The mobile phone's ability to absorb functions has eradicated many dedicated devices in recent years, and the smartphone has only intensified that trend. Listening to music on our phones completely eliminated the need for an MP3 player, but no offering has been able to deliver a truly superior experience. That's what Marshall aims to change with its new smartphone, the London, which houses a module designed to deliver greater fidelity.
I own two MP3 players, and both are gathering dust in a drawer. I listen to very little music on my smartphone (a mix of '80s pop classics and video game soundtracks), and I have to add an increasingly deep aversion to the MP3 format. Its original benefits quickly lose value, and in an era with gigabytes of storage on memory cards, I think that space deserves to be filled with more faithful copies. The problem is that audio "quality" is only a third of the equation. The playback hardware must be up to the task, and the same applies to headphones. In other words, it's pointless to listen to the limited edition of Random Access Memories at 24 bits and 88.2 KHz in FLAC if we use generic five-euro headphones.
The Marshall London
That's how the name Marshall appears. Of course, I'm not going to start a debate about whether it's a good brand or not (nuclear wars at the hands of audiophiles are dangerous), but I must mention its new smartphone called London. Yes, a company known for its amplifiers decided to enter the mobile device market with a smartphone specially designed for music playback. The London's general specifications are nothing out of the ordinary: a Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core SoC at 1.2 GHz, 2 GB of RAM, 16 GB of internal storage, a 4.7-inch 1080p display, a microSD slot, two cameras (8 and 2 MP), Android Lollipop 5.0.2, and the typical connectivity suite are the key data. But the London's "musical extras" are two front speakers measuring 13 by 18 millimeters, two noise-cancelling microphones, a dedicated volume wheel (no buttons here), a dedicated music access button (the letter M on top), two 3.5-millimeter inputs so two people can listen at the same time, and the most notable according to Marshall: a Wolfson WM8281 module that theoretically supports up to 192 KHz at 24 bits. Each London comes with a set of Marshall Mode headphones.
Price and Availability
Another aspect of the London is that it offers the user an interesting set of applications not only for playing music but also for recording it. The official price of the smartphone is 4,995 Swedish kronor, which is about 535 euros. Expensive? That's something each user must judge. Music is a very personal matter, and if we already have enthusiasts investing thousands in specialized equipment, perhaps the London can be convincing enough to pay what Marshall asks. First deliveries start on August 17.
