Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
It sounds in force than most portable loudspeaker system this size , but that ’s not a very high legal profession to clear . Still , it sound clip at eminent volumes and some controller are a little opaque .
damage When Reviewed
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The USB-C port supports audio in and reverse charging. Neat!
Best Pricing Today
Best Prices Today: Beats Pill
A little more than ten years ago portable Bluetooth speakers were having a moment , and the original Beats Pill ( circa 2012 , before Apple learn Beats ) was a bounteous part of their surge in popularity . In the year that follow , we saw few update to the crease aside from the simplifiedBeats Pill+ , which was discontinued a couple of age ago .
Now the pop portable speaker is back , entering into a market flood with cheap competition . While it is much improve over previous versions , it has a few faults that we ’d love to see address in the next revision .
See how the Beats Pill compares to other speakers in our roundup of theBest speakers for iPhones and Apple Music .
The USB-C port supports audio in and reverse charging. Neat!
Beats Pill: Design
Beats ’ iconic “ pill ” shape has been simulate a muckle in portable Bluetooth speakers and there ’s a rationality . It ’s handy to dribble around , outfit anywhere a water bottle would go , and sit well on a mesa or similarly flat surface . you may get one in classic Beats colors — black , red , or bubbly .
There ’s nothing surprising about this new 2024 model — it ’s definitely a Beats Pill . When at rest the loudspeaker system are slant 20 degrees upward , which is a great mode to externalise the sound more now at you – these thing tend to model on tables and benches and beach towels where straight - forward sound projection is a waste material .
A silicone polymer outer wrap surrounds the sides and back and help prevent bumps and dings , while impart some weatherproofing . The Pill is IP67 - rated , so you do n’t have to worry about it being ruined by beach sand , pool spatter , or getting caught in the rain . Along the top , you ’ll find out mass buttons , a snapper multi - function button , and a power clit . They all present fingertip - sized dimples in the silicone polymer , but they ’re far enough aside and labeled clearly enough that it ’s sluttish to hit the veracious one without paying close attention .
The buttons are simple enough but their function isn’t always intuitive and lacks feedback.
In the back is a exclusive USB - C porthole that can be used for chargingoras an audio input , with support for lossless audio ( not that the Pill has the reasoned quality to do it justice ) . It even reverse - charges with a triple - tap of the power button so it can be a sorting of power money box for your speech sound .
Foundry
speak of battery , Beats rank it at 24 hours . We did n’t do a full rundown exam , but after spend a full afternoon listening to it at a mid - to - gamey volume , I can reassert it can well feed all day without recharge .
Beats Pill: Audio quality
With a undivided “ racetrack ” ( read : oval ) woofer capable of 90 pct more air shift than the woofer in the Beats Pill+ and a copulate tweeter , the new Beats Pill sounds … well … OK .
Like all portable speakers with a cylindric design , it really lacks grim - ending oomph . There ’s more basso than you ’d expect , but still less than you necessitate . The sound processing is meant to reduce torture , but at high volumes , there ’s a noticeable clipped or modified feel to everything . It does get passably loud , and still sounds pretty good about four or five detent down from top mass , but look , there ’s only so much a footling lightweight portable speaker system of this shape can possibly do .
There ’s a microphone to enable speakerphone or voice assistants , and it works in a pinch but does n’t have much in the way of noise reduction – those I call could easily hear stiff malarkey or nearby highway noise in a way they could n’t on when I foretell on a pair of AirPods Pro .
While I appreciate the iconic shape , I have to wonder if a narrow oblong pill is the best shape for one of these thing . It ’s reasonably stable but can be wander over when you bump a picnic tabular array too heavily , and the contour means compromises in good technology that are hard to get around . Something more of a “ pigment can ” cast between HomePod and HomePod miniskirt , would probably allow for a better woofer design that would n’t need such heavy processing to fend off optical aberration . Some pills are pear-shaped , are n’t they ?
Beats Pill: Controls
Some of the Pill ’s controls are visceral enough . The volume clit do what you expect , and you’re able to tap the center button once to trifle / intermission , twice to bound off forward , or three times to cut back .
After that , it gets a little unintuitive . only power off the Pill is a minuscule puzzling – we’re all used to exhort and holding the power button for a few second to power down something like this . On the Pill , that enters Bluetooth pairing mode . But if you just bug the button you get the battery status . doubled - tap it ? No , that triggers Siri ( or other vocalisation helper on Android phones ) .
Rather , you have to press and hold the exponent clitoris for longer than 0.8 seconds butlessthan 3 seconds to power it off . You ’d never have guessed it .
If you have two contraceptive pill you could use them in Amplify mode – playing co-occurrent audio that is first-class for covering a larger area or next rooms – or stereo musical mode where one Pill plays the left communication channel and one plays the right .
put down these style is not intuitive either . There ’s no selection for it in the options on iPhones ( the Beats app on Android is a bit more helpful ) . To enter Amplify fashion you bring two Pill speakers close to each other then press and hold the center push button on both of them . For Stereo modal value , you keep back the kernel button and volume up . There ’s no indication of which one is the left over or veracious channel . To end Amplify / Stereo , beseech the center and volume down .
It would help a lot if these modes had some form of well-heeled interface in the iOS circumstance or at least a clear audio confirmation , but neither is present . A firmware update could improve both the strange and unintuitive power button part and the unintelligible two - anovulatory drug pairing mode . But as long as you adhere to the rudiments – volume and fun / pause / skip – the Pill operate figure out fine .
Should you buy a Beat Pill?
I have subject with the well-grounded quality from the Beats Pill but it ’s not like other portable Bluetooth verbaliser of this sizing render the sound I require . It ’s a necessity of the sort factor , it seems , and a skilful ground to consider perhaps a different shape for the Beat Pill 2 .
The weatherproofing , relatively loud volume , and fantastic barrage life all make this a really great low-cost speaker for hanging out by the pool , listen to some tunes while broil , or improving the vibe inside your collapsible shelter the next time you go bivouacking .
The $ 150 price is fair , too . You just need to manage your expectations for getting great level-headed character out of a small portable loudspeaker like this and trust that a firmware update create the dominance a small more nonrational .
