Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless review

Our Verdict

Not what you'd phone call a complete success, but when the CX Plus Truthful Wireless are practiced they're very good indeed.

For

Very decent specs at the price
Balanced, confident sound
Numerous (and effective) control options

Confronting

Not the about effective dissonance-cancelling
Not besides certain where rhythms are concerned
Predictably ungainly design

TechRadar Verdict

Non what yous'd phone call a complete success, simply when the CX Plus True Wireless are good they're very practiced indeed.

Pros

+
Very decent specs at the price
+
Balanced, confident sound
+
Numerous (and effective) control options

Cons

-
Non the near effective noise-cancelling
-
Non too certain where rhythms are concerned
-
Predictably ungainly pattern

One-infinitesimal review

Sennheiser's on a bit of a true wireless charge at the moment - the products just go on on coming. These CX Plus True Wireless build on the (mostly successful) CX True Wireless platform by adding active noise cancellation and aptX Adaptive codec compatibility while keeping the toll competitive. Job done, surely?

Well, sort of.

The sound volition be familiar to anyone who'southward used a pair of Sennheiser earbuds during the last twelvemonth or ii. They're tonally good, confident in their ain neutrality and as revealing as any toll-comparable rival. They're also decumbent to tripping over their own feet when asked to draw rhythms with any articulacy. And the CX Plus True Wireless' USP, its active noise cancellation circuitry, isn't as successful as we might have hoped either.

But they're properly fabricated, easy to control via whatsoever number of interfaces, have competitive-if-unremarkable battery life and, as we say, audio eloquent in almost every respect. So the very least these true wireless earbuds deserve is a spot on your short-list.

the charging case for the sennheiser cx plus true wireless earbuds — (Prototype credit: TechRadar)

Sennheiser CX Plus True Wireless toll and release appointment

Available at present
$179 / £129 / AU$259.95

The Sennheiser CX Plus Truthful Wireless are on sale now, and in the UK they're priced at £129. In America, the asking price is around $179, while customers in Australia should look to hand over AU$259.95.

Yous don't need to practise much research to realise this price pits the CX Plus True Wireless up confronting some extremely well-regarded alternative designs. Just off the elevation of our heads, the Cambridge Audio Melomania Touch, Sony WF-SP800N or Panasonic RZ-S500W tin all be had for this sort of money. And then, fifty-fifty though Sennheiser'southward a brand that seems confident in every product it launches, the CX Plus True Wireless have their work cut out.

a closeup of the sennheiser cx plus true wireless earbuds — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Design and features

Bluetooth 5.two with aptX Adaptive
Active noise-cancelling
Worthwhile control app

It comes as a relief to report that the 'Plus' in this model name doesn't signal an earbud that'south any bigger than the (plenty big enough, thank you lot) CX True Wireless culling that Sennheiser launched a while ago. No, 'Plus' in this example indicates some additional features and functionality the stablemates do without.

The big news is agile dissonance cancellation, augmented past a transparency mode (which Sennheiser's calling 'transparent hearing') to increase the corporeality of external noise the wearer hears. Active noise counterfoil is binary here - similar Homer Simpson'due south favourite light switch, it functions in both the 'on' or 'off' positions. And the adoption of Qualcomm'due south aptX Adaptive wireless codec should mean high-quality audio, besides every bit seamless synchronisation between audio and video.

the sennheiser cx plus true wireless earbuds — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Elsewhere, it's pretty much Sennhesier business as usual. The CX Plus Truthful Wireless uses Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity, and one time the digital sound information is on board, Sennheiser'south 'TrueResponse' 7mm transducer delivers the sound. Battery life is quoted at 24 hours all-in - that's around eight hours from the buds themselves and another couple of charges in the reasonably tidy (59 x 34 10 43mm) charging case. They'll go from 'flat' to 'full' in around ninety minutes, while ten minutes on the power is good for an 60 minutes's-worth of playback.

Each 6g earbud features a couple of microphones. They're used for telephony and noise counterfoil, of class, just also for interacting with voice assistants - Google Assistant and Siri are available. Control is also bachelor via the big, responsive capacitive impact surface on each earbud - all the obvious stuff ('play/pause', 'skip forward/backwards', 'volume upwardly/down', 'reply/end/pass up call' 'summon vocalisation assistant' and 'dissonance-cancelling on/off/transparent hearing') is catered for.

It's possible to customize these controls in the Sennheiser Smart Control App, which is 1 of the more than stable and useful examples of the blazon. Hither'due south where you can fiddle with EQ settings (it'southward just a three-band equaliser, but it'due south represented in nice graphics), plough on 'bass boost' (and then rapidly plough information technology off again), turn agile noise-cancelling on or off, so on. There's a slider to adjust 'sidetone', too - which, it turns out, is the level of your own phonation yous'll hear during a phone phone call.

screenshots from the sennheiser control app — (Image credit: TechRadar)

Sound performance

Impressively neutral, convincing tonality
Adept definition of soundstage and instruments on information technology
Don't draw rhythms all that fluently

The CX Plus True Wireless are more than capable of treatment a high-resolution stream from any of the services that provide them, so that's as good a place as any to start. And with a 24bit/44.1kHz file of Sunglasses by Black Country, New Road streaming via Qobuz, the pros and cons of their operation are laid out pretty rapidly.

The 'pros' column is a fair scrap more extensive. Near immediately impressive is the tonality Sennheiser has achieved hither - with the EQ left well alone, the CX Plus sound natural, neutral in the best mode, and completely disarming no matter if they're describing a dry, scrubbed guitar or a close-mic'd drum-kit. The set on and decay of sounds is described confidently, detail levels are gratifyingly loftier, and y'all're never left in any doubt every bit to the texture or timbre of private instruments, no matter how hectic or circuitous the mix gets.

The low end is solidly punchy, nicely directly-edged on the fashion into and out of notes or hits, and carries enough data to prevent bass only thudding. The opposite end of the frequency range is absolutely equally confident every bit information technology dares to be, but - again - detail levels are high and there'south enough substance to treble sound to stop them getting difficult or shouty. And in betwixt, where the remarkably mannered vocal in this tune sits, there's an almost torrential level of information available - so the vocalizer sounds merely every bit idiosyncratic as he wants to.

the sennheiser cx plus true wireless earbuds in their charging case — (Epitome credit: TechRadar)

The stage isn't the most expansive ever served up by a pair of in-ear headphones, merely there'due south more than than enough space available to requite every element of the recording a fiddling elbow-room. Integration of the frequency range is smoothly achieved, and there's sufficient dynamic shove bachelor to reveal the light and shade of a recording. Tiny harmonic variations are picked upwardly on just as readily as big book discrepancies.

It's really only where rhythmic expression is concerned that the CX Plus Truthful Wireless seem less than bodacious. Gimpy indie-jazz rhythms are one affair, but switch to something similar Busting Out by Nona Hendryx - which is aimed squarely at the hips and beneath - and the Sennheiser shift to the very edge of their comfort zone. They're not exactly flummoxed by the stridency of the rhythm or tempo, but they tin can't quite give it the flow information technology's and so dependent on. And as a result, the presentation is slightly less than natural and slightly less than convincing. If you're a fiend for the dancefloor sounds, the CX Plus True Wireless may not exist your ideal partner.

The active noise-cancellation, too, is a success of the qualified kind. While in that location'due south non an enormous corporeality of divergence in the audio the Sennheiser make when the ANC is switched on or off - which puts them ahead of quite a few alternative designs - there's not a huge difference in the amount of external racket you're party to either. Ambient sounds are diminished, certainly - but if you're expecting the uncanny coating of silence some (admittedly more expensive) designs can deploy, you'll be disappointed. You'll nonetheless be aware of the airplane, train or automobile in which you're travelling.