Today, Beats announced an all-new wireless Bluetooth speaker; the first truly new product since the company was acquired by Apple in 2014. Beats has spent a lot of time perfecting the Bluetooth speaker, as noted by Beats President Luke Wood, "We spent countless days, weeks, months testing for that perfect combination of form and function - small enough to travel but still big enough to feel the emotion of the music. That’s what you get with Pill+.”

Sound

The new Beats Pill+ features a stereo active 2-way crossover system including a separate tweeter and woofer for high dynamic range and enhanced clarity. The bigger enclosure allows for a more full sound as well. Built-in microphones and speakerphone functionality allow you to take and make calls with ease.

Design

The Beats Pill+ is slightly larger than the existing Beats Pill. The rubberized buttons are now on the top for easier access, and the Beats logo in the middle serves as a multifunction button for play/pause, taking calls and activating Siri. The new speaker is available in black or white.

Power and Connectivity

The Beats Pill+ features a 12-hour playback time thanks to a larger rechargable battery. It houses a standard USB port for charging devices (acting as a portable battery pack), an Aux-in and a Lightning port to charge the pill itself.

The Pill+ also includes a power gauge to let you know how much battery is left, right next to the power button on the top of the speaker.

App

For the first time, Beats is launching an app to help control the speaker, which will be available exclusively for iOS and Android. The app includes a new “DJ mode” that allows two or more people to connect and contribute tunes to a queue that’s played by the Pill+.

The app also gives you the power to link two Beats Pill+ speakers together. There are two modes; amplify and stereo. Amplify simply doubles the total output by playing the same exact song on both speakers, while stereo uses each pill as a left and right speaker to create a stereo effect.

The Beats Pill+ will be available in November 2015 for $229.