Sennheiser’s latest true wireless earbuds offer noise cancellation for less – The Verge

Sennheiser’s CX Plus true wireless earbuds aren’t its first pair to offer noise cancellation, but it’s the first time the feature has appeared on its more affordable CX range. At $179, the CX Plus are more expensive than the $129 CX True Wireless announced earlier this year, but they’re affordable compared to the flagship $300 Momentum True Wireless 2.

Beyond noise cancellation, the CX Plus also include a transparent hearing mode, which uses their microphones to pass through audio from the outside world when you need to be aware of your surroundings. It’s got an IPX4 resistance to splashing water, two microphones on each earbud, and battery life that stands at a total of 24 hours when the buds are topped up from the charging case (compared to 27 hours for the cheaper CX, and 28 for the Momentum 2).

Combined with the charging case, the earbuds offer 24 hours of listening.
Image: Sennheiser

In terms of codecs, the earbuds support SBC, AAC, AptX, and AptX Adaptive. You control the buds with touch controls, which like the EQ settings, are customizable. Interestingly, Sennheiser says both the left and right earbuds can be used individually, whereas only the right Momentum 2 earbud could be used on its own.

While $179 for a pair of noise cancelling true wireless earbuds is affordable for Sennheiser, it’s still expensive compared to some other brands. Most notably, the recently released Nothing Ear 1 earbuds offered noise cancellation for just $99 (albeit not at the same level of quality as their more expensive competition).

Sennheiser’s CX Plus earbuds will go on sale on September 28th, when they’ll be available in either black or white.