Read our in-depth review of the Marshall Middleton speaker, a portable Bluetooth speaker designed in the company’s signature guitar-amp style. Discover its features, sound quality, and suitability for podcasts, movies, and outdoor use.
The Marshall Middleton speaker boasts excellent build quality, specifically designed for outdoor use with an IP67 rating for dust and water resistance. This means it’s certified to be dust-tight and can be submerged in water up to a meter for half an hour. Its plastic construction feels sturdy, complemented by metal grilles in the front to protect the drivers. However, the manufacturer recommends avoiding dropping it. Despite being slightly larger than the Marshall Emberton, it remains portable, running on battery power, making it easy to carry around without being tethered to a power outlet. Although it’s a bit heavy, it’s still manageable with one hand, aided by a removable carrying strap.
The speaker’s controls are conveniently located on the top and user-friendly, with bass and treble adjustments, a Bluetooth button, and a Battery button. Feedback indicators provide information on certain levels, such as the light indicator on the top left, which displays the volume, battery, or bass and treble levels. Audible chimes accompany powering on/off or Bluetooth connection. However, the speaker doesn’t indicate when you’ve reached minimum or maximum volume.
The Marshall Middleton speaker delivers a fantastic soundstage, utilizing Marshall’s True Stereophonic technology to create a multi-directional stereo sound. This results in instruments localized to the left and right, producing a wide and spacious sound overall. Although it’s advertised to last over 20 hours on a single charge, our tests found it lasted just over seven hours. Nevertheless, this should suffice for most listening sessions, and your experience may vary based on your usage habits. Additionally, the speaker shuts off after 20 minutes without an audio connection to conserve battery life. The quick-charge feature provides two hours of playtime with only 20 minutes of charging time. Lastly, the USB-C input can also serve as an output, allowing for convenient charging of other devices.
Marshall Middleton speaker has a sturdy build quality, making it perfect for outdoor use, as it’s dust and water-resistant with an IP67 rating. The speaker’s plastic build appears strong and robust, while the metal grilles at the front protect the drivers inside. However, the manufacturer advises against dropping it. The speaker is slightly larger than the Marshall Emberton, but it’s still portable and easy to carry with one hand, thanks to its battery power and removable carrying strap, despite being a little heavy. The controls are conveniently placed on top, including bass and treble adjustments, a Bluetooth button, and a Battery button. The speaker has a fantastic soundstage with multi-directional stereo sound reproduction, which is perceived as spacious and wide. It’s advertised to last over 20 hours on a single charge, but our tests show that it lasted a little over seven hours. However, it shuts off automatically after twenty minutes without an audio connection to conserve battery power, and it has a quick-charge feature that gives you two hours of playtime after just twenty minutes of charging. The USB-C input also serves as an output for charging other devices.
The speaker has a 3.5mm AUX port for wired audio playback from older devices and a USB-C port that functions as both an input and output for charging. It can pair with up to two devices at once over Bluetooth and maintains a strong connection with great range and low latency. Although it can fill an average-sized room with sound, it’s not ideal for larger spaces and shows some compression at maximum volume. To increase the volume, you can purchase multiple units and pair them together using the Stack Mode party feature in the companion app, which also offers bass and treble adjustments.
The Middleton speaker is suitable for outdoor use, being portable and designed to withstand dust and water. Its battery life is good for a day outdoors, and it’s loud enough for smaller gatherings. However, it’s not intended for watching movies, although it can play video sound from a paired smartphone, with clear dialogue reproduction and adjustable bass and treble levels. Nevertheless, it’s not powerful enough to deliver the same rumble and immersive experience as a home theater setup. It’s more suitable for smaller rooms than larger spaces like basements. The Marshall Middleton speaker is a better option than the Emberton, with additional features and better sound quality, although its battery life is slightly less.
The Marshall Middleton makes for an excellent podcast speaker. Its default settings provide clear and easy-to-follow dialogue, perfect for keeping up with your favorite shows. With the ability to connect to two devices via Bluetooth, you can easily switch between multiple sources. The speaker is compact and portable, allowing you to move around the house while still enjoying your podcasts. It’s powerful enough for average-sized rooms but may struggle to fill larger, more open spaces.
Designed with Marshall’s iconic guitar-amp style, the Middleton is a lightweight and portable Bluetooth speaker that’s perfect for on-the-go music listening. Its waterproof and dustproof design ensures that you can use it outdoors without worrying about damage. The controls are simple to use, allowing you to adjust the bass and treble to your liking. The USB-C port functions as both an input and an output, meaning you can use the speaker to charge your other devices. With its removable carrying strap, you can easily carry it in one hand wherever you go.
