Pure Evoke Flow

British firm Pure has, for a long time, been associated with producing high quality DAB radios. But despite its success, it has steadfastly refused to produce an internet radio. Until now. With the launch of the Pure Evoke Flow, the firm makes its first ever foray into the networked radio market, and to stunning effect.

Anyone familiar with the Pure range will recognise the shape of this radio instantly. But its colour scheme is much less staid. The radio is clad entirely in gloss black, and adorned only with a couple of smoked-chrome effect clickable knobs. The screen is a bright and clear yellow-against-black OLED display, and below it are three touch-sensitive buttons that change function depending on which screen you're in.

The whole system works like a dream. The menus are snappy and responsive, the DAB and FM radio quality solid and, more importantly, the internet radio functions work brilliantly. The search function is the key here: not only can you filter stations by region and genre, but you can also run keyword searches, and search by language.

In tests we were able to locate and listen to every BBC podcast, Listen Again service, and radio station we searched for, tuning in was quick at under ten seconds on average, and sound quality was impressive, too - among the best we've heard from any internet radio. There's even a selection of ambient sounds, such as crashing waves on a beach, to choose from if you feel like you need a bit of stress relief. Plus you can use the Flow to browse music on any UPnP-compatible media server.

It's tied closely to Pure's internet radio website - The Lounge. Register your radio online and every radio station, podcast and listen again service you add to your favourites will be transferred to the radio instantly. The same happens in reverse - stations you search for and bookmark on the radio are then visible on the website. It's an effective and ingenious feature.

The Pure Evoke Flow doesn't quite emulate the simplicity of DAB radios - the myriad of menu options can occasionally become confusing - but this is the best internet radio we've used, bar none. It's expensive, sure, but well worth the outlay.

Author: Jonathan Bray