The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset is a decent, wired in-ear headset for mixed usage, with a unique feature for recording 3D audio using binaural mics. They have a fairly common in-ear design, with ear hooks that make them stable enough for sports. They're also noise cancelling headphones that isolate sufficiently well for commuting. Unfortunately, they don't have the most comfortable fit, and you can only use them with iOS devices since they have a lightning connector and don't come with an adapter.
Our Verdict
The Sennheiser AMBEO aren't bad for mixed usage. They're a versatile option for most usages thanks to their decent isolation and sound performance. These headphones are compact with a stable ear hook design, and they don't require a battery. Unfortunately, they don't block as much noise as some of the other noise cancelling in-ears we've tested, so they won't be the ideal choice for commuting. Their sound quality is decent, but they're not the most durable headphones. They're also limited to iOS since they have a lightning connector and don't come with an adapter.
-
Decent and customizable sound.
-
Above-average isolation.
-
Stable in-ear fit.
-
Restrictive lightning connector.
-
Slightly uncomfortable ear-hooks.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are alright for neutral listening. They have a decently balanced sound that tends to sound a bit sharp on already bright tracks. They pack a good amount of bass but have a slight bump in high-bass/low-mid, which may make them sound a bit boomy and cluttered. Also, since they're small, closed-back, in-ear headphones, they can't create a soundstage as spacious as most open neutral listening headphones. Overall, they'll sound good enough for most, but they won't be the ideal choice for more neutral listeners.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are mediocre for commuting. They block a good amount of noise, have an easy-to-use and efficient control scheme, and are compact enough to fit in a jacket pocket. Unfortunately, their noise isolation is not as strong as some of the other in-ears we've tested like the QC 20, so you will hear a bit of ambient chatter when on public transit unless you play your audio at higher volumes.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are alright for fitness and sports use. They have a decently stable ear-hook design that won't fall while exercising. They also have a good control scheme and are fairly lightweight. Unfortunately, they're not as compact as most in-ears, so you may not be able to carry them on you at all times. They're also wired with a pretty cumbersome dongle that will sway a lot while running and working out.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are passable for office use. They don't leak much and have enough isolation to block the ambient noise of a moderately lively office. However, you will still hear what's happening around you if you're not playing music, and they're not the most comfortable headphones to wear for long periods. They also have a lightning connector and don't come with an adapter, so they may not be compatible with all your devices.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are wired-only earbuds, so you can't use them wirelessly for gaming.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are satisfactory for wired gaming. You're limited to Lightning-compatible devices. They sound decently well-balanced and have practically no latency when gaming on your iPhone or iPad. They also have a customizable app, but unfortunately, they default to using the binaural mics in most cases except calls; they aren't ideal for speech/chat when gaming.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are reasonable for phone calls. They're limited to Lightning-compatible devices. Their mic recording quality is decent, so you sound intelligible, and their controls are very good. However, they don't do the best job of handling background noise that can obscure your voice.
- 6.3 Mixed Usage
- 6.8 Neutral Sound
- 6.2 Commute/Travel
- 6.6 Sports/Fitness
- 6.0 Office
- 5.2 Wireless Gaming
- 7.2 Wired Gaming
- 6.5 Phone Call
- Updated Aug 22, 2024: This review has been corrected so that the Battery is now unscored. The verdicts have also been updated accordingly to align with their scores.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.1.
- Updated Nov 21, 2019: Converted to Test Bench 1.3.
- Updated May 15, 2018: Review published.
- Updated May 13, 2018: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated May 11, 2018: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated May 11, 2018: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
Compared To Other Headphones
The Sennheiser AMBEO are fairly average-performing in-ears with a unique 3D feature thanks to their binaural mics. They have a decent design and build quality, with ear hooks that make them stable enough for most activities. They're also noise cancelling headphones that block sufficient noise for commuting. Unfortunately, they have a lightning connector, which severely limits their use if you don't have a fairly recent iOS device. Overall, they're an okay choice for most use cases if you have an iPhone or iPad, but unless you fully utilize their 3D feature, their price-to-performance ratio isn't as good as some of the in-ears compared below.
See our recommendations for the best noise cancelling earbuds.
Test Results
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has a wired ear-hook design and a typical in-ear fit. These headphones are a bit bulkier than most in-ears due to their control module and ear-hook design. The earbuds are decently dense, with a grill covering the binaural microphones, and their hook design is thicker than most other in-ears with hooks we've tested. This makes them look more premium and high-end, although the thin audio cables connected to the earbuds don't quite reflect their price range. They come in two color schemes, black or white, and overall, their understated design will work for most.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has a fairly typical in-ear fit with an ear-hook design. These headphones are very lightweight and easy to carry around, but compared to more straightforward in-ears, they're a bit heavier due to their control module. The ear hooks are also quite thick and bend at sharp angles that might dig into the back of your ears, unlike some of the more comfortable ear-hook designs we've tested, like the Westone W40.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has a good button layout that delivers a lot of control and functionality. They provide the basics, call/music, track skipping, and volume controls, as well as a rocker that lets you adjust the level of talkthrough (transparency) on the control module. They also have a mappable switch that you can set to enable or disable noise cancelling via their app. The buttons are fairly easy to use and provide decent feedback, although some buttons can be a bit mushy.
Like most in-ears, these headphones are very breathable. They have an ear hook design, so they have more points of contact with your ears than simple in-ear headphones. However, the overall difference in temperature to your ear is negligible since they don't obstruct airflow like closed-back over-ears. They're breathable enough for sports.
The Sennheiser AMBEO are a bit bulkier than most straightforward in-ears due to their control module and ear-hook design. They're still fairly easy to carry on your person and will easily fit into most jacket pockets, but unfortunately, they may be a bit too bulky to fit into your jeans. They also come with a simple pouch instead of a hard case, which isn't ideal considering their price range.
They come with a soft pouch that doesn't add much bulk but won't protect the headphones from impacts and drops. It's a little disappointing for their price range, especially since cheaper headphones like the Sennheiser HD1 In-Ear / Momentum In-Ear and the Bose QuietComfort 20/QC20 come with a good case.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has a decent build quality but doesn't feel as durable as some other in-ears we've tested, like the Shure SE425 or the Westone W40. The earbuds and control module are decently dense, but the audio cables leading to the earbuds aren't as thick as those of the Bose QuietComfort 20/QC20. The cables are also not replaceable like the Shures or the Westones, and you can see the machine finish on the control module, which makes them look and feel a bit cheaper than their price would suggest.
The Sennheiser AMBEO have excellent frequency response consistency. If the user can achieve a proper fit and an airtight seal using the assortment of tips that come with the headphones, they'll get consistent bass and treble delivery every time they use them. But if the user fails to achieve a proper and airtight seal, they could experience a drop in bass.
The bass is very good. Their LFE (low-frequency extension) is at 24Hz, which is great. Low bass, responsible for the thump and rumble common to bass-heavy genres, is within 1dB of our neutral target. However, mid-bass, which is responsible for punch, and high-bass, which is responsible for warmth, are overemphasized by 2dB and 5dB, respectively. This makes the overall bass deep but noticeably boomy.
The mid-range performance is very good. The overemphasis in low-mid is actually the continuation of the high-bass overemphasis. This thickens the vocals a bit and makes the overall mix a little cluttered and muddy. Conversely, mid-mid and high-mid are under our target by about 1.5dB, which nudges vocals and lead instruments toward the back of the mix by giving more emphasis to the lower frequencies.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has an average treble. Low-treble is lacking by around 4dB, which reduces the detail and presence of vocals and lead instruments a little. The 15dB peak around 10KHz means these headphones could sound noticeably sharp and piercing on sibilances (S and Ts common to vocals and cymbals), especially on overly bright tracks.
The imaging performance is great. The weighted group delay is at 0.66, which is above average. The GD graph also shows that the group delay response crosses the audibility threshold in the bass range, but not by much. So, although, in theory, this results in a slightly loose and late bass, it'll be so subtle that most users won't notice it. Additionally, the L/R drivers of our test unit were very well-matched. This is important for accurately locating and placing objects (voices, instruments, video game effects) in the stereo image.
Like most other in-ears, the soundstage of the Sennheiser AMBEO is poor. This is because in-ears bypass the pinna (outer ear) and don't interact with it. Activating the resonances of the pinna is one of the key factors in creating a speaker-like and out-of-head soundstage. Also, due to the closed-back and ANC design of these in-ears, their soundstage won't be perceived as open sounding as that of open-back earbuds like the Apple EarPods, Apple AirPods (1st generation) Truly Wireless, the Bose SoundSport Free Truly Wireless, or the Bose SoundSport In-Ear.
The isolation performance is above average. With ANC (active noise cancellation) enabled, these in-ears achieve about 10dB of isolation in the bass range, which is decent. This means they'll cancel out the rumble of airplane and bus engines to a useful degree. In the mid-range, which is important for blocking out speech, they achieve 18dB of isolation, which is good. In the treble range, occupied by sharp sounds like S and Ts, they isolate by more than 33dB, which is also good.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset's leakage performance is excellent. A significant portion of the leakage is concentrated in the treble range, meaning the leakage will sound quite thin and mostly consist of S and Ts. The overall level of the leakage is very quiet, too. With the music at 100dB SPL, the leakage at a foot away averages at about 26dB SPL and peaks at around 36dB SPL, which is way below the noise floor of most offices.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset's binaural microphone is decent for making calls and recording speech. In quiet environments, speech recorded with this mic will sound a bit thin and lack some brightness, but it will be easily understandable. In noisy situations, they'll struggle to fully separate speech from background noise, even in moderately loud places, like a busy street.
However, the binaural mics perform quite well for recording binaural ambient sounds, which is what they're made for. The headphones also have an in-line microphone for making calls, but we could not connect to it using our test software.
The Sennheiser AMBEO's binaural microphone's speech recording quality is above average. The bumps in the bass range indicate that these microphones are prone to pops and rumbling noises, and the dip around 150Hz means that speech recorded with these mics could sound a bit thin. The roll-off in the treble range means that speech recorded with these mics will lack a bit of brightness and airiness, but it will still be easily understandable. This is because speech intelligibility is mostly dependent on the 500Hz-4KHz range.
The binaural microphones aren't meant for making phone calls, and the headphones come with an in-line mic that is activated when making calls. However, since we could not connect to the in-line mic using our test software, we performed the tests on the binaural mic. In our listening tests, the binaural mics, when used for recording binaural ambient sounds, actually perform quite well.
We also did the recorded speech example with the binaural mics, and it's in stereo.
Here's a binaural recording done with the Sennheiser AMBEO, and for comparison, here is a binaural recording done with the HeadAcoustics HMS. For the best 3D effect, listen with in-ears.
The noise handling of the binaural microphone is mediocre. In our SpNR test, they achieved a speech-to-noise ratio of about 13dB, indicating that these headphones aren't good at fully separating speech from background noise in loud or even moderately loud environments.
However, the Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset does come with an in-line microphone for making calls. Since we couldn't connect to the in-line mic with our test software, we performed the test on the binaural mics. Chances are that the in-line mic would perform slightly better since it's positioned closer to the mouth.
We also did the recording examples with the binaural mics, and, therefore, they're in stereo.
The Sennheiser AMBEO headphones don't have a battery. They connect to iOS devices via their Lightning port, which provides enough power for their active features and noise cancellation.
These headphones have a dedicated app that gives them many more options than typical wired headsets. The app has a graphic equalizer with presets, hearthrough modes, and button mapping for the switch on the control module. You can also change the level of noise cancelling. Overall, it's a useful app that adds customization options that aren't common for most wired headphones.
These are wired headsets with no Bluetooth capabilities. If you want a good and versatile Bluetooth headset, check out the Sennheiser PXC 550 Wireless or the Sennheiser HD 4.50 BTNC.
The Sennheiser AMBEO headphones have practically no latency since they're wired. They connect via a lightning port for data and power, which adds a bit of latency, but it's negligible and won't be noticeable when watching movies or gaming.
The Sennheiser AMBEO Smart Headset has a Lightning port connector for iOS devices. It won't work with your PS4, Xbox One, or PC/Mac.
These headphones don't have a base station or a dock. If you want noise cancelling headphones with a dock, try the Turtle Beach Elite 800 Wireless.