Marshall London (PMP/Phone hybrid) now official, available for pre order

[dizmo]

It's official! 

 

 

The new Marshall London should be an audiophile's wet dream as far as a cell phone goes. 

It has a Wolfson WM8281 Audio Hub sound card that should provide excellent sound. 

 

Hardware wise, it has a scroll wheel instead of buttons to get precise volume control. Honestly I think this is one of the coolest features, and it doesn't even add that much bulk to the device.

 

 

 

Dual front facing speakers! 

 

 

A dedicated M button on the top, which will bring up your music app...whichever app you chose to link to it.

Two headphone jacks mean you can easily share your music with a friend.

 

 

 

It also comes with a pair of Marshall Mode headphones, which are a $100 value. Not too shabby. 

 

Other features: 

 

SnapDragon 410 SoC

2GB RAM

16GB storage with microSD expansion

2500mah battery, removable!

4.7" 720p display with Gorilla Glass 3

Android Lolipop 5.0.2

140mm x 70mm x 9.8mm

 

Price $499, available August 21

 

 

Personal thoughts.

 

Eh. I mean I love the look, and I'm sure it'll excel at audio playback, but I think they could have done a much better job for the money.

I'd like to have seen a 3000mah or larger battery. It is, after all, Android, and is hungry.

720p screen? I'd like to have seen 1080p, to make it a more all around device. Especially at that price point. I get it, battery drain. See above.

SnapDragon 615 SoC perhaps? I know they're going for more of a PMP with phone abilities, so I guess it's not too bad...at least it's cheaper than most Astell & Kerns?

 

Over all, specs and image based, I'd give this device 5/10. 

 

What do you guys think? Do you use your phone solely for music, and if so would this be right up your alley?

 

https://www.marshallheadphones.com/mh_ca_en/london-phone

[Aytex]

if its cheaper than the ipod then gr8 m8

[ZetZet]

android is hungry? z3 compact (a better phone than this one) has 2600 mAh battery that lasts long as fk. It's just components/optimisation.

[Thebman712]

this was my reaction while reading this

(actual picture of me btw)

[jarr456]

When I first saw $500, I thought, well that's not bad.  Then I saw how lackluster all of the specs were, would still love a volume wheel though.

[brownninja97]

this was my reaction while reading this

 

(actual picture of me btw)

thats umm quite the reaction you have there. Also someone has gotta tell you at some point, shave that shit off now.

[Thebman712]

thats umm quite the reaction you have there. Also someone has gotta tell you at some point, shave that shit off now.

yeah im just too lazy too even though it would take like 5 min

 

it was kind of a -o- reaction 

[Toddwjp]

A high end phone that actual offers a high end feature rather then a just an updated spec sheet, what is this

[dizmo]

When I first saw $500, I thought, well that's not bad.  Then I saw how lackluster all of the specs were, would still love a volume wheel though.

Truth.

I'm hoping next year they release another one, with better specs.

 

thats umm quite the reaction you have there. Also someone has gotta tell you at some point, shave that shit off now.

Hahaha, not gonna lie I thought the same thing. I withheld the "wait until you can grow a proper stash" comment.

 

A high end phone that actual offers a high end feature rather then a just an updated spec sheet, what is this

I think the V2 of this phone is going to be quite a bit better. Better SoC, bigger battery perhaps. Dual microSD?

Fingers crossed! 

 

This, and the Panasonic camera phone both intrigue me, but being first gen products have some serious downfalls. 

[HalGameGuru]

MP4Nation had a Nationite PMP that used a dual Wolfson setup with full digital power and paired DAC, i believe splitting left and right between circuits, that I always wanted to get... This looks similar, I'm not audiophile enough to pay the money, but I like to see bespoke designs like this come out. Show people what focus on an experience looks like.

[megaemil]

The phone is highly targeted towards music lovers and guitar players. It comes with Loopstack, an handy app for recording, and is designed to work with a device that can transcode signals from a gutiar so that it can record directly and propably emulate alot of Marshall amps.

 

If i had not jsut bought a G3 last week this would be my next phone

[Nineshadow]

But...why?

 

I bought my LG G3 brand new last year for less.

 

 

So...as far as audophiles go...dunno man.

[MegaDave91]

Stick to making JCM 800s, Marshall.

[Norman_the_Owl]

FIVE HUNDRED?

 

ARE YOU HIGH?

 

AHAHAHAHA OH LORD, this is gonna flop so hard. Any serious mobile audiophile is already using a fiio external Dac/Amp, so they might as well just spend 500 dollars are a really nice smartphone.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

4.7" 720p is enough, same as the One X+ I had before and I never had any issues with the screen on that.

The CPU is a bit meh, but a 1.2GHz quadcore is enough for what I'd use the phone for.

Internal storage is more than enough for the apps and stuff, the MicroSD card slot means I can transfer my current card over.

The battery will be enough. I'm confident it'll last as long as my M8. It has 100mAh less but has a smaller screen and less hungry CPU.

4G is nice, I like having the headphone jacks at the top of the device, thickness is good, it's all looking excellent really

Gonna wait for a review, but this just might be the replacement for my M8. The price is a bit high, but factor in the headphones and it's only 400.

Any serious mobile audiophile is already using a fiio external Dac/Amp, so they might as well just spend 500 dollars are a really nice smartphone.

Not everyone likes having to carry around that extra bulk. If the sound quality is good enough, I prefer an integrated solution.

[CatCloud]

I agree with dizmo, maybe Half the price or 60% of the max price it would be more appealing.

[bcredeur97]

Glad to see this... but I kind of want a higher end phone than that. I care a lot about audio quality, but this just isn't quite good enough phone-wise for me to buy it.

[atrash]

If they can optimise the shit out of that android and hardware inside it, I think this phone might perform just fine. I know it has different OS but if you look at the Lumia 640 with even lesser hardware specs, I think the ones in this Marshall isn't that bad tbh. Maybe they could have use WP instead for that kind of hardware specs? Also you get a pair of earphones worth $100 too. 

 

I like the backcover and the side pattern/texture. Looks quite unique

[dizmo]

I agree with dizmo, maybe Half the price or 60% of the max price it would be more appealing.

I think half is a bit much, but even just throwing in a SD615 would have made worlds of difference.

I can't imagine the price difference between SoC's is that great.

 

Glad to see this... but I kind of want a higher end phone than that. I care a lot about audio quality, but this just isn't quite good enough phone-wise for me to buy it.

I agree. A simple SD615 and another gig of RAM would have done it.

 

If they can optimise the shit out of that android and hardware inside it, I think this phone might perform just fine. I know it has different OS but if you look at the Lumia 640 with even lesser hardware specs, I think the ones in this Marshall isn't that bad tbh. Maybe they could have use WP instead for that kind of hardware specs? Also you get a pair of earphones worth $100 too. 

 

I like the backcover and the side pattern/texture. Looks quite unique

I don't think it really works like that with Android. WP yes, or even iOs, but not Android.

Windows Phone isn't nearly as customizable, so I imagine that's why they went with Android.

[Whiskers]

Initially I was going to say that this was a silly and pointless device, and was going to question its purpose in the world of highly competitive smartphones.

 

But the truth is, we need more devices like this and we need them to be successful. The more divergent devices we start to see in the smartphone world the more innovation we can start enjoying again. I'm sure I'm not the only one bored of the stagnant world of smartphones right now - improvements these days are nothing more than a spec upgrade, at best.

[linuxfan66]

This is either great or the Motorola rokr...

[GoldSrc]

But...why?

 

I bought my LG G3 brand new last year for less.

 

 

So...as far as audophiles go...dunno man.

This is targeted for audiophools not audiophiles.

I knew it was going to be just the same crap, ability to play 192KHz 24bit "high-resolution audio" and ambient noise cancellation.

MediaTek also used the same Wolfson WM8281, the MediaTek MT6595 has that but nobody mentions is  .

[DigitalHermit]

If I disable the radios on this thing, will it make a good music player or just an overglorified phone?

 

(that audio features tho... I want to see a head-to-head comparison of this against the ZX2...)

[dizmo]

If I disable the radios on this thing, will it make a good music player or just an overglorified phone?

 

(that audio features tho... I want to see a head-to-head comparison of this against the ZX2...)

I think the Astell and Kern Jr might be a better bet at that price.

[DigitalHermit]

I think the Astell and Kern Jr might be a better bet at that price.

 

Did some research.. I like the looks of that...