Know your major scale from your minor one? Us neither but we can tell the difference between Marshall’s latest headphones in the Major V and Minor IV.
The Major V are the latest iteration of Marshall’s on-ear headphones, which we last tested in its Major IV form. The headlines here are massive battery life (100+ hours), foldable design and wireless charging. Considering how popular the Major series is (they’re everywhere on the London Underground), we’d expect these to be another popular choice.
The Minor IV are true wireless earphones, sitting beneath the Motif II A.N.C and they boast a redesigned form factor, 30+ hours of battery life, and a battery preservation feature that should help them last longer.
Both headphones have been tuned to offer Marshall’s Signature Sound, so expect crisp highs, clear midrange and rocking bass output, and both include support for Bluetooth LE Audio to improve connectivity and streaming over Bluetooth.
The Major V’s has been designed to be touch and rugged to survive your daily commutes. The gold ‘M’ button is customisable, designated to Spotify Tap by default but can be modified to access EQ presets or voice assistants.
Along with its 100+ hour battery life, the Major V also supports wireless charging along with its USB-C charging, so you have more ways to top the battery up.
The Minor IV boast over 30 hours of battery, although there doesn’t appear to be any wireless charging for this model. Switch the in-app battery preservation feature and you can extend the lifespan of these earphones even further.
The app also makes it easy to customise controls and update the headphones firmware, and there’s Bluetooth multipoint for connecting to two devices at once. Last but not least, these earphones have been designed to offer greater comfort with a redesigned earbud and stem that have been angled to create a better fit within the ear.
Pricing for the Major V is around the same as the previous model at £129 / $149 / €149, while the Minor IV is priced at £119 / $129 / €129.
Both are available to pre-order now with availabilty starting April 23rd, 2024.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
