4.5 / 5
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Sound quality
Obviously there’s more to the sound a pair of headphones makes than the physical characteristics of the drivers that are delivering it. But nevertheless it’s notable that despite being so closely related to the more affordable Accentum model in terms of specification, these Accentum Plus differ in terms of sonic balance. Not dramatically, but noticeably nevertheless.
With a 44.1kHz file ofCranes in the Skyby Solange playing via Qobuz, the Accentum Plus are an assertive, big-boned listen with impressively solid, nicely controlled low-frequency presence. The bass hits hard here, but with the kind of straight-edged precision that allows the rhythm proper expression and keeps momentum high. That the overall frequency balance is skewed towards the bottom end is undeniable, but there are any number of listeners for whom this will be just the ticket.
And besides, it’s not as if this emphasis puts undue pressure on the midrange. Voices enjoy more than enough room in which to express themselves, and the Accentum Plus retain and reveal plenty of fine detail regarding tone, texture, technique and all the rest of it. The soundstage they create is spacious and convincing where layout is concerned, too, and while the midrange in general and vocalists in particular are hundred towards the front they never sound estranged or separated. The Sennheiser are adept of unifying a recording, no matter how complex, into a coherent and convincing whole – no element of it is left behind.
At the top of the frequency range there’s a polite level of attack – it’s not enough to let treble response get out of hand, even at volume (good) but it’s not quite sufficient to claim the Accentum Plus are giving you the complete high-frequency picture (not quite so good).
Dynamics – especially the big dynamic shifts in volume and intensity apparent in a TIDAL stream of James Brown’sGive It Up or Turnit a Loose,for example – are given a reasonable amount of emphasis. The Sennheiser Accentum Plus either aren’t deep-breathing enough or aren’t impolite enough to go to town on big dynamic shifts, but they’re certainly more than alluded to.
The always-on active noise cancellation proves just as effective here as in the original Accentum. Which means that almost all external distractions are dealt with confidently, and without any disruption to the sound you’re enjoying. Other headphones (mostly those that say ‘Bose’ on them somewhere) can do a more complete job, but it seems unlikely anyone will reject the Accentum Plus on the basis of their ANC.
Sound quality score: 4.5 / 5
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Value
It should go without saying by now that you could do a lot worse than decide on a pair of Sennheiser Accentum Plus. The company’s reputation for sterling build quality and finish wasn’t attained by accident, the headphones are very competitively specified at this price.
The Accentum Plus also have a particularly attention-grabbing battery life and the control app is one of the more useful around. Those who enjoy the balance of the sound will be pleased, too, although in absolute terms it’s not as neutral as some listeners might prefer.
Value score: 4.5 / 5
Should I buy the Sennheiser Accentum Plus?
Buy them if…
You enjoy a full-fat, full-scale soundThey’re not the most neutral-sounding headphones around, but there’s no arguing with how big and bold they sound.
You like touch-controlsThey’re quite well-implemented here, and their availability is a significant upgrade over the more affordable Accentum.
You’re not as careful as you might beThe inclusion of a carry-case is a big plus for those of us who are a little more careless with our belongings than is ideal.
Don’t buy them if…
You want absolute precision from your soundThere’s plenty to enjoy about the sound that’s available here, but ‘complete fidelity’ is not what these Sennheiser’s are about.
You enjoy some visual differentiationThe appearance of the Accentum Plus is nigh-on identical to that of the more affordable Accentum.
Your head is generously proportionedThe clamping force is well-judged here, but the Accentum Plus are quite a snug fit nevertheless.
Sennheiser Accentum Plus review: Also consider
Sennheiser AccentumIf you can live without touch-controls and a carry-case, then almost all of the positives of the Accentum Plus can be yours for a little less money if you buy the Sennheiser Accentum.
Technics EAH-A800It’s also worth giving strong consideration to the EAH-A800 by Technics - they’re great performers, good lookers, and are now down towards Accentum Plus money too.
Read our fullTechnics EAH-A800 review
How I tested Sennheiser Accentum Plus
My custody of the Sennheiser Accentum Plus coincided with a very disrupted flight to Germany – and so as well as using them at my desk, I was able to test them while in the back of taxis, on trains and on aeroplanes.
Used them withAppleandSamsungsmartphones ares sources, as well as an Apple laptop, and I used them connected both wirelessly and using their analogue connection. And naturally, I listened to a lot of different styles of music, derived from lots of different sizes of digital audio files.
Simon Lucas is a senior editorial professional with deep experience of print/digital publishing and the consumer electronics landscape. Based in Brighton, Simon worked at TechRadar’s sister site What HiFi? for a number of years, as both a features editor and a digital editor, before embarking on a career in freelance consultancy, content creation, and journalism for some of the biggest brands and publications in the world.
With enormous expertise in all things home entertainment, Simon reviews everything from turntables to soundbars for TechRadar, and also likes to dip his toes into longform features and buying guides. His bylines include GQ, The Guardian, Hi-Fi+, Metro, The Observer, Pocket Lint, Shortlist, Stuff T3, Tom’s Guide, Trusted Reviews, and more.
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