Marshall has added to its lineup of lifestyle speakers with the introduction of its most compact speaker yet, the Uxbridge Voice.
Marshall unveiled the new speaker Wednesday, touting built-in Amazon Alexa, Apple AirPlay 2, and multiroom playback capabilities. The Uxbridge will be available to the masses starting April 8 for $199 in both a white and a black trim. For the Google Assistant fans out there, a version of the Uxbridge with Google’s smart assistant will be available June 11.
The size and price of the Uxbridge puts it in the same market as standouts like the Sonos One. Marshall has outfitted its new speaker with features to match that price, including Amazon’s trusty assistant built right into the speaker for easy access to music via your own voice. But it doesn’t stop there.
Connectivity options include Wi-Fi, Airplay 2, Spotify Connect or Bluetooth. Beyond that, the Uxbridge supports multiroom audio in a similar fashion to Sonos, allowing you to add other speakers from the Marshall lineup or other supported Alexa-enabled speakers into the mix to create a whole-home system.
With the voice assistant comes the ability to control smart devices throughout your home. There’s also a voice mute button to turn off the speaker’s far-field microphone array when you don’t want Alexa listening, as well as additional buttons on the speaker’s top panel to adjust volume, treble, and bass.
A press release from Marshall was somewhat quiet about the audio specifications of the speaker itself. It did note that the Uxbridge will have one Class D amplifier providing 30 watts of power, and will operate within a frequency range of 54-20,000 Hz, which gives us at least some idea of its capability. But Marshall has yet to offer details about the actual drivers that make up the Uxbridge.
Marshall did say its new speaker is “engineered to create a thunderous sound from its compact frame.” Until we’ve actually heard it, though, we can’t comment on the audio quality of the Uxbridge.
Compared to its competitors, the biggest difference with the Uxbridge is its aesthetic, as it’s crafted to look like a mini guitar amp in Marshall’s signature style. It may be an acquired taste for some, but it’s a design that allows Marshall to stand out in a crowded field of compact smart speakers.
