Marshall's 'London' Smartphone Is Built For Music Creators

[Guest]

Marshall, a company known for guitar amps and musical equipment, has partnered with a Swedish company to make a smartphone for music lovers - and creators. With two headphone jacks and a sound chip, the Marshall London opens up new audio possibilities.

Marshall's 'London' Smartphone Is Built For Music Creators : Read more

 

[dstarr3]

Honestly, if it weren't for the screen, I'd probably want this. I'm sure the camera is pretty lackluster, but I've never been impressed by any cell phone camera yet, so that's a wash for me. But... 720p, man. For that inflated price tag, surely they could have tacked on a 1080p screen.

 

[Mac266]

Honestly, if it weren't for the screen, I'd probably want this. I'm sure the camera is pretty lackluster, but I've never been impressed by any cell phone camera yet, so that's a wash for me. But... 720p, man. For that inflated price tag, surely they could have tacked on a 1080p screen.

Y'know, that's what I don't get from most High end Android phones these days. Why exactly would I want a 1440p screen when the device is only 5" or so big? I mean, let's be honest, 1080p is the most common Monitor resolution, and I'm pretty sure that's larger than 5".

 

[Calvin Huang]

Honestly, if it weren't for the screen, I'd probably want this. I'm sure the camera is pretty lackluster, but I've never been impressed by any cell phone camera yet, so that's a wash for me. But... 720p, man. For that inflated price tag, surely they could have tacked on a 1080p screen.

Y'know, that's what I don't get from most High end Android phones these days. Why exactly would I want a 1440p screen when the device is only 5" or so big? I mean, let's be honest, 1080p is the most common Monitor resolution, and I'm pretty sure that's larger than 5".

People often use their smartphones at a much closer distance than other digital devices. I have an old S4A, and it's 1080p, which seems to make it as crisp as my 1800p laptop at the distances I view each at. Granted, the Marshall London has a slightly smaller display (4.7" vs 5"), but if you're going to be watching videos on it, reading, playing games, you'll probably be staring at it closely enough that you can notice the difference.

But, at the end of the day, it still comes down to personal preference. Some people won't notice the difference between 1080p and 1800p on a 15" laptop screen. I can (especially when I'm doing graphic design). Likewise, I definitely noticed the jump from 720p to 1080p when I went from the S3 to S4A. But I probably can't tell the difference between a 60Hz refresh rate than a 120Hz one whereas many gamers seem to be able to.

Lastly, what's acceptable depends on what you've previously experienced. If you've never had a 400+ ppi phone, you're not going to feel like you're missing anything. I mean, back in 1998, none of us thought there'd ever be a market for a 4k display.

 

[joshyboy82]

"By the middle of next year." Probably meant this year.

 

[Nossy]

Pretty weak audio chip for a specialized audio device. But then again, if you buy Beats and Bose...

 

[Stefan_W]

Pretty weak audio chip for a specialized audio device. But then again, if you buy Beats and Bose...

I don't quite understand how you can call the Wolfson WM8281 a weak audio chip, especially if it is used in top of the line discreet audio players.

 

[Stefan_W]

Honestly, if it weren't for the screen, I'd probably want this. I'm sure the camera is pretty lackluster, but I've never been impressed by any cell phone camera yet, so that's a wash for me. But... 720p, man. For that inflated price tag, surely they could have tacked on a 1080p screen.

Y'know, that's what I don't get from most High end Android phones these days. Why exactly would I want a 1440p screen when the device is only 5" or so big? I mean, let's be honest, 1080p is the most common Monitor resolution, and I'm pretty sure that's larger than 5".

People often use their smartphones at a much closer distance than other digital devices. I have an old S4A, and it's 1080p, which seems to make it as crisp as my 1800p laptop at the distances I view each at. Granted, the Marshall London has a slightly smaller display (4.7" vs 5"), but if you're going to be watching videos on it, reading, playing games, you'll probably be staring at it closely enough that you can notice the difference.

But, at the end of the day, it still comes down to personal preference. Some people won't notice the difference between 1080p and 1800p on a 15" laptop screen. I can (especially when I'm doing graphic design). Likewise, I definitely noticed the jump from 720p to 1080p when I went from the S3 to S4A. But I probably can't tell the difference between a 60Hz refresh rate than a 120Hz one whereas many gamers seem to be able to.

Lastly, what's acceptable depends on what you've previously experienced. If you've never had a 400+ ppi phone, you're not going to feel like you're missing anything. I mean, back in 1998, none of us thought there'd ever be a market for a 4k display.

Reasons that 720p was chosen:
- Development team compared 1080p vs 720p 4.7 inch displays, when users were shown the 2 screens, the majority actually preferred the 720p resolution, very few could guess that the other screen was 1080p. Our conclusion was that 95% users did not notice positive results with 1080p on smaller than 5-inch screens.
- Battery life was a key consideration, especially for a music phone / smartphone. A 720p screen on a Snapdragon 410 provides best battery life (& sustained performance) compared to the 610 and 810, both of which had overheating/throttling issues.

 

[Bloob]

I don't really mind the 720p, prefer it actually on a device that size, but would have liked a stronger SoC (SD808 or SD615/618), even then it would be quite pricey. Then again, I do most of my music-listening while stationary, so maybe more mobile (pun intended) people would be willing to pay that. Nor would I benefit from dual output in any way.

 

[traverser]

Oh, what a tastefully designed phone. I can see this appealing to not just audiophile/musicians but people who are looking for something different to the other phones everyone and their grandparents use. The size is ideal for me, and I don't mind the 720 resolution. Heck I still don't see the need to replace my 42" 720 plasma.

 

[turkey3_scratch]

Honestly, if it weren't for the screen, I'd probably want this. I'm sure the camera is pretty lackluster, but I've never been impressed by any cell phone camera yet, so that's a wash for me. But... 720p, man. For that inflated price tag, surely they could have tacked on a 1080p screen.

Y'know, that's what I don't get from most High end Android phones these days. Why exactly would I want a 1440p screen when the device is only 5" or so big? I mean, let's be honest, 1080p is the most common Monitor resolution, and I'm pretty sure that's larger than 5".

Exactly. My 2D text and anti-aliased bubbles aren't going to look any different to me on a 5" phone from 1080p to 1440p.

 

[hannibal]

This is very good music player, and you can also use it to make phone calls. Not bad actually! Some Highend sony music players, without the phone cost more than this.

I would like to see this compared to real music players. Do you really get best from the both worlds?

 

[g-unit1111]

Come on, it has the Marshall logo on it and it doesn't go to 11? Lame. :lol: