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Pure One Mini
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It is 14x13x6cm a lot smaller than most DAB/FM units, probably the reason for the name 'Mini'. It has an eight piece rod aerial that increases the second figure the height by 44cm if it is extended vertically.
The rear has input for the A/C adapter, there is a battery bay but this can only accept a 'ChargePAK' and not standard alkaline batteries. The top has six silvered buttons, the large one on the left on/off and the other five all labelled as to their job. The only other control is on the side a large rotating multifunctional silvered knob. Below this knob are three inputs for any 3.5mm jack (such as MP3 player) mini USB and ear-buds for those who want stereo output.
Before you connect the power extend the aerial as an Auto-tune is its first job. The three line screen - 4.5x1.5cm - lights - blue on white, each line can display up to sixteen characters, any longer than that then it scrolls. It found 52 stations quite quickly which is the norm for this area. For some reason it defaults to Radio 2 but one click on the station button and then a twist of the multifunctional button can quickly change this if this is not your type of music.
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Unless the user is a novice I doubt that a User manual is required, there is a sheet that folds out into 16 sides, however as this is in six languages there is not that much information but lots of diagrams should assist.
Setting pre-sets is a little fiddly and the instruction is not a great deal of help, while the eight available DAB pre-sets are not that important as you can quickly scroll through the available stations even all 52 if you get that many. However for FM they are as it will require you to remember the frequency and moving from one end of the waveband to find the frequency.
So once you have pressed the pre-set button all other action is on the multifunctional knob on the side, twist to find a free pre-set and then press it to save the preset, not exactly what the diagram says. For some stations you twist the knob it will change to say that station IE LBC other you will have to select it and then it displays IE Smooth some just display the frequency IE 106.30MHz.
The single speaker gives a good sound for a reasonable sized room; it is according to the sheet a 3inch one. Why then might you want to put your iPod or MP3 player through this? Well for those not wanting to wear ear-buds all the time it gives a good sound for local listening. You will need a 3.5mm to 3.5mm lead as none is supplied. As soon as you plug in the lead the screen displays 'Auxiliary input' on the second line of the display. The only other item on the screen is the clock on the top line. At this point your iPod/MP3 player is just using the Pure One Mini as a speaker.
For those expecting an alarm or a sleep time you are out of luck. Once you press the on/off button the centre line of the display shows the clock as long there is power but the back-light is extinguished. I assume this would be the same if you purchased the optional ChargePAK that recharges all the time you are connected to the mains, as I was not supplied with one I can only surmise.
Once you are used to the multifunctional knob doing almost everything the other buttons are solely to change its task then controlling the Pure One Mini is simple. Yes the instructions could be better; however the sound on DAB, FM and even with MP3 is good.
Maybe an alarm and sleep time to make it the same as the majority of other units and possibly the ability to run from standard alkaline batteries. I mentioned the mini-USB input but that is just for upgrades.
Doing my Internet searches found the Pure One Mini at a best price of £39.95 including free delivery and two years guarantee from John Lewis. Mine was Black but I see it's also available in White or Pink.
http://www.johnlewis.com/230503268/Product.aspx
http://www.puredigital.com/products/product.asp?Product=VL-61028
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