Marshall Major V review: minor improvements

In a world where the best headphones are getting more and more similar to look at, Marshall stands out as sticking to its design roots. The Minor on-ears just look different – in a good way!

We're not saying that Sonos' newly unveiled Ace headphones look like the AirPods Max and Sony WH-1000XM5 got chucked in a blender and then polished up, but there are a lot of generic-looking devices out there.

Marshall's latest, the Major V, is a subtle revision of its popular on-ear headphones, which we've been using for a number of weeks for this review. As on-ears they forego being considered as the best noise-cancelling headphones, but they're still up to scratch. 

Marshall Major V: Price & Availability

Marshall's fifth-gen on-ear headphones are available now to buy from a whole range of retailers, and they sit at a very reasonable price point.

You can pick them up for £129 ($149 in the US, there's no AU pricing), making them firmly mid-range in price. It's worth knowing, though, that the Major IV (that's the older model) can now be easily found brand new for around two-thirds of that price. 

Marshall Major V review: What's new?

The Major V isn't a drastic revision of the model that Marshall has successfully been selling for a few years now, but adds some welcome upgrades to the pile.

It's got a 100-hour battery life, uplifted from the Major IV's 80-hour tally, and there's also a subtle change to the design.

This sees the addition of a multi-purpose "M" button on one earcup, which can change between your EQ presets or a few other options – depending on how you set it up.

Marshall says that the headphones are now better integrated with its Marshall Bluetooth app, too, so you'll be able to more easily install firmware updates and control customisation options. That's welcome, since the last version didn't work with the app all that well. 

Marshall Major V Review: Design

Where changes are concerned from the last version, you'd have to be very familiar with the Major IV to spot the differences. The headphones have almost identical dimensions and weights, and even their packaging is nearly the exact same. 

Once they're out of the box, the Major V look almost the same, with the most noticeable change being that the outer surface of the two earcups is now finished in a faux-leather texture, rather than being smooth plastic.

That's basically the only thing you can use to tell them apart, which is a good thing where continuity is concerned – these are some really nice, classic-looking headphones, after all.

They're super lightweight and therefore impressively comfortable, and they also fold up to around half their normal size when you want to stow them.

Unlike the now quite old Motif II ANC, though, Marshall doesn't throw in a carrying bag, but the Major V feel durable enough that you can be fairly confident leaving them out loose.

The ear cushioning is moderately soft, and the clamp factor is similarly middle of the road – if you tighten the headband you'll be able to get a really solid grip on your head, but we were also easily able to find more chilled-out arrangements by loosening things.

These are not over-ears, you should know, plus the earcups are pretty small – so they rest on your ears (hence being called on-ears). If you're used to either earbuds or over-ears, it's worth trying the Major V out before you commit to them, because in our experience on-ears are a little more of an acquired taste.

Marshall Major V review: Sound & performance

So, putting the Major V on for a bit of music is a really familiar feeling – sonically, it's telling that Marshall isn't even making any real boasts about a boost in sound quality.

We swapped back and forth between the Major IV and V, and there wasn't much to differentiate between them, honestly. But that's no terrible thing. 

After all, it means that the Major V still has really nice, rich sound for an on-ear experience, and a surprisingly wide and deep soundstage that is especially at home with louder contemporary music. 

The drivers powering this all are still 40mm and tuned with Marshall's signature sound – and we found them really excellent for varied playlist listening. Justice's latest LP popped out and funked along, a bit of stadium-filling Taylor Swift went along richly, and punkier material from vintage Green Day albums had a nice jagged edge. 

That superb 100-hour battery life meant we basically never had to charge them in our review period, which is the sort of peace of mind that is well worth it, and USB-C charging was quick enough when we did try it out. You can also wirelessly charge, although placing the headphones such that one earcup is flat on a charger is a little fiddly.

The brass control knob that returns from the previous model is still one of our favourite on-headphone control mechanisms ever, too – it makes skipping tracks, pausing or changing the volume so, so easy, and is simply miles better than any touch-controlled equivalent we've tried. 

On-ear headphones typically don't have any noise-cancelling, meanwhile, because there isn't enough isolation for it to really work – and that's the case here. This can't really be held against the Major V, since it's a byproduct of its category, but it'll still probably weigh into some people's buying decisions.

After all, the likes of the Sennheiser Accentum and Accentum Plus have recently shown how affordable, excellent over-ear headphones can offer extremely solid noise-cancelling at a fairly comparable price point. 

Marshall Major V Review: Verdict

We've really enjoyed using the Marshall Major V, just like we did the Major IV a few years ago – they're punky, fun to look at, conveniently foldable and durable, and they sound excellent too.

Whether they're worth the extra cash compared to those older headphones, we're not so sure, and there's not enough here to warrant an upgrade. But as the new default version of the Major on-ears they're great – that's the important part. 

With 100 hours of battery life, these on-ears are a terrific achievement in terms of longevity, and they still look better than the vast majority of alternatives in an increasingly thin part of the audio market. 

Also consider

From our recent testing, and as we've mentioned up above, you'd do well to think about picking the Sennheiser Accentum if you'd quite like noise-cancelling and are happy to opt for over-ears.

Meanwhile, if you're keen on the design and sound quality of the Major V but fancy a bargain, you could easily pick up the Major IV and feel very little difference while keeping a chunk of change in your pocket.