Beats has been out of the speaker game for quite some time now. The last speaker, the Pill Plus, was discontinued in 2022 after being introduced years earlier. Since then, Beats’ parent company Apple has focused on home speakers like the HomePod and HomePod Mini, ceding the portable device market to brands like Bose, Sony, JBL, Anker, and countless others. But now, after an unsubtle celebrity teaser campaign, the Beats Pill is making a comeback.
The 2024 refresh, on sale today for $149.99, has a familiar design. But inside everything has changed and I am pleasantly surprised by how much the new pill can do. Essentially you get a mono Bluetooth speaker. And while there are always compromises to be made on sound quality with this compact size (that’s just physics), it’s the extras and bonus features that really make the updated Beats Pill stand out from previous models.
This time, the Pill supports lossless audio playback via USB-C. You can use the same USB-C port to charge external devices, a convenience that many competitors also offer. There’s a detachable lanyard that makes the Pill easy to carry, and the device is IP67 rated for dust and water resistance. Battery life has been doubled to up to 24 hours, and Beats still includes speaker functionality.
Like all of the brand’s recent headphones and earbuds, the Pill is designed to support both Android and iOS: on both platforms you can benefit from one-tap setup and Find My/Find My Device. There are no hands-free “Hey Siri” voice commands and don’t expect AirPlay integration, but Beats has pretty much every other feature ticked I could ask for. As a result, the pill feels like the most targeted product in a long time.
The Pill comes in three colors – red, black or gold – with a metal grille and silicone around the rest of the speaker for extra durability. The top controls are nicely laid out, with a power button on the left, a center button for track controls and volume on the right. All the buttons are easy to feel even when you’re not looking at the pill, and they click very satisfyingly. Inside the housing there is a redesigned woofer and tweeter.
Beats marketing materials claim that the racetrack-style woofer can provide up to 90 percent more air volume displacement and stronger engine power compared to the Pill Plus, and that low-end distortion is reduced. Both the woofer and tweet have a 20 percent upward tilt, allowing sound to reach your ears more naturally when the Pill is placed on a desk or table. While the Pill can’t output stereo like the Pill Plus could, the actual components have been improved. If you want true stereo playback, you can connect two Pills together wirelessly. (Two can also be linked in normal mono listening mode if you want to use them in different rooms during a party.)
People generally use these types of speakers for very casual, non-critical listening – whether at home, while traveling or for weekend trips to the beach. And in most of those scenarios, the Beats Pill sounds fine. Not all songs can handle the mono mixdown elegantly, so every now and then you’ll come across a song that leaves you wanting more. It’s just not that compelling. But mono is the norm with many speakers of this size. And for the most part, I’m pleased with the Pill’s sonic performance. It’s bright, can hit quite loudly and is well in tune with today’s charts.
If you want the best sound quality this speaker can offer, there’s always the option to connect it via USB-C. I like having the choice, even though it may seem excessive for this class of speakers. Every time a USB-C cable is plugged in, the pill determines whether to be charged by that device (like a laptop) or to power it instead (if it’s your phone). You can manually control the direction of charging by triple tapping the power button. Double-pressing the button activates your phone’s chosen voice assistant, giving you access to Siri or Google Assistant; it’s just not hands-free like on a HomePod or Nest Audio. I was pleased with the Pill’s speaker functionality. Beats’ noise-cancelling algorithm did an impressive job of isolating my voice from background noise during calls.
There’s really not much not to like about the remastered Beats Pill if you can get past the mono output – and I think a lot of people won’t have a problem with that. It works well and will withstand any outdoor adventures you take it for. The battery lasts a long time and you get many more bonus features besides Bluetooth playback. If Beats were charging more than the $150 asking price, I’d probably recommend it less effusively. But as it stands now, it feels like there’s hardly any Apple/Beats tax going on here. The Pill is more than competitive for what you pay.
Photography by Chris Welch / The Verge