Marshall has upgraded its premium ANC over-ears with a raft of new features and design tweaks.
The Marshall Monitor III ANC headphones are priced at £299 / $349 and available from today.
We've seen a few pairs of wireless headphones with impressive battery life in recent times, but the Marshall Monitor III ANC are right up there with the very best.
Not only do they provide up to 70 hours of music playback without needing to be recharged, they do with with active noise cancellation switched on. Some of the other best headphones on the market have quoted similar or even more in the past, but not with ANC enabled.
This is also only one of a new suite of features that Marshall's new, premium over-ears boast. The third-generation pair also include the brand's proprietary Soundstage spatial audio tech that, when switched on in the dedicated app, dramatically widens tracks, even those not mixed with spatial audio or Dolby Atmos in mind.
They add a transparency mode too, which allows external noise to filter through the cups so the user can hear a conversation or train announcement, say. And the overall design and build quality of the headset has been revised for a more comfortable fit over longer periods.
This includes the adoption of super soft foam for each ear pad, which not only feels softer for the wearer but provides extra noise isolation. This in turn allows for enhanced active noise cancellation and potentially putting the Monitor III ANC amongst the best noise cancelling headphones.
Other features include the return of the physical control knob, which works like a joystick to select different functions and options.
There's a customisable "M" (for Marshall) button on the right arm too, which can be assigned to open a voice assistant, for example. An ANC button can be found on the left.
Connectivity is via Bluetooth LE which, when hooked up to a compatible device, allows for "lower energy" usage while maintaining the same quality of transmission. There is no Qualcomm aptX support on board, but you do get two 32mm drivers (one in each ear) capable of frequencies from 20Hz to 20kHz.
The Marshall Monitor III ANC headphones are available from several retailers now, including Marshall's own website, priced at £299 in the UK, $349 in the States, and €349 in Central Europe. We're awaiting Australian availability and pricing.
