PURE Sensia, Digital Audio System with Wi-Fi and Colour Touchscreen

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Technical Details

Digital, FM and internet radio
Flow technology for internet radio, listen again programmes, podcasts, PURE Sounds, and Wi-Fi media streaming
FlowSongs service enables you to buy music direct from your radio (currently UK beta only)
5.7" 640x480 pixel TFT colour touchscreen. Supports apps for Facebook, Twitter, Picasa, RSS feeds, weather
PURE Clearsound delivering 30W RMS of class leading audio

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Product details

Product Dimensions: 18 x 28 x 16.6 cm ; 1.9 Kg
Boxed-product Weight: 3.2 Kg
Item model number: VL-61290
ASIN: B002PAQX90
Date first available at Amazon.co.uk: 15 Sep 2009

Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (103 customer reviews)

Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 513 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
- #58 in Electronics > Portable Sound & Vision > Radios & DAB > DAB Digital Radios

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Manufacturer's Description

From the world leaders in DAB radio comes Sensia, PURE's Digital Audio System with Wi-Fi and Colour Touchscreen.

Sensia is a revolutionary internet-connected digital audio system with Flow technology and a large colour touchscreen, giving you a unique way to enjoy internet radio content and podcasts, DAB and FM radio stations, your own music collection via Wi-Fi, online apps and unique broadcast material.

Sensia is a revolutionary internet-connected colour
touchscreen digital radio. Click here to enlarge

Using the touchscreen you can view and interact like never before: scrolling and spinning lists, tapping to select, sliding controls and swiping to change views.

Sensia also features PURE Clearsound™ technology for impressive stereo sound, a handy RF remote control and an input for your iPod/MP3 player. There's also an alarm, countdown and sleep timers, and a headphone socket.

Delivered via Wi-Fi, apps bring a whole new dimension to your Sensia with weather reports, Facebook, Twitter and news. Just select which apps you'd like to display and whether to show them alongside what you're listening to or full-screen. Apps can also be configured to suit you - showing the local weather or your tweets. A number of useful and fun apps will be available shortly and the list is expected to grow.

Add an optional rechargeable PURE ChargePAK E1 and you can listen to internet content anywhere within range of your Wi-Fi network or to DAB and FM radio when you're further afield.

Sensia joins a growing range of connected radios from PURE, all featuring Flow technology so you can experience the best that connected radio has to offer. With both portable and hi-fi models you're sure to find one, or more, to suit you wherever you like to listen. Connect them to the Lounge, our online radio portal and you can save and share favourites with your computer and even between different Flow radios. Sensia comes in a range of colours, click here to see the range.

Make the most of intertent radio with
the PURE Lounge

The PURE Lounge
The PURE Lounge is your unique gateway to the world of internet radio, listen again programmes, podcasts and PURE Sounds. Explore thousands of internet radio stations and podcasts from anywhere you can use a web browser. Search for content that interests you, and personalise your listening by adding your favourite stations and podcasts to your highly-customisable Lounge homepage. And once you've registered Sensia your Lounge favourites will appear automatically on your radio. Using the Lounge you can pick the very best from the huge volume of internet listening available, creating a unique selection of programmes that suits your tastes and your listening habits.

Visit the PURE Lounge at www.thelounge.com and you can listen online, register your radio, and save your favourites.

You'll find:
Radio stations - thousands of global, national and local radio stations
Listen again*- your favourite shows when you want them
Podcasts - thousands of programmes available anytime
PURE Sounds - sounds to stimulate, inspire and relax

Powerful and simple to use search facilities will help you to find the content you want. Simply enter any combination of name, language, country, genre or quality and you'll be sure to find something worth listening to.

You can also find out what's new and get some recommendations for things you might like to listen to. The PURE Lounge at www.thelounge.com - Turn on. Tune in. Chill out.

*Available from radio stations that have an online listen again/archive service, including most BBC stations.

Use as a DAB radio, or connect to a Wi-Fi network
and listen to internet radio or streamed music

Get Connected
Flow technology means that Sensia works with any Wi-Fi network, at home or out and about. Just switch it on - it'll find all available Wi-Fi networks and you'll be ready to access the vast range of internet radio stations, listen again programmes and podcasts available on the web, as well as PURE Sounds - unique soundscapes created by PURE to stimulate, inspire and relax. And if you've got a computer or network storage device connected to your Wi-Fi network you can stream from it direct to your Sensia and enjoy listening to your music away from the computer.

EcoPlus
EcoPlus™ is a statement of PURE's on-going commitment to our environment and its future. It indicates that environmental impact has been considered in the design, manufacture and transport of our products, and has driven both what we do and how we do it.

All EcoPlus products are packaged using cardboard produced with a minimum of 70% recycled material, and finished using water-based varnish. All internal pulp trays are 100% recycled, and the user documentation is printed on 100% recycled paper using Soya-based inks. We also encourage our customers to recycle all packaging materials.

The boxes of EcoPlus products are designed to be the smallest they can be whilst still ensuring the integrity and security of the product inside. This maximises the number of products which can be shipped in each container, and thus minimises the environmental cost of transport.

Digital Radio
With Digital radio you'll discover a broader range of music, debate and ideas, all in crystal clear digital sound. Digital radio offers:

The colour touch screen gives you so
much more than radio. Click here to enlarge

Ease-Of-Use
Digital radios are much easier to use than analogue radios because they automatically search for all available stations. Once the radio has found all the available stations you just choose the one you want by name. No more trying to remember frequencies.

Wider Station Choice
You'll be spoilt for choice - as well as many of your existing favourite stations now broadcasting on digital radio, you'll also find great exclusive-to-digital stations and there are more on the way.

Digital Sound Quality
Digital radio is not subject to the same interference as analogue radio resulting in crystal clear, interference free listening.

Connect Wirelessly
Wi-Fi for access to internet radio, listen again content, podcasts, PURE sounds and media streaming from a computer and even automatic software updates.

Upgradeability
Add new features and improvements as they become available via Wi-Fi or USB. Upgrades and full instructions are posted on the support pages of the PURE website, and if you've registered your product PURE will send you an e-mail to inform you when an upgrade is available.

With Flow Technology
Connected radio for internet radio, listen again content, podcasts, DAB and FM, media streaming and PURE Sounds.

Packed full of features including EcoPlus
The Sensia is packed full of features and designed
to reduce its environmental impact

Colour Touchscreen
The auto-dimming 5.7 inch 640x480 TFT colour touchscreen means you can view and interact like never before: scrolling and spinning lists, tapping to select, sliding controls and swiping to change views.

Clearsound
Clearsound is a digital end-to-end audio subsystem using high quality Class D amplifiers and digital audio shaping technology to provide clear dynamic audio, higher volume levels and low power consumption.

30 Watts
30 Watts RMS of class leading audio from two full-range 3 inch drive units.

Line-in
3.5mm input enables you to connect an iPod, MP3 player or portable CD player and use the Sensia as a portable speaker.

ChargePAK
For maximum convenience add the optional "Fit and Forget" ChargePAK, for up to 10 hours of portable listening. An optional accessory for the Sensia, the ChargePAK E1 is a rechargeable battery pack which fits into the battery compartment of your radio and charges when the radio is connected to the mains so you can take the radio wherever you want. The ChargePAK E1 has the added benefits of being much more economical than regular batteries and significantly kinder to the environment, reducing the quantity of batteries that end up in landfills.

Favourites
If you register your Sensia at www.thelounge.com you can save unlimited internet favourites.

Station Presets
30 DAB and 10 FM presets to help you organise your favourite stations.

Alarm
Easy-to-use tone or radio alarm with large snooze button (alarm operates on mains power only).

Clock with Sleep Timer
Go to sleep with the radio on and your Sensia will power down automatically after a set time.

Headphone Output
3.5mm stereo headphone socket so you can listen through headphones (mutes speaker).

Box Contains

Sensia radio

Sensia RF remote control

Multi-region power supply

Quick start guide

2 year warranty

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 83 people found the following review helpful

Almost but not quite there 1 Dec 2009

By A. J. Fitter

Colour Name:Black

When I read about the Pure Sensia the timing couldn't have been better as that week the power supply of my Pinnacle Soundbridge Radio gave up the ghost (a common occurrence) and although I thought the Sensia was overpriced, it made a perfect replacement. I decided on the white one and was delighted that it was available immediately on Amazon via KK Electronics and I duly ordered one.
It arrived a couple of days later and lived up to my visual expectations (the bag it came in was a nice touch). However the first few days were spent deciding whether it should go back as it certainly didn't live up to my "ease of use" expectations. The touch-screen seemed to be difficult to master (I have an Apple itouch so the concept wasn't foreign to me) and although slow, it wasn't as bad as some of the other reviews on Amazon made out. However, I have a lot of music on my computer that I wanted to be able to stream to the Sensia and the scrolling screen just wasn't able to cope - I just couldn't find albums or artists as easily as I would have wanted. Also the internet radio search screen looked clunky and difficult to master. The on-line manual wasn't any help at all and there were a number of on-screen symbols that I didn't understand (nothing in the manual about them). And although the Apps weren't the main reason for buying it, they seemed like fun and a good little extra. So imagine my disappointment when after downloading the latest software up-date, there was an on-screen message saying "App management and more coming soon.." So after a couple of days, I had to either persevere or send it back and I decided to spend some time seeing if it was worth keeping. I decided on the former and with some trial and error on my part and looking at the postings on the AV Forum: www.avforums.com/forums/dab-digital-radio-fm-radio/1083559-pure-sensia.html and the reviews on Amazon, I started to unravel some of the Sensia's mysteries! I realised that the best way to sort out streaming my music from my computer to the Sensia was to move the albums I thought I would want to play into a separate folder and this would make it easier to manage - not perfect but a good work around. I also spent some time in The Lounge and worked out how to set-up folders for different genres of internet radio station and realised that this is one of the best reasons for getting the Sensia - this works superbly and you can event set-up custom stations for those not found via The Lounge. I even found the two Apps - Twitter and the weather - although I don't tweet!
However, there are still some major bugs that need sorting out - especially the showing of cover art when streaming music from your computer. It's explained on the Pure web-site how to do this but having followed the instructions to the letter, it's incredibly inconsistent and illogical - I can't see the cover art on some albums when I follow the instructions and I can see it when I don't! I contacted Customer Support and contrary to other comments, they came back to me in 24 hours and although they didn't address all the issues (especially the cover art conundrum), at least I have established a dialogue with them.
I'm hoping that some of the problems will be addressed by software up-dates. Customer support in their emailed response said "Software updates are coming thick and fast and a new release should be soon. No list of additions though".

So to sum up:
Pros:
The design is superb and it looks amazing
Sound is very good although lacks a little bass and the ability to change any sound settings - a small graphic equaliser would be nice
Cover art (if I can get it to work properly!)
Folder organisation of internet radio stations via The Lounge
The ability to stream photos from your computer as a slide show
The facility to access "Listen Again" from the BBC although an iplayer interface would make it so much easier to find specific programmes
Headphone socket
Aux input for ipod etc.
Ease of wi-fi set-up

Cons:
A very poor manual for something that's technologically advanced and expensive (sorry to go on about the price!).
No real apps although it's marketed as a radio for "the Facebook generation"
Scrolling of the touch screen can be a little difficult and slow. It is also a little cramped e.g. for "Listen Again" etc. and it needs to be seen full screen rather than in the small window as it is at the moment.
Strange remote that doesn't do much apart from making it easier to turn the unit on and off. It also has two rocker buttons for volume - one for louder (+) and one for softer (-) which is very confusing as the louder button makes it louder whichever end of the rocker you push - unlike any remote I've ever seen and not very intuitive at all.

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76 of 79 people found the following review helpful

Pure Sensia 16 Nov 2009

By D. Garwood

Colour Name:Black

I had seen all the reviews and online demo of this product before its launch and could not wait for its release.

I love gadgets and could not wait for its release. On wednesday 11th November I purchased the white sensia in John Lewis. (I would have ordered it on Amazon but I could not wait for delivery)

The radio looks terrific. That was the good point..................

I was at first, very unhappy with it, as it kept switching off and resetting itself. At first I thought it was probably updating itself but It kept happening so on Saturday 14th November I took it back for a replacement. I could not believe my luck when this one turned out to be faulty as well. It would not hold its settings such as my WIFI password and radio favourites. By now I was very disheartened but ever the optimist I took it back on Monday 16th and got another replacement, this time a black sensia. I could have got a refund but as I like the look of it so much, I decided to stick at it.

Now nearly a week a later I'm so glad I did.........

The look is stunning and the screens in my opinion are good once you get used to them. You may feel the search and touch screens are unresponsive at first but once you get a feel for the sensia you get used to them. I will admit it can be annoying that when you want to search the Listen Again programmes, as it only displays part of the title.

The DAB radio works very well and I guess that because of its solid telescopic ariel, it has no trouble in finding stations. It seems to pick up a lot more than my old Pure DAB Radio.

The Lounge WIFI internet radio works well and it was very easy picking up stations by genre and country. For example I like country music so I went into the search function and picked Country in the genre tab and USA in the country tab and hey presto I was listening to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. You can easily store all you favourites by clicking on the heart icon which is displayed by the name of the radio station (this function is the same for DAB and FM radio as well). You then just scroll thru your favourites rather than having to go back and use the search screen for over 1200 stations. In order to create folders for your favourite stations and add stations that you can't find, you need to register the radio with the lounge website and create an account which is directly linked to your radio only. Once this is done you can then view all your stations in different folders and delete favourite stations that you no longer like on your radio itself.

The APPS Icon at the bottom of the screen does not work and keeps on saying that the APPS function is coming soon. That said you can now view APPS for twitter and the weather by scrolling the top right hand screen left to right (or vice versa). Once you see the twitter screen you can scroll up and down to change to the weather app. You will need to change the location to your town by clicking on the bottom of the left hand corner of the screen. A setting icon will appear and then bring up a screen with Kings Langley typed in it as a default. If you press the backspace button and overtype this with your own town, MAKE SURE you PRESS the GREEN TICK ICON before pressing enter. This way it will search for your town. if you DO NOT press the green tick icon before pressing enter - it will search but come back with Kings Langley displayed again.

There is nothing to help you with the alarm function but again by playing around you begin to work it out, although I still can't work out how to wake up to a different WIFI station other than the last one listened to the night before. When setting the radio its asks you to pick the station you would like to wake up to, now if your listening to a different WIFI station when its turned off then that same station is what will wake you up and not what you had selected. For example I was listening to a thunder storm in the Pure Sounds WIFI menu. I wanted to wake up to a WIFI country music station but got the thunderstorm instead even though the alarm menu clearly states the station I had picked. I have not tried this with DAB or FM so do not know if this happens with them. I emailed PURE to find out what I'm doing wrong but as yet a week later still no response. Any answers would be greatly appreciated.

The external input is good and plays my IPOD.

I have not used the internet streaming function for music and photo's.

The sensia sound great for its size.

Also being right next to my bed, its good to be able to turn the clock off when in standby so it does not light up the room whilst you are sleeping. If you wake up in your dark room and need to know the time then just touch the screen and the clock appears for about 5 seconds.

Im not sure why theres a remote as most of the buttons don't seem to have any functions except for volume, toggling between DAB/WIFI/FM etc and standby.

The quick starter guide that comes with the Sensia is not a lot of cop, Your are supposed to download the full manual online but it has not been finished!!!! When you try to use it and click on certain pages/icons it just says coming soon - which is not a lot of cop when you are trying to use your sensia to its full potential. Most of the above I have worked out by playing around with it. You would think that for �250 it would come with decent manual. I guess they have tried to rush this out for the Christmas period.

A week ago I would have said do not buy this radio for at least a month or two but now I have got used to it - its great!!!!!

I think that with further updates this radio will be amazing and performance will match is great looks.

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86 of 91 people found the following review helpful

Interesting protype but hang back before buying 15 Nov 2009

By B. Daisley

Colour Name:Black

When I saw the announcement of the Sensia I was thrilled. As a radio loving tech fan this is what I'd been waiting for for years - a product that integrated a touch screen to allow me to choose freely from Listen Again content. My previous wifi radio only allowed navigation via a two line LCD which wasn't simple to work with.

This touch screen at last understood how technology could be applied to on demand radio.

The radio is expensive but I justified it to myself and ordered.

The radio arrived a couple of days ago. I am so disappointed with it I felt I should warn other people off.

Firstly the radio doesn't allow 'live pausing'. This is an astonishing omission - which even the radio on my iPod nano can do. Why this is the case I don't know - there's even a pause button on the remote. So strange.

Secondly the linux system has been built badly and is very slow to respond. Choosing stations and programmes doesn't intuitively use the full screen - and often only the first 10-15 characters of programme names are visible. ('Afternoon play -...' doesn't really tell me much). Searching for programmes basically doesn't work - my attempt to refine my search to BBC Radio programmes never returns results.

Also the interface between DAB and internet rather than being seamless is very clunky. DAB programmes cut off when you opt to choose to listen to web stations (often leaving a minute of useless silence when I would have liked to carry on listening). I'd ideally like a clever system that allows me to choose BBC Five Live - and then receive the offer to 'listen live' or to an archive programme.

Now as this is a linux system all of these things should be very simple - creating bookmarks on the desk top could have been one simple way to store favourites. Instead the process requires you logging onto a website and building a folder of favourite programmes. Want to listen to something factual from the last week? Then searching on the Sensia is pretty much useless - so you need to log on to a PC select the programme, then go back to the Sensia where the programme will be sitting in a folder of bookmarks. Its not the breezy browsing I'd imagined.

Oh dear - who built this? There are two brilliant real world starting places for building a system like this - the iPlayer and Sky+. Instead this looks like it was built by a very poorly qualified software engineer on a wet weekend.

The trumpeted applications don't yet work and my attempt to turn the screen off in standby meant that the unit signalled its ongoing electricity consumption with a distressing (but very quiet) whine.

Flicking through programmes is anything but iPod like - the demo video shows a finger casually dragging the list of programmes up the page. In fact they don't respond half the time or accidentally choose one of the programmes and you end up listening to something beginning with A (because that's all you ever get to see on the cramped programme list box).

Hey... on the plus side I have now listened to 'Annie Mac', '1Xtra drive show' and 'Any Questions'. It'd be nice to get past A soon.

Strangely when you're choosing from this cramped list of stations half of the screen is filled with a logo for 'The Lounge'.

Ever the optimist I am hoping that the firmware will be updated soon - and that in the meantime a team of high quality engineers are working on it.

I hope they are. Otherwise I will regret the strong urge that I am supressing to return this overpriced, underspecced waste of money.

My advice - hangback till Christmas at the very least. I would recommend a netbook over this. And it makes me very very sad to say so.

(addendum: Two days in I sent it back. It just got too much. I'm now contemplating the Logitech Squeezebox - which has much better reviews)

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