You’ll be able to belief Louder
Our skilled group has labored for among the greatest manufacturers in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our consultants purpose to create evaluations you may belief. Discover out extra about how we assessment.
In years passed by, the title Marshall conjured photos of an enormous variety of audio system stacked excessive on a stage. As of late, although, you’re simply as more likely to see the British model’s emblem emblazoned throughout transportable Bluetooth audio system as you’re a huge guitar amp.
There are a number of of those diminutive boomboxes within the rising Marshall vary, giving music followers the prospect to hold that iconic look and sound with them wherever they go.
Launched in August 2024, the Marshall Emberton III is the newest of those transportable Bluetooth audio system, and the follow-up to the profitable Emberton II that was launched in Might 2022. That was a fairly stable speaker, so why do you have to contemplate its successor?
On this assessment, I’ll provide the lowdown on the Emberton III’s design, options, sound high quality and rivals, that can assist you resolve if it’s worthy of your cash.
Design
The very first thing that struck me when the Emberton III arrived within the put up was how small the outer packaging was. It’s concerning the measurement of a brick – which makes it very best for becoming right into a Christmas stocking, however did make me ponder whether the speaker inside would offer the facility I would like. I’ll let you recognize about that later within the assessment.
Kudos to Marshall for the best way they’ve packaged the Emberton III. It’s all very neat and tidy, with the unit itself clothed in delicate polystyrene, and the cable and directions contained in separate compartments.
As for the speaker itself – I’ve reviewed the Sage model (the Emberton III additionally is available in Black & Brass and Cream), and it seems to be completely beautiful. Though not significantly rock’n’roll, the color scheme is fashionable and trendy and supplies a pleasant distinction to the trademark Marshall grille and gold/brass emblem. The rubbery casing has an aesthetically pleasing, snakeskin-look impact too.
Talking of the casing, it has a stable really feel to it, which you would possibly anticipate from a agency that’s famend for making sturdy studio and stage tools. This undoubtedly contributes to the speaker’s heavy really feel (it’s 0.67kg) – don’t fear, although, because the Emberton III continues to be simple to hold round, even and not using a deal with.
Marshall report 27% of the Emberton III is comprised of plastic (79% of which is recycled plastic). That is fascinating as a result of the speaker doesn’t really feel in any respect plasticky. Holding it in my hand, it felt like one robust cookie – and that is backed up by its IP67 mud and waterproof score, which suggests you may submerge it in three toes of water for as much as half-hour… for those who actually need to!
When it comes to controls, on the prime of the unit there’s a gold/brass rocker swap (up or down for quantity; left or proper for skip tracks), on/off and Bluetooth pairing buttons, plus a vivid, pink battery standing bar.
Whereas I don’t have a significant aversion to the rocker swap, I would favor a correct knob for adjusting quantity – however that’s simply private choice. You too can management the speaker utilizing the Marshall Bluetooth app – I’ll speak extra about that within the subsequent part.
Final however not least, there’s a USB-C socket on the facet of the system for if you need to cost the battery or energy it through the mains.
Options
As beforehand talked about, the Emberton III might be managed utilizing the Marshall Bluetooth app. This lets you play/skip tracks and alter the amount, which is helpful for if you’re not standing near the speaker.
Elsewhere, there are three equaliser presets to select from – which I’ll discuss extra within the ‘Sound’ part under – and a Battery Preservation function, which allows you to do issues like restrict the utmost charging velocity with the intention to lengthen the battery’s lifespan.
Talking of the battery, the quantity of play time you’ll get from a two-hour full cost is among the Emberton III’s key promoting factors. You’ll be able to anticipate 32+ hours, which is roughly two hours greater than the Emberton II, and greater than twice the longevity of the unique Emberton speaker.
What’s extra, if the speaker’s fully out of juice and also you don’t have time to cost it absolutely earlier than going out, you may plug it in for simply 20 minutes and anticipate to get six hours of playtime – which ought to be sufficient to soundtrack your complete day.
Serving to the Emberton III to protect battery is its help for the power-efficient Bluetooth 5.3 LE (low vitality) commonplace, which is an improve on the Emberton II’s Bluetooth 5.1. This newest speaker additionally helps Bluetooth multipoint connectivity, which suggests you may join multiple system (telephone, pill, and so on) on the identical time.
One other approach by which the Emberton III trumps its predecessors is within the microphone division – put merely, this speaker has one whereas the others didn’t. This implies now you can use the speaker for hands-free calls, and in addition talk with the voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, and so on) in your telephone.
As for what’s inside this speaker, the Emberton III packs two 2” 10W drivers, two passive radiators and two 38W Class D amplifiers. To learn the way properly these elements carry out collectively, keep it up studying.
Sound
After I turned the Emberton III on, it cranked into life by taking part in a brief electrical guitar riff. It’s a pleasant contact and allows you to know that the speaker is able to rock and roll.
To check its sound high quality, I began off with an HD model of Oasis monitor Cigarettes And Alcohol. As these iconic first chords started to chug by means of the back and front grilles, I used to be instantly struck by how loud this transportable speaker may go. The bass can be actually spectacular for a unit of this measurement – tinny it most actually ain’t. For me, essentially the most passable equaliser preset was the usual ‘Marshall’ one, because it provided essentially the most balanced output. I felt that ‘Push’ was a bit too heavy on the bass, whereas ‘Voice’ accentuated the mid ranges an excessive amount of.
On to Stroll This Approach by Run DMC and Aerosmith. Once more, good weighty bass. Nevertheless, listening to this monitor backed up a sense I’d bought whereas listening to the Oasis track – that the output, and particularly the underside finish, isn’t fairly as spacious or as clear as I prefer it to be. Certainly, if I’m being trustworthy, after I subsequently performed Stroll This Approach on my 2nd Era Amazon Echo, I most popular the way it sounded. OK, so it lacked the ballsy bass of Marshall’s speaker, however for me the music was given way more room to breathe.
I’m not dismissing the Emberton III – removed from it. It’s a lovely-looking speaker that gives terrific energy, hefty bass and excellent battery life. I simply can’t shake off the sensation that the sound might be a tad clearer.
The alternate options
That factor I discussed concerning the Emberton III not sounding nearly as good as my Amazon Echo? Properly, that speaker is fairly outdated now, so that you would possibly need to attempt Amazon’s We Hear 2 as an alternative. Made in tandem with German model Loewe, it’s an analogous measurement to the Echo however can be utilized out and about. It affords 17 hours of battery life and packs a whopping 60W of energy.
When you’re glad to spend more cash, then the Bose Soundlink Max should be thought of. This transportable powerhouse supplies very good stereo sound and greater than sufficient oomph to fill a room – even when the 20-hour battery life is down on what the Emberton III affords.