They’re an over-the-ear design that employs 40mm drivers and can be connected to your phone wirelessly via Bluetooth or the provided 3. The headphones definitely add some bass to the mix where it doesn't necessarily exist, but not in such a dramatic fashion that things sound overly bass-heavy.

My experience using the Monitor II ANC headphones in my daily life is on par with some of the best headsets on the market. Even though I'm a freelancer now, PCMag has been my home for well over a decade, and audio gear reviews are still my primary focus. It doesn’t feel intuitive to me,” she said, noting that a similar control on the Drop + THX Panda headphones was easier for her to handle. Although I tend to use these headphones at my desk, I have no qualms about carrying them in my bag or wearing them in public, something I often avoid with other pairs because of the space they occupy and how ridiculous they look on my head.Codec support is limited to SBC only (that doesn’t hold back Bose) but you do get voice assistant support and there’s an accompanying mobile app so you can tweak the settings via your phone. And they do -- the IO-6es, right out of the box with no EQ, sounded more natural and spacious than the Monitor II A. I’m not a huge fan of big thumping bass in my headphones, and the Marshall Monitor II ANC headphones toes that line masterfully providing just enough bump to keep me entertained without overdoing it.

For our battery tests, we make sure to keep the headphones at a constant output of 75dB and then leave music playing constantly on loop until the headphones eventually die. The only thing I’d wish for was a little more self-confidence from the treble in favour of transparency. Howard Shore's epic soundtrack is perhaps one of the most glorious ever put to screen - and with the Marshall Monitor II's - it's never been clearer just how powerful it truly is.

True, it has some active noise canceling, but so do some of the other top active noise canceling headphones, and those do a better job of filtering noise. Ultimately, though, it’s the slightly below-par noise cancelling that undermines these headphones’ charge to the top. They will appeal to bass lovers seeking a balanced mix, with both the treble and bass boosted in a way that doesn't result in a muddy mix. Since its foundation in 1962, the long-established English company Marshall have been committed to high-quality and robust stage equipment with a timeless design, their latest closed Bluetooth headphones Monitor II A. A 15-minute charge is enough to get you five hours of playback, while charging the battery to full power will take you about two hours.