If you’ve spent any time around live music in the last few decades, there’s a good chance you’ll be able to identify a Marshall amp. The brand has been a favorite for live shows and studio sessions for a long time, and now its distinctive industrial design has been shrunk down into a quite frankly adorable, but ferocious, portable speaker.
Stereo Speakers: 2x 2" 10 W full range, 2x passive radiators
Weight: 1.054 lbs
Size: 2.68 x 6.30 x 2.99 inches
Water resistance: IPX7 Water Resistant
WiFi: No
Bluetooth: Yes
Wired connection: No
The Marshall Emberton is a powerful speaker that offers excellent audio clarity as well as long-lasting battery life, while also being impressively well-made. It also looks great, sporting the instantly recognizable Marshall logo set against a speaker grille.
All of this combines to make it one of the best soundbars or Bluetooth speakers you can buy right now, and while it lacks any smart functionality or wired connectivity, it’s a long-lasting powerhouse that’s ideal for indoor our outdoor listening sessions.
Marshall Emberton: Design
If you were to take perspective out of the equation, the Marshall Emberton could be a head unit for a live band. It feels like it’s been hit by a shrink ray, and while it’s weighty enough to feel like it can be thrown in a bag, it’s not so heavy that you’d even know it was in there. That’s a tough balance to strike, but Marshall has managed it.
The Emberton comes in four colorways; our review unit is the rather fetching Cream variant, but you’ll also find Black, Black and Brass, and Forest as available options.
The outer shell is made of a silicone rubber which feels nice to the touch and makes it easier to pull out of the aforementioned backpack you can carry it in or hold in your hand.
The front is dominated by the trademark grille and the Marshall logo, while the back is much the same, sans logo. One side has a USB-C charging port, and the top lays out a connection button, battery charge meter, and a control nob that’s inside the chassis itself.
Not only does it look much better than the alternative (which we’d presume would be a variety of buttons), but it also allows for volume control and track skipping within one control.
Marshall Emberton: Features
As you can imagine from a modern-day Bluetooth speaker, the Emberton is easy to connect to your device of choice; just push the knob for a couple of seconds and connect on your phone’s Bluetooth menu (or laptop).
Sadly, there’s no wired connection, but Bluetooth technology has come so far we’d consider that a “nice to have” more than a “must-have” for many users. If you’ve got an AUX cable, though, you won’t be able to use it here.
When it comes to battery life, the Emberton can party a lot longer than you may expect given its size. It’ll pump out music for up to twenty hours, and when it does finally croak, you’re able to get five hours of playback by charging it via USB-C – although there’s no power brick in the box.
Marshall Emberton: Sound quality
Sure, this speaker looks great, but how good is the sound quality? Despite offering 360-degree sound (thanks to the aforementioned rear grille), it’s tough to consider it as being truly stereo because it’s all coming from such a small package.
That’s not to say it’s not punchy, though. In our experience, the Marshall Emberton was able to offer the satisfying crack of a snare beat on a rap song just as much attention as it did on the bass heavy drops of a metal track.
While some Bluetooth speakers can lean too heavily on bass or treble, the Emberton feels like it hits the sweet spot between the two – even a podcast didn’t sound overly distorted, and often you’ll find hosts’ voices come out a little higher or lower depending on which is preferred by the speaker.
As with any speaker, particularly one this small, you’re bound to hit some distortion if you crank things too loud, but keeping things at around 80% ensured everything just felt full, even when listening outside next to a busy barbecue.
Marshall Emberton: User reviews
The Marshall Emberton holds a five-star rating on Amazon, with reviewers noting how impressed they are by the sound produced from such a small device.
Others would have liked an AUX connection, while others were hoping for some kind of equalizer, but for the most part, it’s a very popular speaker.
Should you buy the Marshall Emberton?
If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker that offers great looks and a really robust soundstage, then the Marshall Emberton is a no-brainer. Whether you’re throwing the latest chart-topper or decades-old classics through it, it can do it all, and is one of the best Bluetooth speakers you can buy today.
If this product isn't for you
The Marshall Emberton looks and sounds great, but it’s not a smart speaker.
That means if you’re looking for Alexa or Google Assistant integration, you’ll find Amazon’s Echo Dot and Google’s Nest Mini for a lot less money, and gain that functionality.
If you’re not fussed by either of those because you’re reliant on Siri, then Apple’s excellent HomePod is also an option – and it’s still significantly cheaper. Alternatively, Marshall's got its very own smart speaker with the Marshall Stanmore.
Keep in mind, though, that with any of these options you’ll be chained to a wall plug, and Wi-Fi.
