I’ve tested the new Beats Pill and think it’s a great way to soundtrack your summer

When Beats discontinued the Beats Pill+ in 2022, many thought that it would be the last Bluetooth speaker we’d see from the brand. Fast-forward two years, however, and the Apple-owned manufacturer has revived its popular portable and given it a next-generation makeover.

I’ve spent the past few weeks putting the Beats Pill (2024) through its paces and have been rather impressed. While it lacks a unique selling point, it has solid specifications, a design that should please Beats fans and brand agnostics alike, and it nails the basics.

Beats Pill (2024) review: What do you get for the money?

Priced at £150, the new Pill costs £30 less than its 2015 predecessor did at launch, which is refreshing at a time when it feels like we’re consistently paying more but getting less.

That outlay gets you an attractive pill-shaped speaker measuring 218 x 71 x 70mm (WDH) and weighing 680g. There are three colourways – Matte Black, Champagne Gold or the Statement Red I’m reviewing here – and all three are IP67-rated, meaning that they’re dust-tight and can survive submersion in 1m of fresh water for up to 30 minutes.

Wireless functionality is handled by Bluetooth 5.3 (there’s no Wi-Fi support) and, as is the case with all Apple products, codec compatibility only extends to SBC and AAC. Analogue connection options are similarly limited, with a solitary USB-C port located on the rear of the speaker handling charging and wired connectivity. The port can also be used to top up the battery of your smartphone or tablet, which is handy.

Battery life is stated at up to 24 hours at 50% volume, which is very respectable for a speaker of this size (and twice that of the Pill+), while Beats’ “Fast Fuel” charging will net you six hours of playback from just 10 minutes hooked up to the mains.

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Beats Pill (2024) review: What did we like about it?

Given the length of time that’s passed since the last iteration of the Beats Pill, it’s no surprise that the new model has received several sensible structural tweaks.

It still possesses its eponymous pill-shape design and sits on a base in horizontal orientation, but is 10% lighter than the Pill+ and has more rounded edges. The physical controls are more discreet, too, with four depressible buttons seamlessly blending into the crest of the speaker where previously they rose out of it.

Despite being light enough for me to comfortably carry it in one hand, the Pill always felt nicely robust, leaving me with no concerns about its ability to withstand bumps and knocks. The soft-grip silicone back doesn’t mark easily either, which is another tick in the design column.

As was the case with the Pill+, a speaker grille runs across the façade of the new Pill’s body. This time, however, both the grille and the racetrack woofer and tweeter housed beneath it have an upward tilt of 20 degrees so that you’re closer to being on-axis when listening to the speaker, regardless of whether you’re sitting or standing.

The overall aesthetic is very clean and, despite not being groundbreaking, one that I liked a lot. The “B” that sits dead centre of the grille unmistakably marks the speaker as a Beats product, and the red and gold colour options bring a bit of vibrancy to proceedings.

The new Pill has also received various upgrades to its audio hardware. The racetrack woofer has twice the surface area of the woofer found in the Beats Pill+ and is capable of pushing through over 90% more air to generate a larger, more spacious soundstage. Stronger magnets enable it to deliver a more potent output, and the redesigned tweeter reproduces mid-range and treble frequencies with commendable clarity.

Throughout testing, the Beats Pill (2024) performed admirably. The thumping bassline on Charli XCX’s Apple was tight and punchy, while each ensemble element on 360 from the same Brat album proved well defined and crisp. Skylar Grey’s vocal on Eminem’s Temporary was full of character yet articulated with nuance and I was able to make out every lyric on more verbally volatile tracks from The Death of Slim Shady such as Habits.

A nostalgic listen to The New Starlight Express (1993) soundtrack revealed the Pill’s skill at separating different instruments and I was continually impressed by how it coped with changes in tone, tempo and dynamic range. It shifted effortlessly from the opening rock and roll number Rolling Stock to the tender, tuneful ballad He’ll Whistle At Me and handled the plodding, jarring Freight and electro-inspired AC/DC equally well.

Complementing its smart design and engaging audio are plentiful battery life and some useful convenience features. There’s one-touch pairing with both Apple and Android devices, Find My and Find My Device support should you misplace the speaker and the option to use the Pill as a power bank for charging. There’s no voice assistant built in but you can use the Pill to interact with your phone’s assistant and it can serve as a speakerphone for calls, too. In testing this, I found the Pill to be a capable speakerphone, with my voice remaining intelligible on calls despite a significant amount of background noise.

Two Pills can be synced in Amplify mode for twice the output or paired in Stereo mode to function as discrete left and right channels. I was only sent one Pill for review so can’t comment on how well these modes work but they’re nice options to have for those willing to double drop.

There are some frustrating omissions that I’ll discuss in the section below, but, on the whole, the Beats Pill scores well where functionality is concerned.

Beats Pill (2024) review: What could be improved?

As a mono speaker, the Beats Pill can sound a little narrow when trying to reproduce stereo mixes. While it did a decent job of projecting audio from its compact body, you won’t experience the same sense of envelopment and immersion that you would get from a speaker with dedicated left and right channels. Such speakers are a rarity at this price point, however, and I appreciate that the option to pair two Pills in Stereo mode is there, even if it means shelling out another £150.

I also found the speaker’s performance dropped off slightly when pushed to its volume limits. The Pill goes pretty loud considering its size – it comfortably filled my home office – but didn’t exhibit quite the same level of composure and finesse at full whack as it did at more moderate volumes.

Those minor audio grumbles aside, there are a few additions that would benefit the Beats Pill enormously. Bluetooth multipoint for connecting to two devices simultaneously regardless of ecosystem would be very welcome, as would the ability to connect to Wi-Fi networks. The Sonos Roam and Sonos Roam 2 both have Wi-Fi connectivity in their locker so have the edge in this regard.

There’s also no way to change how the Beats Pill sounds via an adjustable EQ or EQ presets. The speaker is compatible with the Beats app on Android but that simply allows you to adjust the volume of sound effects and change the number of times you need to press the multifunction button to end a phone call. It’s a similar story over on iOS, where there’s no Beats app but you can tweak the call controls slightly. Fortunately, the default sound signature is suitable for most mainstream music genres.

On the subject of controls, I’d have liked separate buttons for play/pause and track skipping, which are instead all assigned to the central multifunction button. This is a matter of personal preference, however, and given that you’ll typically be using your source device to control the speaker, isn’t a big deal.

Beats Pill (2024) review: Should you buy it?

I was slightly underwhelmed by the Beats Studio Pro over-ear headphones and not a great fan of the Beats Solo 4 on-ears, so I approached the new Beats Pill with trepidation.

But on this occasion, Beats has delivered a very capable product at a well-judged price point. While the new Pill’s mono audio output isn’t especially broad, it’s detailed, full of energy and possesses a tonal balance that lends itself to all manner of genres. There’s enough muscle to kickstart social occasions both indoors and out, and the speaker has the durability to withstand a bit of rough and tumble.

It’s not perfect, but the Beats Pill (2024) certainly justifies the Apple subsidiary’s decision to revive its beloved speaker series and is a top pick if you want to soundtrack your summer at home and further afield.