Marshall’s Kilburn series of portable wireless speakers is back, and the Kilburn III comes packing a plenty of features for the great outdoors.

The headline feature is the battery life, which has been extended to 50+ hours and is double that of its predecessor.

Off the top of my head, I’m struggling to think of another portable speaker that comes anywhere near that figure. If you’re in the market for a portable speaker that can last for a long time, the Marshall Kilburn III is designed to do exactly that.

Outdoor rock ‘n’ roll festival vibes

As is the case with all of Marshall’s audio products, the Kilburn III boasts Marshall’s signature look in incorporating the control dials that are the hallmark of their amps, to the carry strap being lined with velvet for that high quality look and feel.

The strap can be detached and re-attached, while the IP54 rating ensures that the speaker is protected against water and dust. Although you should avoid against putting the speaker into water. It will not like that one bit.

That huge battery life also helps the Kilburn III in another way. It can act as a charging bank for your smartphone or any other device. Simply plug it in via a cable and the speaker will give it a boost.

Sound from all angles

The Kilburn III doesn’t support Dolby Atmos or any other type of 3D audio format, but it does feature Marshall’s 360° True Stereophonic sound, which pushes sound to all sides so that you get the same performance from wherever you’re standing or sitting.

I’ve heard it on the Marshall Middleton and felt it performed reasonably well in maintaining a consistent sound from every angle, so here’s hoping that the Kilburn III can repeat that trick.

Will all that be enough to earn it a place on our list of the best outdoor speakers? We’re hoping we can get a review sample to put the speaker through its paces.

If you’re already convinced that this is the speaker you want, it’s available in black or cream versions (the latter is my favourite), with the Kilburn III going on sale from June 10th for £299 / $379 / €349.

Can Marshall give JBL a run for its money?

There’s lots of competition in the outdoor speaker market. It’s primarily one of the reasons why LG, one of the biggest companies in the world, hasn’t really made a dent in it with its Xboom speakers.

Marshall, on the other hand, seems to be making plenty of noise. Whether it’s through the heritage of the Marshall brand, or the excellent style of their speakers, Marshall’s speakers always seem to be one of the more popular ones.

Just head over to Amazon UK and the older Kilburn II has a rating of 4.7 stars from over 20,000 star ratings. That is outstanding.

It still, however, has a way to go to challenge JBL as the king of the outdoor speaker realm. The excellent Charge 5 speaker has a rating of 4.8 stars from 34,000 ratings. And it’s been available for less time than the Kilburn II.

That goes to show how steep the climb to make it as the best outdoor speaker is, but I wouldn’t rule against Marshall continuing to make gains on JBL.