Marshall has been an iconic brand for decades – it all started back in the 1960s with its amplifiers which hold an important place in rock n roll history. Skip forward to 2024 and Marshall offers everything from drum kits and jukeboxes to noise-cancelling headphones and portable speakers.
All its products combine the old and the new, using the latest tech while echoing its past and taking inspiration from its old-school amplifiers.
The Marshall Major V are a pair of on-ear headphones that encompass all of that. They follow on from the IV model with more battery life, improved sound with less distortion, wireless charging and a customisable M button to switch between in-app features.
I've been testing the Marshall Major V headphones for the last couple of months and to cut to the chase, I think they're very cool. Keep reading to find out more about what I thought about the design, comfort, performance and features.
Pros
- Stylish, lightweight and portable
- Over 100 hours of battery life
- Wired and wireless listening
Cons
- Lacks noise-cancelling
- Not comfortable for long periods
- Ambient noise can interrupt listening
Marshall Major V key specs
| Battery life | 100+ hours |
|---|---|
| Weight | 186g |
| Water resistance | No |
| Noise cancelling | No |
Marshall Major V review: Design and comfort
Design is something that Marshall does very well. If you care a lot about style (as well as substance), Marshall creates some of the best-looking headphones you can buy. They're compact, cool and rugged.
A black broken leather-style look covers the outside of the Major V headphones, wrapping around the headband and over the earcups. Each earcup also features the famous Marshall logo contrasting against the rest of the design in white.
What to Read Next
There's a golden control knob on the right-hand side that looks like a miniature version of the knobs and dials found on its amps – it will pause or play the music, adjust the volume and skip through tracks. It's very easy to use because it's so self-explanatory.
On the other side, there's a small black M button that you can customise in the Marshall smartphone app. By default, it's used for Spotify Tap but you can also use it to call your voice assistant or switch between equaliser settings.
For comfort, the headband is lightly padded and the earcups have thick foam padding. To help you find the right fit, each earcup connects to the headband using a sliding metal bar. It stays firmly in place and I didn't need to regularly readjust it.
The Major V earcups rest on top of your ears, as opposed to covering them completely like over-ear headphones. Ultimately, that means they get uncomfortable more quickly. I had them on for around two hours before I started getting tired of wearing them.
At 186g, they are lightweight and easy to carry around. You can fold them up when you're not using them and they are durable enough to withstand lots of knocks and bumps in your bag. They don't have an official IP rating so can't claim to be water-resistant.
You can choose to play music through a wireless or wired connection, thanks to the combination of Bluetooth and a 3.5mm audio port. That means you can connect to devices that don't have wireless connectivity and keep listening to the headphones when the battery has died. You can also use that port to connect to other pairs of headphones and listen to music with someone else.
An audio cable comes included in the box alongside the USB-C charging cable.
Marshall Major V review: Performance and features
Marshall knows music and that comes across in the performance of its headphones. Whatever you're into, the Major V will do it justice. Before I go any further it will be worth pointing out that because there's no noise cancelling, the music is easily interrupted by outside sounds, so you'll get the most out of these headphones in quiet places.
Bright, clear and detailed, the sound accurately represents each song, delivering them with effortless energy. Listening to 'Dance Yrself Clean' by LCD Soundsystem, the building bass feels well balanced with the quieter vocals, and the more shrill elements of the high-end don’t overwhelm the rest of the soundstage. Or shifting gears to some R&B soul, in '3AM 'by Rapsody feat Erykah Badu, the bouncy bass is grounded enough for a rich keyboard and guitar performance, while allowing the focus to stay on the smooth vocals.
If you aren't happy with the headphones' default tuning, there's a five-band equaliser in the app as well as several preset sound modes including Bass Boost, Mid Boost, Treble Boost and Mid Reduction.
As mentioned above, you won't get active noise cancellation but the ear cushions do go someway to isolating the sound and providing some level of passive noise cancellation.
The lack of ANC is likely to put a lot of people off the Marshall Major V. And you will indeed hear a lot of outside noise when you have these on, especially in loud places like the London Underground. But that didn't always bother me – sometimes noise cancelling makes me feel too cut off from the outside world. For everyday use wandering the streets, walking in the park or working in the office, I was happy with the strength of the sound and didn't really miss having ANC.
Marshall Major V review: Battery life and connectivity
Marshall claims the Major V have 100+ hours of listening time packed in, which means you very rarely need to charge them.
When you do, a full charge will take about three hours. Or if you're in a rush, 15 minutes plugged in will give you 15 hours of listening time. You can charge these wirelessly too.
Within the Marshall app, there's a battery preservation feature which should help to improve the longevity of the battery by limiting the amount of charge they can take in and how quickly.
In terms of connectivity, the Marshall Major V have Bluetooth 5.3 with a range of about 10m (30ft).
Google Fast Pair meant my Android phone recognised them immediately when I first turned them on, although it did take a minute for the Marshall app to find them. Then once connected, I found it to be reliable, the connection rarely dropped.
One feature I was particularly pleased to see was multipoint connectivity. During the workday, I had these hooked up to my phone and my laptop at the same time. I could listen to my playlists from my phone and switch the audio over to a video call without having to disconnect and reconnect the headphones.
Marshall Major V review: Verdict
The Marshall Major V are a fantastic pair of everyday headphones, you can chuck them in your bag before you head off in the morning without worrying about damaging them, they also fold up nice and small so they don't take up too much space.
When you have them on, they look great and won't ruin your outfit, if anything they'll add to it. The lack of ANC might be a problem for some people but when I was wandering around the streets of London it didn't bother me because they sound so good (as long as I didn't need to hop on a noisy tube).
The fact that these pack over 100 hours of battery life is a huge win, you very rarely need to remember to plug them in. Another major plus-point is the multipoint connectivity, allowing you to switch the audio seamlessly between devices.
Overall, the Marshall Major V are stylish headphones with some useful features and solid sound quality, although you won't get some more advanced extras like ANC or an ambient sound mode. Even so, they are a great option and very competitively priced.
Marshall Major V review: Also consider
If you're on a tight budget and don't mind making a few sacrifices, the JBL Tune 520BT deliver decent performance and solid battery life for less than £50 – they come in fun colours like blue and purple as well as the usual black and white.
Or, for those who would rather have noise cancellation, the 1More SonoFlow are a top choice for under £100. They're some of the best cheap over-ear headphones you can buy. You will have to sacrifice on design but the audio is energetic and entertaining and you’ll get a huge 50 hours of battery life packed in too.
If money is no object, you can get some incredible noise-cancelling over-ear headphones that look lovely too. An obvious choice for iPhone users are the Apple AirPods Max headphones which are all fantastic all-rounders with tonnes of style. I would also recommend the Sonos Ace, which I think are some of the best-looking ANC headphones from 2024.
