Montblanc MTB 03 Review
It doesn’t get any more lifestyle than this…
Verdict
Expensive, yes, but that’s partially the point. The MTB 03 need fewer excuses made for them than you might have imaged, though – and as long as you’re prepared to indulge them when it comes to the music you listen to, there’s an awful lot to like here.
Pros
- Engaging and revealing sound
- Built and finished without apparent compromise
- Notably comfortable
Cons
- Flustered by uncooperative recordings
- Ordinary battery life, ordinary ANC
- Predictably pricey
Key Features
- Bluetooth connectivitySupports Bluetooth 5.2 with SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive
- IPX4 ratingResistant against splashes of water and sweat
- App supportMB Sound control app for additional customisation
Introduction
Want to look the business in the Business Class lounge? Montblanc might have just the thing with its latest, premium true wireless in the MTB 03. Beyond its luggage, cuff-links and fountain pens, I mean…
The competition isn’t exactly sparse with plenty of options to be had for less, so Montblanc has to pull its finger out if it wants to attract anyone other than the obvious clientele it’s aiming for.
Availability
The Montblanc MTB 03 true wireless in-ear headphones are priced in the United Kingdom at a hefty £345. In America they’re an equally considerable $395, while the AU$640 they cost in Australia doesn’t represent any sort of bargain either.
The MTB 03 aren’t the only assertively expensive true wireless in-ears you can buy – Bowers & Wilkins Pi7 S2, I’m looking at you in particular – but they are definitely the most expensive that are the product of a company more readily associated with luxury accessories rather than audio equipment.
Design
- Aluminium, resin, and stainless steel
- Lightweight, ergonomic design
- Free engraving!
Montblanc is really up against it where design is concerned. After all, the company’s enviable reputation is based on delivering luxuriously high-end products that don’t so much shout premium as enunciate it very precisely. But the design of true wireless in-ear headphones is dictated by their function – so how do you make something that needs to be small, light and discrete look and feel properly expensive?
Well, to be fair the company has given it a good go. The MTB 03 charging case, for example, is of anodised black aluminium, with the instantly recognisable six-pointed star in white on its lid. It weighs a tidy 85g, and it closes with a very satisfying click.
The earbuds inside are made in large part of the resin Montblanc uses for many of its famous pens, and have a bright stainless steel ring forming a joint. Their shape is carefully ergonomic, so along with a per-earbud weight of not quite 6g, they really ought to prove comfortable.
You can personalise your MTB 03 by taking advantage of Montblanc’s offer of free engraving. The aluminium charging case can be engraved with up to 13 letters, in one of three different fonts. As far as I’m aware, this particular design element puts the MTB 03 at number one in a field of one.
Features
- Bluetooth 5.2 with multipoint connectivity
- SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive compatibility
- Total of 24 hours(ish) of battery life
- Unremarkable powers of noise-cancellation
The MTB 03 have wireless credentials, that’s for sure. Bluetooth 5.2 with SBC, AAC and aptX Adaptive codec compatibility is good news, as is multipoint connectivity. Montblanc’s claims for a wireless range of in excess of 10 metres seem reasonable too.
Once the digital audio information is aboard, sound is served up by a couple of 7mm beryllium full-range dynamic drivers with a claimed frequency response of 20Hz – 20kHz.
You can enjoy the sound for around six hours using the power from the earbuds, while the charging case holds another three full charges – a total of 24 hours of playback before charging is required is a respectable-but-unremarkable figure. Charging takes place using the USB-C socket on the case only – there’s no wireless option here.
There are three mics in each earbud, taking care of active noise-cancellation, telephony, and voice-assistant interaction. And each is IPX4-rated, so usage in most reasonable scenarios and environments should be fine.
Control is achievable via touch and app, as well as using your source player’s native voice assistant. The six-pointed star on each earbud sits on top of a capacitive touch surface, from where you get (generally responsive and reliable) access to power on/off, play/pause, skip forwards/backwards, Bluetooth pairing, answer/end/reject call and cycle through ANC options. This is all very useful as far as it goes, but – as always – lack of volume control is a bit grating.
The sort of active noise-cancellation you require can be defined in the MB Sound control app that’s free on iOS and Android. When it’s on, there’s a choice of three settings: Sport, Travel and Office. Select transparency (which Montblanc calls Live mode) and you can choose between Attention, Environment or Voice Focus. Switch it off and you’ll find you’re in Standard mode.
Performance, in simple terms, it’s not too bad but absolutely nothing special. Outside noise is reduced, most certainly, and by a not-insignificant amount – but there are numerous alternative designs available, all inevitably less expensive than the MTB 03, that can do a similar job at worst and a noticeably better job at best. And I’m not even invoking Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II.
It’s a useful app as far as it goes – 12 EQ presets plus a five-band equaliser for tuning the sound yourself is a particularly welcome feature – but it doesn’t go very far. There are no playback or volume controls, for example. There’s no denying its stability, though, nor how appropriately opulent it is to look at.
Sound Quality
- Detailed and involving sound in the right circumstances
- Rather flustered, uncomfortable sound in the wrong circumstances
Montblanc has done the right thing by involving renowned headphone engineer Axel Grell in the MTB 03 design process right from the off. No one admires a dilettante, after all, and if it’s credibility for your earbuds you want then Grell is a great choice of collaborator.
Having taken care of business in that respect, then, it would be interesting to know if Montblanc has done any research into the sort of music its prospective customers enjoy listening to. Because when you hear the MTB 03 in action, it’s hard not to form the impression that the answer to the putative research has come back as “I like to listen to music that’s as rich as I am”.
Give the MTB 03 the right stuff to work with and they’re an involving, absorbing and observant listen. And by the right stuff, I mean something that’s well recorded and intended to sound expensive on an appropriately expensive system. Something like Random Access Memories by Daft Punk, for instance, or Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark, to name but two glossy, high-quality recordings, are right up the Montblanc’s street.
Throughout the frequency range, the MTB 03 are tonally lush – but not overheated, and consequently not too rich a listen. Integration throughout is smooth and consistent, and the Montblanc always present recordings as a whole, as a single entity, rather than as a collection of individual occurrences.
Low-frequency extension is notable, and the MTB 03 have no problem loading bass with detail as well as keeping it controlled and rapid. They do something very similar at the top end, where treble sounds have enough body to balance out the brightness the Montblanc invest them with – and they’re just as detailed and informative as the stuff at the bottom end.
In between, the midrange reproduction is precise and persuasive enough to make a singer sound characterful. Detail levels, again, are pleasingly high, and the soundstage the MTB 03 allows a vocalist to stretch out a little and express themselves. Despite the little pocket in which they operate, though, singers are always a part of the whole.
Dynamic headroom is considerable, rhythmic expression is good too, and there’s quite a facility with the sort of minor harmonic variations that elude less capable earbuds. So far, so good.
But unlike quite a few alternative designs, the MTB 03 don’t quite have what you might call an all-court game. Some rougher and/or readier music – Code: Selfish by The Fall, for example, or 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields – readily illustrates the edges of the comfort zone in which the Montblanc prefer to exist. The relative warmth of their tonality is no help here, the glossiness of their presentation a distraction rather than an adornment. No good can come of trying to knock the rough edges off Mark E Smith’s unique vocal style.
All of the above assumes you’re listening with active noise-cancellation switched off. Turn it on and the sound of the MTB 03 loses that last scintilla of top-end presence – but it’s far from drastic and nothing like as noteworthy as the effect the ANC circuitry has on external sounds.
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Should you buy it?
You like nice things: Although to be honest, if you’re considering a pair of MTB 03 your life is probably quite full of nice things already.
You’re expecting to hear every penny you spent: The circumstances in which this will happen are very specific.
Final Thoughts
I’d already got my ‘Montblanc is an audio chancer that just wants an expensive trinket to sell to Business Class punters in the Departure Lounge’ snobbery out of my system after hearing 2020’s entirely admirable MB 01 wireless over-ear noise-cancellers. So that these earbuds are a premium product that perform well didn’t surprise me, at least not quite as much as their propensity for full-on hi-fi audio files as a source.
How we test
We test every set of headphones we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Tested for more than a week
Tested with real world use
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FAQs
Montblanc claim the battery life is five to six hours per charge, with another three charges available from the case for a total of around 24 hours.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
