The Marshall Action III is my favorite Bluetooth speaker in terms of sound quality. It’s not battery powered, so you obviously can only use it near an outlet, but the sound quality, aesthetics, and its simplicity makes for a compelling option. DESIGN As you can tell by the images, this speaker mimics the look of a guitar amp. It’s simple, yet refined. It simply looks great on any shelf. And I absolutely love the controls. They are simple, easy to use, and do all that you need them to. There’s an auxiliary port (for those that use devices with an audio output), a source button to switch between Bluetooth and auxiliary, three knobs (volume, bass, and treble), a joy stick that you push to the left to go back a track, right to go forward a track and you push it to pause/play. And then there’s the power switch which is extremely satisfying to use. I should mention that around the knobs are red LED lights that light up to show the volume, bass, treble level. SETUP Using an auxiliary cable speaks for itself, but the Bluetooth pairing process was like any other. I flipped the switch on (after I plugged the speaker in of course) and a notification popped up on my Samsung phone asking me to pair. To put it in pairing mode, you simply hold the Source button down until the Bluetooth LED light blinks quickly. You’ll then be prompted to download the Marshall app (if you don’t already have it). More on the app below. SOUND QUALITY Within moments I was setup and ready to go. I placed the speaker in my living room on a table underneath my TV (mounted on the wall). I turned it on and immediately cranked the volume and was literally blown away. It’s loud and clear with deep bass and crisp highs. I played everything from rock, to hip hop, to my kids’ music. It sounded fantastic. For point of reference I was streaming music from YouTube music (FWIW). The sound fills the room without any distortion. I’m frankly impressed with how much bass this speaker puts out. And in some ways it isn’t overbearing. If you’re having a party and just want some background music, it’s great. If you want to jam out and have a dance party it can handle that as well. It really has studio quality sound. It certainly lives up to the Marshall name. APP AND CONTROLS I wanted to comeback to the app. I’m not one to typically tweak minute sound settings. I like just having the basics of bass and treble. For better or worse, the app only allows you to tweak the settings that you can control on the speaker. The app is in some ways unnecessary for that reason, it doesn’t really give you much in addition to what you can control on the speaker itself. But there is a setting for sound compensation within the app. If your speaker is in a corner or close to an edge, you can indicate that in the app and it will adjust the sound. The equalizer in the app only adjusts the bass and treble. One other comment re controlling the device. I love how you can adjust the sound on your phone. In other words, when you turn the volume down on your phone it turns down the volume on the speaker. This is shown by the lights indicating the volume level around the knob itself. Same goes for changing bass and treble within the app. WRAP UP The biggest downside of this speaker is the lack of battery. I wouldn’t say it’s not portable, it is insomuch as it’s not heavy and bulky. But there’s no carry handle, so it’s definitely geared to become a permanent fixture in your home. If you need something to take on a trip, this may not be the next choice for you. But if you’re taking it somewhere you know you’ll have a plug, it’s worth considering given the superior sound quality compared to most other speakers I’ve used. But it’s also not waterproof, so using it by the pool or outside with a chance of rain, will require some forethought. Last, I’ll just add that there’s no “special features” to really distinguish it from other speakers. Other features might be pairing with other speakers for stereo effect or “party” lights. Frankly, that’s perfectly fine by me. Marshall focused its efforts on doing what it does best and that’s creating terrific sound. It’s simplicity and not having those extra features is frankly, a reason to look at this speaker despite it’s price. Here are some of the pros and cons of the speaker: Pros: Leading sound quality in a Bluetooth speaker Loud and clear Deep bass Crisp highs Easy to use Cons: Expensive Not waterproof Not battery powered, must be plugged in Read More