Pure Jongo S3 review

After years of producing internet and DAB radios, Pure is making a break for the multiroom space; the Jongo S3 wireless speaker is a big part of that move.

Externally, it’s an unprepossessing piece of kit. It’s small and cube-shaped, with two brightly-coloured cloth grilles covering four outward-facing, 2.5W high frequency drivers, and a plastic grille on top protects an upward-firing 10W, 3.5in mid/bass driver. On one edge there’s an on/off button ringed by a multi-coloured status LED, volume and mute controls, and opposite it, on what you could call the rear, is a small LCD, a couple more buttons, a 3.5mm audio input, power jack and a USB port.

Out of the box, that USB port is occupied by a stubby dongle supplying Bluetooth connectivity, and in a cavity in the base of the speaker is a rechargeable, 8,800mAh lithium-ion battery. The idea behind this speaker is you can take it with you from room to room in the house, out into the garden or on a picnic. It isn’t weather-sealed, though, so you may want to think twice about getting it wet. According to Pure, the battery will power the speaker for up to ten hours.

The Jongo S3 can be used on its own, but it’s designed principally to work as part of a Pure Stream multiroom system, and can be linked to any compatible Pure device (one of the new Evoke F4 radios or the Sensia 200D, for instance) over an 802.11bg wireless network. After you’ve connected the Jongo S3 to your network, music or radio content on one device can be played across the others simultaneously.

The principal source of music for the Jongo S3, since it has no user interface of its own, is either one of those connected devices, or the free Pure Connect iOS/Android app. It’s free, and allows you to stream content from your phone or tablet’s local media collection, from Pure’s free digital radio service or the £5-per-month Pure Music Spotify-style on-demand music library.

Sound quality is impressive for a speaker this small. You’re never going to get throbbing bass, but it’ll fill a small room with crisp, forceful audio, while a selection of different audio profiles allow you to tailor the speaker to suit different environments – from simple stereo for use on a shelf, to a boosted 360-degree mode for listening outdoors.

The Jongo S3 is an ingenious box of tricks. It’s portable, versatile and packed with features. And when you consider the cheapest equivalent from Sonos – the PLAY:3 – is £80 more expensive, it isn’t bad value either.