Marshall - Marhsall Motif A.N.C. Truewireless Headphone - Black

Amazing bass and sound quality. Will recommend this one.

I am a fairly serious runner and biker and have always been annoyed by the wires connecting my earphones to my iPhone so I decided to look into wireless earbuds. I considered the AirPods but some friends who used them said that they can fall out if you sweat a lot during your workout, and frankly, I think they look a little weird. Fortunately, I found that Marshall has a great product called the Motif ANC which provides a nice solution. Founded in 1963, Marshall Amplification has become the best known designer and manufacturer of professional music amplifiers and stage speakers. Its classic “Marshall” script on the grill cloth is a guarantee that the equipment is top quality and will produce, as Pete Townshend noted, “sizzling sound with crunch!” Since 2010 Marshall has worked closely with Sweden’s top-rated Zound Industries to create consumer versions of its audio equipment. This review will focus on the latest of these collaborations, the Marshall Motif ANC wireless Bluetooth earphones. They are priced a bit lower than AirPods but I believe offer better features: • Marshall Motif ANC Bluetooth true wireless earbuds • 6 mm dynamic drivers, 16 ohm impedance • Frequency response range: 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz • Excellent driver sensitivity: 106 (+/- 2) dB @ 1 mW, 1 KHz • Bluetooth 5.2 SBC connectivity, 50 foot range • Active Noise Cancellation with Transparency mode • Two integrated microphones in each earbud for phone calls and ANC cancellation • IPX5 water resistance (safe against low pressure water stream) • Multi-function touch controls (play, pause, skip/back track, accept phone call, ANC setting, equalizer selection) • Lithium polymer battery life: 4.5 hours playtime with ANC, 6 hours with ANC off, 20/26 hours total with in-case recharging • 3 hour recharge time from full discharge; 15 minute recharge provides 1 hour playtime • Charging: Wireless (Qi pad required, not included) or with included USB-C cable • Hard shell carrying case which recharges earbuds • 9” USB-C 5V-12V recharge cable included • Three rubber ear tip sizes (small, medium, large) included • Weight: 4.25 gram (earbuds), 39.5 gram (charging case) • One year warranty on parts and labor Download the Marshall Bluetooth app to provide a full user guide, equalizer settings, ANC sensitivity, touch controls, charge status and other additional features. Everything is extremely well made and the earbuds have a special coating to protect them from scratches and moisture. The curled black knobs and Marshall “M” script really look good. First step is to charge the ear buds in the clam shell charging case. Just place the case on a Qi pad or attach the USB-C charging cable and LED lights will tell you when they are fully charged. The case itself serves as a supplemental battery, holding two full additional charges even when disconnected from power. Pop the earbuds back into the case for 15 minutes and you have another hour of charge. Leave them in for an hour and they are fully charged again. You can do that twice before the case itself needs recharging. I tested the claimed battery life – 4.5 hours when using ANC, 6 hours with ANC off and can confirm that it is accurate. The Marshall Motif ANC earbuds are truly wireless and fit very securely in the ear, thanks to their somewhat boxy oblong shape which conforms well to the ear’s interior. Try the three supplied rubber ear tips to select the one which feels most comfortable for long sessions. For me the small tip gave the best fit and enabled me to get the best sound quality. The Bluetooth connection just requires pressing a button on the charging/carrying case for a few seconds. The 5.2 Bluetooth specification provided a solid connection more than 50 feet from my phone. Sound quality is superb, very clear, distortion-free with excellent midrange and highs. And the bass is very good – just what you would expect from Marshall. The Marshall Bluetooth app includes an equalizer with six pre-set sound profiles (Rock, Pop, Hip-Hop, Electronic, Spoken and “Marshall”.) I found that Hip-Hop maximized bass response while Pop seemed best for vocals and classical music. I chose these earbuds for outside activities – would they stay in? Yes!!! I took them for a long (three hour) run and never had a problem even as I worked up a good sweat in 80+ degree weather. But running is probably not the biggest test. Can you rely upon the fit while biking? The next day I went for an all-day ride over some rough roads and once again they performed perfectly. They never felt loose. I had to recharge them in the case after about 5 hours while I stopped for food but that was quick. The case is compact and unobtrusive in your pocket, but for most workouts you can rely upon the 4-6 hour playing time from each charge and leave the case at home. Other features? The earbuds have nice touch controls (play, pause, skip/back track, accept/end phone calls, ANC setting, equalizer selection) which work well. The ANC function has a Transparency setting which amplifies ambient sounds when desired (e.g., conversations in noisy settings). The earbuds are sealed and have an IPX5 rating so even a stream of water on them will not cause damage, so have no fear about using them in the rain. (Airpods are rated only IPX4.) The very light weight (4.5 gram) of the earbuds really enhances their comfort when wearing them for long periods. Bottom line? If you want to be transported back to the musical glories of the rock era but don’t want to give up any of the technologic comforts of today buy these outstanding earbuds. They have my highest and unqualified endorsement and you will crank up your personal cool quotient to 11.

The Marshall Motif A.N.C ear buds are a very compact, lite and a well put together ear bud. The app you download controls everything is also well crafted. Many settings can be customized such as the equalizer which has 3 presets, the first is locked to the Original Marshal sound, the other 2 can be set to Hip-Hop, , Rock, Spoken, pop and Electronic style settings. The Motif has ample sound cancelling abilities. I tested it while mowing my yard with a loud push mower. The mower noise did not affect my music listening. I was still able to hear the mower, but the sound level was greatly muted. This A.N.C setting (and transparency mode) can also be customized in the app. The buds come with 3 sizes of rubber ear bud tips, Small, medium and dumbo. I of course used the dumbo. From the factory they have the medium installed and it was letting in more than usual sound. I put the larger ones on, and this solved the issue. Charging is a snap; it uses a USB C, or it can be charged on a charging pad with makes great at my desk. I can charge my phone and earbuds simultaneously. The buds are good for about 4.5 hours of play time with A.N.C (6 without) before needing to be returned to the case to charge them. The case will charge to full about 4 times or so before needing to be charged itself. (more without A.N.C) The app allows you to increase the lifetime of your internal batteries by turning on the eco charging feature. This only charges your buds to 80%. I assume constantly full charging the battery shortens the lifespan. The touch sensitive buds allow you to: Play, Pause, Skip, answer calls (built in dual mic’s for clear calls) activate/deactivate A.N.C and Transparency mode. The touch can also be customized to the actions you use more. When playing the music, I noticed that the high and middle tones are almost spot on and need no tweaking. As for the bass, you will have to adjust to your liking via the app. After adjusting the bass, I noticed It could have been a little deeper and more powerful but it still wasn’t that bad. I did not detect any sound distortion at any level, low to extremely high. The frequency range for the buds is 20-20,000 Hz. The physical range of the buds is about 30 feet, so you don’t have to lug your device around. The buds are somewhat waterproof, so if you are out and the weather changes you don’t have to worry about them. They can be rinsed with water!!, Not so much the case though, but it is splash resistant. I think these buds are a nice addition to any audio files active lifestyle. From running to mowing a very bumpy yard, they didn’t budge or give me ear fatigue (sore from using too long). I would recommend them to family and friends and gets 4 out of 5 stars for me as the bass could use some additional punch. This can probably be done by a firmware update.

Marshall Motif A.N.C. – True Wireless, Active Noise Cancelling earbuds are Fantastic! Selecting earbuds / in-ear monitors really is a very personal matter not only because of personal listening preferences, but because of the direct contact and interaction with our unique ear anatomy. There are several important, major categories, with multiple criteria that I base my evaluation and selection of earbuds on. • Fit and comfort. A good, comfortable fit, and wearing comfort over hours of continuous use is essential, and in my estimation one of the two most important criteria for selection. If you cannot tolerate wearing them, they are rejected. • Technical Specifications. The technical specifications provide a basis for assessing the potential performance capabilities of the earbuds. • Features and Functionality. Some features are relatively ubiquitous among most earbuds, but particular features or functions which may be very important to a particular user or purpose may not be available on all earbuds. • Battery Performance. Battery life and fast recharging capability are important factors for wireless units. • Audio Reproduction Quality and Fidelity. Audio quality is the second critical evaluation criterion if the earbuds have met the criterion of being comfortable to wear. The sound reproduction performance is the criterion by which we select the earbuds / monitor that will provide the best listening experience. The Marshall Motif earbuds are equipped with a compact and attractive storage and charging case. The Marshall logo branded case is approximately 2 ½” x 1 ¾”, has rounded edges and sports a textured guitar amp covering resembling Marshall Tolex. A USB-C port is located on the bottom for use with the supplied 6” USB-C to USB-A charging cable. The case also supports wireless charging. A pairing mode button resides on the front of the case, and immediately above the button is an LED charging indicator lamp which progresses from the red indication of discharge through yellow and finally green which indicates a completed charge. The same LED slowly pulses blue during Bluetooth pairing operations. The earbuds are securely retained in the case magnetically, and molded contours ensure that the charging contacts properly align. Upon the first opening of the case, the unpaired earbuds enter Pairing Mode, as indicated by the pulsing blue LED on the case. Having already installed the Marshall Bluetooth app on my Android smartphone, the pairing operation was completed in just seconds. This was likely the fastest and easiest Bluetooth device pairing that I have experienced. The Marshall Motif earbuds retain a maximum of 3 paired devices, but can only be active with one device at a time. This limitation is the only “complaint” that I can express about these excellent earbuds. It is functionally limiting to not be actively connected with two devices simultaneously. While using audio on a laptop, I cannot answer a phone call. It is necessary to disconnect from one Bluetooth paired device, before connecting to another. I genuinely hope that Marshall addresses this shortcoming. The Marshall app immediately reported the availability of a firmware update for the earbuds which took them from Firmware Version 0.3.3. to 0.3.5. The update was slow, and I wondered if it had encountered a problem, however it finally did complete, uploading the firmware to one earbud at a time. The Marshall app provides an efficient, user friendly control interface with the Motif earbuds. The app displays the charge level of each earbud as a percentage. The first available setting is for the Equaliser. There are seven preset equalizer settings available, but no manual equalizer adjustment is offered. The app stores 3 EQ presets in the selection rotation. Preset #1 defaults to the “Marshall” setting, and cannot be modified. Preset #2 and #3 allow assignment of any of the 7 presets. The preset selections include, Marshall, Rock, Spoken, Pop, Hip-Hop and Electronic. I found that in addition to the Marshall preset, the Rock and Pop presets best accommodated my audio needs, and I assigned them to Presets #2 and #3. The Marshall EQ preset may be best described as a relatively flat EQ profile, with balanced, mid-range levels applied across the frequency spectrum. I would also describe that setting as “airy” and “open”, with a nice balance of headroom and bottom end. The Rock preset boosts low end and emphasizes bass frequencies heavily, while also boosting high-end and cutting mid-range frequencies. Listeners who have a preference for thumping bass will gravitate to this EQ preset. The Pop preset boosts treble and mid-range frequencies, producing a “bright” and “open” sound profile, with a lot of headroom. This setting is helpful in isolating guitar tracks or vocals in the mix, for example. Although it would be nice to have an adjustable equalizer, these presets offer very good options to suit a broad range of sound profiles and listening preferences. It would be beneficial if the EQ frequency bands depicted for each of the presets also displayed a numeric scale representing setting levels for comparison and comprehension of the levels of boost or attenuation applied. The Touch Controls setting permits assigning the long-touch function control to the capacitive touch buttons on each earbud. The settings may be the same for both earbuds, or unique functions may be assigned to each earbud. I assigned the Noise Control function to the left earbud, and Equaliser function to the right earbud. The long-touch toggles through the options of the assigned function. Function settings may also be controlled from the Home Screen of the Marshall app. Changes initiated from the earbuds are immediately reflected in the app, and an audible sound, or multiple sounds equivalent to the option number, heard in the earbuds confirms the change in settings. The short-touch function is not user definable, and is predefined as 1 touch to play/pause audio, or answer/end a call. 2 touches skips forward when playing a recording, or rejects a phone call. 3 touches skips backward. Noise Control levels are adjustable and ANC may also be deactivated. Among the other app settings is Eco Charging which limits the charge level to 80%, thereby extending the longevity of the Li-ion battery cells. The earbuds are compact and lightweight, which are both important attributes. I like that the body of the earbuds is largely confined to the ear, rather than having a large, bulbous housing protruding from the ear, which affects the stability and balance of the earbuds while being worn, and resultantly may adversely affect the air-seal between the eartips and the user’s ear. I also found that the shape and size of the Motif earbuds generally conformed well to the anatomy of my ears. This contributed to both my wearing comfort as well as to the exceptional audio quality. The earbuds have a cylindrical battery and microphone projection on the housings. That cylinder is cut with fine texture diamond knurls. The knurling provides a dramatic visual appearance, but may pose the potential for irritation of the sensitive skin of the ears and may be problematic for some users. The air-seal as well as the directional orientation of the transducer to the ear canal greatly affect the characteristics of the audio heard by the user. A good air-seal is essential to hearing high fidelity audio, and most noticeably low frequency bass. Making minor adjustments to the rotational orientation of the earbud can aim the driver optimally and significantly affect the quality of audio production. The Marshall Motif is supplied with 3 sets of soft, pliable silicone eartips. Sizes Small and Large are packed in the box, and the Medium eartips are preinstalled. I found the medium eartips to be best for both comfort and ensuring a solid air-seal in the ears. The Automatic Noise Cancellation performance of the Motif earbuds is excellent. Noise Cancellation is easily put to the test by wearing them proximate to a loud fan or air conditioner, or running water. The fan or A/C evaluation also incorporates the movement of large volumes of air in combination with the noise produced by the fan. While the Motif will not completely eliminate all background noise in that extreme test, it very effectively mitigated the noise. The specifications for the Marshall Motif earbuds are very good. The 6mm, 16Ώ driver has a rated sensitivity of 106 +/- 2 dB, and a frequency range of 20-20,000 Hz, which is relatively common among headphones. The earbuds are IPX5 rated and the case is IPX4 rated demonstrating resistance to minor splashes and sprays of water. The Bluetooth 5.2 is rated for 30’, but I exceeded that distance before experiencing a drop-out. Marshall claims battery performance of 4.5 hours with ANC and 6 hours without, and 20 total hours in-case with ANC and 26 hours without. A Quick Charge of 15 minutes yields 1 hour of use. Fully recharging the Motifs requires 3 hours. I found the actual battery performance to be very closely aligned with the specifications, The Marshall Motif earbuds are very comfortable, balanced, stable and secure in the ears, and an all-important air-seal is easily achieved and maintained, even while engaging in activity. The audio quality of the Marshall Motif earbuds is exceptional! Listening to a variety of high fidelity sources for lengthy, continuous periods while employing the various EQ presets that I favored resulted in me being extremely favorably impressed! Telephone calls were likewise exceptional, with optimal clarity on both ends of the conversation. The ANC proved to be extremely competent in background noise reduction. The Marshall Motif A.N.C. earbuds are outstanding, and are my new favorite earbuds based on both wearing comfort and exceptional high fidelity audio reproduction.

I bought these as a gift for my husband and he's a big Marshall brand fan. Unfortunately, these head phones like to disconnect and not hold a charge. We were really surprised by this since the other Marshall speakers that we have work great, but these kinda suck. We are currently talking with the manufacture to see if we can get a refund or a new set. After reading more reviews online it seems that this is a common issue with these earbuds.

About the Motif A.N.C. Truewireless Headphone The Motif A.N.C. headphones are Marshall’s latest in-ear headphones with active noise cancellation. By eliminating sounds from your environment you get to listen to more of your music. They boast 20 hours of playtime and com with a portable charge case. Control your headphones with touch controls and an on-phone app. What They Come With The packaging for the headphones is well done, and creates a neat purchase experience. Inside the box you will find the headphones in the case, 3 sizes of ear tips, a charging cord, and a couple manuals/legal documents. My headphones already had about an 80% charge, so I could use them immediately. Set-up The set-up was really easy. These use 5.2 Bluetooth connectivity, and paired really easily with my phone. There’s a Marshall app to download for full control of the headphones. Upon establishing a connection a firmware notification popped up. I always recommend starting with the latest firmware. Quality The headphones seemed like a solid build. The specifications do list a scratch resistance coating and IPX5 water resistance. This is important for those active users that may drop, sweat on, or simply get caught in rain. The “M” stands out on the casing clearly signifying the Marshall logo. In comparison to other brands, I feel that these are very comparable to an Apple or Samsung earbud in quality and features. Comfort I am very much a fan of over-the-ear noise cancelling headphones, as I do not find in-ear headphones to be the most comfortable. These do come with 3 sizes of ear tips to help you find a better fit to help you stay comfortable. I will also say that they did not feel like they would fall out which was a concern that I had. Charging The battery life seems to be as advertised. I recommend the A.N.C. feature which will use more battery, but you will have better quality music which is worth the trade off in my opinion. To charge the headphones simply put them back in the case. The case will charge them. If the case is out of power you can use the very short USB-A to USB-C cord to charge or you can use a wireless charging pad (not included). I like having both options for charging. Audio Quality As I mentioned earlier, I am a fan of the over-the-ear noise cancellation headphones. You will not get the same quality in an earbud as you do in an upper quality over-the-ear. Bass reproduction is usually tied to the size of the driver which is much smaller in the earbud. With that said these headphones do have a 6mm driver which help to make them one of the better sounding earbuds. They are clear on the mid-range and higher end. Controls You can control the headphones by touching the outer surface of the earpiece. One touch will pause/play. Two touches will skip to the next. Three touches will skip backward. Four touches changes the noise cancellation settings. This feature was probably the most frustrating part of using the headphones. I had a lot of trouble with it recognizing the number of touches (which means it would pause instead of skip or move to the next song instead of reversing). Overall These headphones seem to be a solid purchase in comparison to other brands available. They have a neat appearance, good battery life, good sound quality, multiple ways to charge, and options to find a comfortable fit. My largest complaint is that the touch controls were a little frustrating. The active noise cancellation makes a huge difference, and I would highly recommend making sure that is included in whatever you choose. I would like to give these 4.5 stars, but that isn’t an option so I’ll mark it as 4.

The Marshall Motif A.N.C Wireless earphones are the first pair of wireless earphones I have tried from Marshall. Given that Marshall’s Stanmore II wireless speakers are one of my favorite sounding speakers to date I decided to give these earbuds a go, and they did not disappoint. Inside the box came a quick start guide, the two earphones inside the charging case, various sized earbud tips, and a USB type C cable. The charging case as well as the earbuds themself are very well designed and quite stylish. The case has this rugged faux-leather like look and feel, while the earphones are made of hard plastic and some metal. The case is light and compact. It has a USB C port on its bottom, a battery indicator button below the Marshall logo (which is magnetic and acts as a clasp to close the case), and a flat backside which is great given that the case also charges wirelessly when placed down on this side. When seated inside the case the earphones a secure and do not fall out when tossed around a little or when the case is placed upside down. There is no shifting around even when the case is placed upside down. Upon opening the case the earbuds instantly go into pairing mode and the setup on multiple android devices was seamless. In fact, it even suggested downloading the Marshall bluetooth app, which I suggest you do. The only LED indicator rests between the Marshall logo and the battery indicator/Bluetooth pairing button on the case so there is nothing inside the case or on the earbuds themself’s that indicate their charging status.The colors are what you expect, red for low battery, amber for mid battery, and green for fully charged. Both earbuds of the Motif A.N.C are touch capacitive and by default are set to the typical music and call controls via 1,2 or 3 taps on either bud. However, their default long touch function is set to noise control in which there are three listening modes, Active Noise Cancelling (ANC), OFF, or Transparency mode. One of the things I like a lot is that inside the app each earbud can be given controls from the same list of options, so no option is specific to an earbud, however despite it having control options such as equalizer, noise control, and voice assistant, (btw you can also set the controls to do nothing) it does not have controls for volume. When it comes to sound and performance, these things are great. As you open the case they instantly pair to your most recent device and are ready to go. They don’t report the battery level as some others do but this can be found quickly from inside the Marshall app. Each earbud can be used independently and therefore you could have one inside the case charging while the other is being used for music, (if you’re anything like my brother you’ll greatly appreciate this). Each listening mode is great with ANC being the best if you are purely focused on the music and nothing else, as it does a great job of suppressing external ambient/background noises. Transparency mode also works well even if you are listening to music and I found that I used this mode quite often while in the office/ walking around the city, it struck the perfect blend of music mixed with the noise of everything around me. When it comes to music these are pretty good right out the box. The default Marshall equalizer setting does it for me across every genre I threw at it and everything came through crisp and clean with no issues, plus the bass is lovely. With phone calls, the Motif ANC performed great, especially when it came to the microphones. Through testing with a friend, we both agreed that our voices were not the clearest but they were louder and more focused than we expected even in somewhat noisy conditions. Finally, I got almost 5 hours of constant music playback at about 50% volume with ANC off on a single charge. With ANC on this dropped to about 3+ hours in my estimation, so clearly ANC upticks the battery usage significantly. No worries though, I was able to get three full charges from the case before it was dead, and also most importantly, the earbuds have some kind of quickcharge feature that gave me almost 50 mins of playback once they were charged for 10 mins. I must note that fully charging the case or earbuds from 0 to 100% took around 3 hours for both independently. This is another great product from Marshall. My only real gripes are no volume touch controls and having to turn on my location every time I want to connect the Motifs to the Marshall App(not sure if this is a bug). They are comfortable, look and sound great and come in a neat stylish low profile case, what’s there to hate?

Personally, I think they are up there with the Airpods Pro, but with a few flaws though. Case is a little flimsy, touch response sometimes does not detect the the correct amount of touches, and phone call audio could be improved. Listening to music on these is amazing though. Marshall needs to focus on the app as well its not the best. I wish there was an option for 4.5 stars. Will give it a 5.