Marshall Monitor III ANC | Review - video Dailymotion

Tom's Guide

Improved comfort, battery life and new features come to the Marshall Monitor III ANC . At $329 are these iconic rugged folding headphones worth the money?  The Marshall Monitor IIIs are marketed as rock and roll over the ear headphones that are instantly recognizable for their black textured ear cups. This year’s model focuses on making the headphones lighter, more comfortable, and nearly doubles its battery life. Their styling might not be for everyone and they still fall behind in a few areas, but for what they offer, they have lots of character and won’t disappoint… except for its lack of a 3.5mm jack.

Transcript

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 as their predecessors,

00:08as 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 going to want to 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 and ears

01:08to improve the seal,

01:10which minimizes the amount of noise leak,

01:12both from the outside world

01:13and 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

01:25or 100 hours without,

01:27and that's up from 30 hours with ANC

01:28and 45 hours without on the Monitor 2s.

01:31To make this possible,

01:32Marshall 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.

01:51But 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.

02:12Sure, but 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 ANC.

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.

02:52These are built like a tank.

02:53You can toss them around.

02:54They're not going to really show anywhere

02:55except for maybe the ear cups if you cut them.

02:58Carried over as well,

02:59we see the joystick controls for playback

03:00and volume control making a return,

03:02as well as dedicated buttons for ANC,

03:04as well as an M button

03:05that lets you quickly launch Spotify

03:07or 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 1000WXM4s,

03:23and these headphones focus on being practical

03:25rather 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

03:36from the whole point of these headphones

03:37being super compact

03:38and 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.

03:46As I've been hinting at,

03:48as great as the Monitor 3's improved design

03:50and performance is,

03:51it actually introduces one pretty big downgrade.

03:54It ditches the 3.5mm headphone jack.

03:58The 3.5mm jack is becoming increasingly

04:00more 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

04:06in 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,

04:17using it on a plane,

04:18which,

04:19how else are you going to play your audio?

04:20And sure,

04:21yeah,

04:21they've included this 3.5mm 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,

04:29it's just not as convenient

04:31as having a dedicated 3.5mm jack

04:33built into your headphones.

04:35But even if you've managed

04:36not to forget this cable,

04:37it's worth mentioning

04:37that it's still going to drain

04:39your 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

04:48my other wireless headphones

04:49with their 3.5mm jack,

04:52even while they were dead,

04:53has come in super handy.

04:55The Monitor 3's design

04:56is pretty timeless if you ask me,

04:57but I know a lot of people

04:58who personally just won't vibe

04:59with this as much as I do.

05:01This one's kind of minor,

05:02but you can only get this

05:03in the one color

05:04and the combination of retro

05:05and black isn't everyone's thing.

05:07I get that.

05:08Maybe you prefer something

05:09that's a little bit more modern

05:10or shiny,

05:11like say the AirPods Max

05:13or even the Sony XM5's,

05:14rather than the ruggedness

05:16of the Monitor 3's.

05:17That said, the Mar...

05:18Really, the Marshalls.

05:20The Marshalls.

05:21That said,

05:21the Marshall headphones

05:22have their own following,

05:23and when I see strangers

05:24rocking these out in the wild,

05:26now we give each other

05:27a nod of approval

05:27because we're cool like that.

05:29Okay, maybe that's just me.

05:31Finally,

05:31while the Monitor 3's

05:32have improved significantly

05:33with their ANC

05:34and their pass-through modes,

05:36I think they're still

05:36trailing behind Sony and Bose,

05:38which have been doing it better

05:39for longer.

05:40Other high-end models

05:41usually can also auto-adjust

05:43the level of noise cancellation

05:44depending on your environment

05:45and can also detect

05:46when you're speaking

05:47to auto-pause the music

05:49or lower the volumes

05:50of your headphones.

05:51As of now,

05:52these are features

05:52that are completely missing

05:53from the Monitor 3's.

05:55It's only once you try

05:56and get to use these conveniences

05:58on other headphones

05:59that you'll miss them here,

06:00but considering that

06:01there are a number

06:02of other headphones

06:02at a similar price point

06:03that also have them built in,

06:05the monitors still have room

06:07to improve.

06:08So, buy or skip,

06:09the Marshall Monitor 3's

06:10is a buy for me.

06:11I already used

06:12the Monitor 2's

06:13almost every day

06:14for making content

06:15in one way or another

06:16and now their successor

06:17is about better

06:18in every single way

06:18except, yeah,

06:19that 3.5mm jack,

06:21which does suck.

06:23But aside from that,

06:23they are way more comfy

06:24and I think they're

06:25one of the most comfy headphones

06:27that I've tried.

06:27They've also got

06:28some of the best battery life

06:29in the class,

06:30not to mention

06:30they have more effective

06:31ANC and pass-through,

06:32which I think

06:33is actually worth using now.

06:34But let me know

06:35what you think.

06:36You can find us everywhere

06:37at Tom's Guide

06:37and you can follow me

06:38to see what other

06:38cool tech I'm testing.

06:40Until the next one,

06:41catch you later.

Marshall Monitor III ANC | Review

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