Computer Shopper - UK (2019-12)

3636 DECEMBER 2019|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE 382

PURE DiscovR

★★★★★

£230•From http://www.currys.co.uk

WIRELESSSMARTSPEAKER

VERDICT

Awell-designed,feature-packedsmartspeaker,butits

underwhelmingsoundqualitydoesn’tjustifytheprice

DRIVERS (^3) • RMSPOWEROU TPUT45W•DOCK
CONNECT ORNone•WIRELESS802.11acWi-Fi,Bluetooth•
DIMENSI ONS140x110x110mm•WEIGHT970g•
WARRANTYTwoyearsRTB•DETAILSwww.pure.com•
PARTCO DEDiscovR

SPECIFICATIONS

WITHASTYLISHdesign andfeatures to

spare,the Pure DiscovR sits at the premium

end of the smart speaker spectrum. It’s also

unusual: unlike most Alexa-powered speakers,

the DiscovR hasabuilt-in battery,allowing you

to move it around the house or take it intothe

garden without needingamains socket.

This no doubt contributesto its high price,

but there’s no disputing the DiscovR looks

smart forthe money. Its square enclosure is

made of matt aluminium withanon-slip rubber

base and is softened by heavily rounded edges.

Encased within is the speaker housing, which

rises smoothly from its aluminium shell when

you push down on thetoppanel.

UPSAND DOWNS

It’s oneof the more pleasing speaker designs

around, and it’s not justforshow.Pushing the

speaker housing back intothe device manually

disconnects the microphone,preventing Alexa

from listening when you want some privacy,as

well as switching the speakeroff.Itw ould be

even better if it were motorised and remotely

controllable,but that’sasmall complaint.

The controlsforthe DiscovR sit ontopof

the speaker housing andoffer abewildering

numberof touch-sensitive buttonsforthose

who prefernot to be vocal with their audio

equipment.From this panel, you can mutethe

mic, pla y, pause or skip tracks, adjust the

volume,select the input source,activat eAlexa

without the wake word, and set upto fo ur

presetsforquick accessto your favourite

playlists, stations or commands.Forasmart

speaker,where

physical controls

are usually limited,

that’s impressive.

Youcan also

activat ethe Discovery

feature,which is

somethingof aparty

piece.Whack the

star-shaped button while

aradio channel is playing,

and the DiscovR will take

noteoft he song and add itto a

Spotify playlist. It’sby no means

essential, but it reduces the likelihoodof you

missingacatchy tune simply because you

didn’t hear the artist name or track title.

To make the mostof this expansivefeature

set, you’ll needto download the Pure DiscovR

app and connect your accounts (Spotify and

AmazonMusicarebothcompatible).You’llalso

needtheAlexaapptomakefulluseofAmazon’s

virtual assistant. With AirPlay2also being an

option, it almost seemsashame that Pure

didn’t coverevery base with Google Assistant

support.Still, Alexa can be usedto control

both the speaker and any other compatible

hardware,such as smart home devices.

An even bigger draw than the Discovery

featureisthespeaker’swirelessabilities.It’sfar

from the first battery-powered Alexa speaker,

but there’s notagreat dealof them to choose

from, and with upto 15 hoursof battery life

the DiscovR competes with models such as

the UE Megablast (Shopper362) on longevity.

DRYRECEPTION

Unfortunately,there’s no waterproofing, so

you’ll haveto be alot more careful about

getting caught in the rain than with the

Megablast. It’s not idealfortaking toofar

awayfrom civilisation, either: withoutasolid

internet connection, thiseffectively becomes

an overpriced Bluetooth speaker.

More worryingly,the DiscovR canfalter

when performing its most fundamental job:

playing music. It can fillaroom, but volume

isn’t everything and mostof the time it sounds

toobright. Anoverpowering treble response

dominates at both low and high volumes, and

while the bass is impressively punchyforsuch

asmall speaker,the overall effect is the audio

equivalentof asandwich withtoolittle filling.

There’s another,less positive,reason the

DiscovRhassomanydevice-mountedcontrols.

The Pure app is sparse,serving mostly as a

means by which to set up the DiscovR and

maintainaconnection between speaker,

smartphone and external apps.Youcan adjust

the volume and check the battery life, but

don’t expectto spend any time fiddling with

equalisers or browsing built-in playlists.

SMARTER CHOICES

The end result isasmart speaker that,forall

its neat tricks and arsenalof controls,feels

more like an attemptto convert Pure’s existing

DABradio userbase intosmart speaker users

than it doesaserious attemptto rival the

likes of UE, JBL and Amazon.

The DiscovR might have doneadecent job

of it, too, were it notforthe uninspiring sound

quality and unreasonable price.It’s well made

and brimming withfeatures, giving Alexa legs

in the form of portability,and in that respect

it’s almost worth £230. The DiscovR is first

and foremostaspeaker,however ,and in that

regard it simply doesn’t deserve the high price.

WillGeorgiadis

Worryingly,the DiscovRcan falter when performing its

mostfundamental job: playing music