Logitech’s portable Pure-Fi Express Plus provides a solid and functional solution for playing your music and podcasts.
It is portable and can run off batteries or AC power, but that doesn’t mean you should drag it to the beach. The cloth grille and rotating knob don’t feel like they’d stack up too well against millions of miniature sand particles infiltrating their pores. (check this out for something different)
But for indoor or clean-outdoor use, you do get a compact sound machine with clear audio, decent if not great highs and the same thumping bass we’ve come to expect from every small form factor audio product on the market from a decent manufacturer.
The fact is, Logitech is turning into a strong player in the personal audio realm, putting out a variety of solutions. The Express Plus is remarkably similar in size, shape and sound as the Squeezebox Boom, which I just loved and has caused me to bookmark BBC Radio 1.
Older (by now, ancient) iPod models don’t fit as well in Pure-Fi Express Plus. At first, the remote control had no effect on my third generation iPod — it didn’t change the songs or play or pause, but I learned that was because the iPod wasn’t fully plugged in. Once I pushed down a bit, the remote worked, but that’s still a problem. The device doesn’t hold larger iPods in place very well. The Nano had no such problem, though.
The remote is a neat feature, though it doesn’t add a ton of value to the product. I tend to lose the mini-motes anyway.
I’m seeing these products for about $50 now. It’s worth it. You need something to dock your iPod, unless you just you to play your songs off iTunes. God help you.
This is one of a series of iPod-docking devices Blast is reviewing in April
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