Marshall Minor IV

The Marshall Minor IV are a comfortable, open-fit option with great sound and no silicone tips. Connectivity is best-in-class and the battery lasts all day. Skip them if you need noise cancellation or take a lot of calls. Recent owner feedback has dipped, so they're a good buy at the right price, but not an automatic one.

The 12mm drivers deliver a clean, detailed sound that sits in the 75th percentile for this category, which is respectable for the price. The open design means you won't get thumping bass or any noise isolation, and that ANC score in the 29th percentile confirms these are not the buds for blocking out the world. Connectivity is a real strength here, landing in the 98th percentile with Bluetooth 5.3 and solid multipoint support. The mic quality is just average though, and call performance is the weakest link at 49.4 out of 100, so don't expect crystal-clear conversations in noisy spots.

Stacked against the heavy hitters like the Sony WF-1000XM6 or Bose QuietComfort Ultra, the Minor IV takes a completely different approach by ditching ANC and isolation entirely. The Technics EAH-AZ100 and Samsung Galaxy Buds3 Pro will give you far more features and better call quality, but they also seal off your ear canal. The Apple AirPods 4 are the closest rival in the open-fit space, and honestly, the Marshalls hold their own on sound and battery while undercutting them on price if you find a good deal. You're trading features for comfort and style here.

Pricing is all over the map, with a spread from $80 to an absurd $16,980 across vendors, so you'll want to shop around. At the lower end of that range, these are a great value for anyone who wants a comfortable, great-sounding open-fit bud. You're getting reliable connectivity, a premium app experience, and that distinct Marshall aesthetic. Just don't pay a premium for them when competitors with ANC and better mics sit in a similar price bracket.

Marshall's Minor IV earbuds skip the silicone tips entirely, going for an open-fit design that a lot of people find way more comfortable for all-day wear. They lean hard into that classic Marshall look with a textured stem and the script logo, and the sound is tuned to be clear and natural rather than bass-heavy. You get solid battery life, wireless charging, and a pretty great companion app for tweaking the EQ.

Anyone who needs to take calls in noisy environments should look elsewhere, the mic performance is just not up to par. And if you want to block out your commute or the office chatter, the complete lack of noise isolation will be a dealbreaker. Recent owner sentiment has also slipped, so if you're on the fence, grab a pair of Sony WF-1000XM6s or AirPods Pro instead.

If you hate the plugged-up feeling of silicone tips and want a pair of earbuds you can wear all day without fatigue, the Minor IV are still a solid pick. They sound great for an open design, the battery keeps up, and they look cooler than most of the competition. Just know that you're sacrificing any semblance of quiet, you shouldn't rely on them for important phone calls, and recent owner sentiment has cooled a bit, so set expectations accordingly.