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

Marshall’s latest headphones get 100 hours of battery life and wireless charging

By Simon Cohen April 16, 2024

Marshall Major V headphones. — Marshall

Marshall has updated its popular Major on-ear wireless headphones and Minor wireless earbuds with new features, while keeping the same authentic Marshall amplifier styling that has earned the brand a lot of customers. The Marshall Major V ($149) and Marshall Minor IV ($129) are available for pre-order starting April 16 at marshall.com and will begin shipping on April 23.

The Marshall Major V (pictured above) are the company’s latest generation of on-ear wireless headphones. On the outside, there’s almost no way to distinguish them from their predecessors, except perhaps for a slightly deeper black color.

Internally, however, the new cans have several improvements including a gigantic amount of power. The previous version was already impressively long-lasting at 80 hours, but the Major V pushes that to 100 hours, making it unlikely you’ll need to charge them more than once per week.

When it comes time to do so, you’ll be able to drop the headphones on a wireless charger instead of using the included USB-C cable. Marshall also says it has preserved the Major’s sound signature while reducing distortion, which should result in better overall audio quality.

Using the Marshall Bluetooth app, you can now program the multifunction M button to trigger Spotify Tap, access EQ presets, or trigger your voice assistant. The Major V now also supports Bluetooth LE Audio and Bluetooth Multipoint.

Marshall Minor IV wireless earbuds. — Marshall Minor IV wireless earbuds Marshall

For the Marshall Minor IV — an update of one of the most popular Apple AirPods alternatives thanks to their semi-open fit — Marshall has made similar improvements to those seen on the Major V.

The new earbuds get greater battery life with a claimed 30-plus hours versus the Minor III’s 25 hours. There’s also a new battery preservation feature that can be enabled in the Marshall app.

Marshall says it has redesigned the shape and fit of the earbuds to make them more comfortable and secure.

In addition to also getting an update to Bluetooth LE Audio compatibility, the Minor IV now have Bluetooth Multipoint for maintaining simultaneous connections to two devices.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Contributing Editor, A/V

Simon Cohen covers a variety of consumer technologies, but has a special interest in audio and video products, like spatial…

Audio / Video

Gravastar’s latest wireless earbuds let you swap charging cases

Gravastar Sirius P5 wireless earbuds seen with Defense Crystal charging case cover.

Gravastar, the company known for its sci-fi-inspired audio products like the Mars Pro Bluetooth speaker, has a new set of wireless earbuds that let you swap charging cases to customize the look of your gear. The Sirius P5, which begin shipping on November 2, start at $80 but can cost as much as $100 depending on the case style you choose. There are two earbud colors (black, white) and three case styles to choose from. If you preorder them before November 1 you can get the black earbuds with all three cases, for $90.

The Sirius P5 are a set of semi-open earbuds, very similar in size and shape to the third-gen AirPods. They come with a standard USB-C charging block, which fits any of the optional cases. The P5 sit inside the block, and then the block gets inserted into your preferred case.

Audio / Video

Sennheiser’s latest earbuds do double duty as private TV headphones

Man wearing Sennheiser TV Clear earbuds.

Sennheiser has announced a new set of wireless earbuds known as the Sennheiser TV Clear. They're designed for folks who want to listen to their TV using headphones, but don't want to have to buy a separate set for when they're listening to music or taking calls on their phone. The TV Clear can do both, jumping back-and-forth with relative ease. They'll sell for $400 when they're released later this summer.

There are plenty of times when you might want to listen to your TV's audio privately, so that you don't disturb others, or perhaps so you can finally hear dialogue clearly without ramping up the volume to movie theater-like levels. But, as Digital Trends' own Andy Boxall recently discovered, there are not plenty of good options for doing so.

Audio / Video

Audio-Technica’s latest wireless earbuds have monster battery life

Audio Technica ATH CKS50T earbuds in ear.

The battery life you get from true wireless earbuds is often a problem, isn’t it? Enter Audio-Technica’s newest earbuds, the ATH-CKS50TW, which may put an end to this issue thanks to a high-capacity battery inside each bud that will let them operate for an astonishing 20 hours on a single charge. Even if you switch on the noise canceling, battery life only drops to 15 hours, meaning these tiny earbuds easily outperform the competition.

Add the ATH-CKS50TW’s case into the mix, and you’ll get a total of 50 hours of playback before they actually need to visit a charger. Audio-Technica promises the fast-charging system will add 90 minutes of playback after a 10-minute charge. With this level of battery performance, it’ll be unlikely that you'll find yourself in a situation where the earbuds are completely flat with no way to immediately get them operational again. It’s this feeling of reassurance that many true wireless earbuds are missing.