Launched in 2012 earlier than Beats was acquired by Apple, the unique Beats Capsule shook up the transportable Bluetooth speaker class with enjoyable colours and well-regarded sound high quality. The speaker acquired an improve in 2015 with the launch of the Capsule+ below Apple’s possession, however over time it appeared to develop into an afterthought for Beats in comparison with headphones and earphones, and the Capsule+ was finally discontinued in early 2022.
After a number of months of teasing, Beats is formally asserting the return of the Beats Capsule as we speak with a number of upgrades and a cheaper price level of $149.99. The brand new Capsule encompasses a fully redesigned speaker system consisting of a single tweeter and a single racetrack woofer, a detachable lanyard, USB-C and Bluetooth connectivity, 24 hours of battery life, and IP67 water and sweat resistance.
Out there in Matte Black, Champagne Gold, and Assertion Purple coloration choices, the brand new Beats Capsule encompasses a soft-touch silicone housing with a metallic speaker grille and a Beats “b” emblem, with a number of refined bodily buttons alongside the highest for on-device controls. The brand new detachable lanyard slips simply across the wrist to assist safe it whereas being carried and even to let the speaker dangle from, though it could’t be tightened up for extra safety.
In comparison with the earlier Capsule+, the reengineered single racetrack woofer within the Beats Capsule makes use of stronger neodymium magnets to drive 28% extra motor power, permitting the woofer to displace 90% extra air quantity, whereas radial ribbing across the edges minimizes low-end distortion. The brand new Capsule additionally strikes from twin tweeters to a redesigned single tweeter in its personal housing for additional stability and to equally cut back distortion. Each audio system are aligned to offer the Capsule a 20º inclined tilt, which gives higher sound projection with much less mirrored sound.
You probably have two Beats Capsule audio system, you possibly can pair them up in both Amplify Mode, which supplies you larger total sound for bigger areas, or Stereo Mode, which separates the sound output into left and proper channels despatched to the completely different audio system.
The Beats Capsule can function a speakerphone to your related units, with a noise-learning algorithm that suppresses ambient sound to focus on the consumer’s voice, and full duplex help helps guarantee your conversations are intelligible to either side. Voice assistant help for related units can be embrace, so you possibly can activate Siri or Google Assistant with the press of a button.
USB-C involves the Beats Capsule for the primary time, permitting for lossless audio over a wired connection, simple recharging, and the flexibility to cost different units from the Capsule’s inside battery. The Capsule itself has as much as 24 hours of battery life, and a 10-minute Quick Gasoline delivers as much as two hours of playback. A black USB-C to USB-C cable is included within the field.
The brand new Capsule has 4 buttons alongside the highest edge, a Energy button, a Middle button, and Quantity Up/Down buttons. Every of the buttons serves a number of functions, so you possibly can management a good quantity of options with no need to dig into your iPhone. A press of the Energy button turns the speaker on or off, whereas a short faucet lights up an adjoining LED for battery standing, a double faucet prompts Siri, and a triple faucet reverses the charging course when related through USB-C. Urgent and holding the Energy button whereas plugging the Capsule in through USB-C prompts wired audio enter.
The Middle button is to your common media controls, with a single press enjoying or pausing your audio, a double press skipping ahead, and a triple press skipping backward. The Middle button can be utilized in mixture with the Quantity Up/Down buttons to configure the paired speaker modes. Holding the Middle buttons on two audio system prompts Amplify Mode, and holding Middle and Quantity Up on one among them then prompts Stereo Mode with that speaker changing into the left channel. The identical mixture returns to Amplify Mode or holding Middle and Quantity Down can be utilized to interrupt the speaker group completely.
A proprietary chip platform from Beats presents seamless entry throughout each Apple and Android platforms, with one-touch pairing, computerized setup throughout all units related to an iCloud or Google account, and help for Discover My and Discover My Machine monitoring primarily based on the speaker’s final related location.
The brand new Capsule does have some heft, weighing in at 24 ounces (~680 grams), though that’s 10% lighter than the Capsule+. It measures just a little over 8.5 inches (~22 cm) lengthy by 2.8 inches (~7 cm) deep and excessive, simply fractionally bigger than the Capsule+. It is definitely transportable and you may simply toss it in a bag, however you are not going to wish to carry it in your hand wherever you go.
The revamped Beats Capsule is priced at $149.99 and is accessible to order as we speak in all three colours, with transport starting this Thursday, June 27.
