Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Marshall’s Emberton is the company’s smallest Bluetooth speaker yet

The personal audio arm of Marshall, a company best-known for its British-built guitar amps, has a new ultra-portable Bluetooth speaker: The $149 Emberton.

Marshall Emberton Bluetooth Speaker
Marshall

The tiny speaker looks like it’s intended to be an electric guitar companion, thanks to the amp-inspired design cues that typifies the entire Marshall line. However, its ambitions are more modest. As an IPX7-rated device with a claimed 20-hour battery life, the Emberton is really just an ultra-stylish alternative to Bluetooth speakers like the

JBL Flip 5

,

Sony SRS-XB23

, and the Ultimate Ears Megaboom 3.

Recommended Videos

Even if the Emberton proves to be no better at blasting the tunes that these other speakers, its classy looks could earn it a place on people’s wish lists — most portable, water-resistant Bluetooth speakers look more like fashionable beach toys than quality audio products.

Those looks might be more than skin-deep. Marshall claims the Emberton delivers a sound much louder and larger than its size and outperforms most speakers in its class.

The key to this boast is something the company calls True Stereophonic, which it says is a multi-directional sound experience achieved by “separating out the spatial content of stereo recordings.”

We can’t yet say how successful the Emberton is on the audio front, but we’ve had mixed experiences with the company’s other speakers. Its $399 Tufton speaker proved to be an excellent performer for parties, but its Uxbridge smart speaker was decidedly underwhelming in terms of audio quality.

The Emberton can’t afford to disappoint on sound: There are no extra bells and whistles at all on this portable. You can’t use it as a speakerphone, it won’t let you charge other devices from its battery, there’s no auxiliary input for non-Bluetooth sources, and so far, Marshall hasn’t indicated that you can use the Emberton as a stereo pair or as part of a multi-speaker system — features that have become standard on similarly priced speakers.

What you do get is a two-hour battery that can fast-charge via USB-C (20 minutes will translate into five hours of playtime) and a clever one-button control that lets you play/pause, skip tracks, adjust volume and power the unit up and down. There’s also an LED battery gauge to let you know how much fuel is left in the tank.

If you like the Emberton’s promise of great sound and good looks in a highly portable and water-resistant package, it hits stores July 1 for $149 or less.

Simon Cohen
Simon Cohen is a contributing editor to Digital Trends' Audio/Video section, where he obsesses over the latest wireless…
JBL keeps the party going, revealing three new PartyBox speakers at CES 2025
The JBL PartyBox 520 party speaker.

The JBL PartyBox 520 party speaker. JBL

If it's not evident by now, let it be known that JBL likes to party ... PartyBox, that is. At CES 2025 in Las Vegas today, the California-based iconic speaker brand has pulled the veil off not one but three new portable party speakers: the PartyBox 520, PartyBox Encore 2, and PartyBox Encore Essential 2, ranging from 100 to 400 watts in power and from $300 to $800 in price.
JBL PartyBox 520
Starting with the biggest of the bunch, the PartyBox 520 adds a new power entry to JBL's top three with a whopping 400-watt maximum power output from two 7.5-inch woofers and dual 1-inch tweeters, putting it just 80 watts shy of the excellent JBL PartyBox 320 we reviewed last year.

Read more
Kanto’s Ora4 desktop speakers drive more bass, more power
Kanto Ora4 Reference Speakers.

Canadian audio company Kanto has a new option if you're looking for powered desktop or bookshelf speakers with better bass response. Its Ora4 Reference Speakers are similar to its Kanto Ora model -- which we consider to be some of the best desktop speakers you can buy --  but with larger woofers and more power. They're available starting November 1 for $400 in either matte white or matte black, from Amazon and several other retailers.

The Ora4 are only slightly larger than the Ora (4.7 x 6.7 x 8.3 inches versus 3.9 x 5.6 x 6.9 inches) but they weigh nearly twice as much (4.3 pounds versus 2.1), which should give you an indication that there's a lot more going on inside.

Read more
Marantz’s new wireless speakers look like they belong in an art gallery
Marantz Grand Horizon detail.

If you buy Marantz's new Horizon or Grand Horizon wireless speakers, they will likely become a topic of conversation in your home before you ever turn them on. Featuring a striking circular shape and a base made of real marble, and three color choices (Midnight Sky, Moon Ray, and Marantz Champagne), the emphasis on design is immediately apparent. They look like sculptures and have prices to match: the smaller Horizon is $3,500, while the aptly named Grand Horizon goes for $5,500. And though they might strike you as the perfect gift for someone who already has everything, you won't be putting them under the tree this year -- the speakers won't be available until January 14, 2025.

At the core of both speakers is the HEOS software that already powers the multiroom audio of many Denon, Marantz, and Onkyo components. The HEOS mobile app lets you control all of your HEOS-compatible products in one interface (if you've never used it, it's very similar to Sonos and Wiim) plus you get in-app access to a variety of streaming music services like Amazon Music, Deezer, Spotify, and Tidal, plus music from your personal collection of digital tracks if they're stored in a network-accessible location.

Read more