There is something special about being able to cut off from the noise of the busy world around you so that you can sink into your own bubble of thoughts. And then as the bustle of thoughts settles down, you can switch on Ali Sethi’s soulful Gulon Main Rang to let new thoughts stream in, transporting you to different realms of consciousness. The new Sennheiser Accentum Plus is exactly the kind of headphone that aids you in this journey.
These new headphones try to fill into all the requirements of music lovers these days, also stepping up as the device they will pull in for a work call or their daily podcast routine. For that, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus has a simple and minimalist design which is also a trademark of Sennheiser in many ways. The headphones are comfortable even though they are on the sturdy side and do not have the plush feel of the first Momentum headphones from the company. But after a one-hour Empire podcast episode, you don’t feel tired or your ears stifled. The unit folds flat and comes with a pouch to store it in.
There is just a power button on the headphones, under the right ear cup, and everything else is handled with touch controls. The right panel lets you control volume by just sliding your fingers up and down, while on the left side, you can use taps and swipes to manage everything from noise cancelling to your playlist.
Once connected to the Smart Control app you realise how the wireless headphones segment has evolved. The app allows you to switch on adaptive noise cancellation where the headphones change the intensity of noise cancelling depending on your environment. There is also a sound personalisation option which I really loved. Once I selected my exact sound profile, I did not go back to the custom equaliser setting I had saved earlier. There is also the option to create sound zones where the app will detect your location and switch to a certain preset for noise as well as equaliser. For instance, while you set it to noise cancellation at home you can keep transparency mode on while at work.
Listening to Daniel Hope’s violin in full flow on a chilly February morning you realise the depth and breadth of the soundscape the Sennheiser Accentum Plus can offer, switching from high to lows with perfect ease. And since the bass level is exactly what I wanted in the sound profile I could really enjoy Voodoo Mama by Justin Hurwitz from the Babylon soundtrack, which would have been oomphed out by the bass boost of most of the headphones in this range. And listening to a wonderful composition by 5 Quartet, which mixes vocals and strings wonderfully, you realise these headphones are versatile enough to rise up to all your music needs and leave you satisfied every single time.
With calls, on many wireless headphones, I have been irritated by the tinny tone that comes along with your voice. With Accentum Plus you can reduce this by using sidetone at three levels, again via the app.
The noise cancellation is good, though not the best I have used in recent times. It worked well though to take away the hum of the heater in my living room along with the buzz of the coffee maker in the kitchen nearby. Transparency mode works perfectly and does not make it sound a bit noisier than it actually is.
One of the best features of the headset is the battery life which at 50 hours is good enough for a weeklong trip to the US where you are using the headphones for the entire duration of your flights, a very regular use case for me. And the fact that this charges back up in just 10 minutes makes it ideal for those like me who forget to charge devices on time.
At Rs 19,990, the Sennheiser Accentum Plus is a good mid-range headphone that takes care of all your audio needs. I would recommend this for anyone who wants to blend work and pleasure and the best of both worlds.
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First uploaded on: 07-02-2024 at 12:13 IST
