Thanks for the review. The Lemega IR4S is the same as the IR1 except that it has a 2nd speaker and is $9 more. I purchased it at the end of November from Amazon. Happily, the Lemega does have the Podcast option while the IR1 reviewed did not. Also, the Lemega is on firmware version 4.5.21. Amazon where I am located in the US doesn't have the Elan available. I like the Lemega and am very happy with it.
I think the timeout feature will make the screen go black until I touch a button (say I want to get some brief light, at night) it'll be on the bed side table. You say good value at thi price point, and I agree (would like to spend more and get a better radio) last one had a snooze handle (I never used it for that) but touching it gave 7 seconds of light which was perfect
Had one for a year now and it seemed too complicated. 30 mins watching your video and I've got it connected to wifi, the app and can see its true potential. Thanks for the walkthrough.
@@jeg1972 Thanks for the vid the Elan radio is OK to a Point, not a great one as I found a bit fiddly instructions hardly any info learnt more from you thanks again 😀 👍
Another excellent post. May I applaud you for the thoroughness and professionalism of of your tests. Should anyone be in the market for any of the products you have tested they would then be in a position to be able to make an informed decision as to the worthiness of the product. I presume this is the reason you go to the lengths you do in your comparisons. Thanks.
Thanks John, it's nice to hear that... Indeed I try to put effort in to allow people to make their own decisions. Part of the reason why it takes so long to get new videos out!
Thanks for pointing me to this video after I commented on the IR1 test, John. Quite an interesting comparison you've made here. I regret that you haven't compared the sound from both radios, though. I have both of these and unlike you, I kind of prefer the Lemega. Why? it sounds better to my ageing ears. More treble. I find the Pure rather muffled. Apart from this, they're really similar but it turns out that I find the Lemega much more elegant too (I have the faux bois case / cream front panel varient) than the Pure (I have the white variant). Unless I've missed something, you don't tell why you think the Pure is thicker, do you? As for the updates, my Pure came with the V4.5.13 f/w, no update since then. It's still newer than the V4.1.8 on the Lemega indeed. Overall, I like these two radios a lot, but I have the same minor gripes with both of them: - no way to completely turn them off when on external power - FM stations are stored only with their frequencies, not the RDS names - only one time sync source can be active, e.g. no way to select network primary, DAB second which would come handy when you move the radio around BTW no issue on FM reception on either radio, but I live in a place that has good coverage. However they do better than my Amazon Basics branded FM/DAB+ radio.
I've got one with two speakers, pity that I can't play m3u8 streamings, but the rest is acceptable. I don't know if there is a portable radio with readable m3u8 streams, it'd be useful
The radio display DOES have an auto dim feature when set up correcrly. Thats what the timeout is for. Of course you need to set the DIM LEVEL to DIM, else you wont see a difference. I set the timeout to 10 sec on the Connect as I'm running this on batteries, on the Connect+ which is powered by USB adapter I don't mind it being medium bright all the time.
I think we both have different terminology for 'auto-dim'. What I mean is that the device will have something like a Light Dependent Resistor to monitor the ambient room brightness and automatically adjust the display brightness when the light in the room changes. I've not found that functionality at all.
@@jeg1972 if you define it that way you are correct. To me, the display dimming down a certain amount of time after the last operation qualifies as automatic dimming too. On a display where the image content and colours fade quickly when the viewing angle is only slightly off- center, who would expect a light-sensor, especially on devices in that budget price range?
Your review is very interesting! I am interested in purchasing this radio receiver. What internet service do you use to "tune in" to streaming stations (such as TuneIn, SkyTune, etc.)? Can stations be added manually knowing their URL? Thank you so much.
Just found that my "old" One Flow no longer works as an internet radio as Pure discontinued their old streaming service, so I'm after a replacememt. Good review thanks; can you use the alarm function when the radio is powered by batteries? One big downside to the older DAB radios was that the alarm function relied on the radio being plugged into the mains, which was no good when you were travelling and in a hotel bedroom :-(
Bought a Lemega M5+. After four years no sound plays. I suspect all is needed is a software update, but alas the manufacturer is all but non existent. If you know of any advice John would really appreciate it. Great radio, but poor support. So frustrating that all that is required is a firmware update!
I'm interested why you think a software update will fix the problem of no sound? It's more likely the audio amplified has failed. Can you hear sound when you plug headphones in? Have you tried a system/factory reset?
Thank you for this excellent review John. Could you give me the details of the power bank used please? I've never had a power bank before and I would like to purchase one, many thanks. Geoff.
The one I use is many years old, but it is an Aukey one. I think this is the current equivalent; www.aukey.com/products/aukey-30w-10000mah-fast-charging-multiple-device-charging-power-bank-2-port-usb-type-c-usb-3-0
Mine seems to have had a software crash and I'm hoping someone may be able to advise me on how to fix it please! 😊 When turned on it displays the startup screen showing "Pure". It shows this for about 8 seconds, then shows the "Setup Wizard " screen for less than a second, follwed by momentarily going blank and then starting again with the screen showing "Pure". Pushing any of the buttons doesn't make it stop. Disconnecting it from power and then repowering it also doesn't fix it. Anyone know the solution?
Thank you John but I m looking for internet Radio with FM and blue tooth, As i saw its lacking fm reciever, yet in many place of the word you are missing OTA stations or internet so its handy to have both...
It does indeed have both FM and Bluetooth, you can see that when I move through the options at around the 6 minute mark. The reception isn't great, but it is there.
Originally, I counted about 4 or perhaps 5 different IP radio chipsets, but now the biggest player is Frontier Smart Technologies... That's why they start to look the same... I briefly covered Frontier in this video; ruclips.net/video/beH5P8YsXAM/видео.htmlsi=X4cXV9b4O8_j_165
The sound test was undertaken like all of my tests. The default from out of the box was used as most people wouldn't bother with changing from the defaults.
@@jeg1972 well I get where you're coming from, but with any particular sound effect activated on a device neither you nor the users (who usually won't buy several devices and then send all but one back) won't give a usable comparison. I don't think you're doing yourself or the user a service with such an approach. Those who watch your tests will certainly be savvy enough to toggle a setting, especially when you would show it right before the test started. And those who aren't watching aren't in the target group anyway. If the users bother turning the loudness function off or not - I don't see how this would be an argument for NOT creating an even playing field before doing a comparison. I was already about to send my radio back half an hour after opening the box because of the muffled sound at low volumes, when I discovered the loudness function was turned on, which I completely didn't expect, as the default EQ profile WAS set to "flat". Some people who watch this might find this info helpful too.
I think most DAB DAB+ aerials are too short for FM as DAB works on 210 to 230mhz and FM works on 88 to 106mhz and a 38cm aerial way too short for FM and needs be appx 85cm to pull the FM radio stations.
Philip, I can't be absolutely sure as I've not taken it outside of the UK, but it does appear to be good at geolocation, so as it is set up, it should bring back all the Irish stations and set them as "local".
Hi think this is a real bargan all you need as a cheap phone charger and 3.5mm to phono lead and plug it into a amplifier by the headphone socket and keep volume 10% to 20% so you do not overload amp and see how good it can sound.
Thanks for the review. The Lemega IR4S is the same as the IR1 except that it has a 2nd speaker and is $9 more. I purchased it at the end of November from Amazon. Happily, the Lemega does have the Podcast option while the IR1 reviewed did not. Also, the Lemega is on firmware version 4.5.21. Amazon where I am located in the US doesn't have the Elan available. I like the Lemega and am very happy with it.
I think the timeout feature will make the screen go black until I touch a button (say I want to get some brief light, at night) it'll be on the bed side table. You say good value at thi price point, and I agree (would like to spend more and get a better radio) last one had a snooze handle (I never used it for that) but touching it gave 7 seconds of light which was perfect
Had one for a year now and it seemed too complicated. 30 mins watching your video and I've got it connected to wifi, the app and can see its true potential. Thanks for the walkthrough.
Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad it helped!
This radio is an perfect tuner. The audio quality is thin no bass. but connected to an amplifier or audio or computer speakers perfect full sound.
Great vid with plenty info thank you I think I sorted my little probs out with storing hopefully. Cheers😊
Glad you got it sorted!
@@jeg1972 Thanks for the vid the Elan radio is OK to a Point, not a great one as I found a bit fiddly instructions hardly any info learnt more from you thanks again 😀 👍
Another excellent post. May I applaud you for the thoroughness and professionalism of of your tests. Should anyone be in the market for any of the products you have tested they would then be in a position to be able to make an informed decision as to the worthiness of the product. I presume this is the reason you go to the lengths you do in your comparisons. Thanks.
Thanks John, it's nice to hear that... Indeed I try to put effort in to allow people to make their own decisions. Part of the reason why it takes so long to get new videos out!
Thanks for pointing me to this video after I commented on the IR1 test, John. Quite an interesting comparison you've made here. I regret that you haven't compared the sound from both radios, though.
I have both of these and unlike you, I kind of prefer the Lemega. Why? it sounds better to my ageing ears. More treble. I find the Pure rather muffled. Apart from this, they're really similar but it turns out that I find the Lemega much more elegant too (I have the faux bois case / cream front panel varient) than the Pure (I have the white variant).
Unless I've missed something, you don't tell why you think the Pure is thicker, do you?
As for the updates, my Pure came with the V4.5.13 f/w, no update since then. It's still newer than the V4.1.8 on the Lemega indeed.
Overall, I like these two radios a lot, but I have the same minor gripes with both of them:
- no way to completely turn them off when on external power
- FM stations are stored only with their frequencies, not the RDS names
- only one time sync source can be active, e.g. no way to select network primary, DAB second which would come handy when you move the radio around
BTW no issue on FM reception on either radio, but I live in a place that has good coverage. However they do better than my Amazon Basics branded FM/DAB+ radio.
Great review. and thank you for helping me to choose the right model for my needs!
Glad I could help!
I've got one with two speakers, pity that I can't play m3u8 streamings, but the rest is acceptable. I don't know if there is a portable radio with readable m3u8 streams, it'd be useful
I'll try and investigate these...
The radio display DOES have an auto dim feature when set up correcrly. Thats what the timeout is for. Of course you need to set the DIM LEVEL to DIM, else you wont see a difference.
I set the timeout to 10 sec on the Connect as I'm running this on batteries, on the Connect+ which is powered by USB adapter I don't mind it being medium bright all the time.
I think we both have different terminology for 'auto-dim'. What I mean is that the device will have something like a Light Dependent Resistor to monitor the ambient room brightness and automatically adjust the display brightness when the light in the room changes. I've not found that functionality at all.
@@jeg1972 if you define it that way you are correct. To me, the display dimming down a certain amount of time after the last operation qualifies as automatic dimming too. On a display where the image content and colours fade quickly when the viewing angle is only slightly off- center, who would expect a light-sensor, especially on devices in that budget price range?
Your review is very interesting!
I am interested in purchasing this radio receiver.
What internet service do you use to "tune in" to streaming stations (such as TuneIn, SkyTune, etc.)? Can stations be added manually knowing their URL?
Thank you so much.
It uses the Frontier Smart Technology System and you can update your favourites here smartradio.frontier-nuvola.net/
Just found that my "old" One Flow no longer works as an internet radio as Pure discontinued their old streaming service, so I'm after a replacememt. Good review thanks; can you use the alarm function when the radio is powered by batteries? One big downside to the older DAB radios was that the alarm function relied on the radio being plugged into the mains, which was no good when you were travelling and in a hotel bedroom :-(
Let me get the radio out of storage and check...
Bought a Lemega M5+. After four years no sound plays. I suspect all is needed is a software update, but alas the manufacturer is all but non existent. If you know of any advice John would really appreciate it. Great radio, but poor support. So frustrating that all that is required is a firmware update!
I'm interested why you think a software update will fix the problem of no sound? It's more likely the audio amplified has failed. Can you hear sound when you plug headphones in? Have you tried a system/factory reset?
Thank you for this excellent review John. Could you give me the details of the power bank used please? I've never had a power bank before and I would like to purchase one, many thanks.
Geoff.
The one I use is many years old, but it is an Aukey one. I think this is the current equivalent; www.aukey.com/products/aukey-30w-10000mah-fast-charging-multiple-device-charging-power-bank-2-port-usb-type-c-usb-3-0
@@jeg1972 Many thanks.
Mine seems to have had a software crash and I'm hoping someone may be able to advise me on how to fix it please! 😊
When turned on it displays the startup screen showing "Pure". It shows this for about 8 seconds, then shows the "Setup Wizard " screen for less than a second, follwed by momentarily going blank and then starting again with the screen showing "Pure".
Pushing any of the buttons doesn't make it stop. Disconnecting it from power and then repowering it also doesn't fix it.
Anyone know the solution?
Thank you John but I m looking for internet Radio with FM and blue tooth, As i saw its lacking fm reciever, yet in many place of the word you are missing OTA stations or internet so its handy to have both...
It does indeed have both FM and Bluetooth, you can see that when I move through the options at around the 6 minute mark. The reception isn't great, but it is there.
I would like to know what channels you can get on the internet... Is there a place where you can see all available channels? Like an Internet Portal?
I don't know of any such list, primarily because there are thousands of stations and they change daily.
I am sure it has 10s of thousands of stations. The description on Amazon says it has over 30,000 stations. I am sure that is NOT an exaggeration.
Comprehensive review thank you
Glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for your brilliant work
Thank you!
The interface looks extremely similar to the Roberts iStream 3. Are all internet radios using the same chip, seems to be the Frontier Venice module?
Originally, I counted about 4 or perhaps 5 different IP radio chipsets, but now the biggest player is Frontier Smart Technologies... That's why they start to look the same... I briefly covered Frontier in this video; ruclips.net/video/beH5P8YsXAM/видео.htmlsi=X4cXV9b4O8_j_165
Can I connect my Bluetooth apple earbuds or is just wired ?
Just wired I'm afraid, you can only really use it as a Bluetooth speaker.
Which website sold this internet radio. And what is price.
I bought this in January 2022 from Amazon UK and it was 54.20 GBP.
I just got it for about 30 euros
Have you turned the loudness function OFF and set the EQ to "FLAT" for the audio test?
The loudness function is a pain in the crack at low volumes.
The sound test was undertaken like all of my tests. The default from out of the box was used as most people wouldn't bother with changing from the defaults.
@@jeg1972 well I get where you're coming from, but with any particular sound effect activated on a device neither you nor the users (who usually won't buy several devices and then send all but one back) won't give a usable comparison.
I don't think you're doing yourself or the user a service with such an approach.
Those who watch your tests will certainly be savvy enough to toggle a setting, especially when you would show it right before the test started.
And those who aren't watching aren't in the target group anyway. If the users bother turning the loudness function off or not - I don't see how this would be an argument for NOT creating an even playing field before doing a comparison.
I was already about to send my radio back half an hour after opening the box because of the muffled sound at low volumes, when I discovered the loudness function was turned on, which I completely didn't expect, as the default EQ profile WAS set to "flat". Some people who watch this might find this info helpful too.
I think most DAB DAB+ aerials are too short for FM as DAB works on 210 to 230mhz and FM works on 88 to 106mhz and a 38cm aerial way too short for FM and needs be appx 85cm to pull the FM radio stations.
I had an old Pure radio which could no longer receive BBC - I’m living in Ireland. Will this Pure Elan Connect Radio receive BBC when outside the UK?
Philip, I can't be absolutely sure as I've not taken it outside of the UK, but it does appear to be good at geolocation, so as it is set up, it should bring back all the Irish stations and set them as "local".
Can't store stations ,when I press 3+ it just says Re call from pre sets ,what am I doing wrong ??
I cover this in the video, you just to have to long press on the 3+ to store stations, short press on 3+ to recall a preset.
Hi think this is a real bargan all you need as a cheap phone charger and 3.5mm to phono lead and plug it into a amplifier by the headphone socket and keep volume 10% to 20% so you do not overload amp and see how good it can sound.
Difference is sleep timer on the Lemega.
You went through everything possible and never gave a moment to the connection of the device, I'm assuming it's USBC?
Sadly it's just Micro USB.
How is Grundig dtr 6000 wifi radio?
Unfortunately I don't have a Grundig DTR 6000 to test.
ETCETERA not ecetera. Otherwise John does a thoroughly good review.
What price for this radio sir.
I bought this in January 2022 from Amazon UK and it was 54.20 GBP.
Amazon now sell it for £42.99 currently at the time of posting
Love mine