Pure and Halfords unite to drive in-car DAB radio

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Pure has launched its first in-car audio head units, offering digital radio and wireless Bluetooth, as Halfords reports 50% growth in in-car DAB systems

Pure has announced its first in-car audio systems as part of an exclusive partnership with Halfords aimed at increasing in-car DAB digital radio listening.

Two new products, the Pure Highway H240Di and Highway H260DBi, priced at £130 and £150 respectively, are now on sale in Halfords stores and online. The two stereo systems bring FM, AM and DAB tuners, CD playback, an aux input and iPod/iPhone USB connectivity to your car.

The Pure Highway H260DBi also adds wireless Bluetooth streaming from smartphones and tablets, and wireless hands-free call capability, plus customisable lighting and extra power (4 x 50w compared to 4 x 45w on the H240Di).

MORE: Best DAB radios

The Pure head units come in cheaper than most comparable in-car stereos, and should be compatible with approximately 50% of UK cars thanks to the standard single DIN connection.

The two new units follow in the footsteps of the Pure Highway 300Di in-car DAB system (below), which is an add-on to bring digital radio to pretty much any car. The technology has also been used to offer a DAB option on many Peugeot and Citroen cars.

Aiming to be "as easy to use as a kitchen DAB radio", Pure claims to have brought its DAB radio expertise – where the company did successfully simplify the digital radio clutter and station search issues – to the in-car environment.

The partnership between Halfords and Pure, which began around a year ago, aims to capitalise on the growing in-car digital radio market. Halfords claims to have seen a 50% year-on-year growth in the in-car digital radio market, which now accounts for 23% of in-car audio sales.

Digital Radio UK estimates 20% radio listening is done in-car, with around 5-8% of digital radio being in-car.

Major car manufacturers are also getting on board with DAB radio, with BMW announcing all its news cars will have digital radio as standard, while Audi and Volvo are set to follow suit. Currently 36% of new cars come with digital radio as standard.

Other in-car audio developments have seen Ford and Spotify join forces on the Ford SYNC Applink system.

by Joe Cox

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Joe Cox
Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).