Marshall
Marshall Major V
The headline is the battery: 100+ hours of playtime, which in practice means charging these once or twice a month, and a 15-minute charge buys 15 hours when you forget. Nothing else near this price comes close. The rest is classic Marshall — vinyl-textured folding frame, brass-accented control knob, and the signature rock tuning from 40mm drivers: thunderous bass, forward treble, very fun and very much not neutral, though the app's EQ can tame it. You also get genuinely modern connectivity for the money: Bluetooth 5.3 with multipoint, LE Audio and Auracast readiness with the LC3 codec, wireless charging (rare at any price in headphones), and a 3.5mm jack that can even share audio out to a friend. The honest caveats are inherent to on-ears: the cups press on your ears rather than around them, and while the V's plusher pads are a real improvement over the Major IV, some owners still find long sessions fatiguing — this is the on-ear trade-off, not a Marshall defect, but know yourself before buying. There's no ANC and no official water resistance, and above half volume these leak enough that your neighbors will know your taste in music. For commuters who want week-long battery, a compact fold-up frame, and some rock-and-roll attitude, it's an easy recommendation.
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Specifications
Highlights
Pros
- ✓Class-leading 100+ hour battery life
- ✓15-minute quick charge delivers 15 hours
- ✓Fun, punchy Marshall signature sound with app EQ to adjust it
- ✓Bluetooth 5.3 multipoint plus LE Audio/Auracast-ready LC3
- ✓Wireless charging — almost unheard of in headphones
- ✓Folds compact; 186g is light for the battery inside
- ✓3.5mm jack works both as input and audio-share output
Cons
- ✗On-ear clamp gets fatiguing over long sessions for some owners
- ✗No ANC at a price where some rivals include it
- ✗Leaks sound noticeably above half volume
- ✗Bass-forward tuning isn't for neutrality purists
- ✗No water-resistance rating
Owner Insights(160 discussions)
The Major V is bought for one headline number and it delivers: 100+ hours of playback, which in owner practice means charging once or twice a month and simply forgetting battery anxiety exists. Long-term testers confirm the figure holds up under real use, and the 15-minute-equals-15-hours quick charge covers the rare failure to plan. Wrapped around that battery is classic Marshall identity - vinyl texture, brass knob, fold-up frame - that owners either love or shrug at, but nobody calls generic.
The practical experience divides cleanly at the two-hour mark. The V's plusher pads genuinely improve on the Major IV, and some owners find them among the more comfortable on-ears; but on-ear physics is undefeated, and a meaningful share of owners report the clamp making ears sore after a couple of hours - these are commute-and-errands headphones, not all-day-desk ones, for many heads. Sound is the signature Marshall rock tuning: big bass, forward energy, very fun and very much not neutral, with the app's EQ available to civilize it. There's no ANC, leakage gets antisocial above half volume, and a minority of owners run into firmware-level erratic behavior - frozen controls fixed by a reset - often enough that Marshall documents the fix.
Buy the Major V if you want week-plus battery, a truly packable frame, and some attitude for commuting money - nothing else at $130 combines 100 hours, wireless charging, and LE Audio readiness. Skip it if long sessions are your life (get around-the-ear cups - the similarly priced Sony WH-CH720N adds ANC and over-ear comfort for similar money) or if you need isolation for flights. The strongest alternative inside the brand is stepping up to Marshall's own ANC models; outside it, budget ANC over-ears beat it at silence and lose badly at battery and style.
Pros
- +The 100+ hour battery is not marketing fiction - long-term testers report it staying strong after three weeks of consistent use, and owners genuinely charge these once or twice a month
- +15-minute quick charge buying 15 hours means a forgotten charge never actually costs you a day
- +The fold-up frame with built-in band clips packs down to roughly hand size at 186g - owners rate it among the most travel-friendly headphones at any price
- +Signature Marshall tuning is fun - thunderous bass and forward energy that rock and electronic listeners specifically buy it for, with app EQ to tame it
- +Softer, plusher pads and a reworked headband are a real comfort improvement over the Major IV per side-by-side owners
- +Wireless charging plus LE Audio/Auracast-ready LC3 is a spec combination almost nothing else at $130 offers
- +The 3.5mm jack works as both input and output - owners use it to share audio out to a friend's headphones
Cons
- −The on-ear clamp is the polarizing core issue - a meaningful share of owners report soreness setting in around the 2-hour mark, and long sessions are where these lose people
- −No ANC at a price where ANC over-ears (and Marshall's own step-ups) exist - passive on-ear isolation is all you get on a plane
- −Sound leaks noticeably above half volume - seatmates and office neighbors will know your playlist
- −The bass-forward tuning is decidedly not neutral, and listeners outside rock/electronic genres sometimes find it fatiguing or muddy without EQ intervention
- −No water-resistance rating and no rain tolerance - these are city headphones, not gym gear
- −SBC/AAC/LC3 only - no aptX for Android users who want it
- −A minority of owners hit erratic-behavior firmware glitches (unresponsive controls) requiring a reset - common enough that Marshall maintains a support page for it
Common Questions
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