First impressions – Pure Oasis Flow

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Reputable radio retailer Pure is set up for a summer of new launches, the first of which is the new net-connected version of their rugged Oasis, the Oasis Flow. Here are our first impressions.

Actually, our first impression is that it’s remarkably similar to the previous Flow. And that’s because it has the same chassis, with tough aluminium edges and splashproof buttons, controls and inputs for headphone, Aux and USB. It’s quite large, and quite heavy, but that’s justified by it having one of Pure’s ChargePak batteries built in for wire-free sound in the garden, or down the beach.

Looking at it properly, we see a major difference in that it has an OLED green-on-black display, similar to that of the Pure Evoke Flow, and that it has some touch-sensitive controls around that screen. Given that the Oasis Flow can connect via Wi-Fi to many bazillions of internet radio stations and podcasts as well as streaming media from your PC, the improved screen and contextual touch controls are useful. Navigation is further aided by spin-and-click jog dial.

A further addition to this new Oasis is common old FM radio. It has a new aerial for the reception of which. Why should you care about FM? Because it’s there when DAB and Wi-Fi signals are not – on a far-away beach, for example – and it uses very little power, meaning you’ll get probably over 20 hours of beach party out of the battery. We say ‘probably’ because, as yet, we haven’t yet found the time to have a 20-hour beach party to test the battery life. And the same goes for the battery life using DAB or Wi-Fi. We estimate that 10 hours, at a reasonable volume level, wouldn’t be unbelievable.

All good news for outdoorsy tune-lovers, then? Nearly, except that the new wireless tech bumps the RRP up to £170. We’ll review it soon to see whether it’s worth the extra moolah. (It’s not like there are many Wi-Fi connectable splashproof portable radios in the world, so it may well be.)

The Oasis Flow was also one of our 5 Best Waterproof Gadgets back in June.

More info at www.pure.com

About

Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.