Pure Digital Evoke Flow review

Internet radio gives you a choice of thousands of new stations, and Evoke's Digital Flow has some clever technology to help you find the best ones Tested at £150.00

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

A feature-packed, well-executed internet radio. A delight to use and listen to

Pros

  • +

    Easy to use and set up

  • +

    excellent search function

  • +

    detailed, balanced sound

  • +

    interesting online aspect

Cons

  • -

    Nothing of note

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Some would argue that the world of internet radio has yet to hit the mainstream, but Pure hopes the brand new Evoke Flow will give added weight to this useful, if perhaps underused service.

Straight out of the box, things look promising. Pure has really gone to town on styling and the gloss black chassis is extremely attractive. It's punctuated by a bright, backlit OLED display that is easy to read and is hooked up to a light sensor that dims the display according to your lighting conditions.

Below the display sit four touch-sensitive buttons that respond well to a tap from your finger, volume and function dials and a touch-sensitive standby button in the corner.

On the back of the radio you'll find an auxiliary input, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an output for connecting a second Pure speaker to create stereo radio.

Taking the chore out of tuning in
With some internet radios, sorting through the thousands of stations on offer can be a massive chore. It can also be a disappointing one when you finally tune into a channel only to be disappointed by its extremely low-quality bitrate.

To help weed out the poorer stations, Pure has refined its search function, making it arguably the most comprehensive on the market.

Not only can you search by genre, language, location etc, you can also sort stations by their bitrate. They're rated on a scale of one to five, with five being the highest quality. It makes life far less frustrating.

Choose your favourite internet stations
You can save eight internet stations as favourites on the radio and when you register the radio with Pure's own online portal, The PURE Lounge, this gives even greater flexibility.

Pure prides itself on reception and sound quality and the Flow doesn't disappoint, even managing to track down some DAB stations from within the confines of our ground floor listening rooms – a rare feat.

Music delivery is insightful and revealing. Switching between rock, trance and classical stations, all is kept in check with a finely balanced sound. Bass-heads might pine for a touch more weight, but we'd hardly level this as a criticism at this money.

If you've been put off by the thought of Internet radio in the past, perhaps the Evoke Flow with its user-friendly design, clever search mechanism and excellent sound quality can change your mind.

Click here to watch our video review of the Pure Evoke Flow.

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What Hi-Fi?

What Hi-Fi?, founded in 1976, is the world's leading independent guide to buying and owning hi-fi and home entertainment products. Our comprehensive tests help you buy the very best for your money, with our advice sections giving you step-by-step information on how to get even more from your music and movies. Everything is tested by our dedicated team of in-house reviewers in our custom-built test rooms in London, Reading and Bath. Our coveted five-star rating and Awards are recognised all over the world as the ultimate seal of approval, so you can buy with absolute confidence.


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