The wireless earphones market is already flooded with countless options that cater to different needs of users. While not all of them are great value for money, Marshall’s new Motif II ANC promises to give users a great sound experience under Rs 20,000. Marshall — known for its iconic amplifiers — has introduced this pair of new earphones with attractive design, ANC support, 30 hours of playtime, and more. But at Rs 19,999, is the Marshall Motif II ANC worth buying? Let’s find out in this review.

Attractive design, decent build quality

Marshall is known for offering stylish audio products and the new Motif II ANC is no different. It aims to woo users with its aesthetic appeal. At first glance, it looks unique with its leather texture, but when you touch the earbuds case the excitement quickly fades away due to its plastic build. It looks disappointing, especially considering the premium price at which it is being sold.

If you don’t talk about the plastic build, the crushed-paper pattern of the case in a textured finish is both attractive to look at and practical, offering good grip and making it less prone to showing fingerprints or scratches. However, despite its premium look, the plastic build of the case doesn’t quite match the high expectations set by its design. It also doesn’t have a metal hinge. While the case makes a satisfying sound when opened or closed, it doesn’t come with the solid build quality one would expect from a product in this price range.

It comes only in black colour, which looks good. The compact case and light weight design makes it easy to carry and keep in the jeans pocket. I liked that the case has a pairing button for easy connectivity, as well as a small LED light indicating the battery status.

The earphones fit well in my ears and I had no issues using them for 3-4 hours continuously. However, those who are interested in buying these earphones should try it out in an offline store first as everyone has a different ear canal shape and it may not be a good fit for everyone, something similar happened to one of my colleagues when he used it. While I had no trouble using it, the earbuds gave my colleague a bit of trouble when it started hurting his ear after wearing the buds for a short time.

The Marshall Motif II ANC is water resistant to a certain level, the earphones have an IPX5 rating and the case has an IPX4 rating. They can handle water splashes, but one should avoid using them during rains to prevent them from getting damaged. The earbuds support touch controls and one can control music/ANC using them. The touch panels are mostly responsive and there were rare occurrences of any errors. However, there are limited options to change the touch controls. Also, there is no multi-device pairing feature, which allows you to be connected to both a phone and a laptop at the same time.

Sound quality, ANC, call quality

The Marshall Motif II ANC earbuds offer a balanced audio profile with well-defined mids and treble. The bass, while present, is more subtle and doesn’t overwhelm the mix. The soundstage is moderately spacious, offering good instrument separation and depth. While they excel in clarity and balance, those who prefer a deep, driving bass may find the low-end response a bit restrained.

The Marshall earbuds have support for Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), which blocks out most of the background noise and I am able to enjoy my music in peace at the office. However, I must point out that when traveling in a cab with the windows down, the ANC is not able to completely reduce the noise of construction machines or crying babies. While traveling, I enabled the Transparency mode to stay aware of my surroundings and it works well. Marshall has also added support for the in-ear detection feature and it works well when I need to talk to someone and need to take the earphones out of my ears.

Similarly, the call quality is also great and I heard from people that they were able to hear me clearly without any issues. The only problem was when I was in a very noisy environment and the sound was a bit muffled, but that happens with many wireless earphones.

The Marshall App Experience

The sound experience of the Motif II ANC is good, but the performance of the Marshall app has room for improvement. The pairing process is often sluggish, with issues loading the pairing page and connecting the earphones to the device. Also, there have been rare but annoying instances of the earbuds disconnecting unexpectedly during use. But, this is something that can be fixed with a software update.

On the positive side, the app’s interface is straightforward and easy to navigate. There are options to adjust ANC and touch controls. One can use the app’s built-in equalizer to customize their listening experience, and battery status details are also available. So, most of the core functionalities are present in the app, and the only problem is that it works pretty slow.

Solid battery life

The biggest highlight of the Marshall Motif II ANC is its battery life. The wireless earbuds easily lasted 4 days with ANC turned on. I used it for 3 hours every day to listen to music and make calls. With ANC turned off, it can easily last up to 5 days. The case supports wireless charging, but it takes a lot of time to charge, so I mostly used my smartphone’s wired charger to charge the battery quickly.

Marshall Motif II ANC Wireless Earphones: Is it worth buying under Rs 20,000?

The Marshall Motif II ANC is a good pair of wireless earphones that you can consider buying if you are looking for balanced output. Those who want a thumping bass experience will have to look for other options. Although its build quality is not the best in this price range, the latest Marshall earphones offer an attractive design, solid battery life, an app with important features, and good ANC.

For slightly better sound quality in the same price range one can consider buying the Sony WF-1000 XM5 earphones or if the budget is around Rs 12,000 then one can buy the Nothing Ear 2.