Marshall has a habit of making headphones that look like someone left them backstage at a 1970s rock concert, and the new Milton ANC continue that tradition. Even if I leave aesthetics for a moment, what’s inside the headphones is genuinely hard to argue with at $229.
Announced on May 19, 2026, the Milton ANC are available via Marshall’s website. These are the company’s first on-ear headphones with adaptive noise cancellation, landing between the Major V ($149) and the Monitor III ANC ($349) in Marshall’s lineup.
What exactly does $229 actually get you?
The headline figure here is 80 hours of battery life with ANC off, and a still impressive 50 hours with ANC. That’s more than double what AirPods Max delivers on ANC, at less than half the price. What’s even more interesting is that you can actually replace the battery on this one.
The Milton ANC runs on Bluetooth v6.0 with LE Audio, and supports LDAC, which is a first for Marshall’s on-ear lineup (along with AAC, SBD, and LC3). Milton ANC also supports Apple Find My and Google Find Hub, so you can locate them in case you’ve lost them.
You can also use the headphones via a wired USB-C connection, with a USB-C to 3.5mm cable provided in the box.
Adaptive ANC, five-band EQ, and a lot more
Unlike other budget options, the Milton headphones offer adaptive ANC rather than just active, implying that it adjusts environmental noise levels in real time rather than applying a fixed filter. There’s a transparency mode, a five-band EQ, Marshall’s Soundstage spatial audio, and adaptive loudness.
Even though the headphones check most of the boxes, there are a couple of things that are worth drawing your attention to. First, the headphones don’t feature an official IP rating, which might be a dealbreaker for some buyers who carry their headphones for their jogging or cycling sessions.
Second, the Milton ANC are only available in a Black finish. At $229, Marshall has built the headphone other companies like Sony and Bose charge significantly more for, and I think that’s worth saying directly.
