Forget Fitness Trackers - Sennheiser's New Sport Earbuds Track Heart Rate from Your Ear

Forget Fitness Trackers - Sennheiser's New Sport Earbuds Track Heart Rate from Your Ear

Sennheiser's newly released MOMENTUM Sport earphones combine the company's high-end audio technology with fitness tracking sensors. They can record heart rate and body temperature while listening to your favorite motivational playlists and podcasts.

Like most of the best workout headphones, these headphones have small wings that are designed to sit comfortably and securely in the ear. As such, they are more similar to the Beats Fit Pro than the Jabra Elite 8 Active, and the brand's ShakeGrip material and design keeps them in place.

As expected, the Momentum Sport is designed to produce "crisp sound and impressive bass," but the most exciting features are the sensors that track heart rate and body temperature. These two indicators are essential for getting into the right training zone to get the most from your workout. [Sennheiser's Momentum Sport earphones are available on Amazon for $329 and come in olive, graphite, and black. [Data is synced to Apple Health, Google Fit, Strava, Peloton, and Garmin Connect, so it can be combined with fitness tracker records for a more comprehensive picture of your training. Also, in an apparent first for a non-Polar product, the Momentum Sport will sync with the Polar Flow training app.

Right out of the box, you can also view real-time heart rate and temperature data on the Polar Vantage V3 watch, and the earphones support Polar's training and navigation features. If you're already part of the Polar ecosystem, the MOMENTUM Bud seems like a no-brainer.

The MOMENTUM Sport earbuds are IP55 sweat and splash resistant, so they can withstand high-intensity workouts.

But unless you plan to train in a downpour, the MOMENTUM Sport remains a great partner for outside exercise. The buds have vents for comfort and a semi-open design with a transparent mode so you can keep track of your surroundings.

The feature I'm most excited about, however, is the tap gesture. Most workout earbuds rely on buttons and touch gestures to pause, play, adjust volume, change songs, etc. The Momentum Sport also uses touch gestures, but without requiring actual contact with the buds.

So if you are wearing gloves or your fingers are cold, a clever combination of infrared, sensors, and accelerometers allows you to pause a song by double-tapping your cheek instead. This should make it more accessible during your workout and allow you to focus on your training.

Stay tuned for a full review of the Sennheiser Momentum Sport earphones.

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