Pure Evoke D2 Radio Review

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Update: Pure have released an updated version of this radio, the Pure Evoke H2.

The Pure Evoke D2 is an elegantly designed FM/DAB radio from well-respected British brand Pure. It’s designed to fit anywhere in the home and has useful features such as a kitchen timer and an alarm clock. This radio can be plugged into the mains or used as a portable radio with the optional battery pack (bought separately). Let’s take a closer look at the Pure Evoke D2…

Features

FM/DAB digital radio
Sleep and kitchen timers
Alarm with a choice of waking up to a regular alarm sound or radio
Optional ChargePAK (costs extra), which makes the radio portable
Stereo headphone jack
Line-in for connecting an MP3 player such as an iPod
Display shows the station name and song name where available
Save up to 20 preset stations (10 for FM and 10 for DAB)

Dimensions: 18 cm high x 12 cm wide x 11.5 cm deep
Weight: 1 kg

Design

This radio has a cabinet made from real walnut veneer with a white plastic fascia. It looks stylish and minimalistic, and would look great in the kitchen.

Ease of use

The Pure Evoke D2 can be a bit fiddly to use, especially when setting alarms. It’s also a shame that there’s no auto-scanning feature to tune the FM radio—instead you have to manually search through and save stations yourself.

Another issue with this radio is that the clock display is small and the numbers are squished together, making it hard to read the time for those with less than perfect eyesight.

On the positive side, the controls are laid out in a logical way and the user interface is easy to use, even if you have to push several buttons just to set a simple alarm.

Pros

Decent sound given that it is small and has a mono speaker
Attractive design
Nice warm sound

Cons

No battery backup to keep the clock accurate in the event of a powercut
Battery pack is quite expensive and not included by default
Clock display is small and hard to read from a distance
No FM auto-scanning feature

Verdict

The Pure Evoke D2 is a good-looking FM/DAB radio that would work well in the kitchen. It has a nice sound with a good amount of warmth and not too much bass. However, this radio does have some flaws regarding its small display, which a lot of people find hard to read. It also feels quite expensive for a mono radio, though it definitely looks better than most of the cheaper alternatives.

Similar radios

The D2 is just one of the radios in Pure’s Evoke range, which we explore in this article. The Evoke range features several similarly designed radios with differences in their features and price.

If you are willing to pay a bit more, you can get the Evoke D2 with Bluetooth. You can get the D2 with Bluetooth in a range of designs, including the model below which features a design by Rob Ryan.

Another DAB radio with a similar vertical design is the VQ Retro Mini, which is also a good radio for the kitchen. It’s cheaper than the Evoke D2, and has the added benefit of having Bluetooth.