As someone who loves everything Apple and Pokémon, I never thought that these worlds would collide, but here we are! Beats and the Pokémon Company have officially partnered for a Special Edition Beats PillAnd man, they nailed this. This new collaboration features both Pikachu and Mimikyu, bringing two-tone designs, unique accessories, and some awesome attention to detail to the speakers we know and love. I have been using mine for a few days and wanted to share my thoughts as a fan of both brands in this collaboration.
Don’t forget to check out our hands-on video to see what this new Beats Pill looks like!
Design and touch Pokémon
With collaborations and products like this, the design is the selling point. The first thing that stands out is the packaging. You get this awesome two-tone design that gives us Pikachu’s signature yellow, and on the other hand, you get a very gray, monotone look associated with Mimikyu. They even have all the ears of each Pokémon pop up past the packaging, which is a fun touch. But the real magic is when you open this up.
Both Pokémon are featured directly on the speaker grill, giving Pill a different personality than the standard version. On the left, you will see a gray Mimikyu, and on the right, you will see a bright yellow and red Pikachu. But they did not stop there. Around Pikachu, there is a curved lightning bolt with chrome sound that really comes out of the speaker, giving it a nice and textured look. Then, my favorite part is that Beats is including charms in the strap part of the Beats Pill. The charm is a rubber, double-sided circle, one side showing the Beats logo and the other side showing a Poké Ball.
Between the unboxing experience and the uniqueness of the product, this feels more like a collection than anything else. It just happens to be an excellent Bluetooth speaker as well, and I think that’s the whole point.
As I said, under all the Pokémon-themed goodness, this is the same Beats Pill that we already know and that Apple has sold a little. It comes with the same sound system, powerful bass in a portable design. You get:
- Custom racetrack woofer and dedicated tweeter for full bass and clear vocals
- Play up to 24 hours with a single charge
- 10 minutes of charging gives up to two hours of play
- IP67 against dust and water
- Supports high definition lossless playback over wired connection
- Charge a compatible smartphone via the speaker’s USB-C port
- One-touch pairing and connection with Apple and Android devices.
Again, there are no major hardware differences compared to the Beats Pill. But the Pill offers a good combination of sound, battery life, convenience, and portability. So this is just another one to add to the collection.
Price & Availability
Pokémon x Beats Pill is available starting today, October 15th at 11am EST. You can pick one up Online or in stores at both Apple and Target for $149. For reference, the regular Beats Pill is the same $149 at Apple and $129 at Target and other retailers. Also, if you just want Beats Pill and don’t care about the color, the The Kim Kardashian version sells for $85 on Amazon.
Last thought
Overall, I think Beats has created this partnership with the Pokémon Company. It’s fun and different, with amazing attention to detail. If you’re already a Pokémon fan and have been considering a portable speaker, it seems like an obvious choice. I also think that many collectors will buy it and keep it, so I assume it will sell almost immediately. I wish they made a matching Pikachu voice; That would be the cherry on top! Maybe for the next one.
What do you think? Is this the collaboration you’ve seen? Do you take one?
