Marshall Willen Portable Bluetooth Speaker (Black/Brass)

Marshall Willen Portable Loudspeaker With 15+ hours of playtime, this little device can go a long time without charging. Out of the box, it comes 30% charged, so you can start using it immediately while you make your connections. And it comes with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable for your future charging needs. There’s a nice quick-start guide that has instructions in just about every language you can imagine, and then some. This will help get you up and running very quickly. After connecting via Bluetooth to my phone and computer, I tested the unit, playing several genres of music. Everything sounded great and it was hard to believe that these high-quality sounds were coming from such a small, compact unit. There were no vibrations or tinny sounds, even at the ... MoreMarshall Willen Portable Loudspeaker With 15+ hours of playtime, this little device can go a long time without charging. Out of the box, it comes 30% charged, so you can start using it immediately while you make your connections. And it comes with a USB-C to USB-A charging cable for your future charging needs. There’s a nice quick-start guide that has instructions in just about every language you can imagine, and then some. This will help get you up and running very quickly. After connecting via Bluetooth to my phone and computer, I tested the unit, playing several genres of music. Everything sounded great and it was hard to believe that these high-quality sounds were coming from such a small, compact unit. There were no vibrations or tinny sounds, even at the highest volume level. Another nice feature I discovered is that you can control the volume using the volume controls on your phone. (One caution: you may want to turn off the “sleep” feature on your phone, or the music may stop when your phone goes to sleep.) This device can also be used as a speakerphone for your telephone conversations. You simply toggle it on and off, as desired. You can download the Marshall app if you want more control over your device (available for both Google and Apple devices). However, after doing so, I found the original settings to be just fine for my taste. One suggestion: While it may add a few dollars to the cost, I think Alexa would be a great addition to this device, since it would offer much more flexibility. With this Marshall Willen Portable Loudspeaker, you get great-sounding music in a very lightweight (less than a pound) compact portable speaker that you can take with you just about everywhere you go and that you can control with your phone. Highly recommended.

I saw this online before I saw it in person, so the first thing I have to say is that I was very surprised at how tiny this speaker is. It’s a bit too big to fit in the palm of my hand, but it’s barely any bigger. A biscuit is bigger than the Willen. Despite this tiny size, the sound is absolutely great. It doesn’t rattle, it’s not all mids, and it has some decently punchy bass too. The sound has a lot of clarity too, and while it’s no surround sound I can hear more details to the music I’m listening to than I can in, say, my car. It’s fancy too. The leather sides feel great to the touch, the black and gold aesthetic is pretty classy, and I really like how there’s even an actual battery meter on the top that does it’s job without being bright or ugly or distracting. ... MoreI saw this online before I saw it in person, so the first thing I have to say is that I was very surprised at how tiny this speaker is. It’s a bit too big to fit in the palm of my hand, but it’s barely any bigger. A biscuit is bigger than the Willen. Despite this tiny size, the sound is absolutely great. It doesn’t rattle, it’s not all mids, and it has some decently punchy bass too. The sound has a lot of clarity too, and while it’s no surround sound I can hear more details to the music I’m listening to than I can in, say, my car. It’s fancy too. The leather sides feel great to the touch, the black and gold aesthetic is pretty classy, and I really like how there’s even an actual battery meter on the top that does it’s job without being bright or ugly or distracting. The LEDs in general are pretty soft, which is great since I typically use Bluetooth speakers at night and am kind of sick of getting blinded by neon blue lights. The strap on the back is pretty neat for sticking the speaker to stuff, and overall it’s far more portable than bulky speakers that look like 2-liters of soda. I can put it on my bike even. The software is good, though it could be better. The equalizer only has three options, and there doesn’t appear to be any customization. Other than that, pairing the device to my phone and downloading the app was super easy - the Willen supports those flyouts for nearby devices that let you pair your phone without digging in the settings menu and looking for some really technical device name. It downloaded the app automatically, and I haven’t had any connection issues. I also like how there’s a feature to use multiple Willens together to scale your sound, by daisy chaining them off one you set as the primary. (I haven’t tested this since I only have one Willen, but it’s still cool to see the option and not have it limited to two speakers.) Overall it’s a great speaker that just works, and sounds bigger than it really is. I love basically everything about this, and pretty much the only complaint I have is that the battery is kind of underwhelming about holding a charge. Even without the extra features the app gave it, I’d still be perfectly happy with it just because of how incredibly portable the Willen is while still having sound that’s not just loud but nice and clear. I’d definitely recommend getting this if you’re looking for a speaker you can take with you without a hassle.

This is an excellently put together little speaker! Just from a build-perspective, I've dropped it from a height of about 5 feet, and it shows absolutely no marks and works perfectly. It is also nice to have an elastic strap on the back to allow you to hang the speaker or strap it to a backpack. SOUND: The sound quality is fantastic, as you'd expect from Marshall. This is a very small speaker, but it produces a great volume without any distortion in the sound. The only point that it misses, which is very nit-picky, is that the bass drops off a bit as you reach higher volumes. This does keep the audio clear, but changes the EQ overall. Still, at 50-75% volume, there is great bass for such a small speaker. SET-UP: Bluetooth set-up is very easy. Different phones may ... MoreThis is an excellently put together little speaker! Just from a build-perspective, I've dropped it from a height of about 5 feet, and it shows absolutely no marks and works perfectly. It is also nice to have an elastic strap on the back to allow you to hang the speaker or strap it to a backpack. SOUND: The sound quality is fantastic, as you'd expect from Marshall. This is a very small speaker, but it produces a great volume without any distortion in the sound. The only point that it misses, which is very nit-picky, is that the bass drops off a bit as you reach higher volumes. This does keep the audio clear, but changes the EQ overall. Still, at 50-75% volume, there is great bass for such a small speaker. SET-UP: Bluetooth set-up is very easy. Different phones may behave differently, but mine immediately brought up a screen asking if I wanted to connect this speaker before I even went into bluetooth settings. It prompts you to download an app which makes connecting multiple speakers easier, and has EQ, but you definitely don't need it for using the speaker. As I don't have multiple of this speaker, I was not able to test connecting multiple in the "stack" set-up. BATTERY: They advertise 15+ hours on the box, and in my experience it is definitely on the "+" side. I mostly listen to podcasts, with some music on most days but typically at a max of about 50% volume. I got about 25 or more hours of playtime this way, so the battery is excellent. It also takes about 3 hours to fully charge from being completely run down. Another nit-picky complaint is that there is no warning when the battery is low, it just powers off without warning. TLDR: Great battery life, really good sound with only a little bass drop-off at high volume.