I have to actively remind myself that Marshall makes some pretty solid headphones, as the name is so closely associated with some of the best speakers in the industry. Its latest device, the Major V, is a rather unassuming $150 pair of on-ear headphones. The USP of these products is their 100+ hours of battery life, I initially thought this might be a gimmick but it turned out to be wrong. After three weeks of continuous use (an average of two hours a day), the battery capacity is still above 50%. They also support Bluetooth LE, and Auracast is promised in a future firmware update. Sadly they sound average at best.
Major Marshall V
The Major V has a lot of bells and whistles, but its average audio is inexcusable for the brand and mid-range price.
advantage
- Compact and portable
- Excellent controls with dedicated Spotify buttons
- Ridiculously long battery life
- Various future-proof features
- Auracast ready
shortcoming
- Not up to IP level
- average sound
- No active noise cancellation
Major Marshall V: Design
On-ear, not over-ear.
The most important feature you need to know about the Major V is its on-ear design. If you need huge, oval-shaped earcups that completely surround your ears and leave some breathing room, you should go for over-ear headphones. They will always press against your cartilage, which can be uncomfortable for some people. By on-ear standards, I found these to be very pleasant, as the cushioning in the cups is quite thick. Due to their on-ear quality, they are comfortable by default. The faux leather coating does tend to heat up, though, which is a nuisance when I’m using these outside doing housework, but less of an issue in my room.
These jars are completely collapsible and become very, very small once folded. I slipped them into a small pocket of my office bag with ease and they didn’t even cause a bulge. Although I don’t like how the metal hinge sticks out when the headset is fully folded.
Weighing only 186 grams, it’s one of the lightest headphones I’ve ever tested. For context, Sony’s XM5 was praised for its light weight (249 grams). Sure, these headphones look a lot cheaper than Sony’s flagship headphones, but they cost hundreds of dollars less. At $150, the Major V is a steal. They have some frills in terms of functionality, but in terms of design, they are fairly simple. They go for a solid, rugged look rather than an eye-catching, beautiful design.
Considering all this, it’s a shame that the Major V isn’t dustproof or waterproof. These are not IP rated at all, so you’ll have to be very careful on tiptoeing around the pool or while hiking. Given their ruggedness and portable form factor, I’m guessing (and hoping) these will have at least an IP56 rating.
Major Marshall V: Control
Spotify dedicated button.
I’ve always preferred physical buttons to touch controls; they provide reliability and feedback that touch interfaces just can’t match. It’s an added bonus when the physical controls are designed to be as intuitive as they are on Major V, with just two buttons to control everything. One of the two is responsible for playback, volume and power on/off. You press it once to cycle between play and pause, tilt it to the side depending on whether you want the volume down or up, and press and hold it to power on/off. Volume is a tricky control to master, often done in an unintuitive way on many headphones, but the Major V couldn’t possibly have a smarter, simpler way to control it. The other Control M button can be customized for any of these three actions: launch Spotify, access in-app EQ presets, or enable voice assistance.
I set the M button to trigger Spotify. Since I’m a regular user of the app, this control is very useful to me. With just one click, it plays a song from my playlist on Spotify. I like that when I press the button again, it changes to another song in one of the playlists, or to another song based on my listening activity on the app. I always plug in Spotify during my commute, and cycling through playlists on the go is often a chore. There is a 3.5mm input port on the headphones, and there is a cable in the box, with the option of a wired connection.
Major Marshall V: Battery Life
Battery life is ridiculously long.
Marshall promises that Major V will last for over a hundred hours. Approximately three weeks and 40 hours later, the charge level remains at a robust 63%. Note that this includes a lot of talk time, which will drain the battery faster than playback time. They take three hours to fully charge, but when you have to charge them once a month (or even less), that’s not an obvious issue. While most headphones have a battery life of between 40 and 60 hours, the Major V’s 100+ hours of battery life is impressive.
They’re affordable at $150 and offer wireless charging. Supports fast charging, providing 15 hours of playback time in 15 minutes. The Major V’s battery saving feature is another feature I don’t see on many headphones. You can choose between Standard, Medium and Maximum battery saving profiles on the app. In standard mode, the headset’s maximum charging capacity is limited to 90% to prevent the battery from overheating. Medium mode adds a charging speed limiter to ensure charging is completed at a slow and steady pace. The Max does everything the other two modes do, plus adds temperature measurement capabilities. When the device heats up beyond the ideal range, this slows down charging to extend battery life. These measures may seem like a hassle considering the already long three-hour charging time, but they can do wonders for the headphones’ battery in the long run. You can also choose not to select battery save mode at any time.
Major Marshall V: Performance
Overwhelming sound.
Major V has a balanced sound with the greatest emphasis on the midrange. Even with the bass boost preset enabled in the app, the bass is the least emphasized. The treble is more pronounced than the low-end, but not dazzling enough to require an extra layer. It sounds very clustered with other elements. Overall, the orchestra could use more space than it currently has. There’s very little sound imaging, as if the elements don’t have enough room to breathe. I tried the in-app EQ settings, but aside from the mid-cut and mid-boost presets, this didn’t really affect the audio quality.
The headphones feature 40mm dynamic drivers and a frequency range of 20 to 20 KHz, which is standard on most headphones in this range. There’s no active noise cancellation, but the overly thick earcup pads provide decent passive noise isolation. At 20% volume, my colleague’s conversation was completely muted.
I was underwhelmed by Major V’s audio, simply because I expected more from the Marshall label. The sound lacks clarity and personality. It looks shallow and tends to have an elongated silhouette. The only performance feature that impresses me is their Bluetooth LE compatibility. They have future-proof LE, which means they are ready for Auracast in future firmware updates. This is a rare feature for headphones in this price range. There are countless examples of expensive headphones failing to support Auracast.
Speaking of future-proofing, there are a few features on the Major V designed to extend its lifespan. Marshall claims they’re sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear, but if something happens to the earmuffs, you can order them online. Major V is also Marshall’s first headphoneo Included in their repair plan so that the battery can be replaced at any authorized repair center.
judgment
Marshall’s Major V impressed me in some ways but not in others. I feel like I’m entitled to great sound on these headphones because they’re Marshall branded, but I don’t get that. The lack of ANC and IP rating for a mid-range price of $150 are also serious omissions. At the same time, the long battery life is twice that of most other headphones, and future support for Auracast is even rarer. As a loyal Spotify user, I couldn’t be happier with the app’s dedicated button. If I didn’t know these were made by Marshall, I probably would have given them a higher score. All in all, I can only recommend these to non-audiophiles who are looking for entry-level headphones and prioritize battery life over sound quality.
