Marshall Rocks Out With New London Smartphone

Smartphones are about to get a little bit more rock and roll following a new release from one of the music industry’s most iconic brands.

Marshall, best known its amps and headphones, which have been a staple of the live music world for decades, has announced the launch of the Marshall London, a smartphone with an unsurprising focus on audio capabilities.

The 4.7in device features two front-facing speakers, similar to HTC’s One product line, but also two audio outputs, along with high-quality audio processing inside, which can be best experienced with the set of its Marshall Mode in-ear headphones bundled with it.

Encore

Under the hood, there is a Snapdragon 410 processor clocked at 1.7Ghz, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, Android Lollipop 5.0.2, and a removable 2,500mAh battery – solid mid-range specifications, but nothing to trouble the high end of the smartphone market.

Elsewhere there’s support for 4G LTE networks and an 8MP rear and 2MP front camera, but really this is a phone that is all about the music. A dedicated ‘M button’ located at the top of the handset provides instant access to your favourite tunes, no matter how you store them (Spotify, iTunes etc.), and a gold-plated scroll wheel on the left side serving as the volume control.

Lastly, it comes with a DJ app pre-installed, turning your device into a set of decks so that you can mix and create new tunes, and LoopStack, an app which turns your phone into a 4-channel recorder that allows you to record four tracks independently.

The London has been priced at 4,995 Swedish krona (around £355), and is expected to ship on August 21.

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