Easier to use: Models display digital audio players from Japanese electronics giant Matsushita

Once you’ve tried digital radio in your home, you won’t look back. A digital radio is far easier to use than a conventional one; it offers up to three times as many stations and the sound quality is far better.

The radio’s display reveals the name of the station it is playing and, often, the programme. And many models are rather stylish, coming in attractive wooden cases rather than the usual nasty black or grey plastic.

Around 85 per cent of the British population can now get a digital radio signal and the figure is expected to rise over the next few years. Eventually, when the old analogue transmissions are switched off ? some time over the next 10 to 15 years ? digital radio should be available everywhere that gets FM radio today.

Among all the positives, there is just one negative: the price. A decent digital radio still costs around ?60 or more. However, the price has been falling and we should start seeing the first quality sub-?40 radios within the year.

When buying, there are a few things to bear in mind. Many models run only off the mains ? and those that use batteries get through them very quickly. Also, look at the number of pre-set buttons (it makes finding your station even easier) and find out whether it can pause live radio ? a feature which means you don’t miss anything when the phone rings.

What is the difference between digital and analogue radio? It’s to do with the way signals are broadcast. Analogue radio is transmitted as a wave; digital radio is sent as a series of ones and zeroes. The quality of signal is better, there is no interference and you can get up to three times as many radio stations.

What’s a DAB? It stands for digital audio broadcast ? and is used to describe digital radio broadcasts.

Christmas favourite

Pure Digital Evoke 1XT: This is not just one of the best-looking DAB radios, it also has fantastic sound quality. Music is rich, with just the right balance between bass and treble, while speech is crystal clear.

It’s incredibly easy to use. When you first get it home, press the autotune button and it seeks out and remembers all the channels available. You can store stations using pre-set buttons ? for the rest, you just turn the knob and the names come up on the display.

It is available in light maple or darker cherry, has a clean white face and is reasonably compact. Sadly, there’s no FM, it doesn’t take batteries and it’s mono.

However, for an extra ?30 you can buy a second speaker to give you stereo sound ? and for another ?20, you can upgrade to the new “tri-band” version, which does analogue.

Runner up

Pure Evoke 2XT: Even more fantastic sound quality from the Pure people. Once again, the wooden body looks lovely and this time it’s fully stereo. It also has an FM tuner and will take batteries. They last for around 18 hours. There’s a USB input socket to connect an iPod or MP3 player.

Best of the rest

Roberts DAB Digital Radio, RD50: A wonderfully retro look and a stunning range of cases ? including burgundy, pastel pink and cream ? disguise a feature-rich radio. It picks up FM, has stereo speakers and runs on batteries as well as mains. It even lets you pause live radio.

Intempo PC-01: Not quite as good-looking or sounding as the Pure range, but stylish and competitively priced none the less. It runs on mains only and is easy to use.

Hitachi TRK100 DAB: This has good sound quality, even at the highest volumes. It does look as if it fell out of the ugly tree, but it's good value. It has an FM tuner and stereo speakers.

Shopping tip

For the cheapestprices: use a price comparison website such as www.pricerunner.co.uk, www.froo-gle.co.uk, www.kelkoo.co.uk or www.shopping.com. Remember to take into account the cost of postage and packing.

(The Daily Telegraph)