Marshall’s year of new product launches continues with the arrival of the Middleton II, a portable speaker with big battery life and bigger bass.
Priced at £259 / $329 / €299, the Middleton sequel is slightly less expensive in the UK than the original was, though the price has gone up in the US by $30 (you can probably guess why).
Its on sale now from Marshall’s website and it’ll go on sale from other retailers on July 15th, two years on from the original Middleton.
Marshall’s made changes to the sound and design, changes that we hope will result in a better speaker.
For the lowdown on what’s changed, keep on reading.
Longer battery life
The Middleton’s battery life was one of the longest even among the best outdoor speakers when it first came out. Marshall has decided to give the sequel a boost in that department by taking it to 30+ hours.
You can use it as charging bank to power your smartphone if you ever find yourself running out of battery. If the speaker itself is low on battery, a twenty minute charge will get the show up and running again (although curiously Marshall won’t say how many hours you stand to gain from it).
Tweaked design
The Marshall Middleton II still carries the same IP67 rating as the original, which offers one of the toughest protections against water and dust. And like the original speaker, it comes with a carry strap for when you’re taking the speaker out the house.
Marshall say the controls have refined to avoid any unnecessary complexity, wiht the multi-directional dial there to start your tunes, skip tracks, adjust the volume and accept calls.
The top surface has been tweaked in terms of the placement of battery indicator and power buttons, while the Marshall logo receiving a new lick of golden paint.
Look ma, no hands
We mentioned earlier that you can take calls on the Middleton II, which is thanks to its built-in microphone. Accepting calls can be done hands-free, meaning you don’t have to be tethered to your phone when you’re talking to your friends.
Listen from all sides
The first Middleton was one of the first Middleton speakers to support Marshall’s 360 Stereophonic Sound, a feature we found worked well. This new model aims to keep the good times rolling regardless of where you and your friends are standing in relation to it.
