Review: Pure Digital One Mi

By Mike Wheeler

Growing up in the suburbs in the 70s and 80s, was there anything more quintessential than the old man doing the lawns, or clipping the hedge while listening to the footie on the transistor.

As time has marched on so has technology and with the advent of digital radio, you might be forgiven if you fall into nostalgia wondering if the days of the portable radio are done and dusted.

Enter the Pure one Mi, which is distributed by Pioneer. Like the transistor of yore, but with a few more features.

Out of the box, its build is of two-piece moulded plastic with a black matt finish, and considering the technology it has inside to get digital reception, it’s incredibly light.

Like its bigger brothers and sisters in the digital radio market, it has most of the features you’d expect, but not quite the range. For example, it is only possible to preset 16 channels (then again, how many stations do you really listen to?), the function buttons are kept to a minimum and the LCD screen is tiny. Be aware, when looking for a station you have to hold the ‘seek’ button down for at least two seconds.

When played on full volume, the music seemed to handle it without distortion (then again the highest volume setting isn’t that loud), and when listening to talkback, the sound was heard easily with no annoying hiss or crackle, which let’s face it, was one of the charms of transistor technology.

It has mains power, and surprisingly you have to buy a chargePAK if you want it to run mains-free – a bit annoying that you can’t use AA or AAA batteries.

Overall you get what you pay for with this pocket-sized radio, but it’s pretty good for what it is. I can see it being used as mentioned in the opening paragraph of the review, or in a workshop or office.

Pros: Light, good sound, portable
Cons: Doesn’t come with chargePAK, no headphone jack

RRP
$79

3.5 out of 5 Shacks