Design & Construction

Marshall's foray into the true wireless market has been considered the latest among its competitors. However, I would say it is a highly successful one. Though the Mode II has been retired earlier than it is then it should, the new Motif ANC could be the next promising option. Today, we are taking a fresh look at the recently released Motif ANC 'Diamond Jubilee'. Same specifications, different package. Let's see how it fares. Starting off, we have to talk about how Marshall is celebrating their 60th Anniversary by releasing its all black diamond finish on the Monitor II ANC headphones, Emberton speaker and the Motif ANC. Right from the package, the package, the Motif comes in a textured black box that unveils to reveal the earbuds. This time, the Motif ANC no longer features any contrasting elements like a white logo on the black finish instead everything is just straight out matte black, displaying subtleness in the play of materials. Taking cues from the AirPods Pro, the Motif ANC has one of the smaller case dimensions yet, being almost the same size as the AirPods Pro. However, the Motif ANC's outer finish is a debossed silicone texture that resists picking up fingerprints smudges very well. There is a multi-function button the front of the case with an LED indicator to notify you of the case charge. A single press gets you a glimpse of the the case charge while a long press put the earbuds in pairing mode when the case is opened. At the bottom, there is a USB-C port for wires charging. It takes about 3 hours to charge both the case and earbuds from a dead battery and if you are in a rush, a quick 15 minutes charge gives you up to 1 hours of music playback, Like many flagship earbuds, the Motif ANC fortunately features Qi Wireless charging so you can simply place it on any charging mat to get it juiced up. Do take note that the charge times may vary depending on the watts the mat can outputs. Now from my experience, the durability of the case is indeed top-tier when compared to its competitors. Just like the new AirPods Pro (2nd Generation), the case itself is IPX4 water-resistant and not to mention how sturdy its construction is at prevent damages from everyday scratches and accidental drops. One missing features that I wished was included is the ability to track and trace your earbuds and case should you lose it. Moving onto the earbuds, the Motif ANC uses the stick-style earbuds shape but with a twist. First up, the fit of the earbuds are very unique such that they contours to the sides of your ears rather well and securely locks it in place. With the earbuds sitting on the outer parts of your ears, the eartips felt non-intrusive. This has allowed me to forget that I have the earbuds in after a mere 10 minutes wear. The stick portions of the earbuds of the also will not touch any parts of your outer earlobe, so it often feels lie free-floating speakers in my ears. Onto the controls, the Motif ANC uses responsive touchpads on the face of the earbuds; of which a single tap will play/pause, a double tap will skip forward and a triple tap will skip backward. Tapping and holding will swithc between ANC, Transparency and Passive Noise Isolation (Off). However, this command can be customisable to cycle through noise control settings, change the equaliser, adjust the volume or be totally disabled. For calls, there is yet another set of controls of which a single tap will answer the call and another will end the call. If you remove either earbuds from your ear, the music will automatically be paused. In the box, there are extra sizes of silicone eartips to ensure a tight seal and secure fit. Even though the Motif ANC isn't a sports earbud, it features a decent IPX5 water-resistance for intense workout and rainy days, giving users the ultimate peace of mind. The earbuds also do a great job at resisting fingerprint smudges with a matte finish.

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Sound Quality

Exciting, bass-focused and energetic is how I would describe the sound of the Motif ANC. So let's start off with the bass response. In short, it is deep, punchy, and tight. It never managed to distort at loud volume and never bleeds into the mids when it is at a low volume level. It hits as deep as the Sennheiser Momentum True Wireless 3. The highs sound bright and forward with plenty of details. The mids do sound crisp but do take a backseat to elevate the V-shaped sound signature that is common for most earbuds today. The instrument separation is excellent too with distinct left and right channels being heard clearly. If you are not so much of an EDM or Hip-Hop fan, I am glad to report that the Motif ANC works perfectly with all other genres ranging from Pop to Jazz after you fiddle with the customisable sound settings in the Marshall Bluetooth App available for download from the App & Play Store. In the app, you will first see the image of your earbuds and its battery life status. Next, you will see a simple 3 button switch that cycles between Active Noise-Cancelling, Off and Transparency Mode. Fortunately, that is not all as you can further customise the detailed setting in the Noise Control tab where 10% increments can be toggled to suit your needs. Comparing the ANC performance of the Motif ANC to the competition, I found that the overall performance isn't too far from the best of the best. If I were to rate it, I would say it is on par with the Jabra Elite 7 Pro but weaker than the Sony WF-1000XM4 or the Apple AirPods Pro (2nd Generation). In terms of Transparency Mode, the Motif ANC did not manage to beat the AirPods Pro (2nd Generation) and the WF-1000XM4 since its transparency doesn't have the smarts to detect and filter out loud bursts of noises or selectively take in voices only. Just below, the equaliser settings can be changes and set to 3 different presets including a Marshall default. There are presets like Rock, Spoken, Pop, Hip-Hop and Electronic and my personal favourite has to be Hip-Hop. You will then see the option to customise your tap and hold controls which you can change it to cycle between Noise Control,  Equaliser and Voice Assistant or Do Nothing at all and totally be disabled. However, it is important to note that there is a pretty blatant missing feature to customise the touch and hold controls to adjust the volume. Back to Home page, you can enable or disable the Eco charging which regulates your charge times to ensure that the battery lasts longer as well as enable or diable the interaction sounds when a setting is changed. You can refer to the name, model, serail number and check the firmware for any updates. Onto the Explore tab, you can discover the rest of Marshall's lineup where they will share their latest product offerings and possibly entice you to buy them? In all case, its possibly the least important and useful feature in the app. In the More tab, you can seek help or read the Marshall product newsletter. In terms of call quality, the Motif ANC uses 2 beam-foaming mic array per earbud to capture your voice. In my opinion, the quality is pretty usable though I sounded robotic and needed to speak up when I picked up calls in outdoor environments. It is definitely comparable in quality to the Sony Linkbuds S and the Jabra Elite 7 Active.

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Connectivity & Portability

The earbuds support the Bluetooth Version 5.2 with the standard AAC and SBC codec. The earbuds also automatically power on/off when docked and taken out from the case. The battery life peaks at 4.5 hours per use with ANC and 6 hours without ANC. Together with the case, you can achieve a total of 20 hours with ANC and up to 26 hours without. The package also comes with a USB-C cable for charging and if you ever wished for wireless charging, the earbuds doesn't disappoint. The Motif ANC is Qi Wireless Charging capable. Either earbuds do also allow for one-sided listening. Unfortunately, it does not supports Bluetooth Multi-point connection so you can only connect 1 devices at any one time. The earbuds connectivity to the app is perfect as it is able to detect my device when its already connected via Bluetooth all the time. If you try to watch videos or movies with these, they do not have any latency in audio transmission.

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PROS​​

• Durable Construction

• Ergonomic Fit

• Low Profile

• Customisable Sound

• Energetic Sound Signature

• Customisable Active Noise-Cancelling

• Transparent Hearing

• Responsive Touchpads

• Bluetooth 5.2

• Quick USB-C Charging

• Long Battery Life

• Qi Wireless Charging

• IPX4 Water Resistant​​​​​

CONS​​

• No AptX codec support

• No Bluetooth Multi-point

• No Option for Volume Adjustment

• Only One Colour Available

The Bottom Line

In all, the Motif ANC is a compelling choice to pick when selecting a travel-ready ANC earbud. Some of its best features has to be its well-designed fit, exciting sound signature, strong ANC and wireless charging. Overall, its is a seamless and hassle-free user experience for MArshall first attempt at an ANC capable true wireless earbud. The earbuds do come in only one colour of Black and two different finishes of Original and Diamond Jubilee edition.