Beats Pill

Is Beats finally finding its stride?

Wireless speaker £150 whf.cm/Beats_Pill

The Beats Pill portable Bluetooth speaker has had quite the makeover, with a new design, improved battery life and completely new sound. So, we decided to take it to the beach to see how it fared.

We were pleasantly surprised when we discovered the Pill would be cheaper than it was when it launched last time around (as the Pill+ at £190 back in 2016), and would cost £150. That puts it around the same price band as the Award-winning JBL Charge 5 (£160 or less), and about £20 more than the five-star JBL Flip 6’s RRP – two of our favourite speakers in this category.

Having bundled the Beats Pill into our suitcase and onto a plane to Portugal, we can confirm that it is pretty much the perfect size for taking with you in a bag, be that on holiday or to your local park. Not too big, not too small, it measures 7 x 22 x 7cm (hwd) and comes with a colour-matched lanyard for easy carrying.

It has also been redesigned to look more like the original Pill, getting rid of the flat upper edge of the Pill+ and going for a rounded outer shell, with four feet on the bottom to keep it from rolling around when on a desk or table.

There’s a metal grille at the front and a grippy silicone material across the back, with a handful of concave, clicky controls along the top. For colours, there’s a choice of Champagne Gold, Matte Black or Statement Red.