Pure Moment review: start the day right with this versatile clock radio

I'm in the fortunate position of rarely needing an alarm clock, and on those occasions when I do need to wake up earlier than usual I can usually get by with the alarm on my phone. It's always a bit of a compromise, however, as I'm forced to choose an Apple alarm tone that I find least distasteful, and it always goes off at a volume slightly louder than I'd like. This at least means that I'm straight out of bed as soon as it goes into action, so I can turn the damn thing off, but it's not the best way to wake up in the morning.

Consequently I was more than happy to give the Pure Moment a try. In short, it's a bedside radio that does it all: alarm clock, DAB+ radio and Bluetooth speaker, with a decent selection of soothing sounds to listen to as you drift off to sleep. It's worth investigating if you're in search of the best alarm clock, and with built-in illumination it'll even give some of the best wake-up lights a run for their money.

It's a neat and effective little device, but one that's not without its little quirks and rough edges. Here's how I got on with it.

Pure Moment review: price and availability

The Pure Moment comes in two colour options – Coffee Black and Cotton White – and is available for £109.99 from Pure. At the time of writing, however, it's also available from both Amazon and John Lewis at lower prices. Also available is the Moment Charge, with the added bonus of a wireless charger, which comes in the same colour options and will cost you £139.99 at Pure; you may find it cheaper at Amazon and John Lewis.

Pure Moment review: unboxing and setup

Unpacking and setting up the Pure Moment proved to be pretty straightforward. The only remotely fiddly bit in the entire process is that its power adapter comes with both UK and EU plugs, and you need to snap the one you need onto the face of the adapter itself, then inevitably put the other one away in a drawer just in case you ever need it (pro tip: you won't).

There's also a wire antenna at the back of the unit that Pure recommends you hang vertically for the best DAB reception. Personally I think it looks untidy and so far I've had excellent DAB signal strength with the antenna still bound up at the back of the radio; your mileage may vary, of course.

Once plugged in and switched on, the Pure Moment did an admirable job of setting itself up, locating all the available DAB stations and using the DAB signal to automatically set the clock time, while pairing the Pure Moment with my iPhone via Bluetooth was similarly painless.

Pure Moment review: design and features

The Pure Moment is a compact unit that crams a lot into its small (15.5 x 7.5 x11.5cm) size. On its front face is a dimmable LCD display that's monochrome and very low-resolution (192x32 pixels) but does the job nonetheless, and underneath that is a single 5W speaker hidden behind a grill cloth.

You'll find all the Pure Moment's controls on the top of the unit, and I'd advise you to keep the instructions to hand while you're familiarising yourself with how it all works, because the controls aren't always intuitive; navigating menus is an awkward process of pressing the home button, turning the multifunction volume knob to find the option you want and then pressing down on it to select, and I can't tell you how many times I failed to get to grips with this arrangement.

Meanwhile at the rear you'll find the Pure Moment's dimmable nightlight, which is small, yellow and not especially powerful, but has enough oomph to cast a warm glow on the wall behind the device. There's also a handy toggle switch that'll pause all your alarms for you.

As well as playing DAB radio and Bluetooth audio, the Pure Moment plays FM radio and also features a selection of over 20 relaxing sounds, from babbling brooks and thunderstorms through to white, pink and brown noise. These make for great background noise and come into their own when used with the Pure Moment's Sleep mode, which enables you to have sounds playing as you fall asleep, and they'll stop after a set period of time. The Pure Moment is mains powered but features a backup battery that'll ensure you don't miss your alarm in the event of a power cut.

Pure Moment review: performance

Assuming that your main reason for buying the Pure Moment is going to be for its wake-up functions, there's a lot to like about it. You can set it to wake you up in any number of ways: with a soundscape, radio or even a more alarm clock-like buzzer (but not with Bluetooth audio, which is mildly annoying but not a deal-breaker), and with or without its built-in light providing a sunrise function. You can also opt to have the sound and light kick in abruptly or to fade in gently to give yourself a less traumatic wake-up, and that's the option I definitely prefer.

You can set an alarm to wake you up only on specific days so you're not disturbed at the weekend, and if you have more complex requirements you can store up to 10 alarms. All in all it's a fine setup, but I'd note that if what you're really looking for is a wake-up lamp, you may find the Pure Moment's lighting mildly disappointing; its little nightlight can bathe a darkened bedroom with a soft yellow glow, but your brain's unlikely to ever mistake it for an actual sunrise.

Another feature that's slightly lacking is the Pure Moment's sleep timer that, on paper, is a fine idea: you set it playing whatever audio you want when you go to bed, settle down and it'll keep on playing for the amount of time you specify. And while it works as advertised, I'm a little irritated by the fact that the audio, and the light if it's turned on, will just cut off once the time limit's hit; it would be much nicer if they faded out gradually while you drifted off.

In terms of audio features, however, it's hard to fault. The built-in sounds make for pleasant background noise when you need something ASMR-like to distract you, it performs perfectly well as a DAB+/FM radio, and its Bluetooth functionality is ideal for when you want to listen to your own music or podcasts. The audio quality is good, with bright trebles and just enough bass to give everything some depth; just don't expect too much volume out of it. The Pure Moment’s 5W output is probably about right for the bedroom, but if you try to crank things up too much you'll soon notice distortion creeping in.

Pure Moment review: verdict

If you want a bedside alarm with plenty of functions, the Pure Moment is pretty hard to beat. You'll struggle to find many clock radios with a wake-up light, DAB+, Bluetooth and built-in sounds, and the Pure Moment has them all, at a pretty decent price and in a good-looking form factor. It's a solid all-rounder, and while it's not outstanding in any particular function – and mastering its less-than-intuitive controls can be infuriating – it's a worthy pick for anyone who likes lots of options when it comes to being woken up in the morning.

Pure Moment review: alternatives to consider

You're not exactly spoiled for choice when it comes to finding alternatives to the Pure Moment that match it in terms of features. If you have extra budget to play with, the Lumie Bodyclock Lux 750DAB has comparable audio options and much more impressive lighting effects, including a sunset function that's a huge improvement over the Pure Moment's limited sleep timer.

Alternatively, check out the Philips SmartSleep Wake-Up Light, which again features more advanced lighting as well as guided wind-down options to help you get to sleep, but which lacks the Pure Moment's radio and Bluetooth connectivity.