Marshall Emberton Portable Bluetooth Speaker Hands-on

Bluetooth speakers are common nowadays. All come in different shapes and sizes. But when it comes to design, Marshall’s speakers stand out. However, the previous offerings do not include a really portable one that you can easily carry around and put on your desk without taking up much space. The Marshall Emberton solves that.

While other portable Bluetooth speakers go with modern designs, the Emberton sticks to the retro look that Marshall is known for. However, it’s not as “retro” as the Acton Stanmore and Woburn, but more like a modern classic.

The Marshall Emberton comes in four colors: Black, Black and Brass, Forest, and Cream, which we have here. The body is made of soft silicone with a faux-leather finish. You’ll be surprised to know that it’s a removable sleeve, so you can wash it when it gets dirty.

It’s shaped like a regular brick with rounded edges and corners and weighs 0.7kg, so it’s easy to grip and lift. It’s also IPX7-certified, so it’s water-resistant. Given the flat sides, you can even put it up vertically if you want to. It’s got a metal grille on the front with the Marshall badge in the middle.

We got the same treatment at the back, sans the Marshall badge.

Up top, we have the Bluetooth pairing button and pairing LED indicator, the battery LED indicator, and right in the middle is a multi-directional button for play/pause, skip track, volume control, on/off. The button has a nice texture to it, while the clicks are firm yet silent.

Found on the right, side is the USB-C port for charging. Down at the bottom is the base to keep things stable.

Setting up is easy. Just press and hold the multi-directional button for a few seconds until you hear a startup sound. At this point, the Emberton is ready for pairing. It uses Bluetooth 5.0, so all you have to do is go to your device’s Bluetooth settings and look for the speaker’s name to pair. Connection is good, and we didn’t experience any drops or notice any lip-sync lag when watching movies or videos.

Do note, though, that there’s no WiFi, no 3.5mm audio jack, and no microphone, so there’s no support for voice assistants, and you won’t be able to use it as a speakerphone.

The Emberton is equipped with two 2-inch 10W full-range drivers and two passive radiators. Marshall boasts True Stereophonic, a form of multi-directional sound from the brand for a 360-degree experience. The Emberton delivers this by throwing sound on the front and back. It’s hard to distinguish the separation given the small package but it does help in dispersing the sound in more directions. We found it more effective when placed near a wall for a wider effect.

The sound quality is good and loud for a speaker of this size. The mids and highs are sharp and crisp but not harsh. Although there are times that we want it to be a bit piercing, especially when playing rock music. The Emberton can be conservative on that part. When it comes to lows, it can produce those thumping beats but not powerful enough to produce the kind of bass that you can feel. Maybe we’re just asking too much for a speaker of this size.

The Marshall Emberton can provide more than 20 hours of playtime when it comes to battery life, which is really good. Charging will take long, though, at 3 hours, so better top it up now and then to prevent it from going too low. If you don’t have enough time to charge fully, a 20-minutes charge will give you 5 hours of playtime.

If you’re a fan of Marshall speaker design and looking for their most portable offering to date, the Emberton is the one to get. It’s got a classy look, portable body, and big sound. It lacks some features, though, but if you need something for your casual sound trips and binge-watching, this tiny yet good-looking Bluetooth speaker will deliver.

The Marshall Emberton Portable Bluetooth Speaker is priced at PHP 8,690USD 148INR 12,554EUR 141CNY 1,078 and is available at Digital Walker. You can also get PHP 500USD 9INR 722EUR 8CNY 62 off if you use the code use code DWEMBERTONXYUGATECH at digitalwalker.ph.