2011 Kindle readers: Kindle Classic, Touch and Keyboard

While when it comes to tablets nowadays the competition is extremely close, with a very wide range of top notch products, the e-book reader market is still pretty far from being overcrowded. Having that in mind, the people at Amazon, the most important e-reader producer for a while now, have decided to throw not one, but two new products on the market.

The new Kindle and Kindle Touch joined the old Kindle, renamed ‘’ Kindle Keyboard’’, and together they form a very strong, united and interesting family of e-book readers. All three products have their strong and weak points, but considering the competition you will probably be pretty satisfied with any of the three devices right now.

In the following lines we will take a quick look at these e-readers’ features, prices and technical specs, in order to establish each one’s advantages and disadvantages, but also to determine, if possible, which one of the three is the better choice for technology geeks at the moment.

Amazon Kindle reader

The new Amazon Kindle is the 4^th generation of the popular ebook reader and, while it comes with some not very impressive features, it has a great advantage. Scratch that, because it actually has two advantages, come to think of it.

First of all, the new e-reader is considerably lighter and more compact than the old one, weighing 5.98 ounces (170 grams) and measuring 6.5 x 4.5 x 0.34 inches. The second strong point is of course the price tag of only 79 dollars. This is however for the ‘’special offers’’ version of the new Kindle, but you can also get the model without ads at 109 bucks.

The 4th generation Amazon Kindle is cheaper than ever before.

In terms of storage space, it comes with 2 GB of internal memory, as well as unlimited cloud storage for Amazon content. The display is the same old 6-inch E Ink Pearl (slightly improved, though, according to Amazon), but the keyboard has disappeared. Instead of it, you have a 5-way controller, which, while being good-looking, is not very functional and will make typing on this device a pretty complicated procedure.

Amazon Kindle Touch

The second freshly released Amazon e-reader is the Kindle Touch, which also comes with a 6-inch E Ink display with 600 x 800 pixels resolution. However, this is actually a touchscreen, which cancels the Classic Kindle’s biggest problem (typing). The Touch also comes with access to audiobooks, a feature that, unfortunately, is nowhere to be found on the new Classic Kindle.

When it comes to product dimensions and weight, the Touch is pretty light and compact, even though not as light and compact as the Classic Kindle. It weighs 7.5 ounces and measures 6.8 x 4.7 x 0.4 inches.

The Kindle Touch is heavier, but features a better screen and interface than the classic Kindle.

The interface is nice and responsive and the browsing experience is slightly better than that of its lower end sibling. In terms of storage space, the Touch comes with 4 GB of internal memory, which is double than what the Kindle has to offer, while when it comes to battery life, things are as productive as they can possible be.

The Touch can therefore last up until two months based on light use and with wireless off. And because we have mentioned the wireless connectivity, let’s also say that the Touch is also available with optional 3G.

In terms of pricing, the Touch is, as you might expect, more expensive than the Classic Kindle, but overall it’s itself a bargain. You can get the touchscreen e-reader in two different versions, one that offers Wi-Fi and starts at $99, and the other that also adds 3G on top and starts at $149. The listed prices are for ad-supported versions, so you’ll have to deal with some ads, not that many and not intrusive. If you don’t like ads, you can buy the standard versions that will cost your around 40 bucks extra in both cases.

However, you should know that the Touch Kindle will only sell in the US for the time being.

Amazon Kindle Keyboard

Even though Amazon has released two new and very nice e-book readers, that doesn’t mean you can’t get the old Kindle version as well, if you get nostalgic. This older model, which is now known as ‘’Amazon Keyboard’’ is basically identical with the new Kindle, except for the keyboard.

The older Kindle Keyboard can most definitely still draw some attention.

Of course, the old Amazon Keyboard is heavier and bulkier too, but on the other hand it does come with 4 GB of internal storage space, a better battery and audio support. In terms of pricing, this has been recently discounted and goes right now for between 99 dollars (the Wi-Fi with special offers version) and 189 bucks (the 3G model with no included ads). The standard versions, those without the ads, also ship internationally.

Wrap-up

No matter how you look at it and how critical and skeptical you want to be, the new and refreshed line of Amazon Kindles is extremely competitive and is bound to be a great success. The classic Kindle is the most affordable gadget you can get on the market right now and, while it offers less features than its siblings, I am sure that technology enthusiasts on a budget will love it.

The Touch offers a better all-around experience and probably the maximum you would hope to get from a basic device like an e-reader, while the old Amazon Keyboard, even though it could be considered an old-fashioned and obsolete gadget, has the perfect quality-price ratio to get its fair share of customers.

All in all, it’s pretty difficult to state which one of the three e-book readers from Amazon is better right now. However, the winner of a theoretical battle between the Kindle Classic, Touch and Keyboard is not one of the three devices, but us the technology fans which will have trouble picking up one or the other because they are oh so similar and oh so great.

For further details about the Kindle eReaders, you can check out the following video preview:

Tags: Amazon, digital readers, ebook, eReaders, Kindle