Marshall Emberton II 20 W Wireless Bluetooth Portable Outdoor Speaker (Cream)

First off, I am not an expert on audio equipment and what I’m about to say is purely my own but I try to be as objective as I can. First, the Emberton II looks sleek. I love the design and simplicity. The emblem is prominent against the all-black finish. The overall texture of the finish feels so good to the touch! I also like that they used red illumination for the battery level and the power indicator. It’s subtle for those who have any issue for bright lights. It feels sturdy at less than 1 kg and at that weight, I was initially worried about the quality of the sound.

Now for the main event: Sound quality. The first thing I did after unboxing was to immediately pair it with my phone (I haven’t tried the app but connectivity seems to be no problem for me, using the standard bluetooth pairing). Now, when I test a speaker for the first time, I usually play the theme from Game of Thrones and the Imperial March from Star Wars (I have to hear the clarity of the instruments and enjoy the sound. And yes, I am a fan of those two franchise so sue me). Upon playing, the intro rumble from the Game of Thrones Theme was so clear that it gave me goosebumps! What impressed me was that, there was a definition between the instruments so there was no overpowering one from the other. Next thing I did was to crank up the volume…. Again I am not an expert on these matters but from what I experienced and HEARD, this tiny speaker can really deliver! The same clarity can be heard even at max volume (using my phone as source via bluetooth). Unlike my previous purchases (in fairness, they are smaller and forgivable) where they sound like an empty can, this beast can really deliver even at maximum volume (my apologies to my neighbors downstairs!). I switched to The Imperial March and did the same routine again. What a joy! It delivered the same results that almost made me use to Force! I also played other songs (j-rock, R & B, Old School Rock, Old School Rap) and I was really satisfied. One other thing that I noticed was that the vocals are so clear and prominent, it feels as if I’m using a 3.1 channel audio equipment. My only issue is that it has no 3.5 mm audio socket (I’m an old school) but I believe I can use the USB-C port for that (I have to purchase a separate adapter for it though). Based on the others’ opinion, it is possible to plug a 3.5 mm jack. I have yet to try it.

Overall, I am happy. I am satisfied. I will not make any recommendations since each and every individual has specific tastes in sound quality but I will say this.. Include this in your list of potential candidates when you are shopping for a portable speaker and give it a shot.

All I can say, personally, is that the Marshall Emberton II really exceeded my personal expectations and it was worth every cent that I poured into. Similarly to when I bought my first Marshall (Major IV), I can say I am glued to Marshall for my audio needs and I do not see myself looking at other brands at the moment. That’s how satisfied I am.

A few months ago I had an epiphany. When I was a kid my father loved to have the best in sound equipment in the house, and I would play with graphic equalizers and lay in the floor looking for the best position between the giant speakers to experiment how to better enjoy the music.

Today, I hear music in monophonic audio in an old JBL Charge 3 speaker (don’t tell my dad, he would be ashame of me).

So I started to get better equipment. Now, I live in a small apartment with thin walls in a 3rd floor, so, big amplifiers and so are out of the question, but at least I could get better bluetooth speakers, so I tried the Marshall Emberton II.

To say that I impressed with the sound would be an understatement. With out-of-the-box settings, the sound is more than detailed. 80s and 90s music sound outstanding although, Peter Cetera’s Glory of Love and Toto’s Africa vocals sound as I never heard them before, they are sharp and strong, sometimes detracting just a little from the overall sound (keywords here, really, just a little).

This brings me to my first recommendation: do not mess with your applications equalizers if you don’t know what you are doing. This speakers were clearly designed to use the manufacturer equalizer settings (more on this later). I have youtube music and amazon prime music (yeah, I know, no spotify), and my sound with the latter was to heavy on bass, to the point of drowning the music and feeling almost distorting. Tron: Legacy’s soundtrack sounded specially dreadful, as Daftpunk uses heavy bass in their electronic music for that specific music. I then set the equalization in Amazon Prime Music to flat. It was a different performance altogether. I could ever hear some slight effects they used, that I had not noticed before.

Now, one down for the application. Bluetooth pairing used Google Fast Pair, which was seamless and impressive (it shows appears to be a custom Marshall little window, so, it looks cool), but the application takes forever to actually “discover” the device, even when it is already paired.

When it finally discover it (which was not too long, but took a couple of turning on and off the speaker), the application notified me of a firmware upgrade, which I proceeded to install. The installation failed miserably, so, I temporarily stopped that effort, which I retook successfully a day later. The update was surprisingly big in size, taking around 5 minutes to download, and the application simply marked the update successful while the speaker was still rebooting, which took a few seconds more than what I feel comfortable with, but it went through, and after that, the application again took surprisingly long to detect the speaker.

To end that topic, the equalization settings are definitely underwhelming, with only three modes: Marshall, Voice and Push, of which I have only tried Marshall as everybody else says that Voice is just for podcast and such and Push increases bass at the expense of all the other sound bands quality.

Lesson learned: unless too picky, when using this speaker, leave your apps equalizers on flat, their profile is that good.

Now, to the hardware itself, people will notice this little wonder. Using the nostalgia factor with the Marshall amplifier design was a touch of genius, and the brass button on top is the cherry on top. Some reviews complain about a single button approach to multifunction (power, volume, forward-back, bluetooth pairing has another almost invisible button, which fits because you are not changing your pairing frequently). If we can handle touch control on over-head and in-ear speakers, this button is a piece of cake.

My only complain in this department is that, at least for me, an old guy, the signs indicating the functions around the button, being carved in the black speaker, which has texture, are for all intent and purposes invisible, but once you get accustomed, an use the logo as a positional reference that’s not a problem anymore.

And finally, the little caveat. Single speaker, stereo sound. Let that sink in.

Done? Ok, they achieve this trick by separating the sound left and right with drivers back and front respectively (or was it the other way around? well, you get my point). Stereo suffers a little (not too much) because both sources are incredibly close, but it brings this caveat. This speaker should not be set as others, against walls, like in shelf, and so, because you end up drowning one side.

The best position for this speaker is in the center of the audio stage, and if you want to appreciate the sound, you should point one side (not the front or back) to you. that way both sources are equally distanced from you so you get a better balance.

If you are ok with the caveats this product is worth the price, I definitely recommend it.

I saw one of these (black) with a fellow traveler, and was impressed.

Pondered for some weeks and then couldn’t resist ordering one. Preferred the cream one for some reason, and I think I’ve made the right choice. Listened to more music since I got this than I’ve done in months. Everything sounds punchy and crisp.

Tried a couple of different genres of music that I like — I’m not into electronic music much but metal, hindustani classical, old school rock n roll, all sounded fantastic for a speaker this size. I don’t have my Bose Soundlink II handy for a sound comparison but even if that trumps the Emberton in sound quality (I feel the marshall EQ preset’s bass is a bit on the higher side than I’d like but I’m able to compensate for that by changing mode using the Marshall app or Equalizer in my phone / music app) I’ll still travel around with the Emberton II because it is so compact yet powerful sounding. Battery life seems great from what I can tell (hope it stays great).

This is a very slick thing to own and I’m very pleased with the purchase. It looks, feels and sounds very premium to me.

Upto the expectations

Incredible. I’ve used this over a month now and it never ceases to make me happy.
The sound quality is great, and I expected no less, it is Marshall after all. The surround sound effect it has because of the dual side speakers makes it a great speaker for not only playing deep bass music but also atmospheric video games.
The Bluetooth range is decent enough, however it does struggle a little when it’s far away and behind a wall of sorts, but that’s pushing it to its limit I’d say. Still works like a charm.

The thing that is the cherry on top is how portable this little guy is! Perfect for road trips because of its compact size and a total crowd pleaser.

Whether you’re a music buff with a taste for quality crispy sound and cozy bass; or a gamer that wants an all rounder speaker, look no further. 10/10 would recommend!

The Quality of music and the battery back up is just Amazing i have charged one time and it goes whole for a week after such a heavy use.