Review: Pure Digital One digital radio

If you were first among your friends to buy a digital radio, we’ve got some bad news: the latest DAB model from Pure Digital costs under £50. What’s more, it’s really rather good.

Forget about the wooden casing or retro styling of models such as the Pure Digital  Evoke-3; the One is a singularly no-frills affair in a choice of white, fuchsia pink and TalkSport-branded black plastic casing.

It has only one speaker and there’s no Pure Digital ‘Revu’ feature to pause and rewind live radio. There’s no DAB electronic programme guide, nor the ability to set up a personal schedule. But because of its simplicity, this is one of the easiest to use digital radios we’ve come across.

The main functions of the radio are controlled using the large dial on the front of the unit with clearly-labelled buttons such as Volume or Stations sitting alongside to change between functions.

The Preset button gives access to up to up to 20 saved DAB or FM stations and the Intellitext feature displays text broadcasts of the latest headlines and sport scores along the bottom of the small, yet pin-sharp, LCD screen.

TalkSport is currently the only station broadcasting these, but the One will pick up text broadcasts from other radio stations as and when these become available.

Using the Textscan feature it’s possible to pause and scroll back through the text displayed onscreen in case you missed something. To activate this at any time, press the control dial once, then turn it to scroll.

Sound quality is surprisingly good for a radio of this size and well-balanced too. At higher volume levels it happily cuts through kitchen-appliance noise while audio settings can be tweaked to improve the overall sound at lower volumes.

A USB socket means the radio can be upgraded and the inclusion of a kitchen timer shows some thought has been given as to where this radio is likely to be used. There’s no alarm clock, which is shame, but there is a sleep timer that will please those who like falling asleep to music.

A mains power lead is included but as the radio will also run on six C batteries (for 35 hours) or a Pure Digital ChargePAK (for 20 hours), it can be taken on picnics, into the garden or to the beach.

If the thought of having to plough through a user manual before you can even turn a device on brings you out in hives, this is the radio for you – and at a truly fantastic price.

Related reviews 
Pure Digital Evoke-3 DAB radio
Verdict: An impressive DAB radio that delivers on its promises, but the £200 asking price will deter all but the most committed radio devotee
Rating: 4/5
Price: £200