Marshall is new Main IV Headphones ($ 149.99) Combine lightweight convenience with wireless charging and up to 80 hours of playback for an iconic headset that is affordable and flexible. At home or on the go, these are a great option with unique features that you won’t find anywhere else in the headphone market.
Basics
These are the fourth version of Marshall’s major on-ear wireless headphones. They come with a number of new enhancements, including a new folding clip design that makes them even more compact when traveling – and that allows them to comfortably rest on a charging pad to enable another new feature, wireless charging with the Qi Default.
Marshall has also improved battery life significantly, announcing a crazy 80 hour usage time, well over the 30+ promised in the last generation. They still have square ear cups with the iconic Marshall look, but the details on each are flat instead of pebbly faux leather (which stays on the headband). The multidirectional control button was also carried over from previous major designs. There’s a 3.5mm jack for wired sound and for sharing your audio connection with another headset.
In the box there is a coiled 3.5 mm cable for that vintage Marshall amp feeling and a USB-C cable for wired charging, which offers a full usage time of over 80 hours from 3 hours – or 15 hours a new quick charge function from just 15 minutes.
Design and performance
The Major IV’s design is a classic Marshall aesthetic – great news. They look amazing with the iconic logo in writing on both ear cups. As mentioned earlier, the auricle face is now smooth and matte which looks great, and there is a silicone edge on each one that will help hold the correct ear cup in place when placed on a wireless charger.
Credit: Marshall
These are compact over-ear headsets that rest comfortably and are made even more comfortable by the lightweight materials used for their construction. While they feel very light, they feel made from high quality materials that have been carefully constructed and should have a long lifespan in terms of durability.
Marshall’s multidirectional controller is both an attractive cosmetic detail in gold and an intelligent user interface that allows for intuitive manipulation of audio playback and volume.
In terms of sound, the Major IV offers excellent audio quality for a headset in this price range. The bass is rich and the highs are clear. There’s no noise canceling here at work, so you’re bleeding in a decent amount of audio from your surroundings, but they make for good soundproofing for an over-hear set. And the sound quality is further enhanced by the world-class battery life Marshall built into the Major IV. Over 80 hours is just amazing and means you can probably get away with at least a week or two without thinking of a charger while actively using it.
Bottom line
Marshall really delivered amazing value with the new Major IV. Combining style, performance and quality in a headset with amazing battery life and unique wireless charging capabilities is a real achievement – and benefits like wired 3.5mm audio sharing complete the package. This is a great everyday headset that you won’t want to go without anywhere.
