Beats Pill (2024) by Dr Dre – Well, it is all Apple now (AV review)
The Beats Pill (2024) is a Bluetooth and USB-C audio/charge connected mono pill-shaped speaker. It works on iOS, macOS, Windows, Android or TVs – any standard Bluetooth host.
Now, CyberShack does not review Apple, so this review is on Android and Windows. We assume it works on Apple devices despite widespread connectivity issues when it was released. And despite what the late Steve Jobs always said, “Never let your users be the crash dummy” (discover bugs).
To be upfront, it is incredible how Apple fanboy reviews differ from technical and respected reviews like RTINGS. Fanboys would have you believe it is the nirvana of BT portable speakers. Tech types, like me, tell it as it is.
The review is 100% objective and based on well-established test regimens. I will make you wait until CyberShack’s View at the end before I reveal what I think.
Australian review: Beats Pill (2024)
| Website | Product page |
| Price 1/10/24 | $249.95 |
| Warranty | 12 months |
| From | Apple, JB Hi-Fi, Office Works There is a high incidence of counterfeit Beats products. Do not buy grey market on Amazon Marketplace, Kogan/Dick Smith/Matt Blatt/Mighty Ape Marketplace, eBay Marketplace, or international imports. |
| Colours | Matt Black, Statement Red, Champagne Gold |
| Made in | China |
| Company | Beats by Dr. Dre (Beats) is a leading audio brand founded in 2006 by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. Apple Inc. acquired it in July 2014. |
| More | CyberShack AV category news and reviews+ |
New ratings in 2024
We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations), and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.
We are also tightening up on grading. From now on, Pass, for example, means meeting expectations for the price bracket. We consider a Pass mark to be 70+/100 with extra points added for class-leading and excellence.
First Impression – Statement Red is very red – Pass+
It is a pill-shaped speaker, approximately 220 (L) x 70mm (round) x 690g. The front has a metal acoustic grille, and the speaker is covered in soft, grippy silicone.
At the top are clicky controls— power on/off (with multiple presses for Bluetooth, USB-C input, and Voice Assistant), a multifunction button for track and call control, and +/- volume. A small LED glows red with <10% battery and white with 10-100%. It is pretty useless, and the accurate battery level is in the app.
A removable lanyard is on the right end, and a USB-C port is in the back.
Placement – One way
It can only be used in landscape mode sitting on its base. The speaker has a 20° upward tilt to direct sound towards your head from desk height.
Specifications – none meaningful
Apple sells on emotion, not ‘speeds and feeds’, which makes it hard for a consumer to know what to expect. There is no Watts RMS, BT version, battery capacity, etc.
Almost all the specs in the review come from our measurement and test equipment, so please accept E&OE.
Bluetooth (BT) – Pass
The BT version is not specified—it is just called class 1. Theoretically, this means a maximum range of 100m (300 feet).
We managed to get 25m in the home through walls, etc, and about a 30m line of sight.
Our test equipment reveals SBC and AAC 16-bit/44100Hz codecs with a downmix to mono – yes, it is a mono speaker. You can buy two for a stereo pair.
The latency on SBC is over 100ms (average), and we did not notice any lip-sync issues when tested with a TV (most TVs don’t support Apple’s AAC codec).
It does not support simultaneous multipoint connections to a phone and computer, which suggests that it is BT 4.X.
USB-C ‘Lossless’
You can run this off a USB-C host device output (provided it is USB-C 3.0 or later and supports audio over USB-C). It will support up to 24-bit/48000Hz music (at least on our test equipment). Apple Music and Spotify have high-definition streams that use more bandwidth and gigabytes.
We could perceive a slight difference in the quality of the music between SBC and USB-C.
Battery – Pass but not 24 hours – in your dreams
Apple claims up to 24 hours of battery life at 50% volume, with many other caveats and disclaimers as below.
Testing conducted by Apple in April 2024 using preproduction Beats Pill units and software paired with iPhone 15 Pro units and prerelease software. The playlist consisted of 358 unique audio tracks purchased from the iTunes Store (256-Kbps AAC encoding). Volume was set to 50%. Testing consisted of full Beats Pill battery discharge while playing audio until Beats Pill stopped playback. Battery life depends on device settings, environment, usage, and many other factors.
Not a hope! We ran an MP3 audio loop at 50% volume and got 15 hours. Our tests at 100% gave 6 hours and 45 minutes.
The charge time was about 3.5 hours. Our USB-C voltage tester shows that it charges nominally at up to 15V/3A/45W. Any lower-wattage charger will take much longer.
We tested the reverse charge. It is a maximum of 5V/1.5A/7.5W, which was the old iPhone charge rate and hopelessly inadequate for later iPhones and big batteries. It appears (could not be tested) to use about 50% of the battery capacity (whatever that is) but would not fully charge a 5000mAh smartphone.
Apple claims a fast charge of 10 minutes gives 2 hours of playback, but again, that is at 45W and 50% volume on 256kbps AAC tracks. Our tests showed that 10 minutes gave about 45 minutes at 70% volume.
Mono speaker – Pass+
It has a single racetrack (oval) speaker and a small cross-over tweeter. The latter has an amplifier and supplements the high treble from about 8-20kHz.
Apple does not provide RMS wattage, but it is no louder than speakers with about 10+5W.
Voice Assistant – Pass+
The microphone (a single on top near the LED) handles normal volume voice commands up to 1 metre and elevated volume commands up to 2m. However, it cannot compete with music at the same time. There is no privacy switch – it is always on!
Whatever voice assistant your phone supports is available on the speaker via BT. It supports ‘Find My’ for iOS or Android devices.
Water and Dust resistance – Pass but it won’t float
It has IP67 – no depth specified, but assume 1 metre for 30 minutes. However, Apple does not cover water damage under warranty. Caveats:
Beats Pill is dust resistant and water resistant, providing protection from sand intrusion, water, and other sources of ingress when used indoors and outdoors. Beats Pill was tested under controlled laboratory conditions, and has a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Dust and water resistance are not permanent conditions and might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge Beats Pill when wet; refer to Apple Support for cleaning and drying instructions.
How does it sound – Pass+
It is okay for a mono speaker with no sound stage. And therein lies the rub. We have heard better sound quality from cheaper Bluetooth speakers. Well, you must pay the Apple tax if you want it.
It is nowhere near audiophile standard, with noticeable distortion over 75-80% volume, annoying white noise hiss from 20-40Hz, clipping from 150-220Hz, and choppy/harsh mid/upper treble.
It lacks any EQ or presets, which may have made this more listenable. For example, recessing low bass and high treble would have given this a warm and sweet signature that is good for movies and music.
Overall, it has enough mid and high bass to satisfy, decent mid for a clear voice (podcasts and speakerphone), but the strong treble lets it down with harsh and aggressive notes. Hint to Apple – an EQ could fix this.
We tested with both Bluetooth SBC and high res 24-bit/48000Hz USB-C. There is almost no difference in the native sound signature but a slight perceptible difference in sound quality.
Yet Apple fanboys espouse its audio delights.
Beats Pill (2024) Sound Signature
While the BT and USB sound signatures are very much the same (as expected as we use a white noise generator to test the native signature), there are subtle differences. USB-C (bottom image) has slightly earlier mid-bass, a little less clipping, and slightly less harsh upper treble. We can only put that down to the USB Digital to Analogue Converter (DAC) being slightly better than the BT DAC.
| Frequency | Beats Pill 2024 |
| Deep Bass 20-40Hz | Nil but annoying white noise static from 20-40Hz (low bass) that you probably will not hear listening to music |
| Middle Bass 40-100Hz | It starts at 40Hz and linearly builds to 100Hz |
| High Bass 100-200Hz | Flat |
| Low Mid 200-400Hz | Flat |
| Mid 400-1kHz | Flat |
| High Mid 1-2kHz | Flat |
| Low Treble 2-4kHz | Flat but some clipping at 100% volume – far better controlled at 70% |
| Mid Treble 4-6kHz | Early dip starting at 4kHz and ending at 8kHz |
| High Treble 6-10kHz | Dip recovers at 9kHz, then reasonably flat but choppy to 20kHz. |
| Dog Whistle 10-20kHz | Reasonably Flat |
| Volume | 85dB with too much distortion (BT and USB-C) |
| Sound Signature type | Neutral: It neither adds nor subtracts from the original music! The only issue here is garbage-in and garbage-out—the better the music quality, the better it sounds. |
| N/A – it is a forward-firing mono speaker | N/A – it is a forward-firing mono-speaker |
| Left/Right separation | N/A |
| Soundstage Dolby Atmos/DTS:X | Dolby Atmos or Spatial content does not add 3D height or widen the sound stage. |
| Read | How to tell if you have good music (sound signature is the key – guide). |
The App – The best thing is you don’t have to register to use it
I firmly believe that a) you should not need an app to use a BT speaker, and b) if there is one, it should add so much value that you want to use it.
I think the Beats app’s primary aim is to gather personal data for Apple, and you should not have a bar of that. We have attached the privacy policies and terms of use after this review. I fail to see why you need to agree to 6485 words of a privacy policy, just to use a simple Bluetooth speaker.
If you believe Apple truly means privacy, you drink too much of its Kool-Aid. Read Can you trust Apple? It would have you believe so.
The app requires information that you should not be prepared to provide at almost every stage of setting up the speaker.
CyberShack’s view – Beats Pill (2024) is a capable BT speaker for Apple lovers
Here, I can say what I feel, and with due respect to Apple, it is another overpriced and underperforming Apple device.
It has some nice features, including an excellent USB-C audio connection, which is also present on other BT speakers (at least 3.5mm AUX-in).
Its lack of multipoint is frustrating in the extreme. I expect a speaker or headphones to link to a phone and computer simultaneously, especially at this price.
Its sound is not ‘big, expansive, and dynamic’. It is mono, harsh at the top end, and does not ‘pack more of a punch with deeper, fuller bass’ (small print disclaimer: Compared to Beats Pill+, an odious comparison).
It is hard to recommend in the Android world. Let Apple lovers buy this.
Beats Pill (2024) Competition
You can compete on price or look for the best portable BT speaker for your needs.
I have heard vastly better sound from JBL, which has the far more listenable JBL signature neutral sound and handles the errant treble issues far better.
- $429.95 JBL Xtreme 4 BT, IP67 with extreme JBL Pro sound
- $399.95 JBL Xtreme 3 stereo BT speaker is ready to rumble
- $199.95 JBL Charge 5 BT, IP-rated portable speaker – seriously good (Beats Pill main competitor)
Ditto to Aussie company Blueant with its $249 X3i (Review BlueAnt X3i BT speaker – BT, IP67 and loud)), $199 X-3D and $279 X-3D Max. (Review Blueant X-3D MAX – crazy loud 360° sound).
While it’s a cut above Beats, Sonos has some good options.
- $299 Sonos Roam 2 is mono, just like the Pill, but it has Wi-Fi, BT and an excellent EQ. Old V1 review Sonos Roam – Is this the best BT/Wi-Fi portable speaker ever?
- $699 Sonos Move – stereo Sonos Move – big and bold BT/Wi-Fi portable speaker
- $799 Sonos Move – stereo and line in Sonos Move 2 – portable oomph anywhere
Ultimate Ears is a contender
- $229.95 Boom 4 mono (Beats Pill competition)
- $349.95 MegaBoom 4 mono
- $349.95 Everboom stereo ULTIMATE EARS EVERBOOM – rugged, 360°, BT speaker
Beats Pill (2024) Ratings
2024 ratings use a pass mark of 70/100. Older reviews used 80/100. For parity, deduct 10 points from these.
It must be rated as a forward-firing mono speaker, as that is what it is if you forget the marketing hype.
- Features: 85 It has everything expected of an IP67 BT portable speaker and excellent USB-C audio input.
- Value: 75 – As expected for an Apple product
- Performance: 80—It has a neutral sound signature and distorted maximum volume. No EQ is a big disappointment. Battery life is good, but nowhere near 24 hours.
- Ease of Use: 70 – Charge and go. You don’t need the App. But if you do use it, take off another 10 points.
- Design: 80 – All these BT waterproof speakers look similar.
Our Pro/Con allows only five items. So here is what we could not fit
- No specs – what is Apple afraid of? Tech-savvy users should avoid products with few specs.
- Way lower battery life than stated
- Does not float
- No analogue AUX-in (yes, it has USB-C for 3.0 or later interfaces)
- The app is a data harvester and lacks essential items like presets and an EQ
- Yes, it is mono, but the competition is stereo and supports spatial sound.
