Marshall's New Headphones Release Might Make Me Forget AirPods Max

Marshall — known for its amps, speakers, and audio equipment — just revealed its latest Milton A.N.C headphones. Built on its popular line of headphones, which includes my current favorite headphones of the moment, the Major V, this new model combines Marshall's classic design with all the latest features you want from such a device. That includes up to 80 hours of battery life, adaptive active noise cancelling, and some of the latest connectivity features, such as Bluetooth 6.0 and Bluetooth LE. In addition to these new features, the Marshall Milton A.N.C. headphones also received important tweaks to improve the listening experience for all users, including the concern that some customers have that the Major V earcups can be too small.

"If you compare Milton A.N.C. with our other on-ear headphones, like the beloved design of Major V, you'll notice a few big differences. We've increased the ear cushion size to help keep the sound in and improve passive noise attenuation. We've introduced an entirely new driver system tuned to improve bass and treble extension, delivering dynamic Hi-Res audio with rich details," said Nicolas Pignier Delafontaine, senior manager of Audio and Acoustic at Marshall.

With larger earpads and memory foam, Marshall says these headphones are made to be used for long hours. While the company promises up to 80 hours of battery life, if users keep ANC on, they will have around 50 hours, which is more than double of what AirPods Max promises.

Apple recently updated AirPods Max with the H2 chip, but these headphones, which almost cost $600, still sound similar to the 2020 iteration. The most notable changes, however, are on ANC and the smart features available with the H2 chip, like Live Translation. While we still need to test Marshall's Milton A.N.C. to see how they perform in real life, one thing that made me ditch my original AirPods Max to Major V is just that the casual listening experience on Marshall's counterpart is a lot more fun and live.

Marshall's headphones were made to listen to rock 'n' roll, punk rock, indie rock, and anything that makes you want to be in a concert listening to your favorite artists live. AirPods Max, on the other hand, feels a lot more "let me stay in my corner enjoying those tunes." Aside from the internal design changes that promise a better user experience, the Milton A.N.C. headphones match the style you'd expect from Marshall with a textured leather surface and metal arms for a more premium look. Priced at $229, these headphones will be available starting May 27 at Marshall.com, and we'll be sure to share our thoughts on this product once we get our hands-on it.