Beats by Dre Teases Pokémon Collaboration with Beats Pill Electric Speaker

A six-second teaser video released on the official Beats by Dre YouTube channel shows the shadow of the Beats Pill speaker surrounded by moving sparks and flames. Titled "Time to Get Something New," the video ends with an electric Beats logo next to a pokeball.

Beats by Dre has announced an upcoming collaboration with Pokémon.

The teaser video doesn't provide any information about the product or release date, but it does indicate that the collaboration will include a Pokémon-branded version of the company's wireless speaker.

The "Electric" animations feature an unusual focus on the mascot Pokemon, Pikachu. To support this theory, unconfirmed images of a bright yellow Pikachu-themed speaker are making the rounds on the web. The flaming purple animations hint at a possible design for the second product, possibly inspired by another co-op fan, Gengar.

The standard version of the Beats Pill speaker is currently on sale for $149.99. We'll likely get a full reveal of the Pokémon x Beats collaboration along with a release date in the coming weeks.

Pokemon celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, giving the world's biggest franchise an excuse to drop more collaborations than ever. We've seen themed hardware from tech companies like Razer, footwear products from Crocs, and even entire merchandise collections with retailers like Target.

Do you think the Pokemon Company is too biased towards certain Pokemon?

No, some Pokemon are popular for a reason!

The amount of buzz going into the Pokemon brand right now suggests that any collaboration with the gaming giant is an easy win. However, an ongoing scalping crisis in the TCG market continues to spill over into all things Pokemon, and some commenters on the Beats by Dre teaser have already derided the collaboration as "The beats shill."

Apple-owned Beats by Dre released the first Beats Pill speaker in 2012.

What hasn't changed is the company's commitment to collaboration. Remember when Beats pills popped up on almost every YouTube channel? Today, the company focuses on unique themed designs, having recently released lines with Jenni (of Blackpink fame) and Kim Kardashian.

Blythe (She) is an Audience Development Coordinator at IGN who spends a lot of time on character customization screens and tracking collectibles.