So when companies who normally stay away from others product get involved it does raise the eyebrow a little and when Pure Digital launched their Chronos iPod dock.  The last time we saw a Chronos was as a bedside alarm clock so having avoided the press pack we had no idea what to expect from this iPod dock version.

Measuring 125 high x 195 wide x 185mm deep its certainly not as small as the cheesy wedge shaped bedside unit and this one is more like a large hunk o cheese more likely to have appeared in a Tom and Jerry cartoon. Its appearance had us hoping that the extra space which accommodates two 1.5" drivers would produce a fuller sound more akin to our favourite Evoke units from Pure. We decided to test the DAB radio first with no iPod docked to get a quick fix of the audio capabilities of the Chronos Dock. After a quick scan we had all the DAB stations set into the unit and fired up the Chronos on Virgin Radio to be greeted by their trademark warm rich sound, that was a relief.

So with DAB radio working nicely and sounding good we could turn our attention to the iPod dock which sits atop the Chronos, it takes 4th generation and above iPods and will work with any iPod or other MP3 player via the aux port but it cant control those only take the audio. With our 5th Generation iPod sat in the dock we were able to retire a short distance and start to play with the remote control.

The LCD screen on the front of the Chronos shows the key features and allows you to browse your iPod in basic form while using the remote, the obvious play/ pause and skip commands can be sent as well as volume control. We found that this method of control was about as effective as the best iPod speaker docks which isn't great but is more to do with the limitations of not having the full iPod screen on the front of the unit.

Sound quality is very good, the small speakers manage to produce a warm sound which while not room filling like the Evoke units is more than passable for a bedside radio, in fact calling it such is a bit unfair. What Pure seem to do well is design the sound for the situation and for being woken up or listening to your iPod while in bed the sound of the Chronos Dock is ideal.

The clock radio features are top notch with 4 alarms that can be set and selected from, you can also choose the source you want to wake you, either a beep, FM RDS radio, DAB or your iPod. There are no worries about your iPod running out of juice as the 4 / 5G pods charge while in the dock, meaning that its ready to grab from its little nest on top of the Chronos and take to work.

Styling is tasteful and a direct copy of the Chronos CD with the addition of the iPod dock as opposed the CD top loader, available in black or white we guess that will depend on the colour of your iPod! Priced at a shade under £100 its the ideal gift for the iPod owner who struggles to get out of bed in the morning especially with a snooze feature that runs up to 59 minutes!

We haven't really touched on the Chronos iDock as a DAB radio in the review as its a given with Pure that their products are the best BAD radios you can buy and they do not disappoint as the unit has the same level of features with intellitext and a great user interface as the rest of the range.

So the latest device to gain an iPod docking system, this time a DAB radio does make sense and for those in the market for a bedside radio with great sound and Apple iPod compatibility won't find better than this.

Published - 02/10/2007

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