While traditional radio may be on the way out, its internet cousin continues to thrive, sometimes even managing to make waves. Services like Pandora and Last.fm have taken the reins from traditional airwaves and now supply the much
The Livio Radio is an internet radio box that allows you to enjoy Pandora programming away from your PC. Connecting wirelessly through the web via your Wi-Fi setup, it brings all of the service’s stations and standard functions without requiring you to turn on a computer.
Physically, the Livio Radio is possibly the most attractive Wi-Fi radio in its price range. Typically, you’ll need to spend anywhere from $250 onwards to get anything that looks this good. The cabinet is gorgeously textured and doesn’t smudge while the Apple whitewash look dominating the rest of the panels should fit right in with your good-looking high-end audio setup (or bring the aesthetics of your cheap-ass rig a tad).
Since the Livio is designed around Pandora’s music service, the buttons and controls are specifically geared to supporting it. As such, it is able to offer the “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” functionality that allows you to customize your programming, as well as the “skip forward” button to let you skip a song. Apart from Pandora, though, it also function as a typical Wi-Fi radio, able to play other free Internet stations that you can find.
You can program stations either via the LCD screen (which is so small it’s cumbersome) or the online portal Reciva. Personally, we prefer the convenience of the second, though, the first works well too, if you’re willing to thumb through thousands of choices.
It comes with a headphone jack as well as an iPod input, in case you want to play songs off of your music player. Sound quality is pretty good for a mono speaker (yes, it’s not stereo). It’s not an audiophile rig but, rather, a casual listening device for those want a little music in non-connected areas of the house (like the kitchen or garden, for instance). Available for $150, it’s definitely one of the best Wi-Fi radios we’ve seen, especially at that price bracket.
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