Memorex Mi2001 Clock Radio

Claiming to be more than a "bland square box that sits beside the bed", Memorex's Mi2001 Clock Radio iPod dock doesn’t do anything different from the norm. While the price is extremely competitive, at the end of the day the Mi2001 is exactly what it set out to not be.

Memorex claims that the Mi2001 "pushes the boundaries of artistic design". Although the design isn't bad, it certainly doesn't push any boundaries. It looks like many other clock radios on the market, with a round shape and a flat, black speaker grill on the top housing the iPod dock connector and a number of controls. On the front is a reasonably sized LCD with a bright blue backlight (which can be turned off if you wish, or adjusted in three increments).

It is reasonably easy to use; the unit's controls and the remote are both straightforward. They do require a firm press to operate though and the controls on unit itself emit a rather loud clicking noise. With this in mind, we preferred to use the controls on the remote to access most of the Mi2001's functions.

The Mi2001 supports all iPods with the standard dock connector, including the iPod touch, classic, nano, video, photo and mini models. When connected to AC power using the adapter the unit will charge your iPod while it plays.

The line-in jack at the rear also allows any device with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack to be connected. Unfortunately you can't set the unit to wake you when using this connection like you can with an iPod.

Sound quality is perhaps a little below average, even though we weren’t expecting much considering the size. The Mi2001 has 15 volume increments. We found the four neodymium speakers distorted when using an iPod at any volume setting over 10, which is disappointing. The sound lacks bass and treble is shallow at best. There are no built-in equaliser settings, nor any options to adjust bass and treble.

The Mi2011 also includes an FM radio but, incredibly, there is no way to save any stations as presets. Each time you want to listen to a new station you'll need to use the skip backward and forward buttons to find your frequency. The lack of presets is simply inexcusable, even taking into account the low price. It’s a basic feature that should always be included in a device of this type.

The Mi2001 can run on two standard AAA batteries, though its design doesn't lend itself to being moved from the bedside table.