Marshall’s excellent Bluetooth speaker will have you seeing red

Marshall's Acton III wireless speaker is "small but mighty", we said in our review – and now there's a new colour option. The speaker already comes in amplifier-black, retro cream, brown, and dark blue. Now there's a rich burgundy option too, which is arguably the best option yet.

According to Marshall, the colour is inspired by "the velvet lining of guitar cases and the deep stage curtains that rise before the music begins". Presumably, it's just a matter of time before there's another colour inspired by the sickly pallor of a bass player who's been living in tour buses for too long.

Although the colour is new, the speaker itself is unchanged – and that's no bad thing.

Marshall Action III: key features and pricing

The Acton III has a frequency range of 45Hz to 20kHz, which is impressive for something so small, and it's a stereo speaker with a 30W Class D amp for its woofer and twin 15W Class D amps for the tweeters. Bluetooth is 5.2 and LE Audio-ready. You can also connect a wired sound source via the 3.5mm input jack.

I really rate Marshall's compact speakers, and so do my colleagues: they're fuss-free and sound fantastic, in part due to their dynamic loudness, which adjusts the tone as you increase the volume to deliver a consistent sound irrespective of how loud you're listening.

It's worth noting that despite its compact dimensions, this isn't a portable speaker – it doesn't have a battery. It's a home speaker made small enough to fit in places like bedrooms, on bookshelves and on kitchen counters without taking up too much space, although it delivers a perfectly creditable performance in larger rooms too.

Like its siblings, the Marshall Action III is priced at £259.99 / $299.99 (about €300 / AU$520).