When LeBron James and Formula 1 driver Daniel Ricciardo were seen earlier this year with a new, unreleased version of the Beats Pill, it seemed like Beats might be regaining its former prominence. Known for its strong association with sports figures and music videos when the original Beats Pill debuted in 2012, the brand’s renewed focus on celebrity endorsements felt almost nostalgic. It suggested that Beats might be rediscovering its niche in the market.

The updated Beats Pill portable Bluetooth speaker features a revamped design, longer battery life, and a completely new sound profile. We even took it to the beach to test its performance.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: We were pleasantly surprised to learn that the new Beats Pill would be priced lower than its predecessor. While we tested the Beats Pill+ at £190/$200 back in 2016, the new model will cost £150/$150/AU$249.95. This places it in a similar price range to the award-winning JBL Charge 5 (£160/$180/AU$200) and about £20/$20/AU$50 more than the five-star JBL Flip 6’s recommended retail price (though it is often found at a lower price)—two of our top picks in this category.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: After packing the Beats Pill and taking it on a flight to Portugal, we found it to be the ideal size for travel, whether for a vacation or a trip to the local park. With dimensions of 7 x 22 x 7 cm and a weight of 680g—10% lighter than its predecessor—it fits comfortably in a bag and comes with a color-matched lanyard for easy carrying.

The new design resembles the original Beats Pill more closely, featuring a completely rounded outer shell and four feet on the bottom to prevent rolling on a desk or table, unlike the flat upper edge of the Pill+. It has a metal grille on the front and a textured silicone back, with a set of tactile controls on top for power, track and call management, and volume. A double press of the power button activates your phone’s voice assistant, and a small LED displays the battery level.

Available in Champagne Gold (our test sample), Matte Black, or Statement Red, the Champagne Gold is our top pick. On the back, you’ll find a USB-C port for charging the Beats Pill, along with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable included in the box. This port can also charge your devices in a pinch (though you can disable this feature if preferred) and serves as an audio input, allowing you to connect your phone and play music in lossless 24-bit/48kHz resolution.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: Regarding the internals behind the Beats Pill’s metallic grille, the Beats team completely revamped the acoustic design. They introduced a new racetrack-shaped neodymium woofer and a redesigned neodymium tweeter, both tilted 20 degrees upward for improved sound projection compared to the previous straight front-facing drivers.

The tweeter is housed separately for better stability and reduced distortion, while the woofer now features stronger magnets that, according to Beats, provide 28% more motor force and move 90% more air for a more powerful sound.

The result is mono audio, but you can pair two Beats Pill units for Stereo Mode or use Amplify Mode to keep the sound mono but increase the volume.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: One of the Beats Pill’s main selling points is its seamless integration with both iOS and Android devices. It offers fast pairing and the “Find My” device feature across both platforms.

However, Apple users have a slight advantage: controls are integrated into iOS menus, and firmware updates are delivered automatically. Android users, on the other hand, need a separate app to manage these features, though most wireless speakers require an app for control. The app itself is fairly basic and lacks advanced features like EQ controls.

In terms of codec support, the Beats Pill is compatible with Bluetooth 5.3 and supports AAC and SBC codecs but does not support aptX for higher quality streaming.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: When we first listened to the Beats Pill on the beach, it immediately stood out even at a moderate volume—so much so that we were concerned about disturbing nearby sunbathers.

Despite the seaside distractions, the Beats Pill excelled at cutting through the wind, waves, and background noise with its clean, clear, and well-balanced sound. Its bass is rich and solid, providing a strong presence without being overly boomy or muddy.

The midrange is slightly more pronounced, ensuring vocals are clear and not lost in the breeze. The Pill delivers an energetic performance, and even when we had to turn the volume down to avoid drawing attention with some explicit lyrics, it maintained its dynamic quality—something not often seen in speakers at this price range, where volume reduction can often lead to a loss of dynamism.

To thoroughly evaluate the Beats Pill, we later brought it back to our dedicated testing room for a more critical assessment and comparison with other strong contenders. It was here that some of its limitations began to become apparent.

Beats Pill: 5 Amazing Features But 1 Big Flaw: The qualities we appreciated about the Beats Pill on the beach remained evident during our critical listening. For instance, playing “Royals” by Lorde, the Beats Pill delivered the rich drum beat with impressive punch and drama. Lorde’s breathy vocals came through with excellent texture and clarity, and the finger snaps were refreshingly crisp.

Switching to “DARE” by Gorillaz, the Beats Pill showcased its playful side, infusing the track with energetic drive and enthusiasm, making it quite toe-tapping.

However, when compared side-by-side with the five-star JBL Charge 5, some of the Beats Pill’s shortcomings become more apparent. Playing “Feel Like Makin’ Love” by D’Angelo, the JBL Charge 5 offers a significantly larger and more expansive soundstage, making the Beats Pill seem smaller and narrower in comparison. Dynamically, the Charge 5 excels, delivering a more engaging bass guitar performance with better bounce and translating the different textures and volumes of the track more clearly.

The critical listening experience with the Beats Pill proves to be engaging and enjoyable, though we couldn’t test it in various environments like a park or the beach. We suspect the comparison with the JBL Charge 5 would hold true in different settings as well.

While the JBL Charge 5 is noticeably larger and might not be as travel-friendly or visually appealing as the Beats Pill, it clearly outperforms the Pill in terms of sound quality. The Charge 5 highlights some of the Beats Pill’s limitations and reinforces its status as one of our top picks for Bluetooth speakers in this price range.

One advantage of the Beats Pill is its ability to deliver lossless audio via a wired USB-C connection, which adds more detail and subtlety to its performance and slightly improves dynamics. However, it still struggles to match the JBL Charge 5’s ability to handle dynamic changes and leading edges as effectively in wireless mode.

The Beats Pill is a highly likable portable speaker that meets many of the key expectations for a Bluetooth speaker. It boasts strong battery life, an attractive yet practical design, and a solid feature set, allowing it to compete well in most important areas. Its clear, rich, and energetic sound makes it well-suited for outdoor environments.

However, it could improve in terms of dynamic performance, as its competitors in this regard do outperform it significantly. While many users will still appreciate the sound quality it offers, it falls short compared to the very best in the category.