What Hi-Fi? Verdict
Simple, cheap and easy to use but where sound is concerned, the i10 disappoints
Pros
- +
Charges iPods and allows remote control
Cons
- -
Emasculates iPod sound
Why you can trust What Hi-Fi? Our expert team reviews products in dedicated test rooms, to help you make the best choice for your budget. Find out more about how we test.
iPod docks, or even 3.5mm inputs, are by no means common sights on budget-orientated equipment. That's why Pure's i-10 seems such a timely idea – dedicated docks at this sort of price are thin on the ground.
After a long stint with it, we're afraid we know why that is.
The i-10 is a stripped-down unit, with a battery-charging cradle, input from the mains and 3.5mm output to your amplifier. There's also a little remote control.
There's not much to the i-10 then, and when it comes to sound quality it lets itself down quite badly.
Sounds drab and uninspired
No matter the genre or compression of music we played – everything from an iTunes-purchased, 128kbps file of Elvis Presley's Way Down to a lossless file of Anne Sofie von Otter's intimate reading of Elvis Costello's Baby Plays Around – the Pure sounds drab and uninspired.
Timing is ragged, vocalists sound matter-of-fact, and low frequencies are only half-inflated.
For £30, there's a case to be made for the straightforward iPod dock that allows charging and remote control without sticking its oar into sound quality.
A dock that sounds inferior to an iPod's headphone output simply won't fly.
