I tested the Marshall Bromley 450 and the Marshall Bromley 750 party speakers, and the winner surprised me
A plethora of wired and wireless connectivity options make the Bromley 450 not just a powerful speaker, but a stunning amp and karaoke machine as well. Music sounds glorious and highly detailed across genres, while Auracast works like a charm, and the reactive LED lighting helps with your immersion. 40-hour battery life and IP55 waterproofing make it a winner.
Thanks to a huge array of wired and wireless connectivity options, this party speaker doubles (or triples) as a guitar amp and a karaoke machine, while delivering powerful sound quality when you’re listening to music. A massive 500W power output makes the bass sound loud and refined, while vocals are crystal clear. Sporting Marshall’s trademark premium design and build quality, the Bromley 750 is a force to be reckoned with — if you can stomach the price tag.
The best Bluetooth speakers designed for parties can either elevate your group listening session or make you want to leave. You, of course, don’t want the latter to happen, especially if you’re the one hosting the party! Thankfully, there are plenty of options out there, and I myself have tested a few party speakers — and I have two clear favorites.
Testing the Bromley 450 got me thinking: “Is this better value for money than the Bromley 750?” And I even thought to myself, “Is there a clear winner here, even though they’re both very similar to each other?” So naturally, I put them both through a five-round face-off to see which is better — and the winner surprised me. Read on to find out which party speaker is best for you.
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Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Specs
|
Specs |
Marshall Bromley 450 |
Marshall Bromley 750 |
|---|---|---|
|
Price |
||
|
Colors |
Black and Brass |
Black and Brass |
|
Size |
19.37 x 14.17 x 10.27 inches |
25.7 x 16.3 x 14 inches |
|
Weight |
26.89lbs |
52.7lbs |
|
Frequency response |
42Hz-20KHz |
20Hz-20KHz |
|
Battery life (rated) |
40 hours |
40 hours |
|
Connectivity |
Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC, AAC and LC3, Auracast, 3.5mm jack, USB-C, RCA, 2x XLR/6.35mm combo jacks |
Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC, AAC and LC3, Auracast, 3.5mm jack, USB-C, RCA, 2x XLR/6.35mm combo jacks |
|
Waterproofing |
IP55 |
IP54 |
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Price
The Marshall Bromley 450 is the smaller and cheaper sibling to the Marshall Bromley 750, so naturally, there’s a bit of a price difference between the two. The Bromley 450 is available for $799 / £549 while the Bromley 750 retails for $1,299 / £899. As neither speaker has been out for too long, we’re yet to see them go on sale.
In terms of sheer value for money, the Bromley 450 is the winner. As you’ll see throughout the face-off, the Bromley 450 borrows a bunch of features from its stablemate, so if you want best-in-class sound without breaking the bank, you know which way to go.
Winner: Marshall Bromley 450
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Design
Both the Marshall Bromley 450 and the Marshall Bromley 750 share design philosophies, so they look fairly identical. In fact, you wouldn’t be able to tell one apart from the other if you didn’t already know which was which beforehand. They both feature Marshall’s classic premium build quality and tasteful design with well-defined front grilles, integrated LED lamps for reactive lighting, and sleek branding in brass accents.
Controls are similar too. On both speakers, the buttons and dials look like they could belong on a guitar amp. Everything is well-signposted, and each control offers good tactile feedback when pressed or turned. While controls remain fairly similar, the Bromley 750 has an additional Sound Character dial which lets you adjust audio on a scale of Dynamic to Loud, depending on your listening style.
The biggest difference between the two speakers is the size and weight. The Bromley 450 is much smaller, measuring 19.37 x 14.17 x 10.27 inches compared to the Bromley 750 measuring 25.7 x 16.3 x 14 inches. It’s also lighter at 26.89 pounds, while the Bromley 750 is nearly double the weight at 52.7 pounds. But both speakers are easy to transport: the Bromley 450 features a built-in handle on its side while the Bromley 750 features large wheels and a suitcase-like pull-out handle.
Neither is better nor worse than the other, so we’ll call this round a tie.
Winner: Tie
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Features & connectivity
There’s no dearth of features and connectivity options on both the Marshall Bromley 450 and the Marshall Bromley 750. Both feature integrated LED lamps that can react and dance to the tunes you’re playing to create an immersive light show. Both also feature Bluetooth 5.3 with support for SBC, AAC and LC3 codecs and multipoint connectivity for up two devices. The presence of Auracast means you can pair numerous (even endless) speakers to both — including Marshall’s Bluetooth speakers, not just party ones.
The Bromley 450 and the Bromley 750 double/triple as karaoke machines and amps for instruments, as they both feature RCA and two XLR/6.35mm combo jacks each. You also get 3.5mm aux and USB-C ports for wired playback. See? A plethora of connectivity options!
While both speakers are excellent, they share a drawback too, and that’s the companion app. You can’t use the app to adjust the equalizer, the delay/reverb effects for karaoke and instrument use, the Sound Character (on the Bromley 750), or the lighting effects. While you can do so via physical controls, you can’t via the app, which is disappointing.
Both speakers are protected against dust and water, as the Bromley 450 is IP55-rated and the Bromley 750 is IP54-rated. The former is ever-so-slightly better than the latter, and takes the win in this round by a very narrow margin.
Winner: Marshall Bromley 450
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Sound quality
The Marshall Bromley 450 and the Marshall Bromley 750 sound near-identical, and unless you’ve got a keen ear for hi-res audio or are being nit-picky, you really wouldn’t notice the difference. Both speakers are well-endowed, although the Bromley 750 has more going on in terms of hardware (check out my full Bromley 450 and Bromley 750 reviews to find out).
Bass on both speakers is meaty and punchy, although the Bromley 750 has more refined lower ranges as its frequency response goes down to 20Hz (versus 42Hz on the Bromley 450). On the Bromley 450, I had to increase the bass up a notch or two via the onboard dial to really appreciate the sub-bass in tracks like ‘Tomorrow is Another Day’ by M-High, which I didn’t need to do at all on the Bromley 750.
Treble is crisp and vibrant on both speakers too. Sibilance and plosives never sound shrill or harsh or like they’re bleeding into one another, as I found when listening to tracks like ‘White Feather Hawk Tail Deer Hunter’ by Lana Del Rey and ‘From Finner’ by Of Monsters and Men. I found that transitions between low and high pitches were clean on both speakers too, with the higher frequencies never sounding piercing or like they were cutting through the instrumentals.
Auracast works extremely well on both the Bromley 450 and the Bromley 750. When two speakers are synchronized and playing on opposite ends of a room, the sound is concentrated in the middle and you feel truly immersed in the music. Both speakers are phenomenal for hosting large gatherings or parties, as they get very, very loud while remaining detailed throughout the frequency range.
The Bromley 750 takes the crown in this round based purely on straight-out-of-the-box sound and its internal hardware. Thanks to the additional Sound Character dial, you get more control over the dynamics, making it the better choice of the two if you want extensive adjustment.
Winner: Marshall Bromley 750
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Battery
Neither the Marshall Bromley 450 nor the Marshall Bromley 750 will disappoint you when it comes to battery life. Both speakers are rated for up to 40 hours of playback between charges, which is excellent (and both upstage rivals from JBL and Soundboks). They share the same removable LiFePO4 battery pack, which can be used as power banks to charge your other devices (via a USB-C port).
In my testing, the Bromley 450’s battery dipped by only 15% after six hours of listening to it at full volume. Similarly, the Bromley 750’s battery dropped by 20% while listening at full volume and playing with the Sound Character over a period of seven continuous hours. This round is, once again, a tie between the two.
Winner: Tie
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Verdict
Based on our ratings scorecard below, the Marshall Bromley 450 wins, but by a very narrow margin. The Bromley 450, in my opinion, offers better value for money over the Marshall Bromley 750. For just under $800, you get a powerful party speaker that delivers punchy bass and crisp treble, features plenty of connectivity options and controls, and slightly better waterproofing and dust protection. It’s also more portable than its bigger sibling, and retains the same 40-hour battery life.
As you can see in the ratings scorecard, the Bromley 750 earns a full 25/25 points from me in the sound quality round. While the Bromley 450 is fantastic, it needs a bit of fiddling with the bass and treble dials to achieve your perfect sound (if you’re being nit-picky, that is). The Bromley 750, on the other hand, doesn’t require any adjustment at all, and sounds outstanding straight out of the box. The Sound Character dial gives you more control over, well, the sound too, making it more versatile.
At the end of the day, both of Marshall’s party speakers are formidable and extremely competent, and neither gives you much to complain about. If I had to choose just one of the two, though, I’d go for the Bromley 450 — for its smaller size, portability and battery life.
Marshall Bromley 450 vs Marshall Bromley 750: Ratings scorecard
| Header Cell – Column 0 |
Marshall Bromley 450 |
Marshall Bromley 750 |
|---|---|---|
|
Price and value (5) |
5 |
3 |
|
Design (15) |
15 |
15 |
|
Portability (5) |
5 |
3 |
|
Controls (10) |
10 |
10 |
|
Connectivity (20) |
20 |
20 |
|
Features (10) |
8 |
8 |
|
Sound quality (25) |
23 |
25 |
|
Battery life (10) |
10 |
10 |
|
Total Score (100) |
96 |
94 |
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