Pure Digital One Classic II review

The Pure One Classic II is a gentle upgrade of the splendid original Tested at £65

What Hi-Fi? Verdict

A gentle upgrade of an already established favourite makes the Pure One Classic II an obvious choice

Pros

  • +

    Properly made

  • +

    recording capability

  • +

    surprisingly expansive, balanced sound

Cons

  • -

    Does iffy broadcasts no favours

Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.

We’ve long admired the Pure One Classic – a firm five-star favourite and the world’s bestselling digital radio.

So how does Pure fix a product that’s demonstrably not broken? By adding a rudimentary recording feature and shaving the cost of a pint (we’re in London here, don’t forget) off the price.

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‘Listen Later’ is a self-explanatory feature: the One can record your favourite daily (or weekly) radio programme for consumption at your convenience.

The memory has space for one show (of between 30 minutes and 3 hours, depending on the broadcast quality) and overwrites it with the next one regardless of whether you’ve listened to it or not.

Otherwise, the One is unaltered. Sound is, by the standards of affordable kit, impressive: open, detailed and nicely unified when given a decent transmission to work with. It has greater scale and dynamism than you might expect, too.

Affordable radios don’t get much more appealing.

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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.


Read more about how we test