Beats has announced the long-awaited return and revamp of its portable wireless speaker in the Pill.
With Beats promising the new speaker is “completely re-engineered and redesigned”, boasting “better sound than ever before”, how does its specs compare to the Sonos Roam 2?
Keep reading to see the key features and differences between the two new portable speakers.
The Beats Pill is cheaper
Both portable speakers have launched recently, with the Beats Pill the newer speaker of the two. It is currently available in a choice of three colours, Matte Black, Statement Red and Champagne Gold and has an RRP of £149.99 / $149.99 / €169.95.
Alternatively the Sonos Roam 2 is available in a choice of five colours, Black, White, Red, Green and Blue and has an RRP of £179 / $179 / €199.
Both are IP67-rated
We’ll start with a key similarity between the two. Both the Beats Pill and Sonos Roam 2 have an IP67 rating which means they are dust resistant and can survive a submersion in up to one metre of freshwater for up to 30 minutes.
Although this means the speakers are ideal for outdoor use, they can also be used indoors with the Sonos Roam 2 especially able to double up as an indoor smart speaker, thanks to its Wi-Fi support and built-in Amazon Alexa.
While you can communicate with voice assistants through the Beats Pill, this isn’t built-in so this can only be done via its Class One Bluetooth connectivity.
Beats Pill has a neodymium woofer
The Beats Pill has had a huge revamp from its predecessor, the Pill Plus as it now includes a single racetrack woofer with neodymium magnets, which help drive 28% more motor force and displaces 90% more air volume than the Pill Plus.
Not only that, but thanks to the Pill’s structure with radial ribbing, low-end distortion is minimised to enable a more consistent frequency response.
Instead, the Roam 2 has one midwoofer for mid-range frequencies and maximises low-end output.
Otherwise, both speakers feature one tweeter which Beats promise will offer “crisp highs and mid-range tones” and Sonos says “creates a crisp, high-frequency response.”
Beats Pill supports lossless audio
Users can enjoy high-resolution lossless audio by connecting the Beats Pill to either a laptop or any other compatible device via the USB-C cable. It’s worth noting that this requires compatible lossless content from supported apps/services, such as Apple Music.
Currently Sonos Roam 2 does not support lossless audio but it can support high-resolution streaming up to 24-bit over Wi-Fi.
Beats Pill has up to 24 hour battery life
The Sonos Roam 2’s 18W battery provides up to 10 hours of continuous playback on a single charge at “moderate volumes”. Although this should be enough to see you comfortably through an evening barbeque, the Beats Pill surpasses this considerably and claims to offer up to a whopping 24 hours of continuous playback.
The Beats Pill also has “Fast Fuel” where a quick 10-minute charge provides two hours of music playback.
While both speakers are charged via USB-C, you can also charge the Sonos Roam 2 with the Sonos Roam Wireless or any Qi-certified charger.
