TechRadar Verdict
The Pure Siesta Charge is a sleek, well-designed alarm clock radio and Bluetooth speaker that delivers on pretty much all fronts. If you don't use wireless charging though, it's harder to recommend.
Pros
- +
Sleek design
- +
QI wireless charging
- +
Great sound
Cons
- -
Light on bass
- -
Wireless charging won’t be useful for everyone
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The Pure Siesta Charge is looking to the future. A longtime purveyor of alarm clock radios, Pure has added to its range with a sleek and stylish piece of audio kit, which retails for £129.99.
What makes the Pure Siesta Charge stand out is – you guessed it – its charging capabilities. If your smartphone or phablet is compatible with QI wireless charging, you’ll be able to leave it on top of the Siesta Charge as it fills up your battery.
QI is the leading wireless charging standard on the market, largely thanks to Apple embracing the technology. So does this make the Pure Siesta Charge a must-have alarm clock radio, or do its other features complicate matters?
Design and features
Pure has decided to keep things simple for the Siesta Charge. You won’t get a lot of ports or a CD drive here, but it has the essential capabilities we’d hope for in a multimedia speaker of this kind: digital radio, FM, clock, kitchen timer, and Bluetooth 5.0 for streaming audio from your phone or computer.
The Siesta Charge is lightweight and a lovely size, and features Pure’s patented CrystalVue+ glass screen and auto-dimming LED display.
The Qi wireless charging feature is handy too, not to mention well implemented. The Siesta Charge’s speaker grille is covered by a figure-hugging elastic that wraps around the sides and top of the device, with a fetching lightning bolt icon to indicate where you need to place your phone in order for it to be charged.
However, the wireless charging will only be useful if you have a relatively recent flagship smartphone or compatible case.
The iPhone 8 and onwards all feature QI charging, while you can get a charging case for older iPhones that draws power wirelessly and feeds it directly into the battery. Samsung phones have also had QI charging as standard since the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge, while other compatible Android phones include the LG G7 ThinQ, LG V30, and Sony Xperia XZ2.
Also on the top of the unit are three preset alarm buttons, letting you set the time, regularity, volume, and alarm sound of your choosing. The dull beeping sound you get by default isn’t exactly pleasant, but it is meant to wake you up after all. When setting your alarm, you can also pick a favored radio station if you prefer, which may be easier on the ears.
You can also pre-set up to 40 FM or digital radio stations, to save you scrolling through long lists of stations every time you want to find Heat FM (though setting 40 of them may slightly defeat the purpose).
Round the back, the Siesta Charge sports a single USB port for wired charging, a power port to connect to a wall socket, and an auxiliary port for playing audio through other hi-fi systems or headphones.
Sound
The Pure Siesta Charge is designed to be an alarm clock radio and Bluetooth speaker, and its capabilities are pretty much perfect for those needs.
The volume control has 32 distinct levels, though anything under 10 is basically muted, and even 32 won’t shake the walls – especially given the meagre bass levels. The Siesta Charge won’t do for hosting a house party, but for listening to the radio in your kitchen or dancing around your bedroom it will do just fine.
The Siesta Charge has two side-facing speakers that deliver capable stereo sound and good audibility across a room, even if the indirection lacks some impact. The speakers won’t reach a volume where the audio risks distortion, and you’re getting a pretty great mid-range sound for a home radio.
For those of you still clinging to FM radio, the Siesta Charge delivers. We were worried about the level of static at first, but heading to Settings > Autotune quickly cleared this up. You’ll get the best reception if you extend the wire antennae its full length, ideally tying or pinning the end loop of the wire to something.
You don’t get the precise control of an analogue knob for scrolling through radio stations, but pressing the button to move through different wavelengths will just about do.
Verdict
The Pure Siesta Charge is a sleek, well-designed alarm clock radio and Bluetooth speaker that delivers on pretty much all fronts.
It has a lovely sound, with simple customization options and presets, while the addition of QI wireless charging positions it as a hugely practical bedside gadget – if it’s a feature you’ll use.
You won’t get pumping bass, or the interface needed for a really seamless analogue radio experience, but the Siesta Charge performs its core functions impressively, and is well worth a look.
All image credits: TechRadar
