Beats By Dr. Dre is a brand everybody now recognizes. Some argue the audio equipment endorsed and partially designed by the hip-hop legend is overpriced, gimmicky, and inferior to similar products offered by rivaling companies. Although it’s certainly laughable to see certain folks pay upward of $300 for headphones without knowing how to properly encode music (or indeed, what encoding even means), you have to hand it to Beats for its marketing strength.
That promo prowess will once again be put to the test thanks to a couple intriguing new products which have been added to the ever-growing roster of boom-tastic products.
Judging from the monstrous specs of the Pill and the Executive, we are thoroughly impressed by both – but more particularly the headphones – which are encased in a rather beautiful aluminum shell. As you can see from the images below, they keep that typical Beats on-ear look, while also refreshing things enough to keep them looking distinctive:
Meanwhile the “Pill” paints itself as your perfect travel companion, and will wirelessly project your eclectic musical tastes without the need for those pesky wires. While the “Executive” headphones cost $300, the NFC-equipped Pill will cost you $200, featuring Bluetooth 2.1 speaker, four 1-inch drivers, and support for codecs like Apt-X and AAC (of iTunes fame).
The Executive headphones only come in aluminum, although just by looking at them in the images, you probably wouldn’t want it any other way. The portable speaker system comes in black, white or red, but don’t be surprised to see all the colors of the rainbow made available if the Pill enjoys similar success to some of the other Beats products.
I’ve used Beats headphones before, and while I do find the audio quality and bass to be clear and rich, they in no way warrant the sky-high asking prices. An $80 pair can yield similar performance should you be willing to do a little digging, but as is often said to be the case with Apple products, the branding counts for quite a lot, and consumers are willing to fork out the big bucks to own Beats merchandise.
For more info on the Executive and the Pill, head on over to beatsbydre.com.
Are you keen to get your hands on the Executive headphones or the Pill speaker system?
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