Pure Evoke Flow internet radio

Pure's digital radios have long been among the best around, but the Evoke Flow is the company's first foray into internet radio.

Unlike broadcast radio, the internet version is distributed online and usually listened to on a computer, or on a dedicated device such as the Flow.

Unlike other internet radios we've seen, the Flow is tightly bound to Pure's free-to-use Lounge website. On the site you can listen to stations and set favourites, then once the radio is linked to your website account all your favourite stations are automatically transferred to the radio.

Setup was easy: it connects to a wireless network (there's no wired connection, which annoyed us a little) and you have to enter your network key using the dial on the front, which was not too awkward. The radio is very well designed, with touch-sensitive controls on the front panel and only two dials, for volume and tuning. The screen on the front is good and bright, and dims automatically at night when not in use.

The Flow can also access normal digital radio (Dab) stations, as well as streaming music from a computer or network hard disk. Tuning was a little fiddly, though, especially for Dab, and although the dial works well, scrolling through long lists of songs or stations can become a drag.

If you go the whole hog and use it in conjunction with the online Lounge, which is how it's designed to be used, it works much better and access to favourite stations is a matter of a couple of button presses.

Quality was good for internet stations and Dab, although we found the quality on streamed music to be a little lower than from comparably priced dedicated media streamers. It was still perfectly listenable, though.

The Pure Evoke Flow is easy to use and simple to set up, well built, and offers great access to a long list of stations from around the world, as well as UK digital radio and more. It's also good value, being only a little pricier than a Dab or internet radio on its own.

Pure's aim with the Evoke Flow was to make an internet radio for the rest of us, not for internet geeks, and on this evidence it has succeeded.

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