DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting) isn't having a great time of it, being rather less popular than the marketeers would like, but with the Pure Digital EVOKE Flow, DAB is only part of the deal and, quite frankly, it can easily pass by unnoticed.

This is an Internet radio and media portal with FM, aux input for your portable music player and DAB (if you want it). But it is the Wi-Fi that makes all the difference as this allows the EVOKE Flow to connect to your computer and stream audio content, and to the Internet and stream Internet radio.

Oh, and you can also stream from a selection of over 80 Pure Sounds, designed to help you find the right mood. Just working through these is an exercise in its own right. Selections include cicadas at sunset, electric typewriter, forest birds, lively restaurant and a rickety old train.

In design terms this is a lovely piece of kit. It doesn't have the wood and silver design that some people like in Pure radios. Instead it is shiny black with lovely build quality. Even the carry handle has a classy feature: it is marked ‘Snooze Handle' and, as you might expect, it snoozes the alarm.

The controls are easy to master. Buttons for Volume and Select are supplemented by three touch buttons that sit under a large OLED screen. Their functions change depending on what the screen offers. There is also a touch back button and a touch on/off switch.

Most of the time options are accessed via vertically scrolling menus, but to get to an Internet radio station you need to enter text. This is easy enough to do by turning the Select button and then pressing to confirm the character you want. But to be honest you are much better off using the Pure Lounge.

This is an online portal that lets you configure favourite Internet radio stations, podcasts and Pure Sounds. There is also 'listen again' content from a host of BBC national and local radio stations. You choose what you want and can even put the content into folders.

You could set up a folder for ‘relaxed', one for ‘party', one for ‘morning in the kitchen' one for ‘podcast catchup' and so on. The folders are listed on the EVOKE Flow and you open them to get to their content. Or you can just leave the content freeform and scroll through the listing on the radio.

It is a pity that you only get a quick start guide in the packaging and have to download the full manual as a PDF, but then again we didn't need the manual to get going as the steps are straightforward.

It took just a couple of minutes to hook up to our secure network. Getting the radio to connect to the PURE Lounge was more fragmented, though. You have to register for an online account, wait for an e-mail, click the link to activate the account, then enter some additional data like the radio serial number. Then you get another e-mail with a code to enter into the radio.

This all ensures that what you do at the Lounge links directly to your EVOKE Flow and nobody else's, and it did not take long to complete.

Verdict
We aren't fans of the fact that when you are out and about you have to use Pure's proprietary battery pack, which is an optional add-on extra, and that if you want full stereo you need to buy a second speaker. The volume could do with going a little higher, too. But if you want a streaming radio with all the trimmings, this could be an ideal choice.

Company: PURE Digital

Contact: 01923 260511

Tags: internet radio radio bbc wi-fi fm broadcasting arts sound files streaming