Apple resurrects Beats Pill portable speaker with USB-C and all-day battery life

The Beats Pill is the newest product from Apple-owned Beats Electronics, and it is the first portable Bluetooth speaker it has announced in years. Following sightings in the hands of celebrities, the Beats Pill is finally official. The launch of the new speaker is sort of a big deal considering Apple's focus in the past couple of years has been on its HomePod line of smart speakers.

Apple says the new speaker packs more oomph and delivers crisper highs compared to previous-gen Pills thanks to its bigger custom racetrack woofer and updated tweeter. The latter even has a separate housing to reduce distortion. All of the components are enclosed in an IP67-rated case for dust and water resistance which means you can comfortably use this by the poolside or take it to the beach.

In addition to the refreshed visual design and upgraded drivers, the Beats Pill comes with battery life improvements. Compared to 12 hours of battery life of the Beats Pill+, the new Beats Pill can run for up to 24 hours on a single charge. Of course, that value will likely be a tad lower in real life when other factors come into play. What’s exciting is that the Beats Pill can charge your phone just like the Beat Pill+, and if the speaker itself is low on juice, a quick 10-minute charge will provide up to 2 additional hours of playback.

Like several recent Beats products, the Beats Pill works with both Apple and Android devices, connecting over Bluetooth. There is also support for Apple’s Find My and Android’s Find My Device. Other features of the Beats Pill include an Amplify Mode and a Stereo Mode. The former lets you sync two Beats Pill speakers while the latter allows the audio signal to be split into two channels when connected to a second speaker for proper stereo sound. Apple has also replaced the Lightning port on the Beats Pill+ with a USB-C port that even supports USB-C Audio for wired connection. It also supports calls and voice assistants when paired to your phone and has a removable lanyard.

The Beats Pill is priced at $149 and available to buy on Amazon which makes it more expensive than the Sony ULT Field 1 which launched for $129 but is currently $98 on Amazon. The Beats Pill is available to buy now in Black, Red, and Gold, but knowing Apple, there would likely be new colors in the future, including special editions.