The Accentum sound solid enough, but they’re hardly a thrilling listen
Over-ear headphones | £159| whf.cm/Accentum_Wireless
When Sennheiser announced the release of a pair of mid-range wireless over-ears that would hit the gap in the market between the likes of the super-affordable Sony WH-CH520 and more premium models such as the Bose QuietComfort Ultra Headphones or Sony WH-1000XM5, we were intrigued.
That said, so-called ‘mid-range’ products can often go one of two ways. They can either nail that sweet spot of affordability and performance, providing great value in the process, or else can end up compromised and a little stitched together in their attempts to emulate more high-end performers while keeping costs to a minimum.
Without completely giving the game away, the Sennheiser Accentum Wireless are disappointingly more of the latter than they are the former, feeling more like a compromised pair of cans as opposed to a craftily conceived bargain set to please all comers. Despite a reasonable effort, they might not cause too much trouble to the Sony models currently threatening to make the world of wireless headphones into something of a one-team league.
Sennheiser’s new over-ears with active noise-cancelling (ANC) will cost you £159, a figure that places them in a nice middle ground – it’s below the premium five-star Sennheiser Momentum 4 (£300), but above the recently released and 2023 Award-winning Sony WH-CH720N (£99).
If you were after a truly budget pair of Sennheiser over-ears, the previous Award-winning Sennheiser HD 250BT would have set you back around £50. This now-discontinued model (although you can still find some stock online) didn’t feature ANC, however, so the new Accentum model aims to fill in the gaps.
Comfort and build
While they hardly set the world alight with a design that screams any artistic tour de force, the Accentum are a comfortable, reasonably made pair of headphones that have the reassuringly solid build quality we have come to expect from Sennheiser.
Compare the Accentum Wireless with the cheaper Sony CH720N, and it is clear where that extra money has been spent. The Accentum’s headband feels sturdier and more lavishly appointed with padding, whereas the earpads themselves are far more solid than the slightly insubstantial cups offered by their Sony rivals. Sennheiser has promised “all-day comfort” from its reasonably priced new over-ears, and while
