Beats Pill lights: what each colour and pattern means

The battery is charged to less than 10 percent.

Applies to: Beats Pill, as you turn it on or off with the power button. What you see: red, flashing or blinking.

What Apple says to do

1. Connect the speaker to a power outlet with a USB-C cable and a compatible power adapter.
2. While it charges the light turns green; when it is full the light shines white for 10 seconds, then turns off.

The battery is charged to at least 10 percent. (The guide says “more than 10 percent”; Apple’s setup article says “at least 10 percent”.)

Applies to: Beats Pill, as you turn it on or off with the power button. What you see: white, flashing or blinking.

Apple Support (Beats User Guide)’s page gives no step for this light; the meaning above is all it says.

The speaker is charging. Apple says the light “turns green” (guide) and “shines green” (setup article).

Applies to: Beats Pill, connected to power by USB-C. What you see: green, steady (solid).

Apple Support (Beats User Guide)’s page gives no step for this light; the meaning above is all it says.

Charging is complete. The light shines white for 10 seconds, then turns off, so a dark light on a plugged-in Pill can mean it is full.

Applies to: Beats Pill, connected to power by USB-C. What you see: white, steady (solid).

Apple Support (Beats User Guide)’s page gives no step for this light; the meaning above is all it says.

The speaker is in discovery mode, ready to be paired. The guide says the light flashes white after a tone; Apple’s setup article says the light next to the power button pulses.

Applies to: Beats Pill, after turning on or holding the power button. What you see: white, flashing or blinking or pulsing (slow fade).

What Apple says to do

1. If the light does not pulse after you turn the speaker on, hold the power button for 3 seconds to enter discovery mode.
2. On an iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch go to Settings, then Bluetooth; on a Mac, Apple menu, then System Settings, then Bluetooth; on Android, the Bluetooth settings. Make sure Bluetooth is on.
3. Select Beats Pill from the list of Bluetooth devices.

The reset is done and the speaker is ready to be paired. The pairing cue plays briefly as the light flashes.

Applies to: Beats Pill, after holding the center button (10 seconds, keeps settings) or the center and volume down buttons (15 seconds, clears settings). What you see: white, flashing or blinking.

What Apple says to do

1. Pair the speaker again to your Apple or Android device.

The speakers are joined. Holding the center button on each speaker for five seconds turns both lights blue and puts them in Amplify mode (both play the same audio). Holding the center and volume up buttons on one speaker until its light turns blue makes it the left channel in Stereo mode. Apple says the light turns blue, not whether it is steady.

Applies to: Two Beats Pill speakers joined in Amplify or Stereo mode. What you see: blue, pattern not stated by the maker.

What Apple says to do

1. Make sure one Beats Pill is on and connected and the second is on.
2. Hold the center button on each speaker for five seconds, until the light next to the power button on each turns blue (Amplify mode).
3. For Stereo mode, on the speaker you want as the left channel, hold the center button and the volume up button until its light turns blue.