Built from published evidence: the Marshall Major V is the battery king of on-ear headphones — 100+ hours claimed, 15-minute quick charge worth 15 hours, and Qi wireless charging — wrapped in the retro Marshall look with the best-feeling control knob in the business. The trade is real: no ANC at $149, comfort that splits reviewers down the middle, and sound that mostly repeats the Major IV. SoundGuys put it bluntly: buy these only if you can't resist the rock-and-roll design, which for Marshall's audience is most of the pitch.
— THE VERDICT · JUDGEANY EDITORSThe Marshall Major V is what happens when a headphone company decides the spec sheet race is over and wins it anyway. Marshall claims 100+ hours of wireless playback, a number so large it stops mattering in daily use, and wraps it in the same black-and-brass retro design that has sold four generations of Majors. It launched in April 2024 at $149, twenty dollars up from the Major IV, adding Bluetooth 5.3, Qi wireless charging, a programmable M-button, and LC3 codec support. What it does not add is active noise cancellation, and Marshall says so plainly on its own product page.
Sound first, because that is why anyone buys Marshall. Tom's Guide's verdict was that "audio and craftsmanship meet brand criteria, other areas fall short" — the signature Marshall tuning is intact, and ZDNET found punchy bass with recessed mids that flatters rock in particular. SoundGuys was cooler on the stock tuning, calling it treble-forward and recommending the in-app EQ to tame it, and T3 reported the sound barely moved from the Major IV: same 40 mm drivers, same house curve. Owners on Amazon rate it 4.6 out of 5 across roughly 2,800 ratings and keep coming back to that rock-voiced sound, the marathon battery, and the fold-flat retro design.
About that battery: no outlet has published an independent hour measurement, so the 100+ hour claim stands on Marshall's word and reviewers' lived experience. T3's reviewer wrote they "basically never had to charge them," and Tom's Guide listed the battery as class-leading. The ratios Marshall publishes are concrete enough to check against daily life — 15 minutes on the charger buys 15 hours of playback, a full charge takes about three hours — and the Qi pad trick (lay the right earcup flat) works, though T3 found it fiddly in practice.
Comfort is where the reviews genuinely disagree, and the split is worth stating. Tom's Guide reported clamp pressure and ear ache setting in around two hours. ZDNET went the other way, writing that the 186 g frame could be worn for hours and barely noticed. On-ear headphones always divide heads this way — the Major V's slim pads and firm clamp favor smaller heads and shorter sessions, and there is no ANC to hide behind on a plane. Calls show the same split: Tom's Guide called call quality "stellar," while SoundGuys found the mic fine for a quick chat but shaky outdoors in wind.
The feature list reads like a greatest-hits of 2024: app EQ and firmware updates, a programmable M-button, multipoint across two devices (listed by B&H and SoundGuys rather than Marshall's own page), and 3.5 mm wired input that doubles as an output to share audio. Against that, the scorecards are sober — SoundGuys 7/10, Les Numériques 3/5, FrAndroid 6/10 — and they all orbit the same complaint: at $149 with no ANC, you are paying for the look. SoundGuys' line is the one to remember: "without ANC, I only recommend buying them if you can't resist their rock and roll-inspired design." If you can resist it, plenty of cheaper rivals cancel noise. If you can't, the battery alone means you'll reach for the charger roughly once a month. Check the current price on Amazon; the design premium fluctuates with the sales.