I've got two popular Bluetooth speakers here: the Bose SoundLink Flex and the new Beats Pill. Both cost $150. Which one's better? Let's discuss. So, like a lot of people, I was a little surprised when Apple/Beats released a new Pill speaker. The Pill Plus, which came out in 2015 for $200, was discontinued a couple of years ago and was pretty popular until the market got saturated with more competitively priced compact Bluetooth speakers. But here we are in 2024 with a new improved Pill that features better sound, battery life, durability, USB-C charging, and audio, along with a lower price tag that matches that of Bose's top-rated SoundLink Flex speaker. I'm going to talk about some of their design and feature differences first, and then we'll get into a comparison of their sound quality. And for a little bit of added fun, I'm going to bring in a few of my CET colleagues to hear their thoughts on the two speakers, so you want to stick around for that. So, the new Pill is

available in red, champagne, and black, and weighs in at 24 ounces or 1.5 lb. The previous pill didn't have an IP rating, while the new pill has an IP67 rating, which makes it fully waterproof and dustproof. By comparison, the Bose SoundLink Flex is a little lighter, weighing 1.3 lb. It also comes in a few different color options and can be stood up on its side or laid down flat. It has the same IP67 rating as the pill, so it's also waterproof and dustproof. Well, you wouldn't want to drop either of them on their metal grills. Both speakers have rubberized exteriors that offer some protection from shortfalls, and they both have ways they can be hung up, with the pill having a detachable lanyard and the Flex having an integrated utility loop. I think Beats did a nice job upgrading the pill's design, but I do slightly prefer the Bose design because it's a little flatter, and the speaker itself is a little lighter, making it slightly more

Travel-friendly, but I know other people who prefer the pill. The pill does have the SoundLink Flex beat on features and battery life. The Flex is rated for up to 12 hours at moderate volume levels, while the pill is rated for up to 24 hours. While the pill is missing an auxiliary input, you can connect your USB-C equipped smartphone or computer to the USB-C port to get a wired digital connection. Beats says the pill is capable of lossless audio with USB-C, with a max sample rate of 24-bit 48 kHz. It's also worth noting that its USB-C port is both charge in and charge out, so you can use it as a power bank to charge your phone and other devices. The pill is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0, while the SoundLink Flex is equipped with Bluetooth 4.2. Both speakers have the ability to wirelessly pair with a second speaker to create a stereo pair, which does improve the sound quality considerably. Finally, the pill can be used as a speakerphone, and so can the Bose, and it

does work well in this capacity. Caller said they could hear me clearly, even with some background noise. Okay, on to sound quality. Beach says the pill features a newly engineered woofer system and better magnets that help make it a better-sounding speaker than the pill plus, and you really do notice that the bass response and overall clarity has improved. It's a big difference compared to the SoundLink Flex. The pill is a little more dynamic-sounding and seems brighter with slightly more forward mid-range, which is where vocals live. I wouldn't necessarily say it sounds better than the Bose, but it plays a little louder, particularly at half volume, and has a bit more sculpted sound when cranked to higher volumes. The pill has a little more distortion than the Flex has at its highest volume. Both of these speakers are essentially mono speakers, but both the pill and Flex have reasonably wide sound stages, and by that I mean the sound appears to extend out from their sides to my ears. The Flex was a little warmer and slightly more natural-sounding. It's always hard to

compare these speakers for sound because there is some variation from track to track due to the tonal balance of the speakers with certain music genres, particularly bass-heavy hip-hop and EDM. I thought the pill sounded better than the Bose, but with other tracks, I prefer the Bose sound. I should also note that while the bass response is more impressive than you think for such compact speakers, there is a limit to how much bass these speakers will produce, particularly when you play more complicated tracks with a lot of instruments playing at the same time. Certain frequencies can end up getting clipped in those situations. The long and short of it is I can't really declare that one speaker sounds demonstrably better than the other, but let's hear what some of my colleagues think about the two speakers. [Music] Oh, this thing got some oomph to it. Like, it kind of caught me off guard. It's bassy. Bass is a little flabby. Flabby? Yeah, it's flabby bass. Like, when you don't realize how cute someone is.

and you're like, oh okay okay mommy daddy you got it. I mean, I would still say the bass feels very punchy, vibey, like it's very bass-heavy. It's not really clear when the snare is coming in, like you can hear the snare, but it's not like really crisp. I suppose it would make a good travel speaker. Um, I don't know how big or little it is, but um, if it is a small speaker that sounds pretty big, feel like if you punch it and blow out my eardrums, it'll do it, it'll do the job. This one just had that like right from the beginning. And I said flabby with the first one. The bass on this one's a little globular. The bass is there, but it's just not defined. I feel like it packs like a pretty strong punch for the size of it, so I can imagine it may even be smaller than the other speaker. Yeah, this one instantly sounds bigger, like it just sounds like a higher

quality speaker altogether. I feel like the bass in the other one was stronger or lower for some reason, but in this speaker, I feel like it was way more crispier. It doesn't sound like a high-end speaker; it sounds like maybe a mid-range or budget speaker. It isn't too different or too much of an improvement, but it's the punchy bass, but then the vocals are still a little bit crisper, like if that makes a little bit more crisp, if that makes [Music] sense. This would probably be the one I would go for anyway. Um, but yeah, it looks nice, just not my color personally. I would take this because this feels more versatile in terms of the types of music that will sound great on it. I feel like this is like, as I said, this is like you turn it on and boom, right in your face. I'm surprised. I would have thought that the Beats would have better sounding bass than the Bose, but this, I would definitely go with the Bose over the Beats.

speaker. I would keep this at home just because I would value it more. This one I'm taking out 'cause I wouldn't care for. So there you have it. We didn't arrive at a real consensus as to which speaker is better from a sound standpoint at least. My colleagues didn't so I would call this a tie in terms of sound quality. In the final analysis, the Beats pill has proved in some key ways from its predecessor, particularly when it comes to sound quality, durability, battery life, and price point. I do like the form factor and letter weight of the Bose SoundLink Flex slightly better, but the pill does have double A battery life and that aforementioned USBC audio wired mode. The one reason I'm inclined to give a nod to the Bose is simply because of its price point. It does go on sale quite frequently and is now down to around $109 at this moment, and you should see on sale for the rest of the year. So until the Beats goes on sale, I would probably go with the Bose. I'll finish by

saying that while both these speakers aren't super expensive, they may still be a little out of your price range. If that is the case, you can get decent Flex knockoffs like the Tribet Stormbox Flow and Soundcore by Anker Motion 300 for around $70 or even less. They aren't quite as good, but they are good values. As always, let me know what you think in the comments section. You can want to hear from anyone who's tried both speakers, and if you found this video informative at all, hit the like button and subscribe to this channel if you haven't already. I'm David Car for CET. Thanks for watching.

Beats Pill vs. Bose SoundLink Flex: Which Has More Boom for Your Room?

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