Beats by Dre's new Pill+ was already in development before Apple bought Beats last year for $3 billion, but the new Bluetooth portable speaker, which hits stores in November for $230, does leverage some Apple technology: Like the iPhone, it charges with an included Lightning cable.

Slightly bigger and shaped differently than the original Pill, the new Pill+ offers better sound and battery life, as well faster charging with an included lightning cable.

Traditionally, we've never been big fans of Beats products. Through the years, the only Beats product that ever earned a high recommendation from us was last year's Pill XL - and that was issued a voluntary recall for an overheating battery issue.…

If you're in the market for a supremely stylish portable Bluetooth speaker, chances are that you're seriously considering the new Beats Pill+ right now. The Pill+ is the first portable speaker to come out of Beats since Apple purchased the brand a few years ago, and unlike the original and hugely...

The latest Pill from Beats is perfectly tuned and offers incredibly rich and powerful audio for its size. To that effect, this is the best audio experience we've had from a portable Bluetooth speaker of its size.

Balanced beautiful warm audio with vocals that shine; crazy powerful for such a small speaker; app enables you to pair with other Beats Pill+ speakers; stereo mode works terrifically; three-hour charge provides the Beats Pill+ with 12 hours of battery life; doubles as a speakerphone; comes with a...

It's not particularly rugged or waterproof; we sometimes ran into issues re-chaining two speakers together to use the extra modes

The Beats Pill+ bears the Apple seal of approval, delivers good sound and stylish looks

The Beats Pill+ is a small wireless speaker. However, it's totally different to the Pill and Pill 2.0 that came before. Slightly larger and using bigger bass drivers, the Pill+ is the first small Beats speaker that really sounds bigger than it is. It's a very significant, long overdue upgrade.

Smart splashproof design; Goes pretty loud; Best-sounding small Pill yet

Harsh and coarse at higher volumes; Bass power drops a bit at low volumes; Fairly expensive; No apt-X or NFC

Easily the best Beats-branded Bluetooth speaker yet - both in terms of design and sound quality - the Pill+ shows that Apple is taking the audio space seriously since its acquisition of Beats. The Pill+ is still a little ways behind some of the competition though.

Nice; sturdy design; Best Beats sound yet; Can pump out loud tunes

Expensive; Weak bass at low volumes; Can't tweak sound levels

I purchased this and also the Bose, I had planned to give them out as Christmas gifts. I am keeping this one for myself. Amazing sound and quality. I am not technologically savvy, but I was able to set this up myself! The black looks amazing in my kitchen with stainless steel and black granite...

This will be a bitter pill to swallow for Apple, which has no doubt improved what's always been a very average speaker line living off its street cred. Being under Apple's wing can only do Beats more favours.

Multiroom aspirations; Decent battery life; Clean; compact design

Not waterproof; Lacks expression; App not UK-ready yet; Pricey for the performance

Multiroom aspirations; Decent battery life; Clean, compact design;

Not waterproof; Lacks expression; App not UK-ready yet; Pricey for the performance;