If you’re looking for a speaker companion, one that emphasizes bass, the Beats Pill+ is making a really good argument. Equipped with drivers that offer great sounding bass, stuffed into a tiny chassis, the Beats Pill+ Speaker is one of the best speakers for on-the-go music—especially if you’re a fan of hip-hop, rap, and other bass-focused music.
Why We Like It – Beats Pill+ Speaker Review
A great companion to have for lovers of hip-hop and rap, with its emphasis on bass and a compact design that allows it to be placed anyway at any time.
- Great sounding bass
- 12-hour battery life
- Can charge your phone with it
- Too focused on bass quality
- Expensive
Performance
The Beats Pill+ focuses largely on bass. It’s full, deep, and quite enveloping. Filling a small room with deep notes is a great experience, especially for a 12-hour battery life. But if you prefer music with higher notes—rock, classical music, and so on—sound quality does falter a bit. The problem is bass tends to overpower other notes. On one hand, that’s not a problem when it comes to hip-hop and rap; that extra bass goes a long way. On the other hand, it alienates other groups of music lovers. Look to the JBL Charge 3 Speaker for a fuller-sounding speaker. It’s everything except without a subwoofer.
Related: If you like this speaker, you might be interested in our Grace Digital Mondo review.
Design
Considering the performance of the Beats Pill+ Speaker, we were rather surprised it came out of such a small speaker. It’s 8-inches like and cylindrical in shape. It isn’t fitting in pockets any time soon, but definitely fits comfortably on an end table without stealing too much real estate. It has a small hidden compartment that holds a USB port, charging port, and audio jack. So if you’ve got a smartphone that needs a quick charge, use its USB port. Furthermore, if you bring two Beats Pill+ portable speakers together, use the Pill app to create a dual-stereo experience.
Value
During our Beats Pill review, we realized the sound quality and overall performance are still very good, compared to other top-rated surround sound systems. Compared to other portable Bluetooth speakers, or even the WiFi Altec Lansing InAir 5000 speaker, it’s certainly up there as one of the better-sounding speakers, and it may earn our respect yet. But is it worth $126? Not if you aren’t a fan of Dre’s line of sound peripherals or prefer music other than hip-hop and rap. Value is lost to you on that front; otherwise, you’re better off purchasing an Oontz Angle 3 Speaker, which has great sound quality at a fifth of the cost. If you prefer smart home functions, stick to the Amazon Echo Dot Speaker.
Related: Also check out our Avantree SP850 review.
Beats Pill+ Speaker Review Wrap Up
Even though the Beats Pill+ Speaker focused heavily on bass, it’s still a great speaker. Much like the Amazon Echo even at 1.5 years later! But, someone who likes rap and hip-hop is getting a much-needed companion with this speaker. It can pump out the great sound quality, charge your phone, and last a solid 12 hours. That makes up for a few of its flat notes.
