Philips DA1000

Ditch your travel shaving mirror for this

If only they'd included a stand in the back, this portable digital and FM radio might have passed muster in your wash bag. While it might not make your grooming list, however, it's still worthy of your attention - and the reason is mainly down to that mirrored finish. So far, the design of most pocket digital radios has been average to say the least, with the models from PURE Digital, Goodmans and Aria doing the job but looking merely functional. This Philips, on the other hand, is a phwoar-blimey bit of kit that's well-designed, solidly built and smartly fi nished.

If you value sexy design, then, it scores highly. It also boasts a useful physical hold button, a decent joystick for volume and station selection, plus a button to quickly switch between the six preset equaliser modes. It's far lighter (100g to the 170g of PURE's PocketDAB) than most of the competition, though not signifi cantly smaller. If svelte dimensions are your thang, hold out until a new raft of slim portable DABs appears this summer.

In use, the performance is average but on a par with the PURE Digital PocketDAB 1000 (T3 87, 4/5) and Aria A-3000 (T3 90, 4/5). When stationary and in an area of good digital radio reception, Radio 3 sounds beautiful, while 1Xtra offers up tunes that are usually only available on pirate stations - except here they're crystal-clear. While on the move, however, reception can be extremely patchy - the UK's DAB coverage is still cursed by thousands of pockets of poor or zero coverage. And as we've reported before, digital radio suffers from interference issues just as much as its analogue counterpart does.

The sound quality is good overall, although the bundled headphones sound a little threadbare. Investing in a decent £20 pair of cans should improve the sonics drastically. The battery life is only average at around 10 hours compared to 16 for the PocketDAB.

If you're lucky enough to live in an area of good digital radio reception (check by logging onto www.digitalradionow.com) this is a handsomely designed, competent performer - just don't expect digital clarity everywhere you go.
Adam Vaughan

KEY FEATURES:
DAB and FM tuners, 6 EQ modes, 20 presets, DAB band III, battery life: 10 hours from 2 rechargeable AAs (supplied), dimensions: 60 x 111 x 21mm, weight: 100g