In music circles, the name Marshall is synonymous with rock, loud rock. And for its first foray into the now densely populated true wireless wilderness, the company has launched a pair of earphones promised to deliver "a thunderous audio experience."
British brand Marshall is possibly best known for its guitar amps, rocking the world's best known players since 1962. But the company expanded into the personal audio space in 2010 when it teamed up with Sweden's Zound Industries to release a pair of headphones boasting the iconic name and look of the famous amps.
More ear candy has followed, along with a number of Bluetooth speakers and even a smartphone. Though the firm has a few wireless headphones under its belt, the Mode II earphones are its first dip into the true wireless earbud market.
In keeping with the brand's style, the new earphones come in black and gold with a big ol' Marshall M in white on each earpiece. Inside each housing, which features a touch-enabled outer surface for playback control and call taking, is a custom-tuned 6-mm dynamic driver for "growling bass, natural-sounding mids and crisp treble." Sensitivity is reported to be 100.5 dB, frequency response is the standard 20 Hz to 20 kHz and driver impedance is 16 ohms, and if listeners don't warm to the "thunderous" out of the box sound, they can fine tune the EQ if they wish.
Pairing with a music source is undertaken over Bluetooth 5.1, and users can also call on a paired phone's voice assistant. A transparency mode can let sounds from the outside world, useful for when you need to hear announcements at the travel hub or chat to friends without removing either buds, and they're rated IPX4 water-resistant so working out at the gym or sprinting the office on a rainy day shouldn't be an issue.
The earphones will rock 'n' roll for up to five hours before needing a top up, with the supplied charging case good for four full charges before needing a recharge over USB-C or sat on a wireless charging pad (not supplied).
The Marshall Mode II earphones come supplied with four pairs of ear tips, and are available for pre-order now for US$179. General sales start from March 18. That makes them cheaper than the latest efforts from the company that started the whole thing off, Earin, and also much less expensive than Apple's AirPods Pro, though the Marshalls don't have active noise cancellation.
Product page: Mode II