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Marshall releases their own phone?

Good point @EarlyMon, I hope not too.
You know what, I have just got to the end of this thread...I'm in love with it, my upgrade is due about now...if EE release this next month I think I'll jump in and let you know. The more I read and see is fantastic. I'm a little in two minds as it is going to be a niche market so probably not a lot of devs working on it, root will probably be possible, just wonder about custom recoveries, Xposed and device development. But me being mad about music, the rest of it has really got me, it's just the phone-y type stuff I worry about.

Edit-Hmm, maybe not....I get a little excited and spontaneous when I look at technology sometimes http://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/20...company-turns-the-smartphone-market-up-to-11/
"
Marshall is one of the most recognized names in the pro audio market, with its guitar amps and speakers used the world over by musicians. But would you buy a Marshall smartphone? Today the company announced the "Marshall London," which takes the Marshall brand and design and crams it into a smartphone. Like Marshall-branded headphones, Bluetooth speakers, and refrigerators, this phone isn't built by the amp company—it just borrows the brand name.

The phone will first be released in "Scandinavia, the Baltic States, and the UK," on August 21, but Marshall says it wants to bring the device to as many territories as possible. It's set to retail for £399/$499—nearly flagship phone pricing—but the specs are pretty low end. You get a 4.7-inch 720p IPS LCD, a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 410, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, an 8MP camera, a removable 2500mAh battery, and a MicroSD slot. Those specs are in line with the £150 Moto G, and the £200 Xiaomi Mi 4i blows Marshall's hardware away. Yikes."
No, I'll sit back and think about what I've said....and buy the next new phone I see instead!
 
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@EarlyMon - a quad-core snapdragon isn't necessarily a bad thing, with possible rootability and overclocking...

Or, is the OS handling
things on the London
phone going to make it
difficult to do any
mods?

I'm still stuck in Boost
Mobile-controlled
JellyBean... so, my
knowledge is extremely
limited.

About the quadraphonic
thing in the mid-to-late
'70s: there were
100,000 watt radio
stations in the
Tidewater area of
Virginia that broadcast
in quad... it did affect
their broadcasting
strength (radius)
greatly...

But, I do remember listening to Chicago II on on eight-track tape, in quad... it was quite cool. The system used was okay... Capeheart in quality; however, when
the two extra speakers
were hooked up - the
horn section became a
living, breathing thing..

LW :)
 
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Marshall says it's stock Lollipop with the addition of the extra button on top to open the music center and of course, their audio apps (as well as some of the better-known audio apps, available in the Play Store, but pre-installed anyway).

I'm a huge fan of not overclocking and haven't been since multicores hit (opinion).

I've watched that trick increase benchmarks while lowering actual performance (and very measurably so). (Fact.)

If you have a custom recovery, SuperSU, and Busybox then you have most everything you need to get best service from a rooted phone. Add Xposed modules to the stock Android mix and the reasons for needing a custom rom pretty much fall away. Add in OOM minfree management and kernel tuning if really needed. (Opinion.)
 
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@SavageRobot -

As for high price on the London vs a Moto G or Xiaomi type phone -

1. Friends don't let friends believe anything that Ars Technica has to say.

2. Neither of those have a removable battery. The Xiaomi doesn't include an SD card slot.

3. The Snapdragon 410 is FAR better than the 400 - people here that have owned both are pretty vocal about not preferring the 400 at all.

4. The Xiaomi gives you a better processor but also you get MIUI. I like MIUI. But do not be fooled into thinking that it's not resource intensive. Both phones start at 2 GB RAM, the MIUI one is going to leave less for you. And you'll see it with processor use as well.


5. I expect the build quality to be much higher here. We're looking at a Finnish build here.

6. This is an audio phone. Dual front facing speakers and the brag that it may be the loudest in existence. Pretty big brag they're making.

Did Ars Technica compare the advanced audio on those phones? No. No they did not.

The Marshall might not be right for you.

Specialty phones sometimes include higher pricing.

And sometimes, not so much - the specs on paper don't always equate to the real world performance or experience.

Ars Technica skates by like most others these days - "I'm cool if I sneer at everything without engaging actual wisdom or reasoning. If I can find fault, I'm superior!" Seems to me that's their editorial motto.

Remember - those are the same geniuses that were completely incapable of understanding the LOC ruling a few years back and wouldn't shut up for months about how rooting was illegal and how we'd all be damned to hell for doing it. (It's perfectly legal and you're free to choose hell if that's what floats your boat lol. :D)

Anyway - I agree that the new Moto and Xiaomi models are strong contenders for lower prices.

I don't agree that they're better or comparable phones - unless and until the live units prove otherwise.

Anyway - friends don't let friends believe Ars Technica (or even read BGR). :D
 
Haha, what an entertaining and informative rant, thank you. I have no idea (never heard of) this site, just happened to be the first site when I typed in "Marshall London". But now I know, I just figured writing out comparable reviews to other phones.
I suppose it is just opinion based at the end of the day anyway. But thank you for the warning, maybe I will look into it a little more closer to the time then, and if EE even offer it (unfortunately EE is the only network that will work in my secluded corner of the world, and I will never have the money to just go "Hey, I'll buy that nice thing upfront" ha).
At the end of the day, I like tech, if I see some new software or hardware that sings louder and dances harder than predecessors I want to have it.
But first and foremost it is a phone above all else, if it isn't comparable to whatever will be getting released Aug/Sep I will have to think hard about if the audio/music experience outweigh where it doesn't compete. Especially given the fact that like I say, it will likely be a niche (which will be nice to be the only one with it) but I need the rooting and development now, I've crossed that line long ago haha.
Thanks again for the word of warning, I will do some more research into them, sounds interesting. I'd say that's work done for me now, off to the pub :)
 
Ars Technica was a great site before they changed.

And you've learned my secret - I love to rant - a lot! :D :D :D

Bend an elbow for me compadre! :)

For an all around upgrade with great audio, but higher price, check out the HTC.
 
LOveWerks said:
About the quadraphonic
thing in the mid-to-late
'70s: there were
100,000 watt radio
stations in the
Tidewater area of
Virginia that broadcast
in quad... it did affect
their broadcasting
strength (radius)
greatly...
Click to expand...

just a comment here, that must have been an FM station, AM stations have been limited to 50 kW for as long as I can remember.
Back when I lived in Oklahoma City, OK in my raising up years, KOMA's tower was/is south of town. I worked for Sears Sawbuck TV service back in that time.... we were called to a customer's home to "fix that damn TV" it won't shut up, even when you pull the cord from the wall. :eek:

well, it seems that the hot water tank was on an adjacent wall in the garage. The hot water pipes had corroded quite a bit, and this home was located about a mile away from the KOMA tower :rolleyes:

free Rock and Roll music all day, all night, forever was produced across that galvanic junction, and the water tank's surface amplified it quite nicely :D

we had them call a plumber out to install new piping and a new hot water tank. It was not the TV set... ;)
 
I suppose it goes without saying that there were no quadraphonic AM stations, and no AM stereo past the early AM/AM experiments (the 30s?) until the dead-on-arrival experiment in the 80s.

No cell phone has ever integrated an AM radio tuner due to the size of the antenna and general lack of interest in AM.

The only phone that ever produced boiling water was the Pomegranate for its built-in coffee maker.


To date, no Pomegranate has ever been reported with a plumbing failure causing unwanted AM radio, and thank goodness for that!

The Marshall London doesn't list either an FM Radio or MHL out in the specs, so those are pretty likely not happening.
 
AFAIK no phone has ever incorporated a digital radio tuner either, either DAB or HD Radio, maybe due to lack of interest in the tech, rather like AM stereo. There's been Chinese phones with analogue TV receivers though, and digital TV as well using DTMB and CMMB technology.
 
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The US has no DAB at all, it's not approved by the FCC.

Only HD Radio (the HD doesn't mean high def) is approved here - the radios themselves are gaining popularity in cars.

Androids have included analog FM with RDS.

I recall the HTC Butterfly for Japan offered TV, not aware of any US models that have had it, don't think there have been.

Ninja'd - got sidetracked before hitting send. :p
 
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Slug said:
So to recap... the Marshall London lacks AM/FM radio, MHL-Out, DAB radio, and any sort of TV output. I'm also guessing there's no built-in espresso maker, flux capacitor, or warp drive.

Now let's get back to discussing the device and what it does offer. ;)
Click to expand...
Ummm.... Definitely has a Flux capacitor.
 
AZgl1500 said:
just a comment here, that must have been an FM station, AM stations have been limited to 50 kW for as long as I can remember.
Back when I lived in Oklahoma City, OK in my raising up years, KOMA's tower was/is south of town. I worked for Sears Sawbuck TV service back in that time.... we were called to a customer's home to "fix that damn TV" it won't shut up, even when you pull the cord from the wall. :eek:

well, it seems that the hot water tank was on an adjacent wall in the garage. The hot water pipes had corroded quite a bit, and this home was located about a mile away from the KOMA tower :rolleyes:

free Rock and Roll music all day, all night, forever was produced across that galvanic junction, and the water tank's surface amplified it quite nicely :D

we had them call a plumber out to install new piping and a new hot water tank. It was not the TV set... ;)
Click to expand...
Yes, it was WMYK 94 FM Quad. It didn't last very long, though... multiplexing quad during that time may have been a bold move on the part of K-94, but, their listening audience dwindled due to broadcast radius that later grew to nearly the same as WNOR FM in Norfolk, when they went back to multiplex stereo. Their studio, and antenna were located in Moyock, NC - in the Great Dismal Swamp (I interned there briefly); however, when the memos from corporate kept reprimanding certain individuals for leaving their hash pipes out in the studio... gosh, I was a clueless young lad... at least I'm clean and sober, now. :) LW
 
EarlyMon said:
Marshall says it's stock Lollipop with the addition of the extra button on top to open the music center and of course, their audio apps (as well as some of the better-known audio apps, available in the Play Store, but pre-installed anyway).

I'm a huge fan of not overclocking and haven't been since multicores hit (opinion).

I've watched that trick increase benchmarks while lowering actual performance (and very measurably so). (Fact.)

If you have a custom recovery, SuperSU, and Busybox then you have most everything you need to get best service from a rooted phone. Add Xposed modules to the stock Android mix and the reasons for needing a custom rom pretty much fall away. Add in OOM minfree management and kernel tuning if really needed. (Opinion.)
Click to expand...
@EarlyMon, you're correct with your observations about the newer phones. Like you said, kernels - maybe, if you need something different - but, sticking with the stock ROMs is definitely the way to go.

A plethora of knowledge, from our moderator par excellence -
LW
 
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mikedt said:
https://www.marshallheadphones.com/mh_se_en/london-phone
"The Marshall London is now in stock for the UK, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Expected delivery 1-3 days.".

But not the whole EU then....hmmmm!
Click to expand...
Just checked @ www.willmyphonework.net & for those stateside,it looks like a decent match for compatibility on AT&T's network (& to a lesser degree on T-Mobile):
AT&T Compability:

Results:
2G Network:
yes.png

850MHz/1900MHz
3G Network:
yes.png

850MHz/1900MHz
4G LTE Network:
yes.png

Band17-700MHz/Band4-1700MHz

_______________________________________________________

T-Mobile Compatibility:

Results:
2G Network:
yes.png

1900MHz
3G Network:
yes.png

1700MHz/1900MHz
4G LTE Network:
yes.png

Band4-1700MHz
 
MLSS said:
I'm okay with 720p
Click to expand...
On this screen size ,it's perfectly fine.
LG put out the OG FLEX w/720p & believe it or not,it wasn't as bad as you'd think.
Side-by-side w/a higher res phone,yeah,you'll see a greater difference,but,on it's own,you'll be OK.
This phone w/720p is perfectly acceptable for me,if I were getting it.
 
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