Pure Elan E3 Review - Best Radios

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Summary:
An easy-to-use radio from a respected British brand, the Elan E3 is one of the best DAB radios in its price range.

Buy it online:
See price on Amazon.co.uk

The Pure Elan E3 is a small and affordable FM/DAB/DAB+ radio with a colour screen. It’s one of Pure’s newest digital radios, having been released in 2016. It’s also one of their cheapest digital radios at the time of writing. The Elan E3 seems to promise a lot for the price, but does it deliver? Let’s find out…

Features

FM/DAB/DAB+ radio
Screen with full-colour TFT display
Dual alarm
Sleep and kitchen timer
Runs on mains power or 4 x AA batteries
Save up to 40 preset stations
RDS scrolling text information while listening to the radio
3.5 mm Aux input for connecting an MP3 player or other audio device
Headphone jack
Adjustable bass and treble controls
Telescopic aerial

Dimensions: 20 cm wide x 11.5 cm high x 5.3 cm deep

Performance and use

Like most Pure radios, the Elan E3 seems to be made of quality materials, and it feels sturdy and well built. It’s a small radio that’s made from plastic, but it still has a decent amount of weight to it and doesn’t feel cheap and tacky.

The Elan E3 is simple to use. It has a nice rotary volume control that is more satisfying to use than having to press separate ‘up’ and ‘down’ buttons. Storing preset stations is also straightforward using the dedicated preset buttons, so you don’t need to scroll through a menu like you do on many other small DAB radios.

Given that the Elan E3 is a small mono radio, you can’t expect too much from the sound quality. The sound is clear and is good enough for casual listening, but there isn’t much depth to it. The radio is fine for listening to speech programmes but isn’t so good for listening to music.

The Elan E3 works well as a bedside radio thanks to its dual alarms and dimmable display that can be turned very low so it won’t disturb you at night.

Pros

Good value for money
Features a colour screen
Easy to set up and use
Good alarm functions
Offered with a 3-year manufacturer’s guarantee
Take AA batteries, which are cheaper than bespoke battery packs

Cons

Short battery life (about 4 hours)
Sound quality is mediocre

Verdict

The Elan E3 is an affordable and easy-to-use radio from a respected British brand, and is one of the best DAB radios in its price range. While the sound quality is uninspiring, the Elan E3 is fine for casually listening to in the bedroom or kitchen, and offers several useful features. All in all, it’s a good choice for a budget DAB/DAB+ radio.

Similar radios

Pure produce a number of other affordable FM/DAB radios. One example is the Pure One Mini Series 3, which is a small digital radio that could be a good alternative to the Elan E3. One potential downside of the One Mini Series 2 is that instead of using it with AA batteries, you need to buy an expensive bespoke battery pack if you want to use it as a portable radio.

One alternative with better sound quality is the Sony XDRS60. It will probably cost you more than the Pure Elan E3, and it also lacks an alarm function, but if sound quality is important to you, it’s a good option.

For some more budget DAB radios to consider, check out our pick of the top 5 DAB radios under £50, or see the cheapest DAB radios in the UK here.