Sennheiser has added a new set of wireless earbuds to its entry-level Accentum sub-brand: the $130 Accentum Open, which will start shipping in June in both black and cream color options. Though Sennheiser is really leaning into that word, “open,” touting the earbuds’ ability to do away with ear fatigue while providing awareness of your surroundings, the Accentum Open are essentially the same design as Apple’s iconic AirPods.
Which is fine — Apple’s AirPods are very popular for exactly that reason — but the “open” label may create confusion for buyers. These are not open-ear earbuds, which we define as earbuds (or headphones) that place a speaker outside the ear (e.g. Shokz OpenFit 2) or just inside the concha (e.g. Bose Ultra Open Earbuds), where it’s slightly closer to the ear canal, but still not in front of it. Instead, it’s more accurate to think of the Accentum Open (and the AirPods 4) as semi-open — they sit directly in front of the ear canal, but they don’t seal it with silicone like a fully closed design would (AirPods Pro, Sony WF-1000XM5). The Accentum Open are Sennheiser’s first semi-open wireless earbuds. Until now, the brand has always used a closed design for its Momentum True Wireless series (e.g. Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 4).
Sennheiser promises the Accentum Open will provide fans with the brand’s renowned tuning via an 11mm driver. The buds support Bluetooth 5.3, with dual-device connectivity thanks to Multipoint compatibility. Sennheiser has chosen to use touch controls instead of the AirPods’ squeeze-to-click force-sensing controls, and the company pegs battery life at an expected 6.5 hours per charge, with a total of 28 hours when you include the charging case. You’ll get decent protection from rain and sweat with an IPX4 rating.
Prospective buyers should note that while there are similarities to the $129 AirPods 4, for instance, the Accentum Open do not support wireless charging and they don’t have active noise cancellation (ANC), there are also significant differences. The Accentum Open lack the AirPods 4 spatial audio with head tracking and their wear sensors for automatic pause of your tunes.
Unlike Sennheiser’s other wireless earbuds, there’s no companion app for the Accentum Open, so you won’t be able to customize the controls, adjust EQ, or even update the firmware.
It also looks like Sennheiser has priced the Accentum Open for the American market in response to the new U.S. tariffs. In Canada, the earbuds will sell for $150 Canadian dollars (about $109 USD).
Instagram is making its way to yet another screen, and this time, Apple TV is getting a taste of the Reels rabbit hole. The company has launched a dedicated Instagram app for Apple TV, bringing Reels, longer videos, and live shows to the big screen. So, if watching one quick clip on a phone somehow turns into an hour of scrolling, there's now a much larger screen for that.
Instagram brings Reels and more to Apple TV
Audio-Technica, a brand well known for making some of the best studio and professional headphones on the market, has just come out with the ATH-AWX7000, which the company itself claims to be its "finest headphones ever." The new flagship closed-back headphone has debuted at an eye-watering price of $3,799. It combines hand-finished Japanese woodwork with a newly developed 58mm driver.
The earcups are made from Kiso cypress, a prized wood historically used for Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. Each housing is finished by hand with traditional Echizen lacquer, which brings out the grain and is expected to darken over time. The frame and sliders are finished in a deep navy kachi-iro shade traditionally associated with samurai.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
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