Marshall just announced two new Bluetooth options for its stable of portable speakers, along with some new features. The Willen was the company’s first ultra-compact portable, joined by the Emberton II, which improved on the previous model in several ways. Both now work with the Marshall Bluetooth app, which was previously unavailable on any portable speaker model. The company also inevitably introduced a feature called Stack Mode — a throwback reference to “Marshall stacks.” This just brings them up to the rest of the speaker world and lets you wirelessly extend your music to other Willen or Emberton II speakers. Also worth noting is that Marshall increased the Emberton II’s battery life from 20 hours of runtime to 30 hours or more (I’m sure).
Alberton II.
Marshall Headphones
As we mentioned in our recent portable Bluetooth speaker buying guide, Marshall speakers (usually) have a wonderful warm sound, thick bass, and dynamic highs. We found the best value in terms of sound and price when you opted for the larger and relatively less portable Tufton model ($450). The smaller model has a scaled-down version of the same sound, although it’s still slightly more expensive.
Now that the Emberton II supports stack mode, 30 hours or more of runtime, and offers apps for EQ tweaks and firmware updates, there’s more value in the price tag. Willen fills a void for people looking to get a personal portable and save a few bucks, although we haven’t heard of it yet. Both speakers feature a Bluetooth 5.1, IP67 weatherproof rating, and are compatible with each other in stack mode, which requires three presses of the Bluetooth button to host and double-tap the secondary speaker to join or disconnect.
Both are available for pre-order today, with the ultra-compact Willen for $120 and the Emberton II for $170.
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