Beats Pill Portable Bluetooth Speaker

Beats Pill Portable Bluetooth Speaker

By Beats · Portable Bluetooth Speakers · Audio & Electronics

  • Up to 24 hours of battery life
  • IP67 dust and water resistance
  • 8.6 in. / 21.9 cm L x 2.8 in. / 7.1 cm W x 2.8 in. / 7.0 cm H
  • Class 1 Bluetooth, USB-C audio (high-resolution lossless)

Lowest price seen
$149.99
from $149.99 at Apple · Checked Oct 3, 2026

Prices are snapshots. Check the current price with the store.

Problems, parts and running costs

Summary

The 2024 Beats Pill is a mono portable Bluetooth speaker with a 24-hour claimed battery, IP67 protection and USB-C wired lossless audio up to 24-bit/48 kHz. Check the volume you listen at: the 24-hour figure is measured at 50%, and a single unit is mono with no EQ and no auxiliary input.

Strengths

  • Strong bass and loudness for the size, with TechRadar scoring sound quality at the top of its scale and PCMag giving it an Editors’ Choice.
  • USB-C wired audio up to 24-bit/48 kHz, plus charge-out to a phone.
  • IP67 water and dust resistance, laboratory-tested to IEC 60529.
  • Long real-world battery at moderate volume: TechGearLab measured 51.5 hours and TechRadar 23 hours.
  • Speakerphone with a proprietary noise-learning algorithm, and two-unit Amplify and Stereo pairing.
  • Light and compact at about 680 g, with a removable lanyard and a soft-grip silicone back.

Weaknesses

  • The 24-hour claim is measured at 50% volume; RTINGS measured only a little over seven hours with the volume near maximum.
  • A single unit is mono, there is no auxiliary input, and Stereo mode requires a second speaker.
  • No EQ on the speaker or in the app, and the app is Android-only, with owners reporting no working iOS app.
  • Treble is consistently called bright or edgy by RTINGS, WIRED and Wirecutter.
  • Volume and sound quality fall off under load, and durability trails class leaders.
  • No daisy-chain beyond two speakers, and no published frequency response or battery capacity.

Verified specifications

Claimed batteryup to 24 hours, tested April 2024 on pre-production units, 358 iTunes tracks at 256 kbps AAC, volume at 50%.
Fast Fuela 10-minute charge gives up to 2 hours of playback.
Water and dustIP67 under IEC 60529, tested in controlled laboratory conditions; resistance is not permanent and the unit must not be charged while wet.
BluetoothClass 1; Bluetooth 5.3 with AAC and SBC codecs and no aptX.
Wired audioUSB-C high-resolution lossless, up to 24-bit/48 kHz.
Outputmono, one racetrack neodymium woofer plus one neodymium tweeter, with no passive bass radiators; Beats publishes no frequency range.
Driver changea single racetrack woofer with 53% more pistonic area than the Pill+ dual circular woofers, an N50H magnet grade, 28% stronger motor force and 90% more air volume displacement.
Pairingtwo-speaker Amplify mode and Stereo mode, set from button holds rather than an app.
ChargingUSB-C in, and USB-C charge-out to a phone.
Controlspower and system button, status LED, pinhole mic, multifunction centre button and dedicated volume up and down.
AppsAndroid only; there is no iOS app for the 2024 Pill.
Dimensions and weight8.6 in / 21.9 cm long, 2.8 in / 7.1 cm wide, 2.8 in / 7.0 cm high, 24 oz / 680 g.
In the boxspeaker, removable carry lanyard, USB-C to USB-C cable, quick start guide and warranty card; a USB-C power adapter is sold separately.
Full research notes and sources

Battery: claim versus measurements

Battery is the headline and the biggest source of confusion. The claim is up to 24 hours, tested by Apple in April 2024 on pre-production units paired with an iPhone, playing 358 tracks at 256 kbps AAC with volume at 50%. Real measurements bracket that widely depending on volume: 51.5 hours at TechGearLab, 23 hours at TechRadar, and a little over seven hours at RTINGS with the volume near maximum. The honest framing is that 24 hours is a moderate-volume number and that cranking it costs most of that. Fast Fuel gives up to 2 hours of playback from a 10-minute charge, and the USB-C port can also charge a phone, which is rare at this size. The IP67 rating is genuine and laboratory-tested, but Apple explicitly says the protection is not permanent and that the speaker should not be charged while wet.

Sound and durability

Sound is the real argument. TechRadar scores sound quality at the top of its scale and calls it one of the best waterproof speakers it has tested for sound. PCMag awards an Editors’ Choice for bright sound with rich bass, a waterproof build, flexible USB-C and Apple-ecosystem integration, and confirms the layout is one racetrack woofer and one tweeter with no passive radiators. CNET scores 8.5/10 and notes the new Pill is clearly louder with better bass definition and clarity than the Pill+. The counterweight is that nearly every serious test also flags the top end: RTINGS calls the treble a touch bright, WIRED notes treble that is occasionally forward and thin, and Wirecutter found it a little bright and edgy while measuring it only about 2 dB louder than a cheaper UE Wonderboom 4. TechGearLab scored volume 4.9 and reported sound quality diminishing as volume rose. The Verge’s summary is fair: mono mixdown is sometimes hit or miss and volume reveals limits, but for casual listening it is clear and can crank fairly loud. Durability is not the same as water resistance, and reviewers do not treat it as such: TechGearLab scored durability 4.5 against 9.0 for both the Bose SoundLink Flex (2nd Gen) and the JBL Clip 5, and WIRED’s stairwell drop test left visible dents where a JBL Flip 5 and a UE Boom 4 did not.

Features, app and controls

Feature trade-offs are the part buyers most often miss. There is no 3.5 mm aux input on this model, unlike the Pill+, and there is no EQ on the speaker or in the app. The app is Android-only, and owner discussion repeatedly reports no working iOS app for the 2024 Pill, with pairing expected through iOS settings or the Android app. Two-speaker pairing works from buttons rather than an app: hold the centre button five seconds on each unit for Amplify mode, then centre plus volume-up on the unit you want on the left for Stereo mode. There is no daisy-chain beyond two speakers, and owners report unresolved trouble getting USB-C wired audio working from a Mac. The speakerphone uses a proprietary noise-learning algorithm and effectively isolates voice from background noise, and pressed controls have a learning curve that can require an online lookup. Apple documents reset procedures: hold the centre button at least 10 seconds to reset while keeping settings, or centre plus volume-down at least 15 seconds to reset settings.

Which model this is

This page covers the 2024-revision Beats Pill portable Bluetooth speaker from Beats, released on 2024-06-25, with part numbers MW443 for Matte Black and MWQW3 for Statement Red and colourways in Matte Black, Statement Red and Champagne Gold. The listing this page covers is ASIN B0D4SX9RC6. Do not merge it with the 2012-2013 Beats Pill or the 2015 Beats Pill+: the 2024 model has no 3.5 mm aux input, the current Beats app does not support it on iOS, and Apple states all battery and sound claims on the product page as compared to the Beats Pill+, whose 12-hour battery, Lightning port and stereo-from-one-unit behaviour do not apply. Beats publishes no internal battery capacity in mAh and no frequency response or sensitivity figures for this model, and no teardown, repairability score or user-replaceable parts were found.

Sources

Manufacturer:

Independent reviews:

Owner reports:

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