Pure Sensia review

We had no trouble using the Sensia to play music stored on a networked PC, thanks to its built-in 802.11b/g networking. The collection of internet radio stations and podcasts from around the world is vast and varied, although a surprisingly large number of stations were inexplicably unplayable. We had trouble getting interference-free FM and DAB radio reception, even with the large telescopic antenna.

The built-in speakers are surprisingly loud. They sound very muddy, though, and distort quickly at higher volumes. Although it's less noticeable when there's no bass, as in talk radio or most jazz music. There's a reasonable amount of bass, but it's not very focussed and sound quite boomy which doesn't do bass-heavy music justice, either. The sound quality is good enough for day-to-day radio listening, but to get the most of your music collection, it's worth connecting a set of speakers to the 3.5mm audio output jack; although this largely defeats the point of an all-in-one device.

The Sensia can be used as an alarm clock and it can be set to wake you to the sounds of your FM, DAB or internet radio stations or a series of simple alarm tones. It doesn't fade in gently, but goes off abruptly, which we found rather jarring, but the large onscreen snooze button is a nice touch. Disappointingly, it's lacking some useful alarm extras – such as being able to set it only for specific days or having multiple alarm times for couples.

We wanted to like the Sensia. It's packed full of useful features; but some, such as the alarm and limited choice of apps, need improvement. Its most crippling flaw though is its sluggish touchscreen interface, which is very frustrating to use. If you want a network media player with apps, then consider Logitech's cheaper Squeezebox Radio, although it lacks DAB and FM radio. If you need these features, then Pure's similarly priced Avanti Flow is our pick. It has most of the Sensia's features, including the same web interface, but none of its flaws.