The Beats Pill is back, but is it better? Available in three color options for $149.99, this is the return of one of the most iconic Bluetooth speakers ever. The Beats by Dre brand has been on a roll releasing new products, but the new Beats Pill might be the best Bluetooth speaker from the company yet. That said, there are a few trade-offs to know...
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00:00I used to be so jealous of the people who had the Beats Pill in high school, so I was
00:04beyond excited to test out the new Beats Pill for 2024.
00:07It's back, but more importantly, is it better?
00:11After a lot of speculation that the Apple-owned Beat brand would be launching a new Bluetooth
00:15speaker, it finally arrived for $149 in three total color options, black, champagne, and
00:22red like I have here.
00:24Although it looks super similar to the Beats Pill that was a total status item more or
00:28less 10 years ago, the architecture inside has been redesigned, it's more durable, it
00:33has USB-C charging, and it has this neat little lanyard loop.
00:37That said, there are a lot of Bluetooth speakers out there these days, more than ever actually,
00:42so why would someone buy this one here in particular?
00:45The first reason to get the new Beats Pill is that it fulfills a major function of a
00:49portable wireless Bluetooth speaker.
00:51If you're making a speaker, it needs to have some sort of IP rating.
00:55While there are still a bunch of speakers that settle for IPX4 water resistance, the
00:59Beats Pill goes all in with the water resistance and dust resistance with the IP67 rating.
01:05Does that mean I would take you in the ocean literally on vacation?
01:08Absolutely not.
01:10But IP67 does mean that you can have it outside during a party, and if it falls in the pool
01:14accidentally it should be okay, just so long as you get it dried off rather quickly.
01:19Splashes and some rain shouldn't be much of an issue for the Beats Pill either.
01:22Another great thing about the Beats Pill is that it has 24 hours of battery life.
01:27This one is relatively self-explanatory, but a portable speaker is pretty much only as
01:31good as its battery life, and the Beats Pill goes big here with a 24-hour playback time.
01:36That's more than enough for a full-day barbecue or a day at the beach without needing to stop
01:40and recharge.
01:42If you're playing music all the time, sure, you'll need to charge this more often, but
01:45it should hold its juice for a few weeks if you only listen a few hours at a time here
01:49and there.
01:50Charging the speaker itself isn't the only thing you can use the USB-C port for.
01:54In fact, you can use it to charge smaller devices like your smartphone, but you can
01:58also use the input to set up a wired playback connection.
02:01You just need to hold down the power button as you're connecting the USB-C cable to enter
02:05wired mode, and from there, the Pill is capable of playing back lossless audio with a max
02:1048kHz 24-bit sample rate.
02:13A final reason I'd get the Beats Pill is that I would actually get two of them and use them
02:17together for stereo pair.
02:19Stereo pairing two Bluetooth speakers is truly one of the most underrated ways to beef up
02:23audio performance wherever you are.
02:25I mean, it's a smart move for small businesses, fitness studios, but also living rooms, backyard
02:29parties.
02:30With the Beats Pill, you can use two together either as one really loud speaker or as a
02:35left-right stereo system.
02:36It's pretty easy to set up, and the volume levels together do match speakers that cost,
02:40you know, in the $300 range, but better yet, you can split them back up whenever you want.
02:46That's all good and great, but there are some reasons you might want to skip this Beat
02:49Pill as well.
02:50Though it does have upgraded speaker hardware and the sound is well-balanced, this is still
02:55a pretty basic Bluetooth speaker.
02:57There's no room calibration technology at play here to improve clarity or soundstage.
03:02Stereo imaging will obviously help here when you buy a pair of them, but one Beats Pill
03:06on its own isn't going to make it feel like you're front row at a show.
03:10A wide soundstage just isn't there.
03:12That's not to say the Beats Pill doesn't get loud, but as far as clarity is concerned,
03:16the new and improved drivers don't always present acoustics in the upper registers as
03:21clearly as I'd like.
03:22That can mean missing out on some small background details in your music that simply don't get
03:26the same bass boost that lyrics and bass effects in the mids and low ends get.
03:30Lastly, I'm not the biggest fan of the Beats Pill's price.
03:34Look, maybe in another time of year, the Beats Pill would be an easy sell to a lot of people,
03:38but unfortunately, it's coming just a few months after the launch of the Sony Altfield
03:43One speaker that's cornered the sub $100 market and of course the Sonos Roam 2 that
03:48feels a bit more premium for around $200.
03:51The Beats Pill is stuck in this awkward middle ground between the two that can be hard to
03:55justify.
03:56I think if the price was closer to even $120 or $30, it'd be way more of an impulse buy.
04:03On the bright side, I'm pretty sure prices will drop to that ballpark during holiday
04:06season.
04:07With all things considered, buy or skip the Beats Pill?
04:10Personally, I think it's kind of a no-brainer to buy.
04:13Don't get me wrong, there are quite literally dozens of great speakers out there, but if
04:17you're a Beats fan or simply a tech fan, honestly the Beats Pill is so iconic and the
04:22fact that it's totally modernized from a spec perspective is so fun.
04:26You also don't need to be an iPhone or iOS user to enjoy it.
04:29Pretty much all the same features work with an Android source, so that's cool.
04:33Speaking of cool, we've been doing a lot of cool stuff on this channel lately, so be
04:37sure to subscribe and let me know in the comments whether you'd buy or skip the
04:41Beats Pill.
04:42An unboxing and spec check is over on our socials, and otherwise, this has been Kate
04:46Kocic, I'll catch you next time.