The best pairs of headphones make you never want to take them off. With the kind of battery Marshall’s new set is packing, you may never have to.
Marshall has announced the Major IV, a $150 pair of wireless headphones that claim to deliver 80-plus hours of playback. The new cans will be immediately available for pre-order, with an official release date of October 14.
Here’s what we know about the Major IV.
Design
The Major IV are built with 40mm dynamic drivers and weigh 5.82 ounces, which makes them far lighter than some of the recent headphones we’ve tested, like the 11-ounce Skullcandy Crusher Evo. The Jabra Elite 45H, which may be a better comparison to the Major IV as it’s one of the lightest headsets we have tested this year, weigh just 5 grams less than the Marshall.
Marshall boasts that the Major IV have softer ear cushions than previous iterations, creating a more comfortable wear for longer periods of time. You’ll have to take Marshall’s word on this for now, of course, but we’ll be sure to evaluate just how comfortable these headphones are when we bring them in for review.
The Major IV also have a fold clip to produce a more compact configuration, as well as a multidirectional control knob to switch between tracks and adjust volume. The headphones have a 3.5mm socket to listen to music wired, as well as a unique feature that lets wearer’s easily share music with a friend. You can plug another headset into the Marshall and send whatever music you are listening to their way.
Features
Like most capable wireless listening devices these days, the Major IV will come with Bluetooth 5 connectivity. The far more intriguing claim, however, is that these headphones will have at least 80 hours of portable playtime. For comparison, the Elite 45h have roughly 50 hours of runtime, and while they cost $50 less than Marshall’s new headphones, we’re talking about over a day’s worth of additional battery life from the Marshall. If true, that’s a huge deal.
The Major IV also support wireless charging and have a quick-charging capability that nets you 15 hours of listening after only 15 minutes of charging, which is a very impressive fast charge.
Sound quality
We don’t have a lot of statistics to analyze regarding the Major IV. We do know they’ll have a frequency response range of 20 to 20,000 Hz, and we have Marshall’s boastful description that the dynamic drivers in the Major IV “deliver roaring bass, smooth mids, and brilliant treble.”
We’d expect Marshall – or any other audio brand, for that matter – to say nothing less about its new product, so those glowing words should be taken with a grain or two of salt. However, Marshall does have a respectable track record of making great-sounding products, which both gives us hope and sets the bar fairly high for the Major IV. We’re looking forward to reviewing a pair of these new headphones, and we’ll have plenty of time to test them out: At least 80 hours, apparently.
