Pure DiscovR Smart Speaker

Pure's first Alexa-enabled device is a compelling package that deserves to be considered among the very best smart speakers.

For its first dedicated smart speaker, Pure has come up with a cute and funky design. The Pure DiscovR features Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant, meaning that it can carry out a range of tasks, from adding to your to-do list, finding information such as weather forecasts or playing games, all by talking to a disembodied female voice At £230, the Pure DiscovR is one of the more expensive small smart speakers on the market, but the sound does not come close to justifying that price.

The recent proliferation of Alexa-enabled devices shows no sign of abating.Pure, a brand renowned for their premium digital radios, have become the latest company to branch out into the burgeoning smart speaker space.The DiscovR is a premium device that aims to take the best of Amazon’s smart assistant and build on it, with a number of different options to suit whatever situation you’re in.

Sound quality:

It sounds congested and smaller than we'd hoped, with poor separation between musical strands. At lower volumes, the DiscovR can seem slight and thin too.

Bass response improves significantly at higher volumes, but it is still not subtle or refined enough. Sound expectations for a wireless speaker at this price should be fairly high, regardless of how much technology is squeezed in.

At mid-level volumes and higher, music has a reasonable weight to it, but driver integration isn’t very good. You can hear the bass of the lower-frequency speaker and the upper-mids and treble spike of the dual tweeters. But there is no convincingly textured mid-range bridge to join them together.

Vocals sit on a pillow of mid/bass, which initially seems to give them some weight at mid-level volumes and higher. It turns out to be a hollow sensation though, as the mid/bass is the sonic equivalent of having a plate of squirty cream for lunch.

Liked:

• You can ask Alexa to play, pause and skip tracks as well as adjust the volume or to find information on the web and even control your smart home devices
• The quick corners allow you to save certain voice commands eg play favourite internet radio stations or even turn the lights on so you can quickly action them just pressing the relevant corner of the top of the speaker
• You get up to 15 hours listening time from one full charge
• The cylindrical design means you get the same listening experience no matter where in the room you are
• You can use the speaker in a multi-room set-up with other compatible speakers wither though the Alexa app or using AirPlay 2 if you have an iPhone
• It can take as little as one-and-a-half hours to fully recharge (but you will need to supply a fast charge compatible plug top use with the bundled USB-C charging cable - otherwise it takes around four-and-a-half hours)

Didn't Like:

• Doesn't come with an auxiliary cable to connect devices that don't have Bluetooth or wi-fi
• Can't be used as a speakerphone to take calls though your mobile

All product information provided by the manufacturer is correct at time of publication.

Specs:

Voice assistant: Amazon Alexa

Wi-fi: Yes

Bluetooth: Yes

Aux input :Yes

Battery life: 15 hours

Weight: 0.97kg