Unboxed: Sonoro Cubo Elements/Cubo
Back in January at CES 2008, we spotted some rather fetching DAB radios from a German company called Sonoro. The Cubo (left) and Cubo Elements (right)
Back in January at CES 2008, we spotted some rather fetching DAB radios from a German company called Sonoro. The Cubo (left) and Cubo Elements (right) have been biding their time since then, but now the first samples available in the UK have landed in our laps.
The Cubo Elements is the more iconic of the two. In fact, it’s one of the smartest tabletop radios we’ve seen this year, and has some tasty design touches: a touch-sensitive logo power button, glossy black finish, retro display and glowy control ring.
The bad news is that the model we’ve received is FM only. But all is not lost – the one coming to the UK in December from BBG will be an Internet version, which will also come with Wi-Fi and an external dock for your MP3 player. We’re told the only aesthetic difference will be that it’ll have an amber rather than white backlight.
Less handsome but much more capable is the £180 Cubo (above). It gives you CD playback, an FM radio and a 3.5mm jack to hook up your MP3 player. The sound was impressively full in our early listen and it also comes with the world’s strangest iPod dock – two pieces of wood that clip together and remind me of something I made in Year 9 D.T. Still, there is the argument that, as the dock doesn’t force you to charge your iPod every time, it could prolong the life of its lithium ion battery.
The lack of DAB on both is slightly disappointing, but we’ll be bringing you our final verdicts on the Cubos soon. In the meantime, why not check out our Top 10 DAB radios?
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
