The Marshall Kilburn III is my top Bluetooth speaker and not because of the sound quality

I thought that we'd reached peak Bluetooth speaker, where everyone has some sort of cylindrical device, probably a bit waterproof, the sort of thing that JBL and UE offer and dominate our list of best Bluetooth speakers. But it's Marshall that caught my eye.

I've been testing the Marshall Kilburn III, a 2025 update to a speaker we last saw in 2018. That's a long time to wait for a third-gen model, but there are significant improvements in performance that come with that.

The appeal of this speaker is not the performance, however, it's the looks. Marshall sticks to a design that reflects its rock music heritage and while many brands have opted for minimalist aesthetics recently, the Kilburn III remains big and bold - which is where I want my Bluetooth speaker to be.

The grill to the front - carrying the Marshall name - and the leather-look finish is retro fantastic, paired with a gold top plate with physical knobs and buttons. There's no digital display, no multi-function buttons to master, it's just beautifully analogue and sometimes that's what technology needs to be.

Illuminated markers on the volume, bass and treble dials add a touch of sophistication, but this speaker could just as easily be sitting in 1985 as it is in 2025. This approach also means that there's no learning curve, everyone from my kids to my parents knows how to adjust the levels or the volume if they want to.

There's no avoiding that the Kilburn III is towards the larger end of the scale, so it's more of a home speaker. Sure, if you want something unidentifiably bland you could have a Sonos Move, but when was the last time a visitor to your home commented on the design of the Move - or even noticed it?

It's character that the Kilburn III offers and that's why I think it's worth the £299.99 asking price. Fortunately, it's backed up by the performance. The Marshall Kilburn III doesn't just present a retro-pretty face to the world, it offers proper kick you in the face sound too.

That’s thanks to the stereo arrangement of a pair of 2-inch drivers and a 4-inch woofer, with a bass reflex port around the back. It offers a wider soundstage than just the speaker itself thanks to the stereo arrangement. It's slightly directional - definitely sounding better from the front, but there isn't a hole in the sound if you're behind the speaker.

It can also handle the volume being turned up to 10, and while the bass and treble knobs on the top allow immediate tweaking, there's a five-band equaliser accessible through the app. This can also allow you to drop a preset onto the M button, so you can switch sound profile instantly.

That's smart - but it's the only real smart skill that the Kilburn III offers. There's no Wi-Fi connection, no voice assistant, no NFC pairing (although it offers Google Fast Pair) it is a simple Bluetooth speaker.

I said it was a little large to be portable - I'm not throwing this is a bag to take camping - but it does have a carry strap and it's packed with a huge battery offering about 50 hours of playback. That's a good weekend of music listening (and more) with the advantage of offering charging too, so when my phone is running low, I just plug it in to the speaker.

It all adds up to a great package: this is a speaker that looks good, sounds good and is full of character - it stands out from the crowd and that's why I like it.