Pure Jongo T4X review: On sale now for just £40

While most multiroom audio manufacturers resort to using a proprietary wireless network to deliver the audio, Pure uses the Bluetooth Caskeid technology instead. The main benefit is that you can send anything from your smartphone via Bluetooth.

This overcomes the main limitation of many multiroom audio systems: the need for music services to be supported by the app you use to stream music to your connected speakers. With so many services out there, from Google Play Music All Access to Spotify, there’s a chance that your favourite service isn’t supported; with this system, all you need is the app on your phone so that you can send the audio via Bluetooth.

Pure has the larger Jongo T6X for bigger rooms, but the Jongo T4X is designed as a more mid-range wireless speaker. It uses two speakers (for a total output of 50W), so doesn’t have quite as much power. This does mean it’s physically smaller, however. Measuring 305x146x165mm, it’s still reasonably large for a speaker in its price range. It also weighs 3kg that helps make it feel sturdy and robust.

With the Jongo X-denoted range, Pure has improved the overall design of its Jongo series. We weren’t fond of the bulbous design of the previous generation. The new design is far slicker and the Pure branding has been toned down considerably. There is now just a small logo in the corner whereas it took centre stage previously. The grille that dominates the front of the speaker is now far more attractive as well and the Jongo T4X is available in a choice of either Graphite Grey or Ice White.

There’s also a 3.5mm auxiliary connection on the back for connecting an external audio device. Disappointingly, it’s not possible to connect a wired device and then use Bluetooth Caskeid to transmit the audio to the other speakers. Usefully there’s a powered USB port that you can use to charge your smartphone or tablet, but you can’t play music off a flash drive.

The initial setup process for the T4X is straightforward, although we found it was a little slow. You’ll need to first download the Pure Connect app for iOS or Android and make sure your device is connected to your wireless network. The app will then connect to any nearby speakers using Wi-Fi. This part of the process can be slow as the app will connect to any Wi-Fi networks within range until it finds the relevant Jongo speaker.

Once it finds it, you simply enter your network password and the speaker will then connect. You’ll need to repeat this process for any other speakers. If you don’t have an iOS or Android device, it’s also possible to set up the Jongo T4X using a web browser.

The Pure Connect app makes it easy to control the volume on any connected speakers as well as group them together. You can also pair them for stereo sound and the interface makes this a simple process. You can make the power indicator on each speaker illuminate to help easily identify which speaker is which and you can then assign a logical name. Turning on the Bluetooth Caskeid setting for each speaker will make each speaker play identical music from your Bluetooth connected device. This does mean you’ll need your source device to be within Bluetooth range of one of the speakers, which is about 10m.

As well as controlling your Jongo speakers, Pure Connect is also a music subscription service of its own. Pure Connect Green is free and provides access to radio stations and podcasts. Pure Connect Blue is £4.99 a month and gives you access to streaming Pure Connect’s 15 million tracks. Pure Connect Violet is £9.99 a month and lets you download music and playlists for offline playback. You’re able to streaming your on-device music or music from a network media server using even the free membership.

In order to use the speakers for Bluetooth Caskeid you’ll need to set the speaker control toggles to off within the app, greying them out, which we found initially unintuitive. Turning on the controls for each speaker is only used if you are streaming music from within the Pure Connect app itself.

Sound quality from the Jongo T4X was very warm with an emphasis towards the lower frequencies. The bass never sounded distorted, however, but mids and trebles became slightly muddy. In our instrumental test tracks the sound of cymbals wasn’t as separated as we would have liked. The T4X still sound very good and were able to reach a room-filling level without becoming harsh. The soundstage from a single T4X was also respectable but pairing two T4X speakers opens the sound up for more distinguished stereo separation.

The Pure Jongo T4X is a decent reasonably compact multiroom speaker. Bluetooth Caskeid is again a useful technology to get around streaming service limitations.

At £150, the Jongo T4X is keenly priced for the sound quality and functionality it provides. It’s also a real positive that there’s no need for an additional hub to connect more than one speaker. However, for around the same money we would rather go for the Sonos Play:1, which has a better app and is far more expandable.