Friends, as Black Friday sales go, this is a corker. 2024 product? Yessir, June 2024, to be precise. Trusted name in audio? They don't get much bigger than Apple (which owns Beats and is the brains and muscle behind the new Pill). Good review? I personally wrote TechRadar's Beats Pill review and I can tell you that for sound, it's excellent for this money.
Right now at Amazon, the Beats Pill is just £99 (was £149) in any colour you desire – so that's matte black, champagne gold, light grey or dark grey. And you can tell which hue I prefer from my Beats Pill review.
Look, I've got best Black Friday headphones deals, a Black Friday earbuds deals guide and even a Black Friday AirPods deals guide if you want those. But if you want a chic little speaker, keep reading.
Today's best Black Friday Bluetooth speaker deal
What's the lowdown on the Beats Pill? Let's talk sound first: it's very good – oodles of bass for its size and a surprising amount of clarity and detail too. You get Bluetooth 5.3 (even though only SBC and AAC are supported, so no higher-res codecs) and connection is rock solid. Also, this Pill can be used as a speakerphone during calls, which is a feature I love and one that seems to be a little (dare I say it) retro now – most options I test these days don't include the mics to do it.
OK, if you're prepared to pay more for something like the 2021-issue JBL Charge 5 (and you're OK with carting around a speaker that's 332g heavier) you'll get a sound that's a touch meatier and dynamically agile, but most of the Beats Pill's rivals neither look as high-end or last as long; the Charge 5's 20 hour-battery is beaten by the Pill's 24 hours of playback, for example.
The big ace up the Pill's sleeve is that you can use the included USB-C charging cable to either charge your phone, or to enjoy lossless audio from your laptop, phone, or other digital music sources.
Any downsides of note? One: daisy-chaining multiple speakers. Your only option for beefing up the Beats Pill's audio is to pair two of them, in either 'Amplify' or 'Stereo' modes – ie mono or stereo. So if you want to have scores of speakers in your home, a JBL option might be a better buy.
My advice? For this money, the 2024 Beats Pill is an ideal gift and one they'll love – or a little treat (hey, you work hard!) that you won't regret after Black Friday.
More Black Friday deals to consider
- Amazon: up to 68% off toothbrushes and TVs
- AO: savings on games consoles and appliances
- Argos: up to 50% off toys, Lego, TVs and gifts
- Boots: up to 50% off Dyson, Oral-B and Philips
- Currys: early deals on TVs, appliances, laptops
- Dell: laptops, desktops, monitors from £299
- Dyson: up to £150 off
- Ebay: up to 50% off refurbished tech
- EE: up to £600 off Samsung and Apple
- John Lewis: up to £300 off appliances and TVs
- LG: £1,000 or more off TVs and appliances
- Samsung: up to £600 off TVs, phones and tablets
- Very: up to 30% off phones, appliances & clothing
