I've been testing the new Marshall Milton ANC for 3 weeks — they fix my biggest gripe with on-ear headphones, and are the new gold standard

The Marshall Milton ANC are the best on-ear headphones you can buy right now, period. The storied British brand bridges the gap between its flagship Monitor III over-ears and popular Major V on-ears by borrowing styling cues from both while adding a bunch of handy features to a supremely comfortable package. These are the ideal headphones for those who want premium features at a not-so-premium price.

Thanks to their 32mm drivers, the Milton ANC boast spacious, dynamic sound which is further bolstered by a highly effective spatial audio mode called Soundstage, which they borrow from the Monitor III. With 80 hours of battery life and effective ANC to boot, these headphones offer fantastic value for money. Throw the elegant design, straightforward controls, and a user-friendly app into the mix, and you’ve got yourself a winning combination.

So, are these the best headphones for you? To find out, you’ll have to read my full Marshall Milton ANC review.

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Marshall Milton ANC review: Specs

Marshall Milton ANC review: Price & availability

Announced on 19 May 2026, the Marshall Milton ANC bridge the gap between the Marshall Monitor III ($349) and the Marshall Major V ($149), borrowing and blending the best of the brand’s over-ear and on-ear cans. With shipping expected at the end of May 2026, the Milton ANC will have a retail price of $229 / £179, and will be available to buy in Black.

The Milton ANC are $120 cheaper than the Monitor III, and $80 pricier than the Major V, so they’re a pair of mid-range on-ears. They’re the same price as the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 ($229), and they sit between the Cambridge Audio Melomania P100 ($279) and the Beats Solo 4 ($199).

While they’re more expensive than the Major V, they’re well worth the investment if you want ANC and features like Soundstage, which the Milton ANC borrow from the Monitor III. And spoiler alert: they’re also the most comfortable on-ears I’ve had the pleasure of using or reviewing.

Marshall Milton ANC review: Design

Marshall knows how to make a good-looking product, and the Marshall Milton ANC carry that minimalist-but-classy legacy. While the Marshall Major V featured a black body with white accents, the Milton ANC borrows the brass accents from the Monitor III. The Black model looks gorgeous, with the same textured leather surface on my trusty Monitor III.

The Milton ANC weigh just 7.06 ounces, which feels like nothing. They’re lighter than the 7.4-ounce Beyerdynamic Aventho 100, the 11.6-ounce Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, and the 8.8-ounce Marshall Monitor III. They’re a little heavier than the 6.6-ounce Marshall Major V, but this is an acceptable trade-off if you value added tech, like ANC.

For easy transport, the Milton ANC can be folded inwards to make them more compact, and Marshall happily includes a cloth carry case to protect them.

Weatherproofing

It’s very uncommon for on-ear or even over-ear headphones to have IP ratings and more often than not, they’re not waterproof or dustproof. The Milton ANC are no different so be careful using them in harsh weather conditions. I’ve worn them in light rain and they’ve been unscathed — but of course, don’t wear them when it’s pouring down. If you want certified waterproofing, the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 are IP53-rated while the Nothing Headphone (a) ($199) are IP52-rated.

Comfort

I’m a big fan of over-ear headphones, which is why I use my Marshall Monitor III nearly every day. I’ve always been at odds with on-ear cans, and even when I reviewed the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100, I wasn’t a fan of their design. That’s because on-ear headphones sit on your ears instead of around them, and that can lead to your ears overheating or sweating, and even feeling suffocated.

But the Milton ANC have just changed that. The ear cushions are made of memory foam and TPU which is a durable material known for its high elasticity and flexibility. Compared to the Major V, the Milton ANC’s cushions are more spacious so they’re more comfortable to wear for long periods of time. They don’t clamp down on your ears and your ears don’t feel too sweaty either. Having worn the Milton ANC for over nine straight hours, I can confidently say that they’re the comfiest on-ear headphones I’ve tried.

Also aiding the Milton ANC’s comfort factor is the cushioned headband which helps relieve some pressure you’d otherwise feel on the top of your head. The height is highly adjustable too to suit different head sizes. As with most headphones, over-ears and on-ears, comfort level will naturally be subjective but for me, the Milton ANC feel perfect. If you have cartilage piercings, you may want to adjust the height to ensure the earcups aren’t pushing down on them.

Controls

It couldn’t be easier to control the Milton ANC as the headphones feature just two buttons. There’s a customizable ‘M’ button on the left earcup, and a moveable button on the right earcup. The ‘M’ button’s behavior can be customized via the app (more on that soon), while the joystick enables you to adjust the volume and play/pause your music. I much prefer this stripped-back yet effective control scheme than the one on the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 — and it’s something different, like the paddle controls on the Nothing Headphone (a).

Connectivity

The Milton ANC utilize Bluetooth 6.0 with support for AAC, SBC, LC3 and LDAC codecs. There’s no aptX Lossless, though, which the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 feature.

They also feature multipoint connectivity and can simultaneously be connected to two devices — this worked flawlessly with my MacBook Air M2 and Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. Thanks to Google Fast Pair, my smartphone was quick to recognize the Milton ANC as soon as I put them into pairing, and I was listening to music within milliseconds.

Also, the Milton ANC introduce Apple Find My (like on the first-party Apple AirPods Max 2) and Google Find Hub support, something that hasn’t previously been seen on Marshall’s headphones. You can now track your headphones’ location, something forgetful users especially will appreciate.

Marshall Milton ANC review: Sound quality

The Marshall Milton ANC are fitted with 32mm dynamic drivers and cover a frequency response range of 20Hz to 40KHz — so the entirety of the human hearing spectrum and then some. Without any EQ adjustments and straight out of the box, the Milton ANC feature a noticeably bass-heavy sound which I absolutely love, but you may want to make some alterations in the app if you like (more on that soon). Still, music through the Milton ANC sounds warm and nuanced, and very spacious.

To test the Milton ANC, I listened to my favorite tracks on Qobuz, the best music streaming service for hi-res audio, with LDAC enabled on my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. I kicked things off with ‘Everybody Scream’ by Florence + the Machine to test the headphones’ vocal capabilities, and the Milton ANC excelled here. As Florence’s vocals transitioned from operatic to belted, the headphones captured the angsty and all-encompassing texture very well. The Milton ANC’s snappy character shone here, as there was a fantastic balance between her primary vocals and the chanting chorus. Florence’s high-pitched vocals never pierced through the soundstage either.

Next up, ‘Elephant’ by 070 Shake, which I used to test the bass response and treble. Because the Milton ANC has a bass-first tuning, I was instantly immersed in the synthesized, wobbly bassline. Shake’s vocals sounded scratchy, just as the artist intended, and because the headphones feel so spacious, there was plenty of air and room for me to appreciate the delicate balance between the distorted vocals and thumping bass. The drums’ hi-hats sounded detailed too, showcasing the bright treble, and never too shrill or overzealous.

The Milton ANC borrow the Marshall Monitor III’s Soundstage feature, which is essentially spatial audio. Enabling it basically moves the sound into a virtual room (which can be customized on a scale of ‘small’ to ‘large’), and makes you feel like you’re at the heart of the track. There was no better track to test this than ‘Let it Happen’ by Tame Impala. With the Soundstage’s virtual room set to ‘large,’ the track had plenty of room to breathe, and the soaring synths felt like they were coming from the corners of a massive warehouse. This gave the track a bit of height, like I was listening to it through a pair of open-back cans.

Overall, the Milton ANC don’t give you much to complain about when it comes to sound quality. They sound warm, nuanced, detailed, and are great for most genres.

Listen along to my review with the Marshall Milton ANC testing playlist:

Marshall Milton ANC review: App

Similar to the brand’s other headphones, the Marshall Milton ANC are customizable through the Marshall Bluetooth app, available for free on iOS and Android. The app sports a clean, user-friendly interface which doesn’t feel overwhelming and doesn’t have any intrusive pop-ups either.

From within the app, you can customize the equalizer or select a preset, remap the ‘M’ button to swap between EQs or toggle Soundstage (amongst other functions), and update the headphones’ firmware. No complaints here.

Marshall Milton ANC review: ANC

One of the key differences between the Marshall Milton ANC and the Marshall Major V is that the former feature active noise cancellation — and as on-ears go, it’s very effective. The spacious earcups bolster the degree of noise isolation. Indoors, I wasn’t able to hear the kettle boiling or the sound of my loud mechanical keyboard. Outdoors, the noise of cars zooming past crept in a bit — but that’s to be expected with on-ears. I even used the headphones on a plane and I couldn’t hear a thing — and they helped me sleep through the flight!

The Milton ANC also borrow Adaptive ANC from the Marshall Monitor III, and when enabled, the headphones adjust the level of ANC depending on the loudness of the environment. This worked as intended in my testing. There’s a transparency mode too which enables you to hear your surroundings while listening to music, and I used this when speaking to my coworkers as it meant I didn’t have to take the headphones off.

Marshall Milton ANC review: Call quality

The Marshall Milton ANC are excellent, yes, but my biggest gripe with them is the fact that the call quality is disappointing. It isn’t the worst I’ve tried, but it’s far from the best. On a Google Meet team call, my colleagues noted that I “didn’t sound as good as my other headphones” — the other headphones being the Marshall Monitor III. I recorded myself and listened back to it, and I noticed that my voice sounds scratchy and not true-to-life.

However, the Milton ANC boasts good wind reduction. I called my partner while standing outside on a very windy day, and she said she couldn’t hear the wind buffeting, and my voice was loud and clear. If you want well-rounded call quality, I’d recommend the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100, the Nothing Headphone (a) or, if you can stretch your budget, the Monitor III.

Marshall Milton ANC review: Battery life

On top of everything, the Marshall Milton ANC boast long battery life. Marshall says that on a single charge, the headphones can last 80 hours with ANC off and 50 hours with ANC on. I’ve been using the Milton ANC extensively so I’ve conducted both battery tests. With ANC on and volume set to 50%, I was able to get just over 50 hours of playback time, and with ANC off, that jumped up to 81 hours, matching up to Marshall’s claims.

The Milton ANC also feature replaceable batteries, so all you need to do is twist off the left earcup to replace the battery pack.

These headphones are a little better than their main competition: the Beyerdynamic Aventho 100 are rated for 60 hours with ANC off or 40 hours with ANC enabled. The Cambridge Audio Melomania P100, though, are the best for super long battery life as they can last up to 100 hours — but of course, they’re over-ear cans and cost a little more than the Milton ANC.

Marshall Milton ANC review: Verdict

The Marshall Milton ANC are the best of both worlds. They combine the premium styling and feature set of the flagship Monitor III with the lighter, more compact appeal of the Major V — and they’re the most comfortable on-ear headphones I’ve tried so far. They deliver impressive value for listeners who want effective ANC, immersive sound, and exceptional comfort without breaking the bank.

Sound quality and Soundstage spatial audio are particular highlights, as the bass-forward tuning gives music warmth and energy without sounding fatiguing. Detail isn’t sacrificed either, and Soundstage is an outstanding feature for anyone who wants to feel immersed in their tunes.

While call quality isn’t the best, it’s a minor drawback in the grand scheme of things. At the end of the day, with their stylish design, thoughtful features and standout comfort, the Milton ANC are the best on-ear headphones you can buy today.