Amazon has released its newest e-reader, the Kindle Voyage, and more than a few reviewers are describing it as the best e-reader to ever hit the market.
There is, however, one pitfall to the device -- the price. The Kindle Voyage may be the best e-reader on the market, but it's also the priciest.
"But while the Kindle Voyage is indeed the best e-book reader out there, I think most people will be perfectly happy picking up the $119 Paperwhite, and having the extra $80 to spend on new books," said one reviewer. "The Paperwhite can't match the Voyage on lighting or resolution (and it lacks PagePress), but the reading experience and features are otherwise exactly the same. Don't get me wrong: As the holidays approach, I'd love to unwrap a Kindle Voyage. I just probably wouldn't buy one for myself."
The Kindle Voyage is the company's seventh generation of e-reader and boasts a higher-resolution backlit screen and a new page-turning feature that's optimized for one-hand use.
The screen itself is being hailed as the best e-reader display ever, being readable in pitch black or in bright sunlight. Not only that, but the display also auto-adjusts its brightness to eliminate the problem of eyestrain.
"Amazon says the Voyage offers a better approximation of print than has ever been available on an e-reader, but for me, it's far better than that," said another reviewer. "It offers the visual clarity of printed text with the flexibility of an electronic device."
Unfortunately, while the Voyage is certainly a great device, it doesn't come cheap. Without 3G the device costs $199 and that's with ads. Removing ads costs an additional $20 and the total cost then hits $219. The 3G version of the device is $269 and goes to $289 for the non-ads 3G version.
That price is likely to dissuade many from buying the latest e-reading device. While the new features may appeal to everyone, most can make do with the cheaper or older Kindle devices. For those, however, who are in the market for a new e-reader and don't mind spending the dough for some great new features, the Kindle Voyage may well be the e-reader to beat.
Amazon also just released a full-on tablet for only $99, the Fire HD 6, which is great for those who might do the occasional spot of reading but also want features like web browsing and other apps. It is likely that as time goes on, the technology found in the new Kindle Voyage will drop and that future generations of the device will be cheaper.
