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There’s a welter of new DAB delights to choose from in the run up to Christmas. And PURE isn’t being shy about unleashing a slew of killer radios for the festive season. The latest, the PURE Chronos iDock Series II, crams in iPod and MP3 functionality as well as all that radio goodness. So how does it stack up? Read PURE Chronos iDock Series II review and we’ll give you the complete lowdown.
The best way to assess the PURE Chronos iDock Series II is to bear in mind this is first and foremost an alarm clock, albeit a relatively stylish one in stark black or white. Using mains power (there’s no battery option), it’s sturdily built in the distinctive triangular shape of its predecessor.
The layout of the PURE Chronos iDock Series II has gone through a major revamp with the accent on simplicity and clarity. The 16 x 2 character LCD display has a large clock and icons, plus scrolling text when in DAB mode. The control buttons are equally sizeable, well labelled and surround a large central dial for zooming through menus. It would have been better, though, to have had the buttons backlit for night viewing and the Source button was frequently unresponsive.
Read our Pure Siesta Flow review now
Setting up the PURE Chronos iDock Series II is a piece of cake – simply hit the Standby button (curiously not mentioned in the manual) and the machine hunts down all available DAB options. You can then tune into your favourite DAB or FM stations, insert an iPod or iPhone into the firm dock on the top or input a different MP3 player or CD player via the auxiliary jack input.
What’s new with the PURE Chronos iDock Series II over the earlier model is a USB PowerPort behind the dock which will recharge your mobile phone while you sleep. There’s also an improvement in the sound quality of the two 5W speakers, with the ability to increase or decrease treble and bass by +/-3. While the DAB quality on speech radio is crystal clear, music still starts to distort at about 75% volume but by that stage the alarm should have jerked you out of bed.
What’s not new with the PURE Chronos iDock Series II are the four alarm types (including a simple tone), the light sensor that adjusts brightness to room light levels and the 30 station presets for DAB and FM. However, as these are all positives, why change them, eh? The Roberts Idream CRD42 DAB/FM clock radio with iPod dock is £20 cheaper but lacks many PURE functions.
