Rathores blog

Pure takes the Air and ventures out into the stream

A Pure Contour system without a built-in radio is like a Wimbledon fortnight without Sir Cliff - unthinkable. But that's exactly what you get with the Pure Contour 200i Air.

There's not a DAB or FM tuner in sight. Instead, the company is nudging consumers down the internet radio route via its Pure Lounge music streaming service for iOS and Android devices. Once it's installed, you can stream songs, podcasts and live radio feeds from around the world through your smartphone. Of course, this is in addition to playing music from your device's hard drive.

A wi-fi first with ethernet option

Of course, as the model name suggests, the 200i Air does feature AirPlay functionality - in fact, it's the first ever Pure product to be AirPlay enabled.

Connecting the unit to your network is simply a matter of docking your iDevice and hitting the wi-fi set-up button on the rear. Press 'accept' on the prompt screen and Contour hops on your network straight away. It can operate wirelessly, or you can hardwire via the ethernet connection on the back.

Factor in the cost of implementing AirPlay and sound quality is fine for the money. The Pure does sound slightly coarse, but the level of detail is good and the system sounds lively. Vocals and dialogue sound clear enough and although it's not the weightiest of sounds, lows don't come across as malnourished. The switch from a docked iDevice to AirPlay results in a slight drop in sound quality, though.

Streaming using Pure's own Pure Lounge app proved more of a stumbling block. Our iPhone 4S had no problem selecting and streaming radio stations and on-demand programming, but every time we tried to stream a song or album it crashed.

What we have here is a relatively affordable first step onto the AirPlay ladder. Sound quality isn't perfect, but the 200i Air is still worth investigating.

Pros: Easy to set-up: AirPlay enabled; relatively detailed and exciting to listen to

Cons: Coarse-ish character to the sound; buggy Pure Lounge App

VERDICT: Pure's first radio-less speaker dock fares well, but it can be bettered

Also Try:

Pure Lounge App