Pure has built quite a name for itself in digital radio overseas. In the early days of DAB its radios were big sellers, and after a slow start it's trying to do the same with internet radio. But if you were expecting the Siesta Flow to emulate previous Pure radios, you'll be disappointed.
The Siesta may look striking with its trapezoid shape and sloping front panel, but the build quality is more reminiscent of a radio you might buy for a twenty at K-Mart than a premium product costing $244. It's light, the chassis is made from cheap-feeling black plastic, and the buttons on the top feel similarly tacky.
Neither is the screen up to the quality we'd expect at this price - it's easy enough to read, but there's a distinct lag to text appearing onscreen.
And the touch-sensitive controls below and to the side of it are fiddly, too. The up/down and select controls are too close together, turning the job of navigating through the device's already slightly confusing menu system into a painful process.
The radio is well equipped. It boasts not only internet radio over Wi-Fi, with dedicated Listen Again and Podcast menus, but also DAB/DAB+ and RDS FM radio tuners, and the ability to stream MP3, WMA and AAC tracks from a UPnP-capable media server or from a USB flash drive.
Pure's oddly named The Lounge internet radio site, which enables you to search for stations and add them to the Siesta's menu system using your PC, works well. And it's nice to be able to set the alarm to wake you up to internet radio as well as DAB and FM; a backup tone kicks in if the radio fails to connect.
But beyond this, there's little positive to say about the Siesta Flow. The aerial is a stubby wire that hangs out from the base of the radio, which makes it difficult to position for decent reception.
The final blow for the Siesta Flow is its sound quality, which is tinny and anaemic. You could say that isn't such a problem for a radio primarily designed to wake you up, but for the money we'd expect a lot better, which makes the Siesta Flow one to avoid.
