Hands-On: Beats Pill Will Be Tough for Jawbone to Swallow - Wired

Beats Electronics has developed a serious challenger to Jawbone’s Jambox with its new Pill portable speaker. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired

For the last two years, Jawbone’s Jambox has had many challengers but no true equals. When it comes to portable speakers, nothing has been able to quite match the Jambox’s mix of sound, style and price. Beats Electronics is looking to change that with its new Pill.

The Pill is roughly the same size as the Jambox â€" a bit longer but not quite as tall. Of course, while the Jambox is shaped like a box, the Pill is shaped like a pill (a nod to co-founder Dr. Dre‘s nickname perhaps?). The rounded gelcap shape makes it more comfortable to clutch and less worrying when thrown into a backpack or purse.

The Pill, which went on sale Tuesday, carries the same $200 price as the Jambox, and both can wirelessly connect to phones and tablets via Bluetooth. Both charge over micro-USB, and both have 3.5mm (middle) jacks for plugging into wired equipment. Each also contains a built-in microphone that enables speakerphone functionality.

But there are some notable differences. The Pill boast four drivers, as opposed to the Jambox’s two, and can crank up much louder before music starts to get distorted. Yet, while the Pill is louder, we’ve found that it delivers a more nuanced, detailed sound. The Pill also features a built-in NFC chip, which makes syncing devices to the speaker even easier than Bluetooth pairing (which isn’t difficult in and of itself). Just tap an NFC-enabled device (we used a Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone) to the Pill, and a prompt asks if you want to pair the phone to the speaker. Tap yes, and you’re connected. Easy.

Now, we’re not ready to hand over Jambox’s title belt just yet; we’ve got some more testing to do before our full review. But this much is clear â€" the Beats Pill is a real contender.

The Beats Pill has a NFC chip inside that makes pairing the speaker to a phone a breeze. If your phone doesn’t have NFC connectivity â€" the iPhone doesn’t â€" then traditional Bluetooth pairing is still an option. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired