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Marshall London coming to the Philippines; Quick hands on

When the Marshall London was announced internationally, I mentioned on a post that it has the same specs as other midrange phones with more than twice the price. But when I saw it firsthand the other day, it was clearly more than the sum of its parts.

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The Marshall London is one of those smartphones where you initially ask why, and then when you see it you say why not. It’s a beautifully crafted device with a distinct look that is most definitely Marshall. The black color scheme together with the white trimming on the screen, the gold metal accents of the scroll wheel and audio jacks, and the cool leather looking vinyl back panel quickly make this one of the more beautiful smartphones.

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In terms of specs, it features a 4.7 inch 720p IPS display, a 1.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 410 processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage with a microSD slot, an 8MP camera and a removable 2,500mAh battery. The London has a dedicated audio chip in the Wolfson WM8281 Audio Hub.

The removable battery has a capacity of 2,500mAh. It can be accessed by “peeling off” the leather vinyl back panel. And in typical Marshall fashion, it even has a cool “Long Live Rock and Roll” print on it.

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Quick Hands On

The London’s design is definitely top notch. It bears the same design language found on many of Marshalls products. The build quality is good as well, and looks to be very sturdy (it was dropped a couple of times from waist to chest high) and is deceptively light.

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The top side has the two audio jacks and the dedicated M button. The former allows two stereo headphones to share music. Or if you’re a DJ, you could connect one to your audio equipment and the other to your headphones. The volume level can be individually controlled for each audio jack. The M button allows you to launch your preferred music app quickly.

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The gold scroll wheel and black power button is found on the right side. The wheel works well, as you feel it clicking while raising or lowering the volume. Pressing on it launches the camera.

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The London runs on stock Android Lollipop 5.0. In terms of performance, a quick tour showed the phone to be quick and responsive. Scrolling through screens and animations were smooth. It has similar specs to the Moto G, so I wasn’t expecting any less.

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Initial Remarks

The Marshall London is very promising. The brand, the design, the materials used, plus the initial performance impression I got makes this smartphone something I am looking forward to see (or hopefully, to own).

The smartphone is eyeing a 2016 release in the Philippines. It will be distributed by Digits Trading and will be found in Beyond the Box stores. There is no price yet, but it is initially set at US $500 (or roughly PHP23,000).

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Marshall London key specs:

  • 4.7 inch 720p IPS display with Gorilla Glass 3 with anti-finger print coating
  • 1.2GHz quad-core Qualcomm MSM8916 Snapdragon 410 processor
  • Wolfson WM8281 Audio Hub dedicated audio chip
  • 2GB of RAM
  • 16GB of storage with a microSD slot up to 128GB
  • 8MP main camera with auto-focus and flash
  • 2MP front camera
  • GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth aptX
  • 2x 3.5mm stereo audio jacks
  • 2x front facing speakers with enhanced volume and bass
  • Android 5.02 Lollipop with customized music applications
  • Comes with Marshall Mode In-Ear headphones
  • 2,500mAh removable battery
  • Dimensions: 149.4 x 74.7 x 9.8mm
  • Weight: 145 g

Bryan is a geek at heart and a tech enthusiast by choice. He has a strong background in corporate communications, marketing services, and customer relations having worked in the telecommunications and banking sectors for over two decades. In his spare time, he enjoys watching clips on YouTube and binge watching shows on Netflix.

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