Banner graphic for SafeWise's Australian health insurance comparison

Sennheiser’s SPORT True Wireless are smart enough to know their limits

Gym-friendliness is a broad mandate.

Sennheiser Sports True Wireless earbuds
Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless
3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5
Drivers
7mm
Battery life
9 hours
RRP
$199
Fergus Halliday
Jul 22, 2022
Icon Time To Read5 min read

We may earn money when you click our links.

Quick verdict: Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless

Audiophiles aren't likely to overlook the tradeoffs that the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds make, but those who looking for something they can wear to the gym are going to appreciate the practical upsides and the budget-friendly price-tag.

pro
Pros
pro Competitive price
pro Solid durability specs
pro Sleek design
con
Cons
con No noise-cancelling

In the early days of the true wireless earbuds category, Sennheiser sought to distinguish itself as the premium option. The first and second-generation Momentum True Wireless earbuds are great examples of this formula in action. A few years down the track, the German brand's focus has broadened. These days, true wireless is as mainstream as headphones get and more recent Sennheiser earbuds neatly reflect that tilt towards accessibility.

The new Sennheiser Sport True Wireless isn't the brand's most approachable or cheapest set of Bluetooth buds, but they offer up an intriguing promise of incredible battery life and gym-friendly durability. Even if the finer details are held back by a lack of noise-cancelling, it's easy enough to like the sound of that capability-oriented combination.

Sennheiser Sport True Wireless Header

How much does Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless cost in Australia?

Cheap but not quite budget

In Australia, the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds retail for $199. However, it's not uncommon to find them on sale for less than that. For instance, the earbuds recently went for as low as $149 during this year's Amazon Prime Day sales.

In any case, the price point for the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds puts them towards the bottom of the brand's current Bluetooth bud lineup and the middle of the pack overall. The Sport  True Wireless earbuds are cheaper than anything you'll find in the Momentum lineup, but they're not that much cheaper than Apple's category-leading AirPods.

Still, if you are looking to pick up a set of Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds, it can pay to look around and see which Australian retailer offers the best price. Check out the table below for a round-up of local pricing for the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds.

Store
Price
More info
Amazon
From
$170
Sennheiser
From
$199
The Good Guys
From
$139
Kogan
From
$199

Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless - Design and features

Simple setup, familiar features
Sennheiser Sport True Wireless 1-2

Rather than adopt the antenna-like aesthetics of the AirPods or chase the more ear-friendly ergonomics of the Jabra Elite series, the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds settle for something more squared-off. They're recognisable as true wireless earbuds, but aesthetic enough to stand out.

All things considered, the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds are closer to the bottom end of the brand's current Bluetooth lineup than the top. They're nice to look at, but not too nice. Gold accents aside, the new earbuds are almost a dead ringer for the Sennheiser CX True Wireless earbuds.

While the earbuds themselves are relatively heavy compared to some of the competition out, this characteristic is hardly a practical encumbrance. Held in your hands, they feel as lightweight as you'd want.

The same goes for the carry case. By comparison, it's a little chunky. In isolation, it's not really something I found myself caught up on. Like many other modern true wireless solutions, the Sennheiser Sport rely on a magnetic mechanism to keep the earbuds in the right place when charging.  This is always appreciated, even if it's hardly original.

Beyond these basics, Sennheiser's Sport True Wireless earbuds can be as thrill-free as you like. Straight out of the box, you can pair them to a device and get listening. Installing the Sennheiser Smart Control app (available on both iOS and Android) is optional, but nets you access to both EQ settings, ambient mode and the ability to tinker with the touch-based control scheme.

For the most part, the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless are content to coast on the foundations laid by the brand's earlier efforts in the space. This is not a bad thing. Trying to fix what isn't broken is often a fast track to disaster, and there are worse sins than familiarity.

Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless - Performance and battery life

Gym-friendliness comes with a caveat
Sennheiser Sport True Wireless 1-5

Sennheiser knows its stuff when it comes to sound, and the Sport True Wireless earbuds carry a crispness that far exceeds the expectations set by the price, so long as you're listening to them in isolation.

The searing vocals of My Chemical Romance's "Foundations of Decay" and the curvy soundscapes of Montaigne's "make me feel so..." came through with impressive dynamism and depth. Unfortunately, many of the Sport True Wireless earbuds' sonic strengths here are eroded when taken outside the relative quiet of a home office.

The Sennheiser Sports True Wireless earbuds are designed to survive the rigours of the gym, but they aren't necessarily designed to sound great at the gym.

While the impressive degree of grip that these earbuds boast meant that I never worried about them falling out of my ears during a workout, the absence of active noise-cancelling hurt their audibility in some cases. Your mileage may vary with the popularity and nature of your local gym, but I found that cranking up the volume to an unhealthy degree was sometimes the only way to get these earbuds to cut through nearby noises.

As part of our earbud testing process, we tested out the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds with a playlist designed to tease out the finer capabilities of the hardware.

In practice, the bass was present without being overwhelming. However, a degree of clarity was lost on busier tracks. Sennheiser's sportsbuds did a decent job with the guitar riffs in "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" by The Beatles, but were less balanced when it came to "The Funeral Portrait" by Opeth.

The quality of the microphones built in to the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds was also something that I tested. In general, I found that the call quality was a little blunt, but mostly listenable. It didn't beat the clarity offered by the AirPods Pro, but was much clearer in action than the microphone on the Nothing Ear 1.

Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless - Battery life

The Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds deliver an impressive 9 hours of playback per charge. At full charge, the carry case adds another 18 hours of playback for a total of 27 hours.

There is a big caveat to this, in that they don't offer the kind of noise-cancelling you'll get from something like the AirPods Pro. However, nine hours is still a lot more than most other earbuds. The idea that you'll run out of charge mid-workout is a bit of a remote possibility. Even marathon runners aren't likely to run these dry in a single session.

Is Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless worth buying?

Transparency isn't always a tradeoff
Sennheiser Sport True Wireless 1-6

All earbuds have tradeoffs, but it's hard to begrudge Sennheiser too strongly over the ones made here. The price is right, and the fact that Sennheiser's less gym-friendly Sennheiser CX True Wireless Plus are right there if you'd prefer something that sounds a little better makes it easier to live with the limits of the hardware here.  

If practicality matters more to you than performance, then Sennheiser's Sport True Wireless earbuds are likely to delight. They do what they say on the tin. There are caveats that audiophiles may get caught up on, but those who prefer to listen at the gym are going to appreciate the practical upsides over any potential improvement in fidelity.

The Sennheiser Sport True Wireless don't have active noise-cancelling, but if you're willing to live without then there's plenty of bang for buck to be found here.

How does Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless compare?

Product
Rating
Price
Availability
Noise cancelling
Fast charging
Sweat resistant
Sennheiser Sports True Wireless earbudsSennheiser SPORT True Wireless earbuds
3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5
From
$199
NoYesYes
Sony WF-1000XM4 earbuds
5 out of 5 stars
5
From
$299
YesYesYes
Jabra Elite 3 - Best Cheap EarbudsJabra Elite 3
4 out of 5 stars
4
From
$119
NoYesYes
Soundcore Liberty Pro 3 - Best battery earbudsSoundcore Liberty 3 Pro
3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5
From
$259
YesYesNo
Beats Fit Pro - Best Sports EarbudsBeats Fit Pro
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
From
$299
YesYesYes
Sennheiser Momentum TW 2 - Best designed earbudsSennheiser Momentum True Wireless 2
4 out of 5 stars
4
From
$499
YesYesYes
Apple AirPodsPro - Best earbuds for iPhoneApple AirPods Pro
4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5
$399
YesYesYes

Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless FAQ

Here are the most frequently asked questions about Sennheiser SPORT True Wireless.

While the fact that the Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds rely on passive rather than active noise cancelling means that they aren't as good at blocking out ambient noises, the durable design involved makes them good for the gym in other ways.

The Sennheiser Sport True Wireless earbuds will last around 9 hours on a single charge. Combined with the carry case, they offer a total of 27 hours of usage at a time.

Fergus Halliday
Written by
Fergus Halliday
Fergus Halliday is a journalist and editor for Reviews.org. He’s written about technology, telecommunications, gaming and more for over a decade. He got his start writing in high school and began his full-time career as the Editor of PC World Australia. Fergus has made the MCV 30 Under 30 list, been a finalist for seven categories at the IT Journalism Awards and won Most Controversial Writer at the 2022 Consensus Awards. He has been published in Gizmodo, Kotaku, GamesHub, Press Start, Screen Rant, Superjump, Nestegg and more.

Related Articles

Lenovo transparent laptop
Lenovo is more game to show a transparent laptop than ship one
Lenovo is figuring out where its futuristic laptop fits