Big bass with Bluetooth issues

Beats by Dr. Dre immediately makes people think of deep bass and skull-rattling sound. The Apple-owned company gave us earbuds, headphones, and, ten years ago, speakers in the form of the original Beats Pill. Well, the Pill is back, and it is louder and bolder than ever. It features a solid design and room-filling bass. The speaker also packs some handy features that make it easy to use and can even set the neighborhood dogs barking.

Price, availability, and specs

The 2024 Beats Pill is available for $150 from Apple, Best Buy, and Amazon. It comes in a standard Matter Black, but if you want a little color, it also comes in Champagne Gold and Statement Red.

What’s good about the Beats Pill?

Amazing build quality and bass you can feel in your gut

Right off the bat, I need to mention the Beats Pill’s build quality. The speaker feels like a premium device. The first thing I noticed when I lifted the device was its weight. This is a hefty boy but in a good way. It weighs 24 ounces, which is nearly 2 pounds. And two-thirds of the Pill is covered in non-slip silicone material. This combination of weight and rubbery over-molding means the speaker won’t be slipping off shelves or poolside deck tables.

This rubbery material covers the row of buttons along the top that are difficult to see, at least on the black model; they don’t light up. The buttons are rounded and only slightly protrude from the speaker. Pressing the right button is a matter of developing muscle memory more than intuition.

This new Pill retains the shape of the original, which is an easy (pill-shaped) form factor that’ll fit almost anywhere. I tried placing it around my home to see how the aesthetic worked, and it looked natural everywhere.

Portability is where the Beats Pill (2024) shines. There’s a thick lanyard attached to the right side. I carried the Pill by the lanyard around my neighborhood and came away feeling confident that it wouldn’t detach or break. It’s fairly comfortable to hold, even considering the speaker’s weight. I give this new Pill two thumbs up for build quality.

Beats is known for focusing on skull-rattling bass, and the 2024 Beats Pill does not disappoint. I tried a variety of musical genres. But for the real test, I chose the greatest bass-stomping EDM song ever made: Satisfaction by Benny Benassi. I could feel the bass in my chest stanging near the speaker, but the effect dropped off when I stepped a few feet away. It also had less of a bass effect when I placed it on the top of my bookshelf, about five and a half feet up. The speaker has a 20-degree tilt, so I suppose any squirrels hiding in my attic got the full effect.

The overall sound quality was decent, no matter where I placed the speaker. The highs were clear and crisp, and the bass didn’t overpower them. I cranked the volume up high, and the speaker kept pace. There was no crackling or distortion. It sounded best when placed down low, such as on an end table or desk.

I took this speaker to the park and cranked Satisfaction to hear how it sounded outdoors. The quality was impressive, even without walls to amplify the acoustics. I didn’t get that gut-punching bass effect I felt indoors, but it didn’t sound tinny or muffled. It was well-balanced and loud. I received some stares from people walking by, and a dog started barking somewhere in the distance, so I turned it down. This test was a success.

The Beats Pill has a few other tricks up its sleeve. Tapping the power button three times provides access to your phone’s voice assistant. It worked with Siri on my iPhone and Google Assistant on my Android.

The Pill works for voice calls, too. Beats claims it has intelligent noise controls to eliminate background noise during calls. I called my friend with it, and he said he couldn’t hear anything but me talking; however, he did hear my kids hooting and hollering in the background, so I’m not sure what to make of that.

I also love that I can plug my phone or laptop directly into the back of the speaker thanks to its USB-C port. So, a phone can be charged, or the attached device can control the speaker.

Even the battery life on this speaker is great. In the week that I spent testing it, I never charged it. I didn’t use it 24/7, but I did use it daily, and not once did I worry about battery life. I should mention that I could see the Pill’s remaining battery on my iPhone, but not on my Android.

What’s bad about the Beats Pill?

One word: connectivity

I was excited when I first turned the speaker on, and the connect card slid up from the bottom of my iPhone. I hit the connect button and waited… and waited. Then I received a big error message on my iPhone that read, “Connection failed: try again?”

I did this several times. I ensured Bluetooth was on and held the power button on the speaker until the little light flashed. There wasn’t an issue with the phone; I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max running the latest iOS 17.5.1. I even tried my trusty yet old Pixel 6, and the two devices simply could not connect via Bluetooth.

Beats had sent a quick-start guide with the Pill, but it did not include troubleshooting information. However, it did have a QR code, which I scanned. However, it took me to a 503: Forbidden site, so that wasn’t much help. I tried to connect my iPhone via ye olde Bluetooth menu, but the phone couldn’t find the speaker. I also attempted to restart the speaker in the hopes that, perhaps, I could boot it right into connectivity mode, to no avail.

Finally, after five or six attempts, the speaker made a reassuring chiming sound, and my iPhone alerted me that it was connected. The first hurdle passed. But that wouldn’t be the last time I had connectivity issues. I ran into the same issues when I returned to it a few hours later. It took another three or four attempts before it would connect. I found I had to hold the power down for a few seconds and release it at the right moment, otherwise, it would fail. There was some guesswork involved.

But it got worse when I tried to connect my Pixel 6 and my neighbor’s Samsung Galaxy S23. I had to go through the Bluetooth settings menu. The connect card only pops up on iPhones. I had trouble finding the Pill as a device on both phones, but holding down the power button on the speaker eventually solved this problem. However, just like with the iPhone, Bluetooth had a hard time connecting.

I didn’t feel like jumping through hoops again on the second day, so I simply plugged it into my phone via USB-C, which worked like a charm. But that kind of defeats the purpose of a Bluetooth speaker.

The Pill also only supports AAC and SBC codecs. They are fine if you’re playing local music from an iPhone, but aren’t ideal if you’re using an Android with music stored in various file types. There’s no LDAC or AptX support. A more Android-friendly speaker like the Sony Ult Field 7 or JBL Flip 6 would be better for my needs.

Another issue with the Beats was the speaker’s 20-degree tilt, which meant I couldn’t place it up high and receive the same sound quality. Sure, it’s meant for casual portable use and most people aren’t going to put a speaker at face height in these cases, but it’s worth noting.

Should you buy it?

You should buy the Beats Pill if you want a great portable Bluetooth speaker for iPhones. The bass is beautiful, and the overall sound quality is fantastic.

But I’m not sold on it, mainly because it is an iPhone-centric device. Also, the noticeable drop in sound quality the higher up I placed it was a deal-breaker for me. I wasn’t all that concerned about the connectivity issues because I figured this was something that could be ironed out. The 20-degree tilt, however, is permanent.

But as an Apple ecosystem speaker for hosting a barbecue, taking along on camping trips, or even blasting in the bathroom next to the shower? There is no better speaker than the Beats Pill.