£170 seems like a lot of money to spend on a clock radio, but the Pure-Fi Dream is no ordinary clock radio. Yes, it will wake you up in the morning and in fact it has two alarms. This is something many bog standard clock radios can't manage, and if you are the kind of person who likes to wake up at different times at the weekend and on weekdays it is an absolute must-have feature.

If you prefer listening to your own music as you enter the day then the iPod dock will suit. There are adaptors for most iPods, though older ones aren't supported. Your iPod sits in the middle of the front of the casing between two enormous speakers and above a large information display. If you don't have an iPod, a 3.5mm jack on the back of the unit provides a less elegant docking solution.

The Pure-Fi Dream is large, though its curved design means at least it doesn't look like a huge brick of a thing. If you intend to keep it on your bedside table you may need to clear everything else from the surface. We measured it as requiring around 360mm of width and 160mm in depth for good all-round clearance. It is about 150mm tall.

The top of the unit contains some huge buttons. The snooze button is more than 100mm long, for example. After a short learning curve you'll probably be able to reach them all by touch alone. We especially like the two rotating wheels. One is for volume control while the other moves forwards and back through a track. There are also buttons for switching between six radio stations or playlists.

When you want to access the controls in the dark, a quick wave of your hand is acknowledged by motion sensors which obligingly ensure the buttons are backlit orange.

If you want to position the Pure-Fi Dream further from your ears, its remote control replicates the on-device controls. Its buttons are also backlit orange and again there is a very large snooze button. In addition you get the six switcher buttons, iPod shuffle and repeat buttons and the ability to set alarms and change the clock time.

Sound quality is impressive. It is certainly a lot better than our present clock radio in this respect, with beefy bass output and more volume than anyone would want to wake up to. Bass and treble controls let you fiddle a bit with the output.

What's not to like? Well, the power supply is huge and you can't manage without it. A backup battery ensures the alarm works in the event of power failure but to access all the features you need mains power. The Pure-Fi Dream itself could be simply too large for many tastes. There's no RDS for the radio, either, and it's FM only - no DAB.

Verdict
If you are utterly attached to your iPod, can live without DAB and don't mind the rather high price tag, then this is definitely an option worth considering.

Company: Logitech

Contact: 020 7309 0127

Tags: ipod alarm clock fm broadcasting radio iphone ios (apple) ipad ihome