MarshallMiddleton Portable Bluetooth Speaker, Black and Brass

I perused many reviews of many speakers before settling on this one, and the word "settled" is misused here because this speaker is absolutely fantastic.ConstructionThis speaker is made from quality materials; you can tell as soon as you pick it up. The rubber coating provides excellent grip and is easy to clean, the included strap is very sturdy, not weak, and you can tell this can survive being knocked about a little bit without circumstances. I'm surprised the mesh is made from plastic, not metal, but they did have to cut a little weight somewhere because this is not a light speaker. The weight does not bother me, though.Portability:This Middleton speaker is portable for me. You'd think that at this price point, a hard-shell cover would be included, but you can find those relatively cheap on Amazon here. ($25 will get you a good one). It's easy to carry around using the strap, and it should fit into just about any laptop backpack you have, but again; this speaker is not small and it is not light.I travel a lot, and I've had this speaker with me on Safaris, out in the desert, in the shower, in the middle of the ocean: it never let me down or inconvenienced me while I was on the move.Sound:The sound quality from this is great, but I would not call it excellent. I'm surprised that a speaker that costs $300 only supports SBC, no AptX or LDAC. Shame on you, Marshall. Despite that, the sound is still great and fills even medium-sized rooms with resonance. The added bass and treble controls are handy, and once you set your preferred levels there you probably won't touch them ever again.If you use the Aux port instead and connect to a source that outputs lossless quality, the sound changes dramatically for the better.The App:The app is very wonky. Sometimes it won't detect the speaker, especially if it's already playing music before I attempt to make the app. Connecting another Middleton for stacked play can be hit-or-miss. When it works, it's wonderful. I wish that When two or more Middletons were connected the app would split stereo into the two speakers instead of giving you the exact same sound from both.Customer Support:Customer support is among the best I've ever run into. My first speaker was damaged under warranty, and I was shipped a brand-new replacement immediately after going through the warranty claim. No delays.Charging:If I were you, I'd get a GaaN charger that's at least 100w with a 100W USB C-to-C cable to charge this thing. Regular USB chargers still work, but they take a lot longer. Also, bear in mind that there is no battery care in this device's firmware. (Why, Marshall, for a $300 speaker????). Once your speaker reaches %100 charge, it does not automatically stop charging, so keep an eye on it and disconnect it immediately. Don't leave it charging overnight.Niggles:1. The mesh covering on the front is pushed into place, not secured by any screws like the rear mesh. This is weird. Though this speaker is built so sturdily that there is practically zero chance of it ever popping out unless you're playing football with it or something.2. Marshall does sell spares, which is ridiculous. If the charging port on your perfectly-working speaker gets damaged outside of warranty, you have to throw the whole speaker away, rather than being able to buy the little board with the charging port online somewhere. This is unacceptable in this day and age.Overall: I love this speaker, and I will never look for another portable Bluetooth speaker. This satisfies all my needs.

It looks good, it feels good, and yes: it sounds good. While it is a single portable speaker (tempting me to buy it a friend for "stack mode" with everything but it's price), it fills our living room with music. My wife and I both feel that the sound has a "live" quality to it, a bit like you are at a concert - even when you're not looking at the logo.It gets plenty loud, even for use out on our screened porch, but most of the volume seems to come in the last few notches of my phone's volume setting - maybe that's more a quirk of my phone than the speaker - but as a system it has a lot of adjustability up to about half volume, then the upper half of the volume range only has about 5 notches to choose from.The app settings are very basic, just treble and bass enhance from 1 to 10. I would have expected +/- levels, or at least a 0; and no it's not a SpinalTap custom unit, so you can't crank anything to 11. The app also helps to setup "stack" mode with 2 or more Middletons if you happen to have them, firmware update if that's ever necessary, and that's it.When the phone and Middleton were both plugged in charging, they had a little interference from the nearby microwave as it was cooking, silent dropouts in the music - that's probably just about any bluetooth product, especially when you have an unshielded 6' cable plugged into it. It did similar intermittent drop outs in playback when the phone was taken too far away.The soft rubber case seems very durable, and it prevents unwanted rattles and hums with the table when the U2 gets loud. The sound does project nicely in all directions, 360 degrees.As compared with my ~$50 each pair of Earfun Ubooms, the single Middleton is clearly a better portable sound solution: louder, easier to carry than 2 Ubooms, and better sound overall when playing at equal volumes.

This gets very loud! It's great to have anywhere. Easy to transport with handle. I took it off for when placed on the bookshelf. It's super easy to put back on when needed. The Bluetooth connectivity is simple. The buttons are seamless and built nicely.