Following the recent launches of the Solo Buds and Solo 4, Beats is back with one more thing. This time, it’s the return of the iconic Beats Pill wireless speaker. The new Beats Pill retains the iconic pill-shaped design and comes with a few interesting surprises that are worth the wait.
Head below for all the details on the new Beats Pill, plus some first impressions from my first week with it. It’s available to order today for $149.99, a substantial price drop from its 2015 predecessor.
Beats Pill Specifications and Features
As a reminder, the Beats Pill+ was Beats’ last speaker until now. It launched in 2015 for $229 and was discontinued by Apple in 2022. Beats claims that the new Beats Pill is “completely redesigned and re-engineered” compared to previous versions.
The new Beats Pill measures 21.9 cm x 7.1 cm x 7.0 cm (8.62 inches x 2.80 inches x 2.76 inches) and weighs 681 grams, 10% lighter than the Beats Pill+. Its design is IP67 rated for water and dust resistance. It comes in three colors (gold, red, and black) and has a built-in cord for easy portability.
Apple says the Beats Pill offers 24 hours of battery life and supports Fast Fuel. This means a 10 minute charge can add 2 hours of music playback. The new Beats Pill also charges with USB-C instead of Lightning. Notably, the USB-C port also allows you to charge another Beats Pill-equipped device, like your iPhone.
In terms of connectivity, the new Beats Pill features exclusive Beats silicon for cross-compatibility with iPhone and Android. Beats says Apple users will get:
- One-touch pairing: Easy one-touch setup
- iCloud Pairing: Instantly pair with every device in your iCloud account
- iPhone/Apple Watch pairing: Automatically transfer audio to Apple Watch when iPhone is out of range
- Customize the product name or button configuration in the Bluetooth menu
- Find My: locate your lost Beats Pill on a map
- Updates: Receive over-the-air software updates
Android users enjoy many of the same benefits, including one-touch pairing, audio switching, and Find My Device integration.
Beats has some big claims regarding the sound quality of the new Beats Pill. Here’s what the company says:
Beats Pill is engineered to deliver incredible sound, both inside and outside your home. Enhanced acoustic architecture delivers bigger, room-filling sound, more powerful bass, and improved tone across the audio spectrum.
The completely redesigned racing woofer with stronger neodymium magnets helps generate 28% more motor force and move 90% more air volume, while its innovative structure with radial ribs helps minimize distortion in bass, even at high volumes. Secured in its own enclosure for added stability to reduce distortion, the redesigned tweeter delivers crisp highs and rich mids.
The sleekly designed Beats Pill features a 20-degree upward tilt for better on-axis sound projection, helping to minimize reflected sound.
The Beats Pill also offers lossless audio support via USB-C. Beats claims this will offer a maximum sample rate of 48kHz/24-bit, “so you can enjoy better audio quality” with your Beats Pill. There’s also a built-in microphone for speakerphone support and voice assistant interaction (although you won’t find “Hey Siri” support here).
Take from 9to5Mac
I’ve always loved the design of the Beats Pill, so I was disappointed to see Apple discontinue the Beats Pill+ without replacing it. After spending about a week with it, I can confidently say that the Beats Pill is back and better than ever.
I’m far from an audiophile, so I don’t have much to say about the audio quality of the Beats Pill. The sound is better and can get much louder than the HomePod mini. However, it doesn’t have the same room-filling sound as the full-size HomePod. Its sound is on par with other Bluetooth speakers in its size and price class, if not a cut above most of them.
I tested two Beats Pills last week, which allowed me to also test the Amplify and Stereo Mode features. Here’s how Beats explains these features:
- Amplify Mode: You can pair two Beats Pill speakers for twice the audio experience and twice the party. Simply hold the center buttons of both Pill speakers simultaneously and each speaker will play mono sound when connected to a single source device. Use this feature for bigger, better sound, or to expand the party to another room.
- Stereo Mode: Stereo mode allows left/right playback from a pair of synchronized speakers. To start stereo mode, press and hold the center button and the plus button on either speaker when they are synced in Amplify mode. The pill you use to switch to stereo mode will become the left reference speaker. You can use the same interaction to return to Amplify mode again.
If these features sound familiar, that’s because they were also on the Beats Pill+. I can confirm that Amplify mode is powerful enough to cover a large portion of your home.
For all the improvements and features the new Beats Pill offers, I can’t help but hope that Beats went a step further and added AirPlay support. To do this, the Beats Pill would need Wi-Fi connectivity, which it doesn’t have.
In fact, when Apple first announced AirPlay 2 at WWDC 2017, it introduced Beats as one of the brands that would support the feature. When the first rumors of a new Beats Pill surfaced, I was hoping it would be the long-awaited portable Beats speaker with AirPlay support. This ultimately was not the case.
Still, the new Beats Pill offers plenty of other unique selling points. Thanks to that custom Beats chip inside, it can offer deeper integration with Apple platforms than any other Bluetooth speaker on the market.
The Beats Pill has almost everything it takes to revive a discontinued, fan-favorite product. It stays true to its iconic roots while making several notable improvements. This includes better sound quality, improved battery life, improved connectivity and USB-C.
And what makes these improvements all the more notable is the price. The Beats Pill costs $149.99, which is $80 less than the launch price of the Beats Pill+ in 2015. That’s a pretty significant price drop, especially for a product that launched nine years ago. It is available to order today, with the first shipments beginning June 27.
If you’re looking for a Bluetooth speaker, the Beats Pill is one to check out. The value of connectivity and one-touch pairing for Apple devices alone gives it a huge advantage over the competition.
What do you think of the new Beats Pill? Are you considering purchasing one? Let us know in the comments.
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