00:00All right, audio recording.
00:02Should you buy or skip the Marshall Monitor 3s?
00:05These were a big surprise for me,
00:06and although they look basically the same
00:07as their predecessors, as soon as you try them on,
00:09you instantly notice some pretty big improvements
00:11to their comfort and features,
00:13but also one big downgrade, at least for me.
00:17Out of the box, these $329 headphones sound pretty neutral,
00:20but with a quick EQ change,
00:21you'll get that more signature punchy or bright sound
00:24that you may prefer, depending on what you're listening to.
00:27I'm actually using these way more than their predecessor,
00:29but here's everything you need to know
00:31before considering getting them.
00:33The first reason you're gonna wanna buy the Monitor 3s
00:35is that Billy Joe Armstrong wears them.
00:37Well, okay, maybe.
00:39But the other big one is the improved design and comfort.
00:42A downside with the predecessor, the Monitor 2s,
00:45which have actually been rocking for the past year,
00:47is that they felt quite heavy and tight,
00:49especially after a few hours of wearing them.
00:51This year's Monitor 3s fixes that.
00:53They're lighter at just 8.8 ounces versus 11.3,
00:56and they have a redesigned headband
00:58that distributes that weight a lot better.
01:00They also have some of the plushiest ear cups.
01:02I mean, look at that.
01:03They're like pillows.
01:04These aren't just super comfy to wear.
01:06They actually help conform to the shape of your head
01:08and ears to improve the seal,
01:10which minimizes the amount of noise leak,
01:12both from the outside world
01:14and spilling out from your headphones.
01:16The Monitor 2 already had very impressive battery life,
01:19but taking things even further,
01:20the Monitor 3s have more than double,
01:22double the battery life.
01:24It now gets up to 70 hours with ANC or 100 hours without,
01:27and that's up from 30 hours with ANC
01:29and 45 hours without on the Monitor 2s.
01:31To make this possible, Marshall made a few changes.
01:33First, the audio drivers are a little bit smaller.
01:35They're now 32 millimeters instead of 40.
01:38Smaller would suggest worse performance,
01:40but I haven't noticed it even in the low end.
01:42Marshall actually tries to point out
01:44that with the improved fit and positioning,
01:46along with better adaptive audio,
01:48it actually might be a little bit better sounding,
01:50but again, I can't tell the difference.
01:52But importantly, they're less power hungry.
01:54So tied in with those smaller drivers,
01:56some other simplified internals,
01:58including one that I'm not happy with,
01:59they now have more space to add in a second battery
02:02into the other ear cup.
02:03And besides extending the runtime,
02:05it also gives it a more balanced feel on your head.
02:07You could argue that no one needs battery life this long,
02:10especially when you can charge them overnight
02:11or the next day, sure.
02:13But have you ever taken a pair of headphones
02:15on a week-long trip
02:16and never had to charge them the entire time?
02:18Now, when you eventually do need to recharge though,
02:20these smaller batteries actually charge faster
02:22with a 50-minute charge,
02:23giving you 12 hours of play with A and C.
02:26So that's what, like 40 minutes of playback
02:28within a 60-second emergency charge.
02:30It's pretty clutch, right?
02:32While the Monitor 3s look mostly unchanged from last year,
02:34that's a good thing in my book.
02:35Something that continues to be
02:37one of its biggest selling features,
02:38setting itself apart from almost every other
02:40high-end consumer wireless headphone,
02:42is how rock solid these are.
02:44You've got that retro rock and roll influence
02:46that's carried over from Marshall's AMP DNA,
02:49which we see in this basically scratch-proof design.
02:53These are built like a tank.
02:54You can toss them around.
02:55They're not gonna really show anywhere,
02:56except for maybe the ear cups if you cut them.
02:58Carried over as well, we see the joystick controls
03:00for playback and volume control making a return,
03:02as well as dedicated buttons for A and C,
03:04as well as an M button that lets you quickly launch
03:07Spotify or your voice assistant,
03:08as well as its new soundstage.
03:10This is their take on spatial audio,
03:12which widens your tracks.
03:13It does an all right job,
03:14but it probably won't blow you away
03:16if you've tried some of the best.
03:17Anyways, I think physical controls
03:18work a lot better than touch controls
03:20like you'll find on my Sony 1000W XM4s,
03:24and these headphones focus on being practical
03:26rather than gimmicky.
03:27New for this year,
03:28they're also including a hard shell case
03:30with this nice red velvet interior
03:32and a pocket at the top for your cables.
03:34But at least for me,
03:35I think it kind of takes away from the whole point
03:37of these headphones being super compact
03:39and just easy to throw in a bag on their own.
03:41I don't really need a case,
03:42but it's cool that they did include one
03:44without jacking up the price.
03:47As I've been hinting at,
03:48as great as the Monitor 3's improved design
03:51and performance is,
03:51it actually introduces one pretty big downgrade.
03:54It ditches the 3.5 millimeter headphone jack.
03:58The 3.5 millimeter jack
03:59is becoming increasingly more niche every year,
04:02and there's a good chance
04:02this entire section doesn't even apply to you,
04:04but I mean,
04:05there's still a real need for it in certain situations.
04:08Off the top of my head,
04:08I can think of three.
04:10Using these to play instruments
04:11without Bluetooth latency,
04:13monitoring audio from like this camera here,
04:15which doesn't have Bluetooth,
04:16or the classic using it on a plane,
04:18which, how else are you gonna play your audio?
04:20And sure, yeah,
04:21they've included this 3.5 millimeter to USB-C adapter,
04:24which at times gets the job done.
04:25Whether you're like me
04:26and you're constantly losing this
04:27or you're encountering audio interference,
04:30it's just not as convenient
04:31as having a dedicated 3.5 millimeter jack
04:34built into your headphones.
04:35But even if you've managed not to forget this cable,
04:37it's worth mentioning
04:38that it's still going to drain your Monitor 3's battery
04:40as the headphones need to be powered on.
04:42Even though these charge super fast
04:44and last for a long time,
04:45I can't count the amount of times
04:47where being able to use my other wireless headphones
04:49with their 3.5 millimeter jack,
04:52even while they were dead,
04:53has come in super handy.
04:55The Monitor 3's design is pretty timeless if you ask me,
04:57but I know a lot of people
04:58who personally just won't vibe with this as much as I do.
05:01This one's kind of minor,
05:02but you can only get this in the one color
05:04and the combination of retro and black
05:06isn't everyone's thing.
05:07I get that.
05:08Maybe you prefer something
05:09that's a little bit more modern or shiny,
05:11like say the AirPods Max or even the Sony XM5s,
05:14rather than the ruggedness of the Monitor 3's.
05:17That said, the...
05:19Really, the Marshalls.
05:20The Marshalls.
05:21That said, the Marshall headphones have their own following
05:23and when I see strangers rocking these out in the wild,
05:26no, we give each other a nod of approval
05:28because we're cool like that.
05:29Okay, maybe that's just me.
05:31Finally, while the Monitor 3's have improved significantly
05:33with their ANC and their pass-through modes,
05:36I think they're still trailing behind Sony and Bose,
05:38which have been doing it better for longer.
05:40Other high-end models usually can also auto-adjust
05:43the level of noise cancellation
05:44depending on your environment
05:46and can also detect when you're speaking
05:48to auto-pause the music
05:49or lower the volumes of your headphones.
05:51As of now, these are features
05:52that are completely missing from the Monitor 3's.
05:55It's only once you try and get to use these conveniences
05:58on other headphones that you'll miss them here,
06:00but considering that there are a number of other headphones
06:02at a similar price point that also have them built in,
06:05the Monitors still have room to improve.
06:08So, buy or skip, the Marshall Monitor 3's is a buy for me.
06:11I already used the Monitor 2's almost every day
06:14for making content in one way or another,
06:16and now their successor is about better
06:18in every single way except, yeah,
06:20that 3.5 millimeter jack, which does suck.
06:23But aside from that, they are way more comfy,
06:25and I think they're one of the most comfy headphones
06:27that I've tried.
06:28They've also got some of the best battery life in the class,
06:30not to mention they have more effective ANC and pass-through,
06:32which I think is actually worth using now.
06:35But let me know what you think.
06:36You can find us everywhere at Tom's Guide,
06:37and you can follow me to see what other cool tech I'm testing.
06:40Until the next one, catch you later.
06:42♪
Comments