Marshall noise-canceling headphones challenge Sony, Bose to battle of the (head)bands
Marshall's Monitor II ANC is a noise-canceling, on-ear headphone featuring a dedicated Google Assistant button and up to 45 hours of battery life, but it's priced at a premium.
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Marshall has announced its first set of over-ear noise-canceling headphones -- the Monitor II ANC -- which will be available in March. The company is pitching these as a premium model with features such as a Google Assistant button and 30 hours of battery life, and is pricing them as such at $319 (£269 or about AU$520).
The headphones feature an ANC button. You can use it to toggle between active noise cancellation and "Monitoring Mode" or turn it off altogether.
The headphones can play up to 45 hours with the noise-canceling function off and offer 5 hours of wireless playtime with 15 minutes of charging. The headphones offer Bluetooth 5.0 plus a separate cord for when you're low on battery.
The company's previous noise-canceling model, the Mid ANC, was unusual because it was an on-ear design, which typically leaks a lot of external noise. Being over-ears the Monitor II should mitigate the issue somewhat.
At the price there are a number of excellent designs, however, including the $299 Sony WF-1000XM3 and the $399 Bose Noise Cancelling 700 but neither of them are inspired by a Marshall stack, so...