Home > Consumer Reviews > PURE SONUS-1XT DAB Digital Radio with Voice Feedback Technology

An excellent DAB radio, with the unique advantage that it also acts as a speaking clock. It can also announce the station, alarm settings and almost everything else one need to know. What a pity that it is no longer being made.

The Sonus 1XT with iVox would be everything I wanted if it would only stay tuned. The spoken announcement of the time, and tuning is great, as is the fact that the luminous display can be completely turned off. The go-to-sleep if 15 minute increments, with gentle fade out exactly what one wants.

Unfortunately after a year the most likely response to pressing the 15 minute go-to-sleep button would be silence, and the need to go through the whole station search and auto-tune process. This also loses all my presets, though surprisingly not the alarm settings. However when tuning is lost the alarm does not play the radio, and I don't care if the buzzer works as I don't want that as my alarm.

Phoning Pure to request information --- not service --- i.e. was there a new firmware release, was this a known problem etc, confronted me with a demand for when it had been purchased, and on establishing that it was over a year old, refusal to talk, and a brush off to 3rd party repairers. The very worst customer handling I have ever experienced, so bad that I will never ever buy that company's product again, and warn you likewise. (Hmm wonder if UK statutory extended warranty applies?)

Oh and there might be a firmware upgrade for those of you who have a windows-xt PC, but it's not particularly clear if there is anything more than a voice-pack update, and as I don't have such a PC, I find it extremely irritating.

This radio is brilliant. Not just great, it's brilliant. It's absolutely idiot-proof (plug it in and it does everything on its own) and for very short-sighted people like me, the fact that it talks is an absolute godsend. No more squinting at a digital clock in the middle of the night, or scrabbling around for my glasses to know the time - just touch the handle and the lovely lady tells you. Sound quality is exceptional and I have found lots of stations I would never have listened to otherwise. Brilliant!

Wow technology has come alongway since my Dad's Crystal set.Who would have thought that the spiffing Pure Evoke 1xt has learnt to speak.

What i remember from listening to my first Pure digital radio was the crisp uncluttered sound and MONO sound at that.The sound was full of depth and meaning full of clarity and now with the introduction of the (AT THE MOMENT)unique speaking SONUS model you can hear every station mentioned as you tune into them.

Imagine if every electrical appliance came with this novel feature,being able to tune that old video recorder or satalite reciever would be a doddle.

If you want it to it will actually speak every single intruction on what each control does etc.
The voice is not old technology (Stephen Hawkins Style) but a very sexy upper middleclass debutant lady or gent if you require it will speak the time,every station you tune into aswell as every other function it can carry out.

If you already know the Pure Evoke -1xt model you know how many awards it has recieved,the Sonus is the same brilliant model but with a tidied up display case ie rounded sides instead of straight sides and some very usefull digital inputs aswell as the important USB connection for owners with internet facilities to download future updates.

The Sonus also comes with the more expensive facility of the carrying handle that at the touch of a hand will tell you or SPEAK to you the time in this case aswell as turn the backlite on at night aswell as set the alarms.This handle as far as im aware is only available on the top of the range models in Pure's line of radios but has been introduced on the Sonus especially for the partially sighted or Blind listeners who will find its simple touch function a breeze to use.

In effect this Magnificent sounding Digital radio has been designed for the partially sighted or the Blind who would love to beable to listen to the radio but cannot operate or see the controls properly.

If you shop around on the interenet this unique radio in that glorious Maple wood effect can be purchased at a very realistic price of way under a £[...] so it doesnot have to be an expensive luxury over the basic Pure 1xt radio.

I can guarantee once you hear every station you are tuning into aswell as the time being annoynced at a single touch of the handle you will come to realise that radio will never be the same again.

If the radio has one down side its that its only powered by the mains,there's no facilities for inserting batteries for use whilst travelling.Anyway if a battery facility was made available you would soon find it annoying because the radio doesnot last that many hours with battery use so mains only with the provided mains adapter seems a more sensible option.

As more and more people turn to DAB Radio as the country recieves national coverage talking radios will become more common but we can thank PURE for being the first to introduce this very usefull facility on what is recognised as one of the best DAB radios on the market.

The first reviewer is correct in all regards, it is a fine piece of kit. I also confirm the product description as being spot on.

In addition though I'd point out that the whole radio is geared up to help the poorly sighted or blind listner, not just the sleepy owner. A very well spoken young lady talks you though every stage of use and this includes the station name, the settings (all, including the alarms) and she will also be the voice that tells you the time overnight as you tap the handle. Crucially every action you may perform, even going to standby mode, may be confirmed by the voice if you want it that way. If you have blind relative who has not been able to buy a really nice radio which they'll be able to use, then this is the perfect gift.

What a joy to have a real human rather than a computer generated voice, say "BBC Radio Four" as I tune in! I'm fully sighted but I do like being able to reach out and get the time at a touch without even opening my eyes.

Two alarms can be set independently, including the option for different ones for the weekend, all weekdays or Saturday or Sunday separately. Very good. Add a sleep timer and you get a fully functional clock radio with loads of features and a nice sounding DAB radio all in one package.

I own an original Pure Evok -1/ ST-1 (aux speaker) combi which I bought very soon after they were available. The Sonus has a better finish, having rounded edges and it is surprising how less utilitarian the thing looks. Some don't like the "Pure look" but I've always really liked it.

The connectivity of the Sonus has improved since those early days since there is optical out and a USB port for updates over the internet, in addition to line out, phono-via-jackplug-out and aux speaker out. I probably wont buy an aux speaker for this bedside radio since I have so little space on my night stand. Then again...

The improvement in sound quality that Pure claim for the "XT" second generation over the originals I have yet to perceive. I reckoned the Evoke-1 to sound really good and I haven't listened to much music on the Sonus, preferring speech to wake me. But it does sound good so far. Given that "it does what it says on the can" applies to all their products, I'll take Pure's word for it.

While the price is definitely hefty, the Sonus-1XT is otherwise almost flawless. I can't recommend this enough. I will treasure it always.