Beats and The Pokémon Company are releasing a Pokémon edition of the Beats Pill on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 8 a.m. Pacific, priced at $149.99. Pikachu and Mimikyu share the speaker grille, and a Poké Ball charm hangs from the lanyard. It sells through apple.com, Target, Argos and Douyin, in three countries only.
After the Crocs clogs in August and the Polaroid cameras in October, here is the third Pokémon lifestyle collaboration of the year, and the most unexpected one: a Bluetooth speaker. Beats, the audio brand Apple bought in 2014 for 3 billion dollars, confirmed the product on Tuesday, October 13, one day after a teaser landed on its YouTube channel under a simple title: "Time to catch something new.". We checked the prices, the sales channels and the actual options if you live outside the launch countries, because the announcement does not think about you.
What does the Pokémon Beats Pill look like?
It is a regular Beats Pill dressed for battle: grey body, Mimikyu in shades of grey on the left side of the grille, Pikachu in electric yellow on the right, with the b logo standing between them like a referee. The grey lanyard carries a removable Poké Ball charm, and special edition Beats x Pokémon stickers complete the box.
The detail that made me smile is the packaging: the box has a moving part, Pikachu's ear lifts up when you handle it. A box that plays along, for an object made to be shown off at parties or displayed on a collector's shelf. Both character illustrations use a halftone, screen-printed style closer to retro print than to the smooth 3D renders you see on most merchandise.
What is the price, and where can you buy it on October 15?
The speaker goes on sale on Thursday, October 15, 2026 at 8 a.m. Pacific time, at $149.99, exactly the price of the standard colors. Sales open simultaneously on every channel: apple.com and Target in the United States, apple.com and Argos in the United Kingdom, apple.com and Douyin in China.
| Country | Where to buy | Price |
|---|---|---|
| United States | apple.com and Target, online and in select stores | $149.99 |
| United Kingdom | apple.com and Argos | aligned with the standard model, sold at £149.99 at Argos |
| China | apple.com and Douyin | not announced |
| Continental Europe | no channel announced | import only |
Beats calls it a special edition without announcing quantities or an end date. One hint about the rush to expect: in early October, content creator BritBratTV photographed boxes already sitting in a Target warehouse, and the leak fueled ten days of speculation before the teaser even aired. When fans are tracking a product before it is announced, the launch day queue is rarely empty. The Beats page offers a "Notify Me" alert, worth switching on right now.
Is the Pokémon Beats Pill coming to continental Europe?
No. France, Germany, Spain and the rest of continental Europe are not part of the launch, and Beats has not announced any extension. The three channels are locked by geography: Apple does not ship outside each store's country, Target delivers within the United States, Argos within the UK and Ireland.
It stings, because Beats does sell the standard Pill here: €169.95 on the French Apple Store, in black, red or champagne. The Pikachu and Mimikyu version stops at the border. A second wave is possible if demand explodes, Polaroid eventually widened some references of its own collaboration, but nothing announces it. Meanwhile, if Pikachu is what you are really after and importing puts you off, the Pikachu crystal LED Pokéball with its 3D laser engraving ships from our own stock, free delivery across Europe, no customs and no middleman.
How much does importing one from the UK cost?
Budget 220 to 250 euros all included, for a speaker that costs the equivalent of about 170 euros in London. The math adds up fast: £149.99 for the speaker, 15 to 25 pounds for a parcel forwarder, then 20% French VAT charged on the product plus shipping at the border, plus the carrier's handling fee.
The other route is resale. It will be instant, and above retail: we documented that exact scenario in our piece on the Polaroid x Pokémon sell-out, where cameras released on October 5 were being flipped at a premium within days. My shopkeeper's advice, learned from watching fans overpay every collaboration this year: set your ceiling price before the evening of October 15, and let the first week of madness pass. The Crocs editions proved the point, the 30th anniversary Pokémon clogs were still available at retail a month after launch.
Why Pikachu and Mimikyu on the same speaker?
Because Mimikyu is Pikachu's self-appointed impersonator. This Ghost and Fairy type from Alola lives under a cloth sewn to look like Pikachu: the Pokédex explains it imitates the mascot to make friends. Putting the original and the copy back to back on the same grille is the sharpest joke this licence has allowed on a piece of merchandise in years.
The timing is no accident either: an October 15 release lands two weeks before Halloween, and Mimikyu has become the face of that season for the franchise. The Beats page introduces it as a dweller of dark places, opposite a Pikachu that discharges its cheeks when it gets angry. If night-time Pokémon speak to you more than speakers do, the Umbreon crystal LED Pokéball plays in the same register: a nocturnal Pokémon engraved in crystal, glowing on a bedside table after dark.
How good is the Beats Pill as a speaker?
The Pokémon edition takes the 2024 Beats Pill and changes nothing technical: up to 24 hours of claimed battery life, IP67 dust and water resistance, a USB-C port that can also top up your phone, Bluetooth 5.3, and pairing of two Pills in stereo or amplify mode. You are paying for the artwork, not for an inflated spec sheet.
That is the right way to decide. If what you want is a speaker, the standard Pill does strictly the same job, sits in European stores at €169.95 and needs no forwarder and no customs form. If what you want is the collectible, the Pokémon edition is the only one of the two likely to gain value, and the only one that will make a trainer smile at a party. Between the two, there is only the artwork on the grille, and a 60 to 80 euro gap once the import is paid.
Watch the teaser on the Beats by Dre YouTube channel
We will keep this page updated if Beats opens sales in Europe. And for the nights when the speaker stays silent, our collection of light-up crystal Pokéballs lights the shelf for the price of a Switch game, €29.99, with no queue at 8 a.m. Pacific.
Image credits: Beats and The Pokémon Company (Pokémon edition Beats Pill press visuals, October 2026). Facts checked on October 14, 2026 against beatsbydre.com, MacRumors and Pokemon-France.
