A review by Peter Wilkins.
This product was reviewed in November 2011 and it was priced at about £80 at the time of writing.
About me
Hello, my name is Peter Wilkins and I am severely partially sighted. Over the years I have reviewed many products for audio and Braille magazines, including analogue and digital radios, television set-top boxes, various types of recording equipment, headphones, CD players and recorders.
Ever since I picked up my first digital radio, about seven years ago, I have been waiting for one to come on the market which is very portable, has its own speaker, but is small enough to put in a jacket pocket, and economical on batteries. At last it has arrived, in the shape of the Pure "Move".
A good Move from Pure
This radio, which measures 6 by 3.5 by 1 inch, is very light-weight. Across the top, at the back, is a telescopic aerial. In the top left-hand corner are two small holes for fitting a wrist strap, which is supplied.
At the bottom there is a pull-out stand, running the length of the radio, which must be used in order for it to stand up safely.
On the left edge of the radio are a slider switch to lock the controls, so they cannot be activated whilst travelling, a push-button to turn the power on and off, and also a socket for the mains unit/battery charger. There is also a pin-hole into which you insert a pointed object such as a pen if the power switch refuses to function. I don't know why this would happen, but it is referred to in the instruction manual.
On the right edge of the radio is a socket for stereo headphones, a computer port for future upgrades, and a "line-in" jack to allow you to play an external device through the radio's speaker. It should be noted that when anything is plugged into this socket, the amplification in the radio is disconnected, and you alter the volume on the playback device.
Setting-up and using the radio
The small speaker is to the left on the front panel, to the right of which are five controls. The first button is for info, and is no use to a blind person.
The second button is for setting and retrieving pre-set stations, used in conjunction with the cursor.
The cursor is a five-way operation: left, right, up, down, and press to select. Up and down alter the volume, and left and right are used to select stations and to go through menu options. The other two controls are for FM/DAB selection, and menu.
The built-in rechargeable battery is claimed to give forty hours of listening when fully charged, and tests appear to confirm this. The charger is very small and light, similar to that of a modern mobile phone.
When tuning on FM, pushing the cursor to the left or right scans to the next station, and starts to play it. If you wish, you can change this in the menu to move in steps of 50 kilohertz.
When tuning on DAB, you push the cursor to the left or right, which changes the name of the station on the display. However, in order to select the chosen station you then press the centre of the cursor.
Ten memories can be stored on FM and ten on DAB.
Benefits and drawbacks
The radio performed much better than I expected. It picks up stations on FM which are normally difficult to tune in here at home, being close to other stations. On DAB, it pulled in all the major multiplexes expected, and some others which most portables find difficult to receive.
As the main purpose of this radio is for travelling, I have tried it on the train. It performed better than most other travel radios, but some trains are not radio-friendly, and it is best to sit as far as you can away from the control systems on the train if you want the best results. In good signal areas the radio can be operated with its aerial down. Although the headphone lead also acts as an aerial, I did find, when travelling, that extending the aerial gave improved results in poor signal areas.
Although the radio does not have talking menus, all the functions which you are likely to need, including auto-tuning and complete re-set are easy to achieve as a totally blind person.
Overall evaluation
In short, I am very impressed with every aspect of this radio.
Obviously, it cannot produce music well through its small speaker, but very good results are achieved through headphones, which are not supplied.
Legal disclaimer
This review reflects the opinions of the author only. RNIB cannot be held liable for opinions expressed in this article.
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