With the Motif ANC, Marshall enters the market for ANC earbuds and chooses the design of the Airpods Pro.
Marshall has introduced the first own Bluetooth earplugs with Active Noise Cancellation (ANC). In terms of design, the manufacturer is clearly based on the Airpods Pro from Apple. With the Marshall earbuds, too, a pin hangs down from the ear when the Motif ANC is worn.
The Motif ANC is designed to use ANC and anti-noise to ensure that ambient noise does not further disturb the enjoyment of music. For this purpose, the environment is practically overheard with the help of microphones. The manufacturer also relies on passive noise reduction. Marshall did not provide any information on whether a wind reduction technique was used because ANC products are particularly susceptible to it.
The manufacturer does not go into the question of whether a technique against step reverberation is used. If there is step reverberation, every single step while running is perceived as a dull occurrence in the ear – this is uncomfortable and reduces the enjoyment of music. With the Airpods Pro, Apple was the first manufacturer to come up with a solution to this problem. Most Bluetooth earbuds manufacturers continue to ignore this problem.
The Motif ANC has a transparency mode. This should ensure that ambient noise can be easily perceived. When this mode is well-coordinated, the environment sounds very natural. The manufacturer does not name comfort functions such as ear recognition. This will stop the music when one of the two plugs is removed from the ear.
Marshall promises a particularly good sound for the Motif ANC with a 6mm dynamic driver unit. This can be adjusted via an app using an equalizer. The Marshall plugs offer Bluetooth 5.2. When asked, the manufacturer did not provide any information about which Bluetooth codecs are supported. It’s also unclear whether the new model will support two parallel Bluetooth connections. There are two microphones per plug, which should ensure good quality calls. The earbuds meet the protection standard IPX5.
Marshall claims a battery life of 4.5 hours on one charge with activated ANC. That would be an average value for this device class. As usual with this product class, there is a charging case in which the earbuds are charged. This should achieve a total battery life of 20 hours. The case supports wireless charging.
Marshall plans to deliver the Motif ANC from September 30 for of 199$.