Marshall speakers and headphones (and guitar amps of course) are well known for signature room-filling sound – but is it possible to achieve this from the smallest possible source, a pair of in-ear buds?
That’s the task handed down to the Marshall Motif 2 ANC earbuds, and on the whole, they do a great job. They offer a richer, more mid-focussed sound compared to competitor buds, and just like the Marshall Woburn 3 I’ve also reviewed, this naturally lends itself well to guitar music.
But just like that speaker, the Motif 2 earbuds can be tuned to cope with electronic music too. Noise cancelling isn’t as effective as rivals, but if that’s not a huge concern, these are a great sounding and aesthetically pleasing pair of earbuds.
Pros
- Powerful but nuanced sound
- Top-notch material quality
- Signature Marshall design
Cons
- ANC is so-so
| Battery life | 30 hours |
| Charge time | 1.5 hours (case) |
| IP rating | IPX5 |
| Weight | 4.31g |
What’s good?
Marshall’s designers come up with some great looking products, don’t they? These earbuds offer something very different to their anonymous white or grey rivals, with a very appealing matte black finish, that somehow manages to look modern while throwing back to Marshall’s vintage guitar amps.
They don’t sit completely within your ear like the JLab Epic earbuds I reviewed recently, they have a more traditional stem design, and this has a grippy knurled edge that makes it easy to grab hold of.
That means, unlike the JLab earbuds, you can adjust where they sit in your ears without accidentally triggering the touch sensitive controls, but more on those later.
The Motif 2 earbuds arrive in a small, minimalist black box (are you noticing a theme here?) complete with a bunch of different silicone tips to help get the perfect fit in your ear. Carrying on with that minimalist theme is the charging case itself, which features the trademark Marshall texture and delicately embossed script.
It’s an odd soapbar shape that looks like it wants to stand vertically, but doesn’t have a flat bottom, so it ends up rolling over like an elephantine gömböc when you put it down.
The lid opens easily and closes with a magnetic latch, it’s so satisfying that I find myself fidgeting with it, much to the confusion of my phone as the Bluetooth connects and disconnects. The buds stand proud enough to get a good hold of when you want to use them, and again are held in place by magnets.
They’re super comfy to wear, as there isn’t a huge amount of bulk, and the stem helps keeps them in place. Continuing the minimalist theme is the Marshall app, which gives you access to the ANC control, equaliser, battery status and a handful of other options.
One of which is battery preservation, which gives you the option of only allowing a 90% charge, a limit to the maximum charge speed, and temperature management, in order to maximise the battery life.
Whether you use this or not, Marshall promises an improved battery life over the first gen Motif, which we've also reviewed.
There's a maximum life of 30 hours - an improvement of ten hours over the original Motif earbuds. Turn ANC off and that increases to 43 hours. On their own the earbuds will last six hours (or nine without ANC), and then you can get an hour of playtime from a 15-minute charge in the case. The case charges wirelessly too.
What do they sound like?
The Motif 2 is compatible with Bluetooth LE Audio, which uses less power and claims to improve audio quality. They score a really big tick from me on that front - as I mentioned above the sound profile is slightly different to rival buds I’ve tested, which all seem to focus on providing as much bass as possible.
While this is great for making electronic music sound dramatic and dynamic, it can drown out anything with a guitar in it, and result in a bit of a muddy mix that favours low- and high-end tones.
Punk and metal sound especially full when using these Marshall earbuds, with powerful guitar and vocals, and crisp snare and cymbal hits. That balance also lends itself to better inclusion of more subtle sonic elements– I’ve never heard the high-hat in A Day to Remember’s “All I Want” as clearly before.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s enough low end, it just doesn’t dominate as much. The bass drum in Architect’s “when we were young” has been imbued with the kind of punch I’m only used to hearing in my Sony XM5 over-ear headphones. The more synthesised elements of Enter Shikari’s “A Kiss for the Whole World” don’t vibrate my wisdom teeth with the intensity of the JLab Epic earbuds, though.
The good news is that if you don’t like the sound of the Marshall EQ, there’s a five-band customisable set up with presets like Bass Boost and Mid Reduction if you want a more dynamic sound that favours genres like dance or drum and bass. Chase and Status’s Program sounds especially energetic in either of the previously mentioned modes.
And that’s perhaps the biggest surprise for me with these earbuds – not only that they offer a more subtle and nuanced setting, but that I prefer it to the more traditional jawbone-shaking EQ. It might not jump out at you immediately but it’s worth persisting with until you love it.
What’s okay?
On that point, I was quite surprised how quiet the Marshall Motif 2 earbuds are unless you’ve got them cranked right up – the volume slider is pretty linear until you get within one or two clicks of the maximum and then they suddenly get a lot louder.
I think in part this is because the Marshall Woburn 3 I reviewed absolutely filled my room with sound on about a quarter turn of the volume knob, and I was expecting these earbuds to be the same. In a lot of ways it’s a good thing they’re not, otherwise you could damage your hearing pretty quickly.
The touch controls are also set in the app as well, you can’t remap the swipes and prods you make if you don’t like the way Marshall has designated them. This isn’t the end of the world, and there is a custom action for each bud that you can personalise.
Finally, the hinge on the lid feels a bit plasticky and I worry about over-extending it and snapping it off. The solution is just to be a bit careful though, isn’t it?
Any negatives?
The ANC is not the best I’ve tested. Earbuds are never as good as over ear headphones, but I’ve found my old Jabra Elite 7 Active and JLab Epics are better at drowning out annoying noises on the train. The Motifs are pretty good, but if complete isolation from noise is a priority for you then there are better options.
I’d also love to see a proper “nightmode” colour option, with the Marshall “M” and gold element at the base of the stem given a darker finish. I get the design cue that gold bit is referencing, but it might not suit everyone.
More items to consider
A kneejerk choice for Apple users (they're compatible with Android too) for a good reason - these earbuds set the benchmark for sound quality, battery life, and ease of use. The design is a bit anonymous compared with the Marshall Motif 2, although for some that will be its key appeal.
A solid all-rounder, Sony's top of the line earbuds are the ones to choose if sonic quality is your biggest requirement.
These earbuds are a great performer and thanks to frequent discounts, they represent superb value for money as well. I really liked the solid metal case they come in, and the impressively powerful sound.
How the product was tested
I wore these earbuds for six months in all sorts of places – my home office, the actual office, commuting via train and aeroplane, on my mountain bike, and at the gym.
I listen to a wide range of metalcore, drum and bass, punk and classical music. I also enjoy audiobooks and podcasts, so any pair of earbuds I test is going to get a bit of a workout.
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Adam Binnie is a Reviewer for What's The Best, with an interest in all things audio and fitness.
He has been a journalist for more than 15 years and enjoys anything on two wheels, from motorbikes and mountain bikes, plus going to gigs, and photography.
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