Beats by Dre has already expanded its territory from bass-heavy headphones to audio software for mobile phones. Now it's offering a portable sound bar that can play music sent over a Bluetooth wireless link.
Called the Pill, it is fittingly shaped like a giant cold capsule, eight inches long and about 2.5 inches tall, with four one-inch speakers inside.
Setup of the Pill is easy: just press the illuminated red “b†and connect to a device that can play music. I used a phone. The Pill also has a feature called NFC, so if you have a similarly equipped phone, you can tap it against the Pill to connect.
The few controls are also simple, with only a power button, and up and down volume.
There is a 3.5-millimeter line- in port, so a cable can be used to attach the Pill to phones, tablets or any device lacking Bluetooth. You could hook it to an eight-track player, for that matter. There is also a line-out port, so you could use this to add Bluetooth capability to a stereo system lacking it. Perhaps the one with your eight-track player.
The Pill is available in three colors, white, red and black, and comes with a protective case, cables and a charger for a list price of $200.
The sound quality is comparable to the better products in this category, like the Braven and FoxL mini sound bars. That means it produces sound that is clear and undistorted, but a bit tinny. How much bass can you expect from one-inch speakers, even when they come from Beats?
